“You remember what happened the last time one of us was thrown into water?” Pressing my hands against the flat stone that surrounded the mouth of the pool, I lifted my body out of the water just enough to grab her. I pushed my feet against the wall, flinging her into the depths with me.
“Agh!” Her scream turned into a gurgle by the splash of water crashing over us.
I floated back to the surface, laughing. Mickie emerged from the depths of the water, her arms flailing about her, sputtering. She whipped her hair back from her face. “Andy!”
“You started it,” I claimed, feigning innocence.
“Uh, no. You did!” Cupping her hands, she scooped up water and flung it in my face.
“Oh! This means war!” I yelled. My arms spread as far as my reach would allow, as I created a tidal wave, sending it right at her.
McKenzie reciprocated, which lead to us flinging water back and forth, squealing and laughing in the process. How much water actually made my mark, I wasn’t sure, nor did I really care. We were having fun, and nothing would deter me from that.
My vision blurred and barely able to breathe, I moved in closer to her, grabbing her by the waist. She wiggled and squirmed, fighting against my grasp. “You give up?”
“Absolutely not!”
I wrapped my arm under her legs, picking her up out of the water. She kicked and screamed, laughing as I raised her up out of the water. “Andy, no!” The words barely left her mouth before I released her, dunking her under the water.
She came up, breathless, and smacked my chest. “I can’t believe you did that!” I grabbed her by the wrists, pulling her flush against my body. The water rippled around us, pushing us closer together. I could feel her body heat through our wet clothes. Our playful temperament shifted. Gone were the laughs and smiles. We were left with the same intense sexual tension that always mounted between us. Hungry to feel her skin, I moved my hands under the water, gripping her hips, sliding my thumbs under the hem of her shirt. She moaned softly, her eyes fluttering as she wrapped her arms around my neck. She bit her bottom lip, sucking it deep into her mouth. Our breathing increased, playing a beautiful symphony of desire, as the schism closed between us.
A sense of déjà vu encompassed me. History was repeating itself, as if fate was trying to correct a terrible injustice. Her smooth, wet lips inched closer to mine. The warmth of her breath washed over my face, drawing me into her sweet kiss. There was no fighting it this time. “Mickie,” I breathed.
“What the hell?” boomed a loud, nasally voice near the house.
I groaned, mentally cursing the bastard who chose to interrupt us at this exact moment. We were so close.
McKenzie gripped the back of my neck, a look of sheer terror splayed across her face. I gritted my teeth and turned my head just enough to see Gage standing at the back door, flanked by the rest of the family. A look of disgust and anger colored his expression. His fingers were balled into tight fists at his sides, as he took in our current state.
All of the sudden, McKenzie ripped herself from my arms. I closed my eyes, racking my nails across my scalp, thankful for the cover of the water. I was certain that my wet jeans would be far too revealing at the moment.
“That didn’t take long,” Bill quipped. Lindsey jabbed her elbow in his gut, eliciting a stifled grunt. Glenda squeezed in beside Gavin. She linked her arm into his, resting her head on his bicep. Her oversized teeth gleamed in the pale light of moon. I almost laughed when she winked at McKenzie and me.
“Cannibal!” Justice squealed. The little boy ran out the door, straight for us.
The whole family, including McKenzie, screamed for him to stop, but it was too late. His slender body hit the water with extreme force, sending a tidal wave flying up over our heads, and raining back down on top of us. I laughed as the little boy resurfaced, grinning ear to ear.
I swiped water from my face, staring incredulously at McKenzie. “Did he just say cannibal?” I asked; laughing at the proud expression on Justice’s freckled cheeks.
“That’s what it sounded like to me,” McKenzie chortled. She grabbed Justice by the nape of the neck, and rubbed her knuckles across the top of his head. “It’s cannonball, silly boy.”
“I said cannibal,” he admonished, dodging from her.
“Justice William!” Jackie screeched. She pushed past the crowd, holding Honor to her chest. Frustration radiated from her. “I don’t have spare clothes for you.”
“I sowee, Momma.” He hung his head in shame.
Cody stepped behind Jackie, resting his hand on her shoulder. She glanced up at her husband. A silent conversation ensued between them, easing the tension. All anger disappeared from Jackie’s face. She looked back to us, and smiled at her son. “It’s okay, little guy. I’m sure Grammy has something for you to wear.”
“Of course I do,” Lindsey agreed.
I looked up at Lindsey, casting her a crooked grin while waggling my eye brows. “Do you have something for me to wear, Grammy?”
Lindsey waved me off with a chuckle. “I’m sure we can find something for you, Mr. Hottie.”
I puffed my chest out. “I am Mr. Hottie, and don’t you forget it.”
“Narcissist,” Gage muttered. My head jerked to the irritable individual who kept intruding my oasis.
“Hey, Drew,” Jackie called out, stopping me from jumping out of the pool and beating the shit out of the oversized gorilla now lurking behind everyone. With a slight nod of her head, Jackie silently gave me permission to dunk her boy. I glanced at the child, who paddled his arms and legs to keep afloat. Returning Jackie’s nod, I wasted no time in performing my mission. I swam over to him, wrapped my hands around his sides, and lifted him from the water, supporting him by his back. Justice squealed and flailed his body, as I released him into the water. When he reemerged, he yelled, “Again!”
A roar of laughter echoed around us. I looked up toward our spectators. Gavin seemed amused by the whole situation. However, Jared appeared to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. A soft, almost sad smile lighted his lips. I wasn’t a fool. I knew Jared still carried a torch for McKenzie, even if he refused to admit it.
Justice grabbed my shirt. “Again, Dwuw, again!”
Who was I to deny the child? I lifted him up over my head, and tossed him into the water. His laughter filled the air as he came back up. The crowd clapped and cheered, calling out the boy’s name. I glanced over at McKenzie who’d floated to the back of the pool, giving space for Justice and me to play. She appeared content and relaxed. Her arms crossed over her chest, and a simple smile donned her sweet lips. I winked at her, and was instantly rewarded with a sweet blush that painted her cheeks.
“I’m out of here,” Gage snarled. He trampled over to Lindsey and Bill, who’d sat down in a couple of lounge chairs stationed by the pool. “Bill, Lindsey, thanks for dinner. As always it was wonderful.”
Lindsey stood up and hugged him. “It’s still early. Stay a little longer.”
He kissed her cheek. “I can’t. Another time.”
“We’ll see ya tomorrow.” Bill reached out and shook his hand.
With his shoulders slumped and his head down, Gage started toward the sliding door.
“Gage,” McKenzie called out.
Gage turned around at the sound of her voice. She swam to the center of the pool. Her eyes darted between me and him. He stood there, waiting for her to say something. Maybe he wanted her to ask him to stay. Maybe he wanted her to tell me to leave. Truth be told, I wanted to hear what she had to say as well. There was something between them that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
Several times she opened and closed her mouth, but after a prolonged moment she said, “Have a good night.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “Yeah. You too.” He shoved the door open and disappeared into the house.
No one said a word. No one moved; at least not until we heard the screeching of tires peeling from the driveway. The lou
d rumble of a dually engine vibrated the entire yard, shaking the wooden fence and trees.
“I should’ve known,” I groused under my breath.
“Known what?”
I glanced back at Mickie, who’d returned to her comfortable position in the pool. “Nothing.”
“No, Drew. Tell me.”
I shrugged. “That Gage was driving that jacked-up Chevy.”
“That gas-guzzlin’ piece of junk? He’s had one since high school.”
“High school, huh?” I smirked, moving close to her. This could be the answer to the questions that were plaguing me. What was really going on between McKenzie and Gage? It was obvious there was something more than a co-worker friendship. But at the same time, I knew they weren’t romantically involved. Bill would’ve warned me if they were. Besides, McKenzie wouldn’t have allowed me to get close to her if they were intimately involved.
Before I could get my answer, Cody walked up to the entrance of the pool, holding his hand out toward his son. “All right, Justice. Time to get out of the pool.”
“Five mowe minutes,” Justice demanded.
Cody clapped his fingers together, urging the boy out of the water. “Now, son. We need to get your sister and momma home.”
“Aww!” He met his father at the stairs and clambered out of the water.
Glenda appeared with a towel. “Let’s get your dried off, Little Man.”
“Eww, Gwanny, my clothes all sticky. Get ‘em off.” He tried to strip out of his clinging shirt, but Granny stopped him.
“We’ll change you when you get home. For now, let’s dry off,” she instructed the child. Granny wrapped the cotton sheath around his shoulders and rubbed her frail hands up and down his arms. He squirmed and whimpered, but adhered to her request.
McKenzie pushed off the wall and swam toward the stairs. “We should get out too,” she advised, heaving herself from the water. Placing my hands on her hips, I guided her up the stairs. Her denim skirt hung low on her waist, exposing that sweet tattoo on her back. I traced my thumb along the phoenix, enamored by the swell of her skin at my touch. McKenzie glanced over her shoulder, peering down at me as her teeth grazed over her bottom lip. “Thank you.”
I pulled myself from the water, coming face to face with her. “Anything for you.” Her eyes dropped and a tender blush painted her skin followed by a ghost of a smile. I tilted her chin up, tracing my thumb over her lips.
“We should get out of our wet clothes,” she suggested.
I gave her a crooked grin. “That idea has merit.” Her blush blossomed brighter.
“I bet I have something you can change into, Drew,” Bill assured me.
Lindsey offered us each a towel. McKenzie stepped back, accepting the cloth from her mother. She began to dry off. “Thank you, sir, but I think we’ll head out of here as well.” I accepted a towel from Lindsey, swiping it over my hair.
McKenzie jerked her head up, meeting my gaze. I again wished I had the ability to read her mind in that moment because the array of emotions she expressed both confused and excited me. “I’ll walk you out,” she declared.
Justice approached us, pushing himself between McKenzie and me. The towel dangled from his shoulders and his wild hair was practically untamable now. I looked down at the young man and smiled. “It was really nice meeting you, Justice. You be good for your Mom and Dad,” I told him.
“I will.” His towel fell to the ground, as he threw his arms around my waist. Never in my life had I been hugged so tight. The boy had the strength of two men. “Bye-bye, Dwuw.”
At first I was stunned by his affection with me. I looked for guidance from his family, but they appeared almost as shocked as I was. So, I turned to Jared. He gave me a signal to hug the boy back, to which I obeyed immediately. Happy with my returned sentiment, Justice bounded away toward his parents. Cody ruffled his hair then placed his hand on the boy’s shoulder, leading him inside.
“I’ve never seen him take to anyone so easily,” Lindsey said in awe.
“Me either,” Jackie agreed. She approached me, holding the baby close to her chest. I gulped hard; the urge to run completely overwhelmed me. “Thank you for playing with him. Most people see him for his differences, but you saw him as a person tonight. I can’t express how much that means to us.”
I blinked several times, trying my hardest to pay attention to her words rather than the sleeping baby she held. “He’s a good kid,” I muttered; my pulse racing in my ears. Even outside, the world felt as though it was collapsing in on me. Having Honor so close sent me into a tailspin of panic. My throat constricted to the point that I couldn’t breathe. I either needed to get away or find a bottle of rum.
Sensing my discomfort, Jackie studied me for a moment. Her eyes squinted in the pale light, and then moved her focus to the baby. She hummed, her mouth twitching, as she put some distance between us. The pressure on my chest eased a bit. “Well, the boys are waiting on us. We’ll see ya tomorrow.”
“You can count on it,” I replied, trying to regain my balance in the situation.
“Granny,” Jackie addressed Glenda, “you ready?”
The old woman patted Gavin on the butt. Gavin jumped in the air, his eyes wide with surprise. “Save me a dance tomorrow,” she instructed my brother.
“I, uh-” Gavin ran his fingers through his perfectly styled hair. Thanks to the amount of product in his hair and the Texas heat, his hair stuck straight in the air. I had to stifle my laugh. It didn’t help when I caught the expression on Jared’s face who was practically dying of unreleased laughter.
Glenda wobbled away from her permanent position at Gavin’s side and made her way to me. She pinched my cheek between her frail fingers. “Nice work, boy.”
I looked down at the old woman, seeing Mickie in her eyes. “You expected less of me?”
“Nope. But I know my granddaughter.” She patted my behind and tottered off behind Jackie. “See y’all tomorrow,” she shouted and waved as they disappeared into the house.
“You look relieved,” Bill said to Gavin.
“I, uh, no, sir.” Gavin turned a brilliant red, sending us into another bout of laughter.
“Don’t worry, son. The first time she met Cody; she grabbed his junk and asked him if he was fertile.”
Gavin stared at Bill, stunned. “No way!”
Lindsey nodded her head frantically. “Yes way! I’m surprised she didn’t-” Lindsey caught herself before finishing her sentence. I knew she was about to refer to me being fertile. But with Olivia in the picture, there was no question about my ability to breed.
An awkward silence filled the air. I folded my towel and placed it on the table. Lindsey grabbed me by the arm. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered to me.
I cupped the side of her face, and placed a tender kiss on her forehead. “Don’t be. No harm done.” But that was a lie. Everything that stood between McKenzie and me resurfaced. She slinked back into the shadows, reconstructing the walls I’d broken down. All our progress seemed lost.
I shook hands with Bill, thanking him for inviting us and made my way toward the house. As I entered, I heard Jared address the Evans’. “It was a lovely dinner,” he proclaimed, “Thanks for having us.”
The sliding door closed behind me. A blast of cold air from the air conditioner froze me to the bone.
“Andy.”
I turned around to find McKenzie standing with her back pressed against the sliding door, her hands flat against the glass.
“Yeah?”
Small puddles of water gathered at her feet. She pushed off the door, a visible war raged inside of her. How I wanted to take the pain away, but there was nothing I could. Olivia was pregnant, and unless a test proved otherwise, I was going to be a father.
“Um, what, uh, do you have plans for breakfast?” she struggled.
I smiled, stepping toward her. “I do now.”
She hid a smile, not meeting my eyes. “I’ll call you to finalize plans.”
/>
I patted my jeans pocket. My eyes widened at the sudden realization that my phone had been in my pocket the whole time we were in the pool. There was a bit of irony to the fact that I’d considered throwing my phone in the pool to get away from Olivia’s incessant calls. It appeared fate had temporarily taken care of that issue for me. With a bit of a struggle, I pushed my hand into the wet denim and pulled my phone out. It was soaked through and beyond dead.
“Oh, no!” she exclaimed, closing the distance between us. Her hand covered mine, turning the phone to her. The warmth of her hand felt wonderful amidst the chill of the house. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think.”
I laughed. “Don’t you worry about it. Maybe I’ll get a little peace and quiet now.”
Her steady blue eyes weighed me carefully. “You’ll need a new one.”
I cocked my head to the side, realizing what she was getting at. The last time we had a tryst in the water like this, she ended up buying me a new suit. That was not about to happen again. “Don’t even think about getting me a new phone.”
Her response came automatically. “But it’s my fault.”
“We were having fun, Mickie. It’s only a silly phone. I can get a new one tomorrow.”
“But, I...”
I placed my fingers over her lips, stopping her. “How about you tell me where to meet you in the morning.”
She wrapped her fingers around my wrist, pulling my fingers from her lips. “Andy, please, let me fix this.”
“Not going to happen, baby girl. Now tell me, where do you wish to meet?”
She released my hand with a sigh. “Meet me at my apartment. We’ll go from there.” She wrote down the address on a grocery list sheet that she pulled from the fridge and handed it to me. “I’ll make this up to you somehow.”
I held the paper up, shaking it. “You just did.”
“That’s not enough,” she whispered so softly that I almost didn’t hear her.
“It is to me,” I replied, as I gently tucked her damp hair behind her ear. She closed her eyes and leaned into my touch. All at once, the chill of the air turned warm, and electricity crackled around us. I cupped her face in my hands, brushing my thumbs along her cheekbones. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted it more than anything, but my gut told me to restrain myself.
The Certainty of Deception Page 12
