Page 43 of The Homewrecker's Fate

“Good, then my plan is working.” Brax leaned over my body and took my lips with his. One hand held him up on the side of the lounge while the other held firmly to my protruding belly. I wore my sky-blue bikini with the tie-up straps again because I knew he loved seeing me in it, but also getting me out of it. I certainly had no complaints on either count. Unfortunately, we were down on the public beach and even though no one was around yet, I didn’t want either of us arrested for indecent exposure.

Still, Brax leaned in and gave me another kiss before sliding down onto his knees beside the lounge and dropping a kiss onto the top of my belly.

“Sweet baby J is going to be good to her mom again today, aren’t you?” Brax asked my belly. It made me giggle because my daughter reacted as if she knew he was speaking directly to her. He grinned up at me in response after she gave my belly a love tap, and settled back down.

“What the hell are you doing?” An angry man shouted from somewhere a little further down the beach. I hadn’t noticed anyone out there, but as my eyes swept over the area, I realized why. Mel and her kids were moving quickly in our direction. Rich had been following them until he saw Braxton and me. Then he stormed ahead as he shouted us down.

“Rich!” Mel called out in warning. She glanced back at me when he ignored her. “Sorry, I tried to text.”

It was only then that I realized we’d both left our cell phones back at the cabin.

“Don’t worry, I’ll run up and grab yours as soon as we get him out of our business. I know you worry about your mom not being able to get ahold of you in case something happens.”

If the man hadn’t already stolen my heart, he would have snagged another piece of it at that moment. Braxton stood and moved to the other side of the lounge I rested on. His change of position put him directly between me and Rich as he closed in on us.

“That is my baby,” Rich scolded my boyfriend as he pointed toward my belly.

“And?” Brax asked. He wasn’t about to give my ex an inch.

“You have no right,” Rich started to say.

“I have every right because whether you like it or not, Rich, I know exactly how lucky I am to be in their lives and I plan on being there for a long time to come. Forever if she’ll have me,” he tacked on. If there weren’t children present, I would jump the man’s bones for that. Of course, I would take him forever. How could I not?

“Rich, your children are watching you,” I warned. It was only then that he seemed to realize there were more people on the beach than just the three of us. “I respect the fact that you are here to spend some of their vacation time with them, but that doesn’t mean you get to intrude on my life or my time.”

“So, it’s okay to spend vacation with the rest of my family, but not me? And then you have this clown pretending he put that baby inside you.”

“That right there,” I growled as I carefully stood up with the help of Braxton’s arm to hold on to, “is why you can’t be included like everyone else. What I do and who I do it with are none of your business. I am not going to go into the reasons why that is again, especially not in front of our present company, but I will tell you this is going to stop. Brax and I will leave the beach so you can enjoy time with your kids. I suggest you make them your priority, as they should be.”

“Don’t go,” Gavin begged. “We were supposed to build the world’s best sandcastle, remember, Avi?”

“Yeah, and Brax said he’d teach me how to swim better,” Gwen pouted before she kicked sand at her dad. “You ruin everything.” She stomped her little foot in the sand and my heart sank to see that outburst. Rich didn’t even realize how much damage he was doing. He stood there and stared, slack-jawed at his daughter as Mel moved in and bent down to have a quiet word with her.

“That was not nice. I don’t care how other people behave; you do not treat people that way.”

“He was mean to Aviva and Brax. Now, they’re going away because of him.”

“Shit,” I hissed under my breath. Brax held tight around my waist for a second before releasing me to go to Gwen.

“Hey little G,” he called to her. “I can still teach you how to swim better, if you want. Why don’t you and Gav go down to the water and let us adults handle our business. Then, we’ll see how the day works out, okay?” Brax turned to Gavin then. “Can you keep an eye on your sister for a minute while we do that?”

Gavin nodded his head and then looked at me with pleading eyes that made me want to punch his father right in the dick. I smiled at the boy and hoped that conveyed the fact that I still wanted to build sandcastles with him, despite his father’s dickishness.

Once the kids were out of earshot, Rich hung his head and massaged his temples with one of his hands. “I keep fucking everything up.”

“You need to learn that you can’t have everything you want just because you want it. That’s a lesson you need to be able to teach your kids, too. I am not yours. If you and Mel want to work things out-”

“Oh hell, no! That is not what this is,” Mel cut me off to chime in. I grinned at her before turning back to Rich.

“If you are here for your kids, then be here for your kids. I am not your concern. We had a plan to spend some time together with the kids today since my mom went back home-”

It was Rich who cut me off then. “Your mom?” He questioned in a shocked tone. “I thought she never left home?”

“She didn’t until Brax convinced her to come for the week.” I huffed. “Again, that is not your-”

“Oh, so it’s okay to ask her to pick up and go somewhere when it’s Brax, but not when I asked you…” At the last minute, he seemed to realize just how stupid that argument was, and his words trailed off.

“Like I was saying, I am not your business. You’re here to be present for your children, because you certainly aren’t here at the whim of any of the adults, so go be present for your children. Stay out of my way, and we will fulfill our obligations to the kids because they don’t deserve to have their last couple days at the lake messed up with a bunch of avoidable turmoil.”

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