Page 63 of The Billionaire Land Baron

Chapter 16

Shelby stepped out into the sun by the pool, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world with her arm linked through Jake’s. He had pulled her in close as they left the suite and hadn’t let her go since. She caught sight of their reflection as they made their way to a cabana by the expansive pool. To anyone else who saw them, they looked like a couple. The thought made her heart speed up. Her plan was to suspend belief for the day and she planned to do just that. Tomorrow could wait with all its problems and reality checks. This day required a little mental gymnastics.

Jake led her to a cabana with deep red silk panels on four sides, pulled away on the front and held with ties. Two pool lounge chairs were in front and inside there was a larger, cushioned lounge like a bed, a table, and a few armchairs. The table held a chilled bottle of champagne with two fluted glasses, plus cold bottles of water and a tray of crackers and fruit.

“This is…wow.”

“We can lounge here or do the lazy river or just swim,” Jake said. “Your choice. It’s your day.”

“I thought it was our day,” Shelby said. “Our first date. Right?”

“Technically, yes. But this particular date centers around you.” He touched the tip of her nose when he said this, grinning. “Tell me what we’re doing. I’m all on board.”

“Let’s swim first, then do the lazy river,” Shelby said.

“Perfect.”

They left their clothes in the cabana. Maria had sent up a few extras that Shelby bet Jake requested: in addition to black heels for the cocktail dress, she sent strappy silver sandals for the blue dress, leather flip flops, sunglasses, and a sheer cover-up that she had on over the silver bathing suit. When she was getting dressed, she almost chickened out and wore the black suit that she’d had on a at the Mayor’s house, the one that Jake had already seen. The silver seemed too bold.

It's just for today,she told herself. Be bold. Tomorrow you can worry.

Now as she took off the cover-up, she caught Jake looking, but trying to not look too much. He had a way of making her feel beautiful without ogling her. She smiled. “Thanks for this suit. I really like it.”

“I like it too,” he said. “Uh, not to sound creepy. I feel a little weird complimenting you in a swimsuit. I’d like you even in a trash bag.”

She giggled. “Just stick with the compliment, City. I’m not reading into it. But I can change into a trash bag if needed. I’m sure I can find one around here somewhere…”

“Nope. Let’s stick with the suit. You’ll attract enough attention in it as is. In a trash bag I might have to fight off other would-be suitors. I’m not in the mood to share.”

Jake meant it, keeping constant physical contact. He put a hand on the small of her back as they moved from the cabana to the pool. In the water he held her hand, only letting go when he tossed her into the deep end, making her squeal. But even as she came up for air, he was back beside her, his fingertips on her shoulder. She basked in the affection and attention.

Even when he swam a few laps, he returned quickly to her side, reaching for her arm or hand. She loved the touch, but also loved watching him swim. He was clearly showing off for her. When he popped up out of the water after swimming a lap of freestyle, she could see that like her, he was longing for her approval and affection. She gave it back just as he gave, keeping a hand on his arm or standing on his feet in the water.

He let her go and swam a lap or two of butterfly, his broad shoulders and back moving powerfully through the water. When he finished, he swam to her underwater, grasping her ankles lightly before coming to the surface. Water dripped into his eyes as he smiled. He brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed her knuckles, one at a time, making her shiver even in the heat of the day.

“When did you start swimming?” she asked, feeling the need to take things back a step.

“High school. My sister Candace recommended it. She saw something in me that I didn’t. Took me a few years to get good and catch up to everyone who’d been swimming every summer forever. It’s how I was finally able to trim down.”

Trim wasn’t the word that Shelby would have used for his body, which could have been immortalized into statue form. “You have a sister?”

“Yep. She’s a few years older. Married with two little girls who have me basically wrapped around their fingers. I guess this is the time I should tell you that your competition is pretty stiff.”

Shelby giggled. She could picture Uncle Jake swinging two little girls in the air, reading bedtime stories, playing chase. In her mind the little girls had fiery red hair. He would be an amazing uncle and a great dad. Her heart beat wildly thinking this way.

She turned away from him and began to swim away. “Ready for the lazy river?”

“As you wish,” he said.

Shelby caught the Princess Bride reference but couldn’t respond to it. It was a common movie to quote. But “as you wish” was also the farm boy’s way of telling Buttercup that he loved her. Her heart was already feeling too fragile, too close to falling over the edge for something impossible.

Jake secured two clear plastic tubes for them and they joined the throng of other people floating through the lazy river path that circled the pool area. To stay together, they connected their hands, intertwining their fingers as their tubes bobbed and weaved through the low, warm water. Shelby relaxed into this feeling of being carried along, connected to Jake by their joined hands. Every so often he’d give her a yank, sending her shooting ahead, his own tube jerking a few seconds after hers. They both rested after a time, a comfortable silence settling between them. She couldn’t see his eyes under his sunglasses, but she closed hers, feeling the sun baking into her skin.

“I could get used to this,” Shelby said.

“Which part?” Jake asked. He squeezed her hand tighter.

Shelby’s stomach fluttered again, but she couldn’t locate the right words to answer. She wasn’t sure if it was because she didn’t know the answer or didn’t feel like she could say it out loud. She didn’t want to jinx the day.

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