Page 76 of Accidental Fiancé

“We're gonna swim after breakfast,” she said between bites. “Will you come swimming, too?”

“Of course.” I was just happy to be invited. I made myself a plate of pancakes and sat next to Piper. Apparently, she had saved me a seat.

I knew the situation with Julian was complicated. We had some things to work through. But Piper was not one of them. I had never seriously dated a dad before. In fact, it was something I usually tried to avoid. Sitting with Piper, however, made me wonder if I had just been waiting for the right dad with the right kid to come along. We simply clicked.

After breakfast, we changed into our swimsuits and jumped in the pool for a little while. The lifeguards were already at their posts. I assumed they stayed in the pool house to be close by during the week of the party. As we began another round of Marco Polo, Piper’s cousin Sophia and the other kids joined us, their mothers close behind.

And Chloe.

But she was easy to ignore because she didn’t get in the pool, which made it feel like a safe zone. After an hour or so, though, the illusion of safety was shattered.

“What the hell?” Chloe barked as she stood and ran to meet Marcus. As he and Apollo approached, I noticed Marcus had an icepack on his face.

I couldn’t hear anything they were saying from where I stood in the pool, so I excused myself. “Piper, Sophia, I’ll catch up later.” They continued to play as I climbed out and quickly walked over to the trio.

I could see that Marcus had a black eye forming where the icepack didn’t cover. Apollo looked fine. “What happened? Is Julian okay?”

“He’s fine,” Apollo quickly replied. “Marcus had a little accident.”

“How?” Chloe demanded.

Marcus rolled his eyes at himself. “Talking shit.”

“Talk shit, get hit,” Apollo teased.

“It was Julian, wasn’t it?” she accused.

“Yeah, but?—"

She whipped around to face me, pointing against my chest. “I told you, Maggie. I fucking told you. Julian is a menace! He was in high school, and he still is now!”

“Lower your voice. His daughter is right over there.” I jerked my chin toward Piper subtly.

“You think I care? He savaged one of my boyfriends, and now, he’s going after his own cousin! She deserves to know her daddy is a monster!”

The mothers on the pool terrace had been watching our drama with rapt attention, and now the kids were too. I was not about to allow that.

I snatched a towel from a nearby lounger and wrapped it over Chloe’s back as I forced an unnatural smile onto my face and firmly gripped her shoulders. I forcibly guided her into the house, keeping my tone jovial. The guys followed us inside the lounge. “Here we go, dear, you wouldn’t want me to get all mama bear on you now, would you?”

Chloe tried to shake my grip and failed. “Let go of me!”

I waited until the door closed before I released her. My fingers nearly became cramped in the process. “Now, you’re welcome to say whatever filth you want, but you will not talk shit about Julian in front of Piper, do you understand me, Chloe?” I came in close, intentionally invading her space. “Because I want to make sure you understand exactly what I mean by that, so there isn’t any confusion.”

“Your fiancé has attacked two of my boyfriends, Maggie. I will say whatever I want?—"

I held a finger up to silence her. “Not in front of Piper, you won’t. You can either keep your mouth shut around her and swallow your pride, or you can swallow your teeth. Which will it be?”

The three of them stood there in stunned silence before Chloe scoffed a laugh, trying to deflate me like a souffle pulledfrom the oven too soon. “You’ve always been such a kidder, Maggie.”

“I’m not kidding.” I stepped even closer. This was one fight with Chloe I was not going to back down from.

“Okay, ladies,” Apollo said, cutting in. “I’ve already failed at breaking up one fight today. Don’t make it two.”

Marcus laughed, then whined, “Fuck, dude, don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”

That stole her attention and she turned to him. “Let me see.”

He lifted the icepack, and while I couldn’t tell if his nose was broken, it was certainly swollen. He’d wake up with a healthy shiner in the morning. “I’ve had worse.”

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