Page 121 of No Place Like Home

“You have to stay where we are, okay?” Jess pointed her finger at me.

Quinn smiled and nodded.

Removing my shirt, I began to walk toward the shoreline.

“Go ahead. I’ll get changed. I knew she would want to jump in the water as soon as we got here. That’s why it took a bit to get here.”

“Yeah, the bathroom is on—“

“Quincy, I know,” she mumbled.

I gave her a tight-lipped smile. Of course she knew. Three years ago, I’d fucked her in that house. Just the memory of it had desire coursing through my veins. That all went away the moment I heard little feet hit the water.

“Hey, little mamas, be careful,” I told Quinn as I came to stand next to her.

“I’m not a mommy,” she told me with furrowed brows before she began to splash the water with her hands.

“I know.” I couldn’t help but grin back. I extended my hand to her. “It’s always better to go all-in than little by little.”

“Moma says past knees no-no.”

I could have watched her talk for hours. Everything she did, I was trying to commit to memory.

“But you're with me. Come on, little mama. Grab my hand.”

When she did, I fought the urge to cry like a fucking baby. My daughter—my little girl—was holding on to my hand and I was trying so hard not to pick her up and smother her with kisses.

“It’s cold.” She giggled.

Her hand was still in mine, and fuck, this was the best feeling in the world. Better than any damn ring.

“You ready, little mamas?”

She smiled at me as I picked her up and hugged her to me in a way I knew she wouldn't begin to understand, and I started running into the water until we were both fully submerged.

“I’m a mermaid.” Her little legs started hitting my abs as she moved, then her arms splashed water around us.

After that, I put her on her belly and glided her through the water.

“Mommy!” she yelled excitedly.

My head swung to where she was looking, and I saw Jess coming out of the house. Damn, she was fucking beautiful. Her bathing suit matched Quinny, and I liked that. Liked that she was obviously a good mother. Not that I would have ever doubted her. Not after what she did for her own sister. As Jess got closer, I could see the difference between the woman I’d known and the one before me now. The changes I saw in her body, I fucking liked and I wouldn’t have minded getting reacquainted with them.

I needed to get my shit together before I popped a boner in front of my daughter.

Jess joined us and the three of us played in the water. As a man who at one point had gotten it all, the sexiest thing I had ever seen was the woman I was in love with being a good mother to my child.

When the sun started to set, I knew I never wanted the days like this to end.

“Come on, baby. It’s getting cold,” Jess told Quinn as she began to try and pull her out of the water.

“Me no cold,” Quinn told her, even though we could see her beginning to shiver.

I picked Quinn up in my arms, and she giggled as I walked out after Jess. I didn’t want them to leave, and playing dirty didn’t seem like it mattered at a time like this.

“How about you guys sleep over and we can swim in the morning again?”

“Yes! Stay with Q.”

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