Page 70 of While We Waited

Her smile lights up her face. “You do?”

“A little girl who has your eyes and your smile. She’ll be beautiful the way her mother is.”

She rolls her eyes. “I’m not beautiful. Chloe’s the beautiful one.”

“Disagree. You’re beautiful.”

Her cheeks flush. I need to call her beautiful more often if this is the way she looks when I do. I lean down to kiss her. I miss her taste.

Her eyes catch on my mouth and she bites her bottom lip. It’s an invitation I can’t refuse.

My mouth is nearly on hers when the door bangs open and the waitress walks in. “Oops. Sorry.”

“You can pick this up in the morning,” I growl at her.

She hurries outside but it’s too late. The moment has passed.

“Last one in the pool’s a rotten egg!” Nova shouts before doing a cannonball into the pool. Water splashes everywhere.

“What are you waiting for?” she asks when she surfaces. “Do you enjoy being a rotten egg?”

She swims closer and splashes me. “Is Mr. Big Shot Football Player afraid of the water?”

I whip off my belt and her eyes follow the motion. My cock twitches but I warn it to calm down. Nova’s interested but she’s also wary. I don’t want to push too hard too soon. The next time I sink into her, I want her one-hundred percent behind our relationship. Not hesitant.

“I’ll have you know I grew up on an island.”

“You did? I didn’t know Double Crown grew up on an island.”

Double Crown? She knows how much I hate the nickname. I’ll get her back for teasing me. I pull off my t-shirt before kicking off my shoes and letting my pants drop to the ground. Her eyes travel over my body.

“Do you want me to turn around?”

Her gaze lifts to my face at my question. “Turn around?”

“To give you a better view.”

She swallows. But my girl doesn’t give in. She never does. She’s a survivor.

“You’re stalling. You’re afraid of the water.”

She splashes me again and I leap into the pool. I land next to her.

“Who’s afraid now?” I ask.

“I’m not afraid. I was in the water long before you, chicken pants.”

“Chicken pants?”

She shrugs. “If the scrawny legs fit.”

“My legs are scrawny?”

I swim to her and she retreats as she splashes.

“Stick legs is what I’ve heard people call them.” She giggles at her own joke.

And I’m done. I lunge for her and catch her before she has the chance to get away. She giggles as she splashes more water at me. I tighten my arms around her and do what I’ve wanted to do since the second she walked into the living room wearing those sexy sandals.

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