Page 27 of Wanting Happily Ever After

“What?” she demanded. “What are you staring at?” Self-conscious, Faith wiped at a stray hair on her cheek. “What?” she demanded again.

In a quick, strong kick, Logan moved so he was directly in front of her. “Do you have any idea how incredibly sexy you look right now?” He shook his head and bit his bottom lip. “I mean, I thought that bikini was something, but damn…” He moved closer in the water, and with nowhere to go, Faith was sure he was going to kiss her.

He leaned forward, closed his eyes and—

It was Faith’s turn to splash a wave of cold water in his face before she turned, hopped back on the board, and paddled away in the opposite direction. She waited until she was far enough away to let out the breath she’d been holding. Because damn if she hadn’t wanted him to kiss her.

ChapterEight

The water was cold,but Rory didn’t seem to mind after she got over the initial shock of it. In fact, Rory loved the water. Brody couldn’t help but get caught up in the joy that the little girl got from splashing and kicking and swimming around him in circles. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled so wide or laughed so hard.

The fact that Sarah trusted him with her daughter after everything she’d been through wasn’t lost on him. It was a big deal. Averybig deal. He snuck a few glances at her when they’d first gotten in the water, but the last time he’d looked over, it looked as though Sarah had finally relaxed enough to fall asleep.

She trusted him.

That meant everything.

“Having fun, kiddo?”

Rory stopped paddling with her hands and threw them up in the air with a cheer. Water splashed over his face and Brody wiped it with a laugh.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He chuckled.

“Wow!” Rory pointed to something over Brody’s shoulder. “Can you do that?”

He turned to see what he assumed were Damon’s legs straight up in the air. Nearby, Katie laughed and shook her head at her husband’s showboating. “Do a handstand underwater?” He turned and asked Rory, who hadn’t stopped watching the feet that were now moving in a sort of mime version of walking as Damon showed off. “Totally,” Brody said with confidence. He wasn’t sure he had the upper body strength that Damon had, and he probably hadn’t done a handstand since he was a teenager, but how hard could it be? “No problem.”

“Do it!” Rory didn’t waste any time in demanding her own performance. “Please,” she added with a very strategic lower lip stuck out and a fluttering of her eyelashes. She might be only six, but she definitely had the whole girlish charms thing worked out.

“I don’t know, Rory. I promised your mom I wouldn’t let you out of my sight.” And being underwater would definitely be out of his sight.

“Please!” she pleaded. “It’ll only be a second and I’m right here. Nothing will happen. I’m not going anywhere.”

Logically, Brody knew all of that was probably true. And it wasn’t as if he were going anywhere or being negligent. He’d just pop under the water for a second. No problem. Besides, he could keep his eyes open the whole time. It really wasn’t a big deal.

“Okay,” he said. “But just for a second.” He glanced over at Damon, who now appeared to be doing some sort of synchronized leg dance with his lower half. “And I’m not doing that.”

Rory laughed, clearly pleased that she’d gotten her way.

Brody backed up a little bit, and with a big gulp of air, flipped himself forward into the water. It was trickier than he remembered, pulling his legs up straight. Of course, his legs were bigger and heavier than they’d been when he was a kid. But he managed it. And with a flash of pride, he straightened them straight up. Even under the water, he was sure he heard Rory’s squeal of pleasure with his performance. He could see her legs kicking beneath the yellow inflatable duck, and because she was so easily pleased, he decided to give her a bit of a show. With all the strength he could muster, Brody began moving his legs in what he hoped looked even half as good as Damon’s show.

He couldn’t have been under the water more than a few seconds, when he heard Rory squeal again, but this time was different. There was another pair of legs next to hers kicking under her rubber ducky, and in a flash, the remaining air in his lungs rushed out in a burst. He flipped upside down and shot out of the water directly in front of Rory.

And a very angry-looking Sarah.

“Hey.” He wiped the water from his face and slicked his hair back. “I was just—”

“You promised.” Her voice shook and she clenched her teeth together. She was only barely holding herself back from some sort of outburst. “You promised,” she said again. “Brody, youpromised.” She practically spat out the word.

“Promised what?” Confused, he shook his head. “Nothing happened, Sarah. It’s all good. Rory and I were—”

“Leaving.” She lifted her daughter out of the water and Rory squealed, but not in delight.

“No, Mom! I don’t want to go!”

“Sarah.” He took a step toward her but the look on her face stopped him. She turned to leave, holding Rory tighter as the little girl struggled in her mom’s arms. Brody was vaguely aware that people around them were starting to watch the scene, but he didn’t care. “This is crazy. We were just—”

She spun around so quickly, Brody had to take a step back to keep from falling over. “You left her, Brody! Youlefther.” Her voice wavered and Brody could see that she was on the verge of tears and she was desperately trying to hold herself together. “You promised me you wouldn’t leave her alone. Youpromised.You told me you wouldn’t let her out of your sight, Brody.”

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