Page 39 of Connected By Love
“Thank you. I’m glad I wore a one-piece because Max has had me jumping off the side for about an hour now,” she softly laughs.
“He will go on for hours if you let him,” I chuckle. “Was he good for you in school today?”
“He’s always good,” she smiles at the back of his head as he goes down for another dive. “He’s smart, too. He’s blowing through the sight words. He’ll be reading books in no time.”
“Well, he does have the best teacher in the whole wide world.” I grin at Max’s words.
“And the best dad in the whole wide world. Just don’t tell him I said that. He’s good at too many things, and we wouldn’t want him to get a bigger head.”
“The whole wide world? He must have left a good impression on the teacher.”
“He’s definitely in the top five.” My eyes narrow at her words, and she laughs.
“You will pay for that.” I run and cannonball right next to her, splashing water everywhere. Max starts laughing at the waves coming at him on the other side of the pool.
“I can’t believe you just did that,” she laughs, wiping water from her eyes.
“Want to change your answer?”
“No, top five is good,” her eyes light up with laughter.
“You really should have changed it.” I swim over to her, and she shrieks as I lift her over my shoulder before dropping her in the deep end.
“My turn, Daddy!” Max swims over, and I throw him next to Sophia, splashing her again.
“You are so going to get it,” she laughs.
“I look forward to it.” My eyes light with excitement as I glance down at her lips. It’s harder than I thought it was going to be to keep my hands off of her in front of Max. She licks her lip, and my eyes shoot up to hers. I swim over to her and stop just inches from her. I can see Max playing with his submarine over on the stairs.
“Do you have any idea how bad I want to fucking kiss you right now?” I keep my voice low so Max can’t hear.
I see her swallow before she glances down at my lips and meets my eyes again. “Probably just as much as I want you to kiss me,” she admits softly.
Groaning, I rub my hands over my face and try to keep it together for my son. He does not need to see his dad maul his teacher.
“I should probably go,” she says, glancing at Max on the stairs. “I didn’t even mean to be in the pool when you got home. I lost track of time, and I know you still have to get him dinner and ready for bed.”
She starts to move towards the stairs, and I grab her hand underwater. Our fingers dance together briefly, both of us just needing contact. I reluctantly let go and follow her up the stairs. Grabbing a towel out of the basket by the door, I hand it to her while I get one for Max.
“Time to get out of the pool, buddy. I need to make you some dinner.” I wrap Max in a towel before drying myself off.
“Are you staying for dinner, Miss Lane? It’s spaghetti night, and Dad makes the best spaghetti and meatballs.” She glances at me before looking down at Max.
“I should probably get going. I’ve already stayed longer than I normally do.”
“Dad doesn’t care. Do you, Dad?” Max looks at me with hope in his eyes. “Miss Lane can stay, can’t she?”
I meet Sophia’s eyes, and I know she’s leaving it up to me to set the boundaries with Max. I’m sure dinner won’t hurt. It’s not the norm with teachers, but neither is babysitting and playing in the pool. I think it’s safe to say we’ve already crossed some lines.
“We would love to have you for dinner if you don’t have any other plans.”
“Yay! I’m going to go get dressed. Be right back!” Max runs into the house, and Sophia turns to me.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to overstep. I know you wanted to take things slow with Max, and I’m okay with that.”
I walk over to her until we are inches apart. “I’m sure. It seems you have both of us Montgomery boys under your spell. Neither one of us wants to let you go.”
“I think it’s me who’s under the spell. Both of you are very hard to say no to.”
