Page 59 of His Promise

Is he really going to swim with us?

Colter smiles and stands from the chair. He pulls his shirt over his head, revealing carved muscle. My eyes roam the eight pack expanding over his stomach, and I don’t realize how ridiculous I look until Colter laughs.

I blink and try to recover some of my dignity by clearing my throat and meeting his eyes like I wasn’t just ogling him.

I forgot what he looked like under those suits he sports. The night we met, I was too humiliated and ashamed to appreciate his looks, but it’s coming back to me now, and my skin is flushing. The feel of him fucking me, one hand in my hair and another sinking fingers in my ass, enters my mind, and I bite my cheek to try and rid myself of it.

I want him again. So fucking bad that I hate myself for waiting this long to figure it out. Weeks’ worth of tension boils inside me all at once, and I consider asking him to put the shirt back on.

I can’t feel this way right now. Not with my kid twenty feet away.

Colter extends his hand, and I take it, letting him help me up.

“See something you like?” he whispers in my ear when I’m standing. His hand glides down my back until it’s resting on my ass, and he gives it a squeeze. I jump and my eyes dart toward the pool. The boys are far too busy playing a game to notice us, not even seeking encouragement anymore. But Ethan notices. He sits on the side of the pool across from us looking at us disapprovingly.

I swipe Colter’s hand off me and take a step away. He smirks and amusement dances in his eyes. There was a time when I would’ve hated that look, feeling mocked. But now all I can think is how sexy he looks with that dimple.

“Quit,” I say, my voice low as I peek back and forth between the boys and Colter.

He gives me a wink. “Yes, ma’am.”

He turns toward the pool, takes quick strides, and cannonballs a few feet from the boys, sending a tidal wave their way. They laugh hysterically and watch him as he surfaces.

I don’t know at what point I stopped being embarrassed about last week, but it happens. Colter hasn’t said a word about it and is acting like there hasn’t been silence between us since the night at the bar. I’m sure it’s coming. Colter isn’t the type to let me live something down, but for now, I’m enjoying myself.

Colter’s actually good with kids.

Zeke and Charlie hold their hands over their mouths and giggle as Colter weaves around the pool, his eyes closed as he tries to find them in a game of Marco Polo. Every time he gets close, he coincidentally just misses them, and the boys shoot away, obviously giving away their location with their glee.

I love every moment of it. My heart swells watching Zeke laugh, andwith a man. He’s never gotten that until Ethan, and now Colter. His father was always so serious with him, even as a toddler. He ignored Zeke the first two years of his life, I’m assuming because he didn’t have anything to shape. Zeke was always going to be a statue of a person in his father’s eyes. Wealthy, strong, powerful, just like Devin. There’s no time for play when you’re training a soldier.

Charlie cracks up and yells when Colter finally gives up the act and tags him. Zeke looks at me. “Mom, come play!”

I smile and wave a hand. “That’s okay, bub, I’m having fun watching.”

“Come on,” Colter says, hoisting himself on the edge and holding himself up by his forearms. Water drips from his hair and a mischievous smile plays on his face. “If we have four people, we can play chicken.”

“Yeah!” Charlie agrees.

“Pleeease, Mom,” Zeke whines.

My teeth sink into my bottom lip as I glance between Colter and Zeke. Zeke whines some more, and I throw up my hands.

“Okay, okay,” I say getting up. Ethan has perched himself in a chair on the opposite side of the pool, and he snickers. I throw him a teasing glare and pull the dress over my head, kicking off my heels as I do.

The look on Colter’s face is the first thing I see, probably because I’m searching for it. His eyes widen and his brows lift. He drags his eyes up and down my body like he’s surveying a Thanksgiving feast.

I pretend not to notice and trot toward the pool, trying not to shake my ass as I do. I sit on the side and then ease myself into the water.

“What?” I ask, meeting Colter’s prying eyes.

“You know what.”

My lips press together to try and mask my smile, and I turn toward the boys.

“Okay, who’s on whose shoulders?”

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