The Daughter He Wanted (23 page)

It was Saturday morning and, just like Monday through Friday, Kaylie was still sleeping. Paige, on the other hand, had forgot to turn off the alarm, and once she was awake there was no going back to sleep. She’d decided today should be a fun day—swimming at the indoor rec pool, and before she could change her mind she’d invited Alex to join them.

Just yourself. Swim trunks. I know rangers are always supposed to be prepared, but I don’t think the lifeguards would appreciate you swimming in jeans.

It was a natural progression. Meeting with Kaylie with a group of people, coming to her lesson. Their first date and now a playdate with just the three of them. Normal. And the fact that he didn’t want his in-laws at the barbecue on Sunday was understandable. Why put pressure on them when neither Alex nor Paige were positive where the personal part of their relationship was going?

She wasn’t upset, not at all. His extended family, his prerogative. That scary little voice that kept bringing his reluctance up, kept reminding her of the mistakes she made in the past, could go to hell.

You just want to see if my bottom half is as tanned as my top half, don’t you?

Paige chuckled. She did wonder, mostly because her summer tan was long gone but Alex’s was still holding on.

If I wondered about that, I’d have said to leave the trunks at home.

Too late, she realized how that sounded.

I swear I did not mean it that way.

A moment later her cell pinged and the light burn on her cheeks deepened.

You’re blushing, aren’t you?

Paige texted back a nodding head.

See you in a couple of hours. With trunks.

* * *

A
LEX WAS EARLY
. He jumped into the warm pool water and swam a lap, just to take the edge off. He needed to be relaxed. Pleasant. The Alex he’d been after another text-flirting incident with Paige.

Instead, his insides felt balled up. He couldn’t stop clenching and unclenching his fists. He shouldn’t have taken the call. When Sue and John’s home number had popped up on his caller ID Alex’s first instinct had been to ignore it. Thursday-night dinner hadn’t gone well. Sue brought food, as she always did. Food that was themed “Deanna and Alex.” Dee’s favorite veggie casserole, Alex’s favorite dessert. John watched football while Alex showed Sue the boxes of pictures he brought down from the attic. Held her hand as she cried over their vacation albums. Scolded him because he didn’t finish the projects Dee left behind.

Reminded him—over and over—that Dee had treasured her memories. Which had to mean Alex didn’t. That he was trampling all over their memories because of Kaylie. Thank God she didn’t know about Paige.

Friday morning she called in a panic because a storm blew their power and John had left for the day. Alex hurried to the farm reset breakers to find a hot breakfast on the stove and cold orange juice on the table, which would have been impossible to make. Added to that, John would never leave Sue home without power. He bit back the sharp tip of his annoyance at Sue’s manipulations and reset the breaker. Was firm when he turned down her breakfast invitation.

She turned on the waterworks a moment later, telling him how distant John had become over the past weeks. Blaming it on Alex’s absence from their lives.

John didn’t seem absent to him. They’d talked on the phone a few times. Texted when the Rams won their first game of the season. He was fine at dinner on Thursday, but Sue didn’t want to hear that and the more she carried on, the less Alex wanted to listen. He’d snapped at her, damn it, snapped when she just needed a little attention.

He swam harder, trying to push the hurt look in her eyes away with his own exhaustion, but it didn’t work. He could still hear her voice. Could still feel the pain in his chest because he didn’t want to hurt her, but he couldn’t run to her rescue every five minutes.

Not any longer.

He completed five more laps of the pool before Kaylie’s high-pitched squeal rent the air.

“Alex! Mama lost her swimsuit,” she exclaimed, kicking her flip-flops toward an empty chair as she ran across the floor.

“Walk!” Paige and Alex both exclaimed and Kaylie skidded to a stop, dropping her towel in a puddle.

“Sorry, no running. I ’member.” Her leggings and tee were next to hit the damp floor and then she fiddled with the buckle on her swim bubble.

“I didn’t lose the suit, sweetpea. I just forgot it was in the dryer. Sorry we’re late.” She picked up the towel and spread it over a nearby chair to dry before offering Alex a quick wave. “I see you’ve cleared the place for us.”

He shrugged, and just like that the annoyance at Sue was gone, replaced by Paige and Kaylie. “I have my ways.”

“I supposed you ordered up the sunny day, too, just to make sure everyone enjoyed what could be the last warm day of the year?” Paige clipped the bubble in place on Kaylie’s back and the little girl cannonballed into the pool.

“What can I say? We rangers have connections in all the right places.” Kaylie swam over to him and demanded he watch her sink under the surface and hold her breath.

Alex watched but his focus was on Paige, still sitting on the poolside bench. He sank to the bottom with Kaylie and quickly kicked to the surface. Blew the water from his nose and tried to refocus on Kaylie. But Paige still held his attention.

She sat on the bench seat, untying her shoes. Her tankini top skimmed over her flat tummy to rest just above the waistband of her jogging pants. Once her feet were bare she hooked her thumbs into the pants and pushed them over her hips, revealing a long expanse of creamy white legs, delicate knees and ankle bones his mouth begged to taste.

Alex’s mouth went dry as he watched her and the fact that she was oblivious to him made it all the more enticing. She wasn’t putting on a show, not with Kaylie in the pool. This was Paige being Paige. Natural.

Sweet.

Sexier than anything he’d seen in longer than he cared to remember.

“What did you think, Alex?” Kaylie splashed around him, having given up on him counting while she held her breath. She flicked water toward him but the water did nothing to cool his reaction to the woman across the room. Kaylie splashed again and Alex forced himself to refocus.

This day was about Kaylie, not getting wet and wild with her mother.

Well, not yet, anyway. Paige finished folding the clothes into her oversize tote and walked to the side of the pool. Her legs were firm, her toes painted a delicate pink, and for the first time she didn’t have splatters of oils or watercolors across her feet. He kind of missed those speckles of color.

She dove into the pool and surfaced a few feet away. Pushed her wet hair away from her face and joined Kaylie in splashing around the shallow end of the pool and singing silly songs. When Kaylie paddled off to push plastic boats around the ladder area Alex turned to Paige.

“You look amazing.”

She blushed. “I, uh... Thanks for coming today. Kaylie hasn’t stopped talking about swimming with you since I woke her up this morning.”

“Thanks for inviting me.” He swam closer to her and his lightly kicking feet connected with hers. Through the water he felt a burst of heat. He cut his eyes toward the lifeguard stand but the teen in the chair seemed more intent on the book in his hands than on the people in the pool. Kaylie was perfectly safe at the ladder with her bubble on. “I have this overwhelming urge to kiss you,” he said, pulling her into his arms and then kicking out of the deep end until he could set his feet on solid ground. He wrapped his arms around her waist but Paige pushed away.

“That isn’t a good idea.”

“It’s a great idea.”

She kicked away, putting a few inches of space between them. “Not with Kaylie at the other end of the pool.”

“She’s going to figure it out soon enough.”

“Figure what out?”

“That we’re dating. That we kiss like the princes and princesses in her movies.”

* * *

P
AIGE DIDN’T WANT
to be the voice of reason. Didn’t want to be the grown-up who was too old to make out at the pool.

But that was what moms did. They were the voice of reason even when it took all their strength not to reach out and touch the muscled chest of the hot guy before them.

“Even so, I’d prefer to have the conversation with her at home and not in the locker room at the rec center,” she said primly.

A devilish light came into Alex’s eyes and he swam toward her. Paige backed away but he just kept coming. She turned, put her face in the water and struck out for Kaylie’s corner of the pool, not caring if she was the prissy girl who wouldn’t kiss the guy in the pool.

She’d nearly gone up in flames when he mentioned wanting to kiss her.

Paige had the feeling if he actually followed through the heat from his touch would empty the entire pool of water. She reached Kaylie just as Alex’s hand closed around her ankle. She held on to the side, inviting Kaylie to join their game of chase. It seemed like the best option.

After all, he was chasing her.

She wasn’t opposed to him catching her, as long as it wasn’t in the pool with her daughter a few feet away. At least not just yet. Maybe when Kaylie knew everything.

Maybe when the relationship was on more solid ground and Paige could answer the questions she knew would come with certainty and not just wishful thinking.

The three of them played in the shallow end for an hour, blowing bubbles in the water, practicing Kaylie’s favorite strokes and racing the small plastic boats around the entry steps.

Paige caught Alex watching her several times and the look in his eyes wasn’t one of fun. Her toes curled when his hand innocently brushed her shoulder. Her abs tightened as the back of his hand came in contact with her belly. She fanned herself. She was burning up and it had nothing to do with the water temperature and everything to do with the man floating on his back in the deep end of the pool.

Alex worked with Kaylie on her floats and then her arm movements and the little girl ate up the attention. Paige’s heart clutched. She was a good mom, she knew that, but the more Alex was around the more obvious it was that Kaylie had missed something in her life.

No, not something. Someone.

“Kaylie, focus.” Alex’s voice brought her out of her thoughts and back to the pool. “Watch my hands, see how they turn when I point to the ceiling?” He demonstrated but Paige was more interested in her daughter than Alex’s swimming abilities.

Her daughter’s eyes were wide and attentive, but she was tired. Breathing heavily even with the bubble helping her stay afloat. She was exhausted, Paige realized. An hour in the pool was easy when you could touch the bottom but not so simple when you had to kick the entire time.

“Alex—” she began but Alex cut her off, intent on Kaylie reaching up and over in her back float with the proper form. Kaylie tried again but her little arms were too tired to hold the form and she dropped them into the water before her fingertips could point toward the ceiling. Kaylie’s face crumpled and Alex pressed his lips together in frustration.

He isn’t used to this part of it,
Paige reminded herself. He wasn’t used to the limits even rambunctious and energetic children had, not used to teaching on a toddler level rather than an adult one. Still, she couldn’t keep the frustration from her voice.

“Alex.” Finally, she caught his attention. “She’s had enough.”

He looked at Kaylie, really looked, and Paige saw his face pale when he took in the little girl’s exhaustion and the fierce glint of determination in her eyes. Paige gathered Kaylie to her, holding her up, but she kept wriggling.

“I want to try.” She repeated the words as Paige held her still. “I can do it. Just like Alex.”

He sank into the water, his arms making ripples in the waves as he reached to push a wet strand of hair off Kaylie’s face. “No, sweetpea,” he said, “you’ve tried hard enough. Let’s just have a float, no kicking.” He turned his troubled gaze to Paige and mouthed an “I’m sorry” as she floated on her back, pulling Kaylie by her little hands. Paige shook her head.

“It’s okay,” she said, reassuring him.

The three of them floated for a few minutes, meandering around the shallow end. Kaylie soon became interested in the little boats and returned to the steps to sit in the water and play. Alex took Paige’s hand.

“I wasn’t paying attention, not to what was going on. How did I not see how frustrated and tired she was?”

Paige squeezed his hand in hers. “She doesn’t let on when she’s tired. But in the end, nothing terrible happened. We took a break and we’ll try again another day. It isn’t a big deal.”

“I won’t be one of those parents.” He said the words fiercely and steely determination glinted in his gaze. “I won’t be the dad who relives his own athletic achievements through his child. You have to check me on that.” He shook his head. “No, that isn’t fair, either. I’ll check myself. Check my expectations at the door and focus on encouraging her. Like you.”

“That isn’t what she needs, though. I could probably stand a little of your intensity. You could use a little of my laid-back approach.” Paige looked to the shallow end and, seeing Kaylie was still occupied with her boats, kicked her feet to float on her back. She reached a noodle and flipped over, still floating but using the noodle to hold her weight. “We don’t have to mirror one another’s strengths. We have to be what she needs, and the kid has a talent for swimming.”

Paige realized the words weren’t just a comfort for Alex, who kept a watchful eye on Kaylie and her toys. He thought not only that he’d overstepped, but that he might have put Kaylie in danger. He hadn’t. He wouldn’t. Paige didn’t need a crystal ball to tell her that; she only had to watch him with the little girl. Wearing Paige’s apron, playing silly breakfast games. Showing her over and over, patiently for the most part, how to use her hands to swim better. Alex would never put Kaylie in danger, not on purpose.