31 Days of Summer (31 Days #2) (34 page)

‘I’m going to miss you so much,’ I sighed as I
kissed his chubby little cheek. He lay his head on my shoulder and yawned, so I
kissed him again and carefully made my way downstairs. Dan and Mrs. McAdams
were sitting out on the decking, making the most of the sun so I went out to
join them.

‘Wow,’ Dan uttered, as he looked me up and down.

‘Hmmm, my thoughts exactly,’ I smiled as I drank
him in, dressed in a pair of smart black jeans, with a black belt and silver
buckle, with a white shirt tucked in, rolled at the sleeves and slightly undone
at the neck. He could wear a hessian sack and still look utterly gorgeous.

‘Miss Baxter, you look so pretty.’

‘Mrs. McAdams, please call me Ellie. I hope that
with me moving in soon we’ll become friends.’

‘We will be friends and may I say how happy I was
when Daniel told me his news, Ellie,’ she beamed.

‘Why can you call Ellie by the name she prefers
and not me?’ asked Dan with a shake of his head.

‘You’re paying my wages, it’s disrespectful,’ she
retorted with a stern look at him. He looked at me and sighed, making me laugh.
He could be dominant as hell with men, or with women sexually, but he was too
respectful of women to put his foot down when he was being put in his place and
I kind of loved that. ‘So, hand Master Oliver over and you go and enjoy
yourselves.’

‘He’ll need feeding anytime and he gets a bit
gassy afterwards and prefers his back to be rubbed rather than patted. He loves
being bounced and sitting in his rocker, but he needs to go down for the night
at about eight-thirty,’ I advised, as I kissed him again and lay my head gently
on top of his. Dan stood up and walked over and held out his arms.

‘Come on, let me have a second with him before we
go,’ he ordered. I nodded and reluctantly handed him over to his father.

‘Right my boy, you behave yourself and no peeing
in Mrs. McAdams face please or we’ll be having words,’ he warned with a stern
face, which just made Oliver giggle. I smiled and dabbed my eyes with a tissue.

‘He’ll be fine, Ellie. Daniel’s given me your
number if I have any problems, which I’m sure I won’t. Just go and enjoy
yourselves. You’re a young couple in love, you should be out having fun. Now
hand him over Daniel and get going.’

‘Night Oliver,’ Dan whispered and kissed the top
of his head. I did the same before he handed him over to Mrs. McAdams. ‘Right,
let’s get going,’ announced Dan and threw me over his shoulder as I shrieked in
horror and he laughed. It was one thing doing it when we were alone, but in
front of his housekeeper? She burst out laughing and Oliver started squealing
as he gurgled with delight at all the commotion.

‘Oliver Daniel Davenport,’ I scolded as I smacked
his bottom.

‘Ellie Baxter,’ he chuckled as he spanked mine,
making me gasp. Mrs. McAdams chuckled and held Oliver’s hand to wave goodbye to
me from my upside down position, as Dan started striding down towards the
boathouse.

‘Bye baby,’ I called. ‘Love you.’

‘I’m not going anywhere.’

‘I wasn’t talking to you, you …
caveman
.’

‘Chivalrous caveman, thank you.’

‘Where are we going? I didn’t even have a chance
to discuss where all the baby stuff was, I’ll need to ring her as soon as I
have a signal.’

‘No you don’t. She helped buy everything and put
it away, it’s hardly a labyrinth in his room.’

‘I miss him already,’ I sighed, as I tried to look
back up at the house, but she’d gone indoors with him.

‘Then you’ll just have to make do with me, won’t
you?’

‘I’ll never make do with you,’ I whispered
sincerely, as I tucked my hands into his back pockets and he chuckled.

‘Deja vu, Miss Baxter, deja vu.’

‘You really have the most amazing backside I’ve
ever felt,’ I observed, as his tight muscles moved beneath my palms.

‘And you often go around touching other men’s
backsides?’

‘O, didn’t your file dig up that data on me? I’ve
received many a caution for fondling men on the tube.’

‘As long as it wasn’t their tubes you were
fondling I have no problem with that.’

‘Don’t make me laugh, you’re making me dizzy as it
is. So where are we going?’

‘Not far and Mrs. McAdams knows where we are if
there’s any problems. Which there won’t be.’

‘You’re cooking me dinner in the boathouse? Crap,
I hope there’s a local delivery place for when you burn the place down.’

‘Oi,’ he laughed, as he spanked me again, making
me bite my lip as a frisson of excitement flowed through me. ‘We’re going on
the boat to the hotel. I’ve arranged a special meal for us.’

‘What have I done to deserve a special meal? And
special jewellery? My earrings are simply stunning, and my charms were so
personal and heartfelt, but you don’t have to keep buying me expensive things.’

‘I told you to accept my gifts graciously, or
would you prefer I spank you again, firmly?’

‘You
have
spanked me firmly,’ I reminded
him.

‘That was a light spank, nowhere near my idea of firm.
As for what you’ve done to deserve this, you’re the woman I love, the mother of
my child and you just agreed to move in with me, so I’m feeling … happy,’ he
added after a considered pause.

‘NO! Not …
happy?
Quick we’d better call a
paramedic, feeling happy could be disastrous to your health.’ I squealed again,
as he spanked me again with a laugh.

‘I missed this banter with you.’

‘You did? Because I rather got the impression I
infuriated you.’

‘You did, which I found really hot.’

‘Found or find?’

‘Both.’

‘Then I’d better start pissing you off and fast.’
I watched the gravel change to wood under his feet and tensed up. ‘Please don’t
carry me on the jetty.’

‘You need to learn to trust me, Ellie. I’ll never
let anything happen to you,’ he advised, as he started to make his way down it,
glimpses of the deep water showing between the gaps in the boards.

‘What if you fall, if we both fall in? Please put
me down,’ I pleaded.

‘I’ll save you, Ellie. Just like I saved you last
time, just like I’ll always save you. You and Oliver are the most important
things in my life now, I’d risk my life for the two of you over and over.’

‘I don’t want you to risk your life or mine, we
only just found each other.’

‘And we’re going to have many years together,
because I’m never letting you go,’ he announced as he grabbed my waist and
lifted me up into the air and sat me in the boat.

‘Well not letting me go didn’t last for long,’ I
uttered, as I gripped the padded seat below me.

‘Take deep breaths, you’re fine. I’ll just cast
off then put a life jacket on you, you have nothing to worry about,’ he advised
in a reassuring tone. I looked up at the clear blue sky, with the odd wispy
white cloud trailing past, anything to avoid looking at the loch below and
around us. ‘We’re going to start swimming every day while the weathers warm,
get you used to the water.’

‘Like hell we are,’ I bit back as I looked over at
him. He gripped the edge of the boat and flipped his legs over the side to jump
in, with an ease and grace you wouldn’t expect of a man that tall. When he put
his mirrored shades on I felt my heart flutter, I was so in love with him. He
approached me with a bright orange life vest and started to do it up around me.

‘You live surrounded by water, you need to learn
to swim. I’m not going to let you be afraid for ever, Ellie. You’ll do as
you’re told and I’ll be right at your side.’

‘Think again, I’m
not
going swimming.’

‘Yes you are, end of discussion.’ He grabbed my
hand and tugged me to the front of the boat and sat me down in the leather
passenger bucket seat.

‘No. You don’t get to tell me what to do or that
discussions are over,’ I advised him with a glare, as he flipped a switch and
the engine roared to life.

‘I’m not arguing with you when we’re about to go
out on a date, but if you think you’re getting out of it tomorrow you don’t
know me very well.’

‘And you obviously don’t know me, because I won’t
be bullied.’

‘Bullied?’ he laughed, as he turned the wheel and
opened the throttle and I shot back in my seat as the boat shot forwards,
skimming across the water.

‘Slow down,’ I called, as I clung onto the edges
of the chair and watched him standing, looking over the glass windscreen with
the breeze ruffling his hair. He didn’t seem to have heard me, either that or
he was ignoring me, or the noise of the engine and wind was too strong. ‘SLOW
DOWN,’ I yelled.

‘This is slow, any slower we’d be going backwards,
baby,’ he yelled. I closed my eyes and practiced deep breathing. I’d have felt
safer in his bloody bouncy tin can on wheels than this damn … miniature …
Titanic
.
‘Open your eyes, you’ll never get over your fear if you refuse to look, or
try.’

‘Don’t even think about lecturing me on dealing
with issues, Mr. Complex,’ I retorted.

‘I don’t want to argue, open your eyes for me. I
promised to take care of you and I don’t like it when people doubt my word.’

‘You’re such a control freak,’ I shouted as I did
what I was told.

‘Name a time I have any damn control around you?’
he shot back. ‘I’m on the verge of blowing off dinner and dragging you down
into that cabin and fucking you to reclaim my manhood.’

‘You’re in full control of your manhood, just
don’t think you can control me whenever you want. I told you I’m fine being
bossed about in the bedroom, but you won’t get away with it all the time out of
it.’

‘Then I’ll just keep you chained to the bed,’ he
grinned, as he flicked a glance my way. I stuck my tongue out at him. He held
out his hand to me and I quickly took it as he squeezed it tightly and
continued to steer with his right hand. Just having even part of his body
touching mine reassured me, though it did nothing for my racing heart. I kept
my eyes on the landscape rather than the water and it wasn’t long before I saw
the hotel up in front of us.

‘We’re eating at your hotel?’

‘Yes. I figured you wouldn’t want to be too far
away for your first time apart from him and they do amazing food. I need to let
go now to steer us up to the jetty, are you ok?’

‘I will be,’ I nodded, determined I wasn’t going
to be this weak woman who always needed him to hold my hand when I was scared.
He slowly let go and gave me a smile as he worked the boat controls, but
instead of pulling up at the main hotel jetty, he headed towards a small cabin
with decking that overhung the water. I looked up at him confused.

‘Private dining,’ he advised, as he expertly
pulled up alongside and cut the engines, before leaping out. I watched him knot
the ropes with the skill of a seasoned trawler man, as I undid my life jacket
and tucked it down the side of my seat. ‘Come on then, your caveman wants to
manhandle you out of the boat and into the building.’

‘Can he be a sophisticated caveman as I went with
the whole “accessible” instruction and don’t want other diners getting a glimpse
of my pussy thank you.’

‘Private dining as in private, no one else, just
you and me,’ he confirmed, as he gently lifted me out and placed me down on the
wooden planks next to him, then took my hand and led me along the jetty and up
the steps onto the decking.

‘O my God,’ I gasped. The glass doors had been
pushed right back and I was looking into a cabin that had been painted totally
in white, just like the boathouse and had tones of silver and gold throughout
in the modern artwork, candelabras and the stunning crystal chandeliers hanging
from the ceiling. There was a grey stone wall to the right which housed the
magnificent fireplace, which had been filled with flickering candles. Right in
the centre of the room, positioned just in front of the sliding doors was a
table for two with a large silver vase full of multi-coloured gerbera’s, my
absolute favourite flowers. ‘This is stunning, Dan.’

‘Thank you,’ he smiled as he pulled out a chair
for me and let me take my place, then flicked out my napkin over my lap and
kissed me, before sitting next to me and taking my hand again. ‘It used to be
more rustic, all natural wood, but you loved the boathouse so much, I had this
done up as well. It’s a really popular wedding venue.’

‘I can imagine, I mean look at that view up the
loch with the mountains, it’s just stunning.’

‘You know my lawyer’s son got married here, last
Christmas. I owed his dad a favour, so while Mr. and Mrs. McAdams were on
holiday I let them stay in the boathouse and ferried them there the night of their
honeymoon and back here on Christmas day to meet their family. I thought I’d
felt low before, but that was probably the worst day I’d ever experienced. They
looked so happy it just made me feel all the more alone. She was so kind to me,
insisting that I join them for Christmas dinner rather than be on my own. She
reminded me of you, how you’d have done the same, because you have the most
incredible heart, Ellie Baxter.’ He held my gaze, his green eyes merging with
mine as I blushed.

‘Are you getting all romantic on me?’ I whispered
as my heart fluttered again.

‘I’m trying, I have a lot to learn when it comes
to romance, so you may need to guide me.’

‘You’re doing pretty well so far, with my
beautiful dress and shoes and stunning jewellery, but just sitting here with
you, with such an amazing view is romantic, you don’t need to buy me gifts.’

‘And you don’t need to keep telling me that, I do
it because I want to, because I can. I wanted to get you the matching necklace
too, but I didn’t want you to feel obliged to wear it, as I know how important
this is to you,’ he advised, as he lifted his free hand and caressed my locket
between his finger and thumb. ‘So did you finally fill that empty side with a
picture of Oliver? Your someone special and deserving?’