“I do. You’re so good. Want me to take you around the pool?”

  His smile brightened. “Yeah.”

  She leaned back and grabbed hold of his floatie, sailing him around toward the deep end.

  “Paddle with your arms, too, baby.”

  He slapped his little chubby arms into the water—okay, mostly into her face. But he was so cute and excited she didn’t care.

  She glanced across the pool area to see Linc tossing a ball back and forth with Cammie, the two of them engaged in animated conversation. She swore that Linc—and Cammie, for that matter—could have a conversation with a wall and talk for hours.

  After another thirty minutes of splashing around, Hazel made the kids get out. They wrapped up in towels and sat at the table having a drink. Then she took them upstairs to change into dry clothes while Linc started the grill. He made hot dogs and burgers, and Hazel fixed a fruit salad and corn on the cob.

  They feasted, and the kids ate really well. She remembered from her own childhood how swimming in the pool always worked up an appetite.

  After they ate, they took all the dogs for a walk, though Christopher got tired out halfway through and Linc had to carry him the rest of the way home. It was a good thing Linc was a strong guy, because Christopher was a tiny chunk.

  When they got home, Linc took Christopher upstairs and laid him in her bed. Cammie went up there, too, and lay down to watch a kids’ show on Hazel’s iPad, exclaiming that she was going to watch three of her favorite shows. Hazel was certain Cammie would be asleep in five minutes based on her yawns and drooping eyelids.

  She went downstairs, found Linc outside in the dark sitting in the chair with a beer in his hand. She noticed he’d put another cold beer on the table.

  “Is that one for me or did the kids terrorize you into two fisting those beers?”

  His smile was warm and gentle as he motioned to the chair next to his. “The kids didn’t terrorize me. They were awesome. The beer’s for you.”

  She grabbed the beer and opened the top, took a long swallow of the cold brew, and sighed, leaning back in the chair. “Needed that.”

  “How’s your sister?”

  “She’s okay. She had a spa day and that helped. I told her we’d keep the kids here overnight, so she got a room at a hotel for the night to clear her head—and get some distance from Sean. He’s totally freaking out that she and the kids aren’t there.”

  “Good. Maybe that’s what he needs. Though to be honest, I don’t have any idea what’s going on between them, so I probably shouldn’t comment at all.”

  “That’s okay. And you’re right. It’s exactly what he needs. He’s always treated Nat more like a babysitter slash cook slash personal errand person than a wife and equal partner in their relationship.”

  Linc frowned. “Not okay. Marriage is between two people—a partnership.” His lips curved. “My dad never made a decision without talking to Mom about it. They were a team, ya know?”

  Hazel felt his sadness in that moment. “You miss him.”

  “All the time. I wanted him to be around longer. I wasn’t always . . . When I was younger . . .” He shook his head. “It’s not important.”

  She scooted her chair closer and wrapped her arm around his. “They’re your feelings. They are important. Tell me.”

  He dragged his fingers through his hair, letting out a sigh as he did. “I was a shithead teenager, always testing my boundaries, talking back to my parents. I wanted to do what I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it. I wasn’t much for rules, and my dad and I butted heads all the time. I refused to back down, and it drove my mom crazy. My dad was always calm, trying to get me to see reason. The things I said to him—I wish I hadn’t.”

  “You were a kid. I’m sure he understood that.”

  “He did. I apologized to him over and over again when I became an adult and smartened up, but I still put him—and my mom—through hell. Even got arrested once.”

  Her brows shot up. “You got arrested?”

  “Excessive speeding.”

  “How excessive?”

  “Ninety-four in a forty-five zone. I wanted to see how far I could push it. Which was the story of my life back then.”

  “Oh, Linc.”

  “Yeah. The cop actually called my dad and told him he’d let me off with just a ticket because he could see how scared I was, but my dad said to haul my ass off to lockup and he’d come there and pick me up. It was terrifying sitting in that cell, wondering if I was going to end up staying in jail. Then my dad showed up and I was mortified and embarrassed and also more than a little scared shitless that he might just kill me.”

  “So what happened?” she asked.

  “He asked how I felt about what I had done. I told him I felt stupid. I told him I was scared and I was sorry. And then I cried in the holding cell. The other prisoners laughed at me.”

  “That must have been humiliating.”

  “It was. But I didn’t care. I’d never needed my dad more than I did at that moment. I threw my arms around him and cried. Sobbed. He hugged me. And then he bailed me out. We grew a lot closer that day. Though he did take my driving privileges away for a month.”

  Her lips curved. “You deserved it.”

  He laughed. “I really did.”

  They went silent for a few minutes, and Hazel took a breath, leaning back to take a couple of swallows of her beer. She listened to the sounds of the crickets and birds as the night took over.

  “This is nice,” she said. “Sitting here, the kids upstairs asleep. The dogs lying here at our feet, asleep. This is what I want for my life.”

  He looked over at her. “You want the dogs and your sister’s kids?”

  She laughed and shoved her shoulder against his. “No. But I want this. A life. A home. A family. The dogs. For the first time in a very long time I can clearly visualize a future for myself.”

  “And that future looks like this.”

  She inhaled, then let it out, smiling. “Yes. A lot like this. I mean, not exactly like this. More land. But definitely a pool. The dogs like the pool. The kids would like the pool.”

  “How many?”

  She looked over at him and frowned. “How many pools?”

  “No. Kids.”

  “Oh.” She shrugged. “I don’t know. Two. Three. Four.”

  He laughed. “Better get started.”

  She reared back, glaring at him. “Was that a remark about my age?”

  “Hell no. I was just . . . What I meant to say was . . .” He grimaced. “Shutting up now.”

  “Smart.” She leaned her head on his shoulder, suddenly exhausted. Linc put his arm around her and drew her close. Her eyelids felt heavy, and after a few minutes of cuddling Linc’s broad shoulder she couldn’t stay awake.

  She felt his hand smoothing down her back, which gently roused her awake.

  “Hey,” he whispered. “Let’s go to bed.”

  “Mm-hmm.” Like a zombie, she took the hand Linc offered, all the dogs following as she walked up the steps hand in hand with Linc. With her eyes barely open, she brushed her teeth and washed her face, then undressed and climbed under the covers, hardly cognizant of anything but the sound of Linc’s voice as he got all the dogs settled in their sleeping spots.

  The last thing she remembered before falling into sleep was Linc’s body pressed against hers and the rhythmic sound of his breathing.

  She smiled and drifted off.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Linc painted the guest bathroom, and placed a bigger bathtub. Yeah, it would be a good tub for the kids, or for the adults to take a good soak if they wanted. He was perusing vanities and tiles for both the floor and the wall, unable to decide which direction to go, when he looked out the window and caught sight of Hazel bringing the dogs into the backyard after a walk.

  He grinned, feeling a spike of joy as he watched her frolic around the yard with the pups. Penny chased after Hazel while she crawled around on her hands and knees in the grass with Gordon, Lilith, and Mitzi, Freddie barking and running circles around her. It was comical to watch. It also gave him a punch to the heart to see how much those dogs loved her. How much they counted on her.

  Kind of like he was starting to—

  Nope. Not going there. He went downstairs and outside, following the sounds of laughing and barking. Hazel was sitting up now, playing tug-of-war with Freddie while throwing the ball for Penny. Mitzi sat on her lap, and Lilith was chasing a very slow-moving Gordon toward the shade trees.

  “Busy?” he asked.

  She tilted her head back, offering up that thousand-watt smile. “No. I’m playing. What are you doing?”

  “Going to pick out tile and stuff for both the bathrooms. Wanna come?”

  “I’d love to.” She held her hand out and he hauled her off the ground. They corralled the dogs, which took about ten minutes because Freddie was more interested in play and Lilith wanted to be the chasee instead of the chaser, so they had to indulge. But, finally, they got all the pups into the house where copious amounts of water were imbibed and all the dogs headed upstairs for a well-deserved afternoon nap.

  Hazel had gone into the bathroom to freshen up. He stood there for a moment, admiring her in her pink underpants and white bra. Nothing memorable about either, but he was kind of into her body. Plus she had a great ass.

  But they had plans, and he was distracted by a cute ass in pink underwear, so he needed to focus. He walked into the bathroom, staring over the top of her head while he washed up and changed into a fresh shirt as she wound her hair up into a bun on top of her head.

  “How can you possibly look even prettier than normal with your hair all like . . . that?”

  She laughed and pivoted to face him. “Not a fan of buns?”

  “I like your buns.” He swept his hands around her and grabbed a handful of her sweet-ass cheeks. “The hair’s nice, too.”

  She arched against him, and his dick went instantly hard. He scooped her up and sat her on the counter, swept his hands across her neck, then grasped her nape and drew her lips to his.

  There was something about kissing Hazel that was spellbinding to him. Her taste, the intoxicating scent of her, the way her nails felt raking over his arms as he deepened the kiss, the sounds she made as he moved closer, their bodies touching as intimately as they possibly could with clothes on.

  He licked her throat while he lifted up the cups of her bra to tease and tweak her nipples. She moaned and bit the skin between his neck and shoulder, making him groan. He snaked his fingers along her ribs and down across her belly, her sexy sounds making him rock-hard and aching to be inside of her.

  He slipped his hand inside of her panties and stroked, sliding two fingers inside of her. She was hot, wet, and drove him nearly over the edge.

  “Oh no,” she whispered.

  He started to pull his hand away, but she grabbed hold of his arm, her gaze intense as she looked at him.

  “No. Don’t stop. Keep going. Right there.”

  The words “don’t stop” were like music, urging him on, giving him permission to continue to stroke her slick flesh as she writhed against his hand. And while he busied himself with trying to get her off, he had his mouth firmly glued to hers, soaking in her moans and little cries of pleasure.

  He rained kisses along her jaw to her ear, whispering, “Come on, Hazel. I know you want to come. Let me see it.”

  “Oh, God. Oh, God. Yes. Yes.”

  There it was, that moment when she hung, suspended for a fraction of a second, then let go, her entire body shaking like she was lit up by some electrical current. She rode that current for a good long minute, then relaxed against him. And by now he was so hard he felt like he might explode. He drew her underwear down and dropped his pants, reached around her into the cabinet for a condom, and as soon as it was applied, he eased into her.

  She wrapped her legs around his hips and lifted, drawing him in, allowing him to feel every part of her. And every part of her was perfect, as if she’d been made for him.

  He knew that was all bullshit and romance, but hell, that’s how he felt, and in the moment he wasn’t about to question it. He wanted to feel it—feel her—for as long as this lasted.

  She moaned against his lips and he drove in deeper. Then she lifted her gaze to his and gave him a pleading look with her bright blue eyes. He reached underneath her and brought her closer, grinding against her until he felt the way her body seemed to close around his dick. She tilted her head back and cried out.

  That was his undoing. He came with a hard shudder, gathering Hazel close to him while he rode that hot wave of bursting pleasure until he was spent and she was limp against him. He caught his breath, rubbing his hands over her back, sliding over the soft slickness of her skin.

  “I’m sweaty,” she murmured against his chest.

  “Same. How about a quick rinse-off in the shower?”

  “Sounds ideal.”

  He pulled out of her, disposed of the condom, then turned around to find Freddie lying there outside the bathroom.

  “You like to watch, huh?” he asked.

  Freddie continued to stare.

  “Kinky, dude.” He grinned and Hazel laughed. He turned on the shower. They got in and did a fast wash and rinse and hopped out, drying off.

  They got dressed, and Hazel went downstairs to get the pups some fresh water while Linc made some notes and measurements and took pictures of the upstairs guest bathroom. He met Hazel outside by the truck. She handed him a metal tumbler filled with ice water. He took several sips.

  “Thanks. I needed this.”

  “I knew you did, what with all that yelling.”

  As she climbed into the truck, he leaned over to whisper in her ear. “I wasn’t the one doing all the yelling. I believe that was you.”

  “Hmm. Maybe.” She tipped her finger under his chin, and he bent to sweep a kiss across her lips. She responded by smiling. “We could go for round two in the truck.”

  He laughed. “And I’ll never get anything accomplished today. But I am bookmarking round two for later.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  He closed the door and went around to the other side and climbed in. They drove first to the tile store. He had some ideas in mind, but he wanted a second opinion, so he gathered up the samples and set them on a table in front of Hazel.

  “These are for the shower?” she asked.

  “Yeah. Look those over and tell me what you think, and I’ll grab the ones I was considering for the floors. Be right back.”

  He found the three sets of tiles for the floor and came back, laying those out as well.

  Hazel spent about ten minutes studying all the tiles, then pushed one aside.

  “This one’s too busy for your wall and it’ll be hard to decorate around.” She studied the other two. “These are both close. I like them, but . . .” She pushed back from the table, looked again, then walked away.

  He followed her toward the front of the store where she stopped and picked up a tile. It was similar to the two finalists. A nice gray backsplash, but this one had a white slash.

  “This one’s brighter, and the gray is a bit more subtle. It’ll stand as background instead of overwhelming the space, but will wow any potential buyer. Plus it’s less expensive than the other one but still looks just as good.”

  He was impressed that she’d not only chosen a good tile, she’d also paid attention to the budget. “You’re right. It’ll look amazing in the master shower, too.”

  “Agree.”

  “Okay, then I’ll go with this one.”

  She grinned. “Perfect. Now let’s go look at those floor tiles.”

  It didn’t take her long to zero in on a muted gray with flecks of brown in the floor tile. “It’s dramatic, and it calls back to the wood flooring. I think it’ll blend well with the wall tile as well. And it’s the least costly of all three, which you wouldn’t know by looking at it.”

  Linc knew it was a sturdy tile that would stand the test of time, which was what mattered most, and Hazel was right about the design, so he agreed. “Okay, now on to the countertops for both baths?”

  “Let’s do this.”

  That turned out to be the easiest since Hazel decided white would go best so as not to mess with the other colors. They chose a nice quartz together and he went to the counter to order everything. After they checked out they headed to the kitchen and bath store.

  “This is way more fun than I thought it was going to be,” Hazel said, her eyes gleaming as they walked through the doors.

  * * *

  • • •

  They chose vanities in black for both bathrooms, though they had more drawers than he had originally intended. She hadn’t gravitated to bargain-basement stuff, but not the most expensive items, either. She stayed within his budget, and that worked for him.

  “There’s never enough bathroom storage,” she argued. “In fact, the primary bath has enough space to add a linen closet, which would be invaluable. You should do that.”

  “Where?”

  “South wall. You could place it just behind the door. It doesn’t have to be huge. It just needs to have shelves for towels and such.”

  “Okay. I see your point. Linen closet it is.”

  She grinned. “Perfect.”

  After they picked out sinks for both bathrooms, along with faucets and hardware, they decided they were hungry, so they ended up at a nearby Mexican restaurant.

  Hazel took a long swallow of her iced tea. “That was fun. Shopping for things with you. For the house. I think it’s going to look amazing when it’s finished.”

  “I think so, too. And thanks for your help. You have an eye for this kind of thing. You know, I could use an apprentice. I could finish these jobs in half the time.”