“Of course.” I glanced at Allie, as a parent this time. “That okay with you?”
She shifted gears just as quickly. “Only if you let me buy. I still owe you for the drinks and ice.”
“Good luck paying me back,” I said.
Allie raised an eyebrow. The hairs were fine and light brown, but my brain didn’t stop there. I wondered about the rest of her, of course. Her swimsuit was modest enough, but I didn’t think she wore her bush au naturel, unless she was one of those women with sparse pubic hair to begin with. So, did she trim the sides? Shave completely? Wax? Something else?
All of a sudden she laughed, low and throaty.
“Yeah, I gotta stop that,” I said.
“Stop what?” she asked disingenuously.
“Like you don’t know. You’re as bad as Christy.”
“You said that already.”
“Mmm.” I decided to change the subject to something safe. “Is cheese pizza okay? For the kids, I mean.”
“Sure, or pepperoni.”
I nodded, and we walked around the pool toward the breakfast patio. The sun was still a couple of hours away from the horizon, although the house itself shaded this side of the pool. The air wasn’t any cooler, but at least we could pretend.
“What about you?” I asked Allie. “What kind do you like?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Whatever I want?”
She heard the leer in my voice and laughed, “Pizza!”
So much for parental, I sighed. “What can I say? It was worth a try.”
I spread my towel on the chair and sat. My dick hadn’t returned to normal, but it had softened to the point where it wasn’t so obvious. Allie sat as well, and her towel parted when she crossed her legs. The movement drew my eyes to a tanned stretch of thigh. Then I scanned upward, to her stiff nipples. She looked as sexy as ever, although she arched an eyebrow at my lingering gaze.
“Sorry. I’ll stop.”
“It’s okay.” She smiled. “In fact, it’s nice to be noticed for a change.”
“Oh, I don’t think you’re in danger of not being noticed any time soon.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“Probably. Anyway, pizza. What do you like?”
“Whatever you normally get.”
“Veggie deluxe?”
“I thought Christy liked meat.”
“Not that kind,” I said without missing a beat. “What about you?”
“I like both kinds.”
“Oh, boy. We have to stop.”
“You’re right,” she laughed. “Sorry. I’ll behave.”
“Me too. Anyway, Giorgio’s has a pretty good special. It’s a bit of everything, including meat.”
“Perfect.”
I grabbed my cell phone from the table, flipped it open, and scrolled through my contacts. Then I hit the button to dial the restaurant. A girl answered and took our order—two cheese, one pepperoni, and one special—while Allie nodded along.
“About forty-five minutes,” I told her when I hung up. Then I called across the pool and repeated it for the girls’ benefit. “Hey, Em?” I added. “Do you need a snack before then?”
She thought about it but then glanced at the other girls and shook her head.
“Maybe yes?” I suggested. “A shake, at least?”
“I’m fine.”
“Five two,” I reminded her.
“Oh, all right.” She climbed out of the pool and found her towel.
Spike and Buck thought she wanted to play. They trotted around the pool and jostled for attention until Emily scratched their heads. Then Molly rose from her own patch of shade and moved to Emily’s side.
Spike was the alpha and larger than Molly, but he knew better than to come between her and Emily. Instead, he decided to check out the landscaping by the pool house. Buck followed, in case someone over there wanted to play.
I watched them go and couldn’t help but chuckle. Poor Spike had learned his lesson the hard way. Molly had only bitten him once, years ago, but he’d needed stitches and had had to wear one of those plastic cones for a week. These days, he gave her a wide berth when she was guarding her human.
The human in question wrapped her towel around her small body and sank to her knees to give Molly a hug. Then she stood and walked behind the rocks that formed the waterfall. She was short enough that they hid her entirely, although she appeared a moment later with the cream-colored dog at her side.
I watched them both and felt a pang of love. Emily already had Christy’s natural grace, plus her hair, complexion, and supercharged metabolism. Christy’s parents and brothers all swore that Emily was a little Birdy, and I couldn’t really argue.
“Five two?” Allie wondered.
“What? Oh. Emily wants to be a pilot. In the Navy. She needs to be at least 5’2”.”
“Ah.”
“Do you need anything?” Emily asked as she approached us. “Something to drink?”
I glanced at Allie. “Snapple?”
“Sure.”
“Two Snapples,” Emily said. “Coming right up.”
“Thanks, sweetie.”
She and Molly returned with a couple of bottles and a can of Boost.
I nodded at the protein shake. “Much better.”
“I know. Thanks for reminding me.”
She set our drinks on the table and shook the can as she walked around the pool. Susie and the other girls had finally decided they’d had enough swimming for one day, so they’d pulled several lounge chairs together and were enjoying the late afternoon sun. Emily sat demurely on the end of the chair where Madison half-reclined in a gangly sprawl of arms and legs.
“She’s so mature,” Allie said about Emily. “I keep hoping she’ll rub off on Maddy, but…”
“Kids mature at different times,” I said. “Besides, Em’s mature for a different reason, a not-so-good one.”
“Ah, right,” Allie agreed. Then she turned thoughtful. “Did it really affect her that much? I mean, she was… what… eight or nine when Christy went to treatment?”
“Nine,” I confirmed. “But it was bad for a couple of years before that. It affected all of us, just in different ways.”
“I know, but— Sorry,” she said abruptly. “We can talk about something else.”
“No, it’s okay.”
Allie sat back and shook her head in mild disbelief. “I still can’t understand how she hid it all those years. I mean, I saw her almost every day, and I never realized…”
“She hid it from me too. That’s what alcoholics do.”
“I guess you’re right. I’m glad she’s better now, though.”
“Me too.”
“Sorry,” Allie repeated after a moment. “I didn’t mean to get so serious. Let’s talk about something else.”
“Sure. Anything in particular?”
“Yes, actually. How much would it cost to design a place like this? Just the house,” she added quickly. “I don’t think I can afford the rest.”
“Well,” I said slowly, “the design would be free. The rest depends on what you want. Why do you ask?”
“Long story. The short version is that I’m ready for something new.”
“Ah. Okay,” I said diplomatically. “Well, in that case…”
* * *
Mark called before the pizzas arrived. His clients had agreed to the lease and taken him for drinks.
“Now they’ve invited me to dinner,” he explained. “It’ll probably be late when we finish. Would you mind if McKenna spends the night?”
“Sure, no problem.”
“Thanks, man. I’ll pick her up tomorrow. Is ten o’clock too late?”
“That’s fine.”
“Leah wanted to talk to her tonight.”
“Have her call my cell,” I volunteered.
“Awesome. Thanks again, man. I owe you, big time.”
I heard a car door in the driveway at the same time as someone said something to Mark in the background.
“Hey, I’d better let you go,” he said. “Tell Mac I love her. And her mom’ll call before bed.”
“Will do.”
We said goodbye and hung up.
“Be right back,” I said to Allie. Then I called across the pool, “Girls! Pizza’s here!”