Asia’s eyes bulged, and she pulled away from me. “I am, Daddy! I am! Can we do it now?Please?”
I turned. “Yeah, Daddy. Can we do it now?”
The second the sentence flew out of my mouth, Gavin’s eyes whipped over to mine. And the darkness that shrouded his gaze stopped my heart in my chest. His gaze wafted down my body, drinking me in as he held his daughter close.
But, when his stare found my gaze once more, I knew I was in for a hell of a night.
A hell of a beautiful night.
“Of course, we can do it now. But, we have to swim to shore. Think you can swim that far?” Gavin asked.
Asia jumped with joy. “Yes, I can! I’ve been practicing. I’m gonna go put on my floaties and bathing suit. I’ll be right back!”
And with that, she dashed off, leaving Gavin and me alone on the deck as he slowly sauntered toward me. His shadow swallowed me whole, and then he had my back pinned against the railing of the boat.
“Daddy, huh?” he asked.
I blinked. “It just—kind of came rushing out.”
His lips dipped down to my ear. “Plenty more will come rushing out tonight if you play your cards right.”
The bones evaporated from my knees. “I look forward to it, then.”
His eyes came back to mine one last time before he backed up, leaving me panting softly and wanting more of him. He winked at me then turned his back, making his way for the stairs so he could get changed. And after he came back up in nothing but his bathing suit, I had to keep myself from staring at the solid lines disappearing beyond the waist of his pants—lines that led to something I wanted to taste between my lips.
Keep it together. You two aren’t alone this weekend.
The voice in my head spoke of reason, but my thighs spoke of something much more salacious. Still, I managed to get into my two-piece bathing suit before I slathered on a bit of sunscreen. I couldn’t be too careful with my complexion, and by the time I made my way back up to the front of the yacht, I heard splashing in the water.
I peered over the edge to see Gavin and Asia already swimming to shore, with Asia splashing him every chance she got.
So, I dove in and headed after them.
Feeling the water rushing over my body cleansed me in a way I didn’t realize I had needed. Pulling myself through the oceanic expanse before I came up for air made me feel alive. Rejuvenated. As if I were getting a fresh start on my life. I swam my way to shore, riding on the backs of the rolling waves that eventually tumbled me onto the sand.
And when Gavin took my hand, he pulled me up to my feet with ease. “Come on. I pulled the cooler behind me, so we’ve got drinks and snacks along with marshmallows.”
I almost got lost in his mesmerizing stare. “I’ll go find sticks for us to put the marshmallows on.”
He grinned. “Guess I’ll start gathering firewood. Asia?”
She called out to him. “Yeah, Daddy?”
“Don’t go in beyond your knees. Eva and I have to go find stuff for the fire, okay?”
“Okay!”
I furrowed my brow with worry. “Should we take turns so someone stays with her?”
He chuckled. “Trust me, Asia won’t venture out past her ankles. She doesn’t like being in the water by herself. We’ll probably come back to a massive sandcastle. Plus, the tree line is riddled with downed trees. I don’t think we’ll have to venture that far to get what we need.”
With a nod of my head, we were off. And thirty minutes later, we had a fire going, and our first round of marshmallows were divvied out. The sun had barely begun to set as we roasted up our dessert first. And after the marshmallows were depleted, Gavin pulled out hot dogs and buns from the cooler.
Hot dogs we roasted on sticks and the buns were crisped up at the corner of the fire pit.
We ate until we could hardly move, then we started the slow journey back to the boat. Colors splashed across the sky, drawing in the nighttime as the moon soared above our heads in a foggy, almost reflective outline. Gavin helped us both back onto the boat since we were all stuffed to the brim, and after we got changed out of our wet clothes, it was time to tuck Asia in.
I swear, she was asleep before I even pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
