“No, it’s completely normal.” I grin. “What did you do today?”
Sofie sighs. “Let’s see. We baked cookies, drew approximately fifteen hundred pictures of Peppa Pig, napped, helped your mom make meat loaf for dinner, then had a big splashy bath. I also discovered I will burn cookies if your mom doesn’t remind me they’re in there and I can’t draw for shit.”
“Sounds busy.”
“Busy and a little tedious. For Mila, too,” she adds, tracing her finger over my tattoo. The casual movement sends shivers through me.
“Really? It sounds like a toddler’s dream.”
“I think she’s bored, Con,” she says softly. “Even of the beach. She’s been doin’ the same stuff for over a week now. She started getting really naughty earlier.”
I feel so damn bad she’s kept practically captive because of who I am. “We’ll figure it out this weekend, okay? Another day or two in the house won’t hurt her. We’ll go to the toy store in the morning and buy her a bunch of stuff to amaze her.”
Sofie smiles sadly. “It’s more fun with her there. She picks what she wants. It’s how Santa came last year.”
I sigh. “I’ll figure it out, all right? I promise.”
She nods. “I know you will.”
I kiss her shoulder. “Wanna go walk on the beach?”
“Romantic.”
“I’m bored.”
“Not romantic.”
“I’m tryin’ to find a balance.” I lift her up off of me and stand. “You comin’ or what?”
She glances back at the house.
“Mila will be fine. Mom will get her if she wakes up.”
“I know. I just feel bad leaving her all the time. It’s not fair.”
I take both of her hands in mine and pull her off the porch and onto the lawn. “Sofie, you did it all alone for a long time. You’re allowed to take an hour in the evening to go walk on the beach, okay? You’re allowed to hand over the responsibility sometimes.”
“I know,” she says again, this time with a quiet sigh. “I’m just . . . I’m just not used to it.”
“Well, get used to it.” I give her hands a quick tug and pull her closer to me. She looks up, I look down, and I say, “Because it’s gonna be this way from now on. There are a whole bunch of people in that house that love her.”
She nods and smiles. “She’s lucky.”
“Of course she is. She’s got you.”
Her smile grows a little. “I did all right.”
“You did and are doing all right. So for fuck’s sake, make your stubborn ass relax and come have a bit of fun, okay?”
“That doesn’t make me relax,” she says as I pull her along again. “Your idea of fun and mine are different.”
Yeah, yeah, the paragliding thing. “Oh, that’s right. You’re boring.”
“I am not!” She gasps.
I grin and tug her along the beach—sideways, not toward the water. “Then come play.”
“Conner, what are you thinkin’?”
Only a dark orange glow remains of the earlier sun, the rest of the sky an inky black, and I’d bet it’s close to ten. My grin turns mischievous, I know, and Sofie’s beautiful eyes narrow suspiciously.
“Trust me.”
“I do. And that’s the freakin’ problem,” she mumbles.
Hell, my grin just keeps on widening.
I pull us until we’re out of sight of the house but still on our part of the beach. The light really is waning now, the warm colors of the sunset giving way to the full dark of night.
I rest my hands on Sofie’s hips and step into her. Her chest is rising and falling quickly, but I can’t tell if it’s from excitement or fear.
“Skinny-dip with me,” I whisper into her ear.
“What!” she exclaims. “Conner, you’re crazy!”
I grin, my old reply to that coming to mind. “You want me to respond to that the cheesy way or not?”
“ ‘Only for you,’ ” she mimics. “No, thank you.”
“So get in the water.” I let her go and pull my shirt over my head.
Her eyes travel across my body, and she hesitates. I don’t wait for her. I pull my jeans and boxers down, leaving them in a heap in the sand. I catch her mouth dropping open just before I run into the water. Thankfully it’s still warm, and I run in until I’m waist-deep.
I dive under and pop back up, pushing my hair from my face. Sofie’s nowhere to be seen, but . . . her clothes are in a pile next to mine.
Fingers trail up the backs of my thighs and I turn just in time to see her emerge from the water. She flicks her hair away and beams, keeping her body submerged. She disappears again and swims out a little farther.
I walk out to meet her. “You did it.”
She shrugs. “It’s kind of fun.”
I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her into me. She comes effortlessly, her own arms circling mine as she stands up straight. Her bare breasts brush my chest, and the feeling of her soft, wet skin against mine gets my blood pumping.
Shit, I want her. Right now.
I run my hands down her back and my fingers brush the top of her ass. She gasps a little when I curve them over and inside her thighs, a breath away from her pussy.
“Conner, what are you doing?” she breathes.
“You’re naked and wet against me. I have a few ideas.” I run my lips down her jaw.
“Conner!” She laughs breathlessly, gripping my hair tighter.
I look into her eyes and smile, seeing the spark of Sofie back. It’s not something I can put my finger on or something I even knew was there before she left. But when she came back I knew something had been missing, and although it’s been gradually coming back over the past few weeks, it’s only fully there since we let everything off our chests.
But it’s also a spark that’s only there with me.
My spark.
My Sofie.
“Tate, you’re a fucking genius!”
I look up from the breakfast table. “Conner! Language!”
“I’m sorry!” He smacks his hand over his mouth and glances at Mila.
Luckily for him, she’s too busy feeding Bunna her banana.
“What’s going on?”
“Tate just figured it out. How we can take Mila out.” Conner’s grinning widely, excitedly.
Tate walks into the kitchen with an almost identical smile stretching across his face. “It’s simple. They all want the first public picture of her. If they don’t get it, it’s practically worthless. So all you have to do is take that power away from them.”