Vivian Arend - Rocky Mountain Haven

Rafe shrugged. “Fine. Do your research, and I’ll keep my mouth shut. But don’t be stupid and let it out early what you’re up to. Do me and my bones a favour.”

Gabe dropped an arm around his brother’s shoulder and gave him a squeeze. “I’ll be careful, and I’ll make sure that what we got doesn’t get lost. You can trust me.”

Another bit of gear resumed its position on the wall, and Rafe brushed his hands off with a grin. “So, now that you’re in the big-brother-talking-and-planning mode, what say you help me plot some ideas about how to get Jenna to give me a second look. Damn girl is being stubborn.”

Oh Lord. Giving advice on romancing to his little brother. Just what he wanted. “Fine. Let’s finish chores, and I’ll find you a beer at my place. We can talk all about your lousy love life and I’ll try not to laugh.”

“Fuck you,” Raphael spoke with no venom in his tone, winking to ease the sting.

They worked together easily, and Gabe smiled. Yeah, it was good to be heading down a new path, even if it wasn’t going to be an easy route.

Daniel waited by the pool doors for Beth and the boys to arrive. This was their third meeting at the pool, and he was looking forward to today’s swim.

Getting involved with Beth had pretty much worked out as he’d expected. Trying to find time to spend together with the boys around made life very difficult. Oh, the two of them had met for coffee, and he’d joined her picking up groceries. They’d even managed to “accidentally” meet while walking a few evenings. But none of these circumstances offered any real time alone, and there were only so many things they could safely talk about in public or around the kids. While he was fine with taking his time to romance the woman, they weren’t going to ever get past this stage if he didn’t do a little wrangling.

Luckily, wrangling was something he was damn good at.

Beth pulled up in her SUV. The boys poured out as soon as the lights dimmed and the engine turned off.

“Daniel! Come on, hurry, hurry.” Excited beyond belief, the three of them had enough power to drag him off his feet without even trying.

“Hey, guys, let me help your mama for a minute, then we’re good to go.” Lance eyed him as he moved forward, offering a hand to Beth. The kid watched him like a hawk around Beth, and there was no way he wanted to be explaining anything to an eight-year-old when there still wasn’t anything to explain.

“Morning, Daniel.”

He loved how she blushed. “Morning. You ready for some fun in the water?” Oh hell, he hoped so.

She gave him a suspicious look. “Come on, boys. Let’s not keep Daniel waiting.”

Inside the doors the little guys scattered, pulling off their boots and bouncing outside the change-room door like grasshoppers. Beth laughed at them, a light and rested sound, and Daniel felt something inside turn over. The draw he felt toward her wasn’t diminishing, and it wasn’t only caused by sexual frustration.

“Sleep well?” he asked softly.

She flicked a glance his direction. “Like a baby.”

They grinned at each other. He’d phoned last night and suggested he should come over. When she’d offered another excuse, he’d gotten them both off again, talking about surprising her with wild sex out behind the barn. He was getting damn good at talking dirty, but it was time for something other than climaxes in separate rooms. Separate houses.

Daniel had to adjust his stance to make room to take the pressure off his rising cock. Fuck, getting into a swimsuit was going to be dangerous.

Beth swiped the boys’ pool passes. Daniel coughed to get her attention. He leaned toward to the attendant. “You still have room in the water-games program?”

She pulled a clipboard out and checked it. “Five slots available.”

Beth frowned. “What’s that about?”

The girl perked up. “Something new we’re trying out. It’s a drop-in program, and we’ve got instructors to supervise and lead the kids through all kinds of games and activities in the pool. There’s no extra charge, and they get to try diving and water polo, and use the equipment. It’s a lot of fun.”

“Mommy, can we do that?” Bouncing bodies surrounded them, hands clutching at Beth, three sets of eyes pleading. Daniel smiled at her expression, her sheer delight at seeing the boys’ enthusiasm.

“Of course you can. If you’re old enough.” Beth turned to the counter. “Eight, seven and six. Is that okay?”

The girl nodded. “Definitely.” She held up wristbands, and three little arms shot out to get tagged. She gave instructions while she fastened them on. “You need to get changed, have a shower then join the group in the kiddie pool. That’s where you’re starting in…” she checked over her shoulder, “…ten minutes. But remember to walk on deck, right, guys?”

“Yes, ma’am!” Excitement carried in their voices.

Nathan tugged on Beth’s arm. “Are you going to play with us too, Mommy?”

“I think it’s only for big boys like you guys. I’ll take it easy in the hot tub. Is that okay?”

He squirmed with excitement. “Daniel can play with you. That way you won’t be lonely.”

Yeah, that was exactly what Daniel had in mind. He glanced up to see Beth staring back as her sons tugged her awkwardly toward the change room, her face flushed.

Daniel winked before turning to double-check. “The program runs for an hour?”

The girl behind the counter shook her head. “An hour and a half. That okay?”

“That’s just fine.” In fact, it was fucking marvellous. He slipped his shoes off at the rack and made his way down the hallway to make sure the second part of his plan would work as well. Once the boys were happy and cared for, he and Beth were going to have a little alone time.

“You planned this, didn’t you?”

“I did.” Daniel put her crutches to the side and helped her down the stairs into the hot tub.

She took another glance around the pool area. Her boys were already having a blast, screaming and yelling and doing cannonballs with the group. Daniel slipped his hand off her shoulder and tugged on her waist, drawing her to his side. There were a few other moms sitting on the deck in the plastic chairs, noses buried in books or chatting quietly together. A few smiled her direction, but no one seemed to think anything of her and Daniel sitting intimately together in the hot tub.

“I saw the notice last week when we were here, and thought it might offer a solution to our problem.”

His lips hovered over her ear, the hand at her waist rubbing the bare skin of her back. She didn’t do bikinis, not after three kids in three years. She was glad that the mess on her leg didn’t seem to bother him at all either. The scars from the car crash were beginning to fade from her leg. The scars on her heart? Maybe they were starting to go as well.

Fingers fleetingly brushed her thigh, and she took a quick breath.

“Our problem?”

“Getting alone.”

Another stroke, higher this time. She shivered in spite of the heat of the pool. “Daniel, what are you doing?”

He leaned back, resting his head on the tiles. “Trying to decide what I’m going to do to you first.” His dark grey eyes bore into her and she swallowed. Her libido kicked up a few notches.

“First? Here?” The words squeaked out of her. Oh. My. God. “ Daniel, we’re in public. We can’t…” He grabbed her foot and tugged it into his lap, rubbing her insole hard with his thumbs. “That feels good.” She adjusted her position until she sat across from him, propping her other foot on him without any hesitation.

He chuckled. “You mean I only needed to offer a massage all this time to get you into my evil clutches?”