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“Okay, Daddy.” Hudson stood up, handing the yellow duck to Lana. “Thanks for playing with me.”
“No problem, dude. See you tomorrow.” She high-fived Hudson as I gathered up his towel and goggles. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Thomas.”
“Grant. You can call me Grant.”
“Alright then, Grant. See you again soon, I hope.” She shot me a thousand-watt smile and I swallowed hard.
Lana, the too-young-for-me swim instructor, was the last thing I needed to get involved with right now. Yet she was the first woman who’d sparked my interest in a long, long time and I didn’t want to immediately shut it down.
Lana
Hudson’s dad was hot. No dad bod there. Too bad I embarrassed myself—and him—calling out the fact that he doesn’t have a wife.
Face palm. Seriously, Lana, when will you ever learn?You’d think after teaching first grade for the last six years, I’d have picked up certain social graces. But nope. I still stuck my foot in my mouth all the damn time.
“Hey, Bethany, I’m home!” I called out, slamming the screen door behind me. My sister and I shared a cute duplex a few blocks off the town square. It was tiny, but conveniently located—close to the school, the Rec Center, and the town square, with all the restaurants and shops. Plus, it only took about ten minutes to clean; a major bonus for me.
“Hey. How was work?” Bethany glanced up from her seat at the kitchen table, then stabbed a forkful of lettuce.
“Fine. Good, actually.”
“Good, huh? Sounds promising.” She waggled her eyebrows over her glasses.
My cheeks flamed, remembering Hudson’s dad.
Grant. His deep, smooth voice, those broad shoulders…
“Spill. Did you hire a hottie lifeguard? Should I come to the pool tomorrow? Wear my yellow bikini?”
“Stop!” I said, laughing. “No hottie lifeguard, sorry to disappoint.”
“Who then? You don’t blush like that for nothing.”
“If you must know,” I said, walking to the fridge and ducking in so she couldn’t see my face, “I might have come across a hot dad.”
“Oh. Nice. But a dad? Doesn’t one of those typically come with a wife? At the very least, a girlfriend?”
I groaned into the cold air. “Funny story there. So I totally blew it with him already. I assumed the nanny was the wife. To his face. Then Hudson—that’s his son—said his dad doesn’t believe in wives anymore.”
Bethany snickered. “Yeah, nice intro there.”
“Thanks, Beth, for the moral support.” I snagged a water, sitting down across from her.
“You can probably recover from that,” she said, taking another bite of salad.
“Maybe,” I said, gnawing on my bottom lip and thinking about his square jawline, that perfect amount of stubble he had going on.
“Earth to Lana,” Bethany said, elbowing me across the table. “What’s he look like?”
“I already told you—he’s hot.”
“Yeah, that’s not all that descriptive. Tall? Buff?”
“Yes and yes. Although he was wearing a dress shirt and slacks, so I couldn’t say definitively, but I’m guessing he’s fit. Tall, broad, dark hair. Like I said, hot.”
“At least you’ll have his kid in swimming lessons the rest of the summer, right?” Bethany asked, tilting her head at me.
I nodded. “Yes. I’ll probably see him again.”
