Page 18 of Parentmoon

Dallas pushes up on the edge of the pool, ending his refreshing dip. Water cascades down his barrel chest, highlighting the dusting of hair between his pecs and drenching his swim shorts which are Euro-style, making them form fitting like a pair of boxer briefs. On anyone else, the apparel might have looked inappropriate for his age, but Dallas wore practically-nothing very well.

The pool area is slowly filling with other couples and families. Despite the bar behind me, a quiet rustling whispers over the space as people gather in their own groups. For me, my attention can’t be pulled from the man on display by the pool’s edge.

Rudely, I snap my fingers at a nearby waiter, desperate for a second rum punch. A bucket of liquid courage is in order to manage a second night in the same house as Dallas Cole.

Dallas nears my lounger and orders the official beer of Belize. “I’ll have a Belikin, please.”

As Mario, the waiter, walks away, Dallas grabs a pool towel and wraps it around his waist, adding to the sensual novelty he is. Even terrycloth looks good on him.

“How was fishing?” I ask as he collapses into the chair beside mine.

“Fish weren’t bitin’ today.” He closes his eyes a second and I admire the profile of his face. Strong brow. Solid nose. And of course, that bristly stubble along his jaw.

“Have you always been a fisherman?”

“My dad and I used to go when I was younger.” Dallas rolls his head to look at me. “When he passed, I kept up the sport in his memory.”

The hint of Dallas as someone other than a sex god is surprising. “That’s sweet. Were you close?”

He shrugs. “As close as fathers and sons can be, I guess. It was my mama I didn’t know.”

I stare at him, absorbing that Dallas is more than Keli’s father and a wind-energy mogul.

“I was close to my dad, until he passed.” He watches me as I speak. “My mother and I haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, though, especially when I married Craig.”

When I divorced my ex, she hadn’t agreed with that decision either.

Mario returns with my rum punch and tells Dallas it will be another minute for his beer. I take a reinforcing sip as the waiter leaves us alone again.

“Michael doesn’t seem close to his father.” Dallas keeps a hesitant gaze on me, as if he’s made an assumption that is personal and might be wrong.

“He’s as close as fathers and sons can be.” Tenderly, I smile, but as soon as the words leave my mouth, I rethink my statement. “Actually, Michael has always been closer to me. I don’t like to say he’s a mama’s boy. It’s more the opposite. He’s been protective of me, so to speak, over the years. He worries about me.”

“He told me you were his hero.” Dallas’s tone softens. That Southern drawl like a single fingertip drawing a sensual line up my arm.

“Me?” I chuckle with surprise and take another sip of my drink.

“According to him, you work hard. You’ve given him all he’s ever needed.” Dallas pauses. “That kid is humble.” Reflective a second, Dallas arches a brow. “He also says you have a temper and can go from zero to sixty in a heartbeat.”

The comment reminds me of how quickly I skyrocketed last night and spewed my list of needs to Dallas. Laughing, I say, “I suppose I can. I was a tough parent at times.”

“I spoiled Keli.”

Biting my inner cheek, I hold back a negative response. “Possibly,” I say instead. “But she doesn’t come across as overly princess to me.”

Dallas eyes me, and a spark appears. “Now, you’re flattering me.”

“Well, sometimes it can appear as if you are spoiling when there is only one child.”

“Did you want more children?” His gaze doesn’t leave my face, as if he’s truly interested in my response.

The question shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. “I did, but it didn’t happen.”

Dallas turns away, not requiring further explanation from me, and closes his eyes while tipping back his head again. “I’d wanted more, too.”

His response shocks me even more. “But you didn’t marry Katherine.” The comment is once more a reminder of last night.

His lids flip open, and those steely-blues look directly at me. “No, I did not,” he firmly reinforces the fact. “She’s had four husbands and as many divorces. I didn’t need that kind of headache.”