It was peaceful sitting here. How many times had she watched her brothers or sisters in the tub? Too many to count.
Bella plucked Drew from the water and wrapped him in a thick towel. Cuddling him against her, she turned toward the door and spied Blake. How long had he been standing there? He’d showered but hadn’t taken time to dry his hair. It had a tendency to curl when it was wet. The sight struck her as adorable, a ridiculous term to use for someone as vigorous and masculine as Blake.
“I’m sorry Drew’s bath took so long.” She stumbled over her apology, thrown off balance by his clean scent and penetrating regard. “Give me a second to get him dressed for your lunch with Victoria. Is she still here or are you picking her up?”
“Neither.”
He continued to loom in the doorway, barring her way. Butterflies swirled in her midsection at the way he overpowered the generous space with his strong personality and commanding form.
“But I thought...?”
Blake hooked his free hand around her neck and drew her close. Bella was too startled to avoid the lips that came down to claim hers. Hard and demanding, the kiss stole her breath. She had no choice but to yield to the hunger that surged through her. He devoured her in slow, deliberate strokes of his tongue and lips.
She murmured in protest as he eased back, but the sound of Drew’s babbling reached through the fog of passion that held her enthralled. She twisted away from his kiss.
“Blake.” Her fingers clutched Drew’s towel. “You have to stop doing that.”
“I like doing that.” His voice was flat and emotionless. “I think you do, too.”
She refused to respond to the challenge in his eyes. “We can’t.” She took a hurried step back when she realized her close proximity might be misconstrued as further invitation.
“You were singing a different tune half an hour ago.” He kept his hands to himself, but his hot gaze was just as devastating to her willpower.
“I haven’t been thinking straight for the past twenty-four hours.” Seeing that he wasn’t buying her explanation, Bella hurried on. “You have no idea how charming you can be.”
“I know exactly how charming I can be, but you can’t seriously expect me to believe that’s why you slept with me.”
“I’m attracted to you.” Bella gave him a one-shoulder shrug, but wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I won’t deny I wanted you. But after some more soul-searching, I realized the two of us engaging in a casual romp is just ridiculous.”
“And naturally this has nothing to do with Victoria showing up here today? What did she say to you?”
“She wants you back.” The breath Bella gathered was less steady than she would have wanted. “You, her and Drew are a family. I think you owe it to yourself to give it another try with her.”
“The three of us are not a family. She left us.” The way his own mother had left him.
Bella winced. Convincing Blake he was better off with his ex-wife wasn’t going to be easy. “And she regrets that.”
“Is that what she told you?”
“Yes.”
“What else did she say?”
Here’s where she had not wanted to go. “I told Victoria—and I’m going to tell you—I don’t want to be involved in whatever’s going on between you two.”
“There’s nothing going on.”
“I don’t think your ex-wife sees it that way.”
“I don’t care which way she sees it. The reality is she’s not willing to give up her career to be a mother to Drew.”
“Does she have to? Can’t she do both?”
Victoria had been right about Blake’s expectations. He wanted his wife to surrender everything she was in order to be Drew’s mother. It was one thing if a woman wanted to put her family first, the way that Bella’s mother had. It was something else for a man to insist that she do it.
“Her career isn’t something that Vicky can do halfway. With her last play, I was lucky if she was home before ten at night. And that was before the play opened. She spent at most an hour or two with Drew a week.”
“I would have made a rotten marriage counselor,” Bella grumbled, beginning to see Blake’s point. Both he and Victoria had valid issues. Irreconcilable differences had caused their marriage to end. “Maybe you two can find a way to compromise. Figure out some middle ground.”
“She came by today to tell me she has an audition for a television series in Los Angeles. How are we supposed to be a family if we’re on two different coasts?”
“She invited you to lunch. Why not go and hear her out?”
“Because I already have a date with you.”
At the word date a sensation lanced along Bella’s nerve endings. Excitement? Anxiety? Her emotions were too scrambled for her to distinguish one from the other. The last thing she needed right now was to be seen in public lunching with Blake. How was she supposed to keep Victoria from getting the wrong idea once the gossip began to spread?
“I know I agreed earlier to have lunch with you and Drew, but maybe it’s not such a good idea for us to be seen together like that? People might get the wrong impression.”
“People in general?” he echoed. “Or someone in particular?”
She had no intention of answering him. “Won’t it look odd for you to be seen lunching with the help?”
His mouth twisted with displeasure. “Is it really my reputation you’re worried about, or is it yours?”
“Mine.” The instant the admission left her lips, she wished it back. “You probably think it’s dumb that I value my privacy, but after growing up in a small town where everyone knew your business and having to share a house with seven nosy siblings, I’ve discovered that being anonymous is one of my favorite things about living in New York City.”
Blake regarded her for a long, silent moment before nodding. “Fine. We’ll drive up the coast to a little out-of-the-way place I know. The food is terrific and you won’t have to worry about anyone spotting you with me. Happy?” He sounded anything but.
“Delirious.” She gave the word the same sarcastic spin he’d used, but her insides were dancing with joy. “Give me ten minutes to shower and get dressed.”
“Take twenty. I’ll dress Drew and meet you downstairs.”
* * *
The second half of June vanished before Blake could tear himself away from East Hampton and return to New York City. He, Drew and Bella had settled into a nice routine.
They ran five miles before breakfast, ate eggs or pancakes, then Bella and Drew went to the beach while Blake worked in his office. They reconnected for lunch and while Drew napped, Blake discovered all sorts of new and interesting ways to make Bella moan. She had a delightful range of impassioned sounds and he was happy cataloging each one.
Once Drew woke, he and Bella would go for a swim and then play until dinner while Blake made calls to New York. They almost never went out. The beach house had become a cozy world for just the three of them. Leaving it would mean confronting reality. And Blake was certain neither he nor Bella wanted to do that.
He suspected his friends were wondering if he’d ever stop turning down invitations. He had little trouble imagining the gossip being exchanged over drinks at the club or shopping in town. His divorce from Vicky had been fast and quiet. He’d kept the reasons for it private, but something as juicy as Victoria