The Baby Pact (Babies and Billions #5) - Holly Rayner Page 0,52

that position myself. My family wanted me to stop seeing you.”

“That wasn’t something you wanted?”

“That was never something I wanted,” she said, her voice breaking slightly. “But my family told me they couldn’t accept having you in their lives. And they’re my family. I would give up anything. I would do anything.”

Zach nodded. “That’s exactly what I’ve been saying,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been feeling about our child. I know that when he or she is born, I’ll do anything to make sure that they are happy and provided for. And feeling like that makes it easy for me to understand how my father could have done what he did—even though he judged wrongly.”

Rhea nodded. “I see,” she said. “I think I’ve been too harsh with you about this.”

His heart beat faster. “Really?”

“I thought you were saying you agreed with what he had done,” she said. “I thought you were saying that if you didn’t have money today, you would be comfortable stealing from someone who did.”

“Definitely not,” Zach said. “We may not have had money, but we didn’t need a windfall. We were doing all right. I feel awful about my father’s choices. All I’m saying is that I can understand how he must have felt.”

She closed her eyes, then pushed off the patio and slipped into the water of the lagoon.

The water was so clear that Zach was able to watch her even when she was fully submerged. She swam back and forth underwater, her hair streaming out behind her and making her look like a mermaid. Then she surfaced a few feet away from him, bobbing gently, looking as comfortable in the water as she did on land.

“Are you coming in?” she asked.

Zach pulled off the pajama pants he was wearing and dropped into the lagoon in his boxers. The water was too deep to stand in, so he held on to the cement of the patio with one hand.

Rhea watched him. “What’s up?” she said. “Come over here.”

He shook his head. “I’m not the strongest swimmer.”

“Really?”

“We couldn’t afford swimming lessons when I was a kid.”

“And you never learned as an adult?”

“I was busy,” he defended himself.

“Well, come on out here,” she said. “I’ll teach you.”

He eyed her dubiously. “You’re not a teacher.”

“You’ll be fine.” She grabbed his hand and hauled him off the patio. “Come on. This is easy, I promise.”

“Easy for you to say. You’ve been doing it all your life!”

“Your instincts are right,” she said. “You’re kicking your feet. That’s what you should be doing.”

“I’m trying not to drown.”

“Okay. Here.” He felt her hand at the back of his leg. “Lie on your back on the surface of the water.”

“Do what now?”

“Come on. You have to float before you can swim. Once you can do a back float, you’ll feel comfortable enough with the water to try more complicated things.” She moved around behind him and hooked her arms beneath his. “Lean your head back on my shoulder,” she said.

Zach tried to flatten his body out. It didn’t come naturally. He kept trying to look up to see what his toes were doing.

“You’re fine,” Rhea said. “You need to trust that the water is going to hold you up. Humans are buoyant. We float naturally.”

“I’m not floating.”

“That’s because you’re not relaxing. You need to act like you’re lying in bed. Let your muscles go. Lean your head all the way back.”

“My face will go underwater.”

“No, I’ve got you,” she promised.

“Why are we doing this?”

“You wanted us to trust each other, right?” she asked. “I want to trust you, Zach. But I want you to trust me too. Show me that you do.”

Zach drew a deep breath and forced his muscles to relax. He closed his eyes and imagined he was lying on a solid surface instead of on top of the water.

Rhea’s hands slid down his back and pressed upward ever so slightly, easing him into a better position. He followed her lead, allowing his head to rest on her shoulder.

“That’s perfect,” she said quietly.

Zach turned toward her, his body moving almost automatically, without thought or design, and it seemed that she had had the same idea. Her lips met his, and as they kissed, any doubts Zach had been harboring about his ability to float drifted away. He could have floated on air in that moment.

Together, wordlessly, they made their way back to the patio. Zach climbed out of the water, reached down, caught Rhea by the hands, and pulled her straight