frowned in confusion.
“I haven’t been open about…” He trailed off and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know. It’s just bugging me.”
“What could possibly change how I feel about us?” I asked.
“My background?” He phrased it as a question for some reason. “It doesn’t look good to begin with, and less so if I start dating my multimillionaire boss.”
Oh, for heaven’s sake.
I cupped his cheeks and made him face me. “Peyton, I hired you without even looking at your resumé. Do you honestly believe I give a shit about image?”
“Maybe not, but—”
“No buts.” I closed the distance and kissed him firmly. “We’ll have dinner tomorrow, just you and me. A proper date. But don’t think for a second that you need to have a fucking pedigree to date me. I’ve run away from that lifestyle once already.”
“Pedigree,” he chuckled uncomfortably.
I smiled in sympathy, seeing how much this bothered him. “I’m serious, baby. Whatever it is, I…I don’t think I will be shocked. I have my own theories already.”
He bit his lip. “About my mom?”
I nodded with a dip of my chin. “I’ve been leaning toward rehab or prison time.”
He flushed instantly and averted his gaze, and the glassiness in his eyes got caught in the reflection of the sun.
“Am I close?” I murmured.
He swallowed and nodded. “Both.”
Ah.
“Leave everything about tomorrow to me. We’ll go someplace private.” I hugged him to me and pressed my lips to his temple. “You can tell me whatever you want. It won’t change the fact that you’re mine. Okay?”
He wrapped his arms around my middle and nodded against my neck. “Yes, sir, but I’ll understand if—”
“Daddy!” Julia hollered.
“Well. She picked a good time to interrupt,” I said with another kiss to Peyton’s temple. “You were undoubtedly about to say something idiotic.”
Peyton spluttered a chuckle.
“Daddy!” Julia’s voice rose to shrill and demanding, and I turned toward her just in time to see her running off her lounger. It happened so fast, but thankfully, my instincts kicked in. Processing came later. She tumbled toward the edge and darted straight out into the water.
Peyton and I both kicked off from the bottom of the pool and dove under a fraction of a second after Cathryn bolted from the lounger with a shout.
Julia hadn’t reached the bottom yet when I grabbed on to her arm and hauled her up, and that was when my pulse skyrocketed.
She coughed and choked.
“Daddy’s got you.” I blew out a heavy breath and patted her firmly on the back. Water was coming out of her nose, and she’d probably inhaled a mouthful. I nodded to Cathryn that I had it covered; she could fuss later. “That’s good, darling. Just cough until it feels better.”
Cathryn stayed in the background with a hand on her chest.
I sat Julia down on the edge of the pool and rubbed her back. The worst seemed to be over. Good, because she was about to get an earful from me. Christ, this girl. She was too reckless.
“Better?” I brushed some water away from her face.
She coughed and nodded.
Peyton took that as a sign to move forward. He cupped her cheeks and kissed her on the forehead. “You sweet little terror, what have we said about going into the pool without asking first?”
“I have impowtant question ’bout ice cwream,” she argued in a croak.
“That doesn’t matter,” he told her. “You ask first. Unless Daddy, Cathryn, or I tell you it’s okay to jump in, you stay put.”
Or maybe I would just shut up, because Peyton was evidently handling it.
“But Daddy catches me!” she exclaimed. “He always does.”
“It’s still a rule we’ve given you,” Peyton reminded her seriously. “We follow rules, don’t we?”
I rubbed a hand over my mouth to hide my smile, and I glanced up and exchanged a look with Cathryn. She saw it too, and she grinned slightly.
“But he was right there,” Julia whined.
“And what if we hadn’t heard you?” Peyton countered. He was patient with her but didn’t let her off the hook. “A hundred things can go wrong, sweetheart. That’s why you have to wait. You have to. All right?”
“Fiiine!” She huffed and turned to me. “Tell him to stop yelling at me.”
I raised a brow at her, ticked off. “That’s not yelling. I would’ve yelled at you. You want me to do that?”
She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and shook her head. I hoped she realized there would be no turning the adults against one another.
“You’re going to bed early tonight, and