Eligible Ex-husband - Marie Johnston Page 0,34

me and the water. The pool’s inviting glitter takes my mind off the temperature.

“Nat,” Lancaster greets me warmly and folds me into a hug.

“Thanks for the invite.”

“When I heard you were in town, I knew both Peggy and I wouldn’t want to miss you. It was generous of your husband to fly out and humor this old guy.”

I grin, suspecting half the reason Lancaster was so insistent was because he missed the hour-long appointments and long lunches with Simon. I used to be a part of those, once upon a time.

Peggy points out the bathroom and the pool toys and it’s no time before the girls jump into the pool and happily splash around. I don’t have to be on as high alert. The pool has a wide set of stairs and a solid railing to enter and exit the shallower end.

Simon and Lancaster retreat to the grill that’s a little farther from the house but still shaded. Peggy sets out lemonade with ice and a tray of sugar cookies.

I’m about to take a seat when Peggy whips her top off to reveal a sleek black bathing suit. “I hope you plan to swim as well. It didn’t get as hot out as the weatherman predicted.”

I’d hate to know what that was. A swim sounds nice after a day of roaming the zoo. “I just might.” I packed my suit but didn’t plan to swim. I bring it as more of a precaution since Maddy’s often too short to touch the bottom, depending on the pool.

“There’s a changing room inside. Just take a right. It’s the first door past the dining room.”

I disappear inside and change and fight a case of nerves. Wrapping a towel around my waist, I head back out. Peggy’s towing Maddy on a floating lily pad and Abby’s showing Simon how she can flip in the water.

He’s grinning when he glances my way. He does a double take and his smile fades as heat infuses his dark eyes. I’m wearing a tankini. It’s nothing terribly revealing. My arms are nothing like Aleah’s carved muscle and I still have the same post-childbirth pooch that I had the last time Simon and I were intimate.

I can’t say since the last time he saw me naked because that was only a few weeks ago.

I drop the multi-colored polka dot towel across a lounge chair and step into the water. It’s cool and refreshing. Thankfully, I put my hair in a tight bun this morning, and I dip in until my chin hits the surface.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can tell Simon’s still watching me. Lancaster is talking to him while waving his grill tongs, oblivious to the lack of attention.

I cock a brow at Simon and flick my gaze to Lancaster as if to say pay attention to our host. But Simon’s eyes narrow slightly. He doubles down on his focus and my stomach flutters.

I’m not going to win in an intense stare-off with him. I turn my back and glide toward Peggy and Maddy. Abby’s swimming around them now.

Peggy releases Maddy’s lily pad to Abby and the girls play together. I stay crouched in the water next to Peggy.

“I’m sorry to hear about the divorce,” she says so only I can hear. “It’s nice to see you two can be more than civil.”

“Yeah.” It’s hard not to be way more than civil. Who knew that’d be my problem. A sigh escapes. “I wish…”

“Don’t I know it.” Peggy surreptitiously glances at Lancaster and lowers her voice even more. “I served Dan with papers. A year after we were married.”

My brows pop up. I’m friendly with the couple, but not to this level. “What happened? Or didn’t happen?”

“His life was work. I don’t even know how he found time to date me and get married. But it wasn’t two months in that I realized everything his first wife said was true.” She chuckled. “Well, not all of it, but she was justifiably angry. It was a wake-up call for me. My first marriage dissolved because my ex felt neglected. I thought he was whining. I ate a lot of humble pie and tried to force-feed it to Dan.”

“It must’ve worked.”

“No. He thought I had the problem. So I moved out.”

I could picture Peggy packing her bags, taking half the pantry and every piece of furniture she considered hers. “And that got to him.”

“No.”

I’m riveted to the story. It’s similar to my own, only Peggy and Lancaster obviously