Eligible Ex-husband - Marie Johnston Page 0,61
maybe bunk beds with the girls.
But Simon’s clients aren’t broke and if they buy a cabin, it’s a home away from home, a two-story place that’s fancier than the two-bedroom house we rented right out of college. Rocks decorate the front face of the building, and it’s made of logs, but it’s decadent with more than the comforts of home, like the hot tub on the back deck and the fire pit with log furniture in the back yard.
We were even instructed not to worry about the kitchen or bedding. The cleaning service comes every Monday in the summer.
If this is camping, then I’m onboard. But I kind of liked the anticipation of roughing it, even if it was only a smaller cabin. We bought a backup tent just in case.
But if Simon’s determined not to let work rule his life, then we’ll have plenty of time to camp for real later. Maybe even later this summer. He wouldn’t even have to take an extra day off for it.
When I look away from the flames, I find him watching me, his eyes hooded.
It’s broad daylight and our kids are around, but that man can put my mind in a naughty place with one look. “It’d be fun to do more of this. Except, you know…” I gesture to the covered hot tub. “Without the amenities.”
His intense gaze eases and he chuckles. “It’s really nice here, isn’t it?”
“I think the girls are going to get the wrong impression of camping.” I turn to look over the lake that’s at the edge of the yard. The owners even have their own dock with a beach that’s shallow enough to swim in and deep enough to cast in. “And fishing.”
Simon leaves the pit to stand next to me and drapes his arm around my waist. The girls frolic around the fire pit. “My client apologized for not having the pontoon out here for us to use, but he said there’s a canoe in the shed. I told him not to worry. It’ll be all I can do to remember how to use a fishing pole again.”
“After the girls see you start a fire, fish, and use a canoe, you’re going to have to wear a superhero cape at home.”
“S’mores over a propane fire doesn’t count as a rugged survival skill.”
It won’t matter to the girls. And, watching him work the fire pit and explain to the kids what he’s doing, it doesn’t matter to me either. This is Simon in his element. His real legacy. He thinks it’s his work, but it’s his family, it’s living and experiencing life.
“I’ll go get the hot dogs, otherwise they’ll fill up on dessert.”
He doesn’t release me immediately and drops his voice low. “Now that we know we have separate bedrooms, do I get dessert tonight?”
“If we can wear them out so they go to sleep in their own bedroom instead of being too scared to sleep in a different house.” I turn into him and brush my hand down his chest. “But… do you really want to meet your client next and think about how we banged in his bed?”
He winces. “Good point. That’d be more awkward than getting busted by parents.”
I smile all the way to the house. Abstaining for the weekend isn’t going to be easy, but it’s not like this is a hotel. In the house, I gather all the supplies in the cabin while Simon and the girls lay out my dad’s fishing gear on the porch.
We manage to make it through cooking the hot dogs over the fire without losing any inside the pit. The girls polish off a dog a piece. Next is s’mores. I gladly sit back and let Simon take the lead. I’d get too uptight with the girls around an open flame, but nothing about it seems to bother him. They follow his instructions and all three of them prepare a s’more for me first.
Simon’s eyes twinkle as they hand it over on a plate. “Our way to show we appreciate you for making all this happen.”
I accept the plate. The sincerity in his voice wraps around my heart. “It wasn’t just me.”
“I wouldn’t have any of this if it wasn’t for you.” He squats next to me as the girls load up another skewer with a marshmallow. His fingers dance up my bare legs, causing a full-body shiver. “It’s not just buying the groceries and packing, but all of it. We needed this.”
We need this, but