Balancing Act (11 page)

“I thought we’d go to a cove south of here,” Seth told her. “There’s usually some pretty good fishing there, and if the fish aren’t biting, we can always go swimming.”

Tessa nodded and leaned her head back to stare up at the billowing sails. It was as wonderful as she had imagined, made more so by seeing how happy Zach was.

* * * *

Seth studied Tessa as
Wistful
skimmed over the water. She looked relaxed today, even more than yesterday. The wind was already sucking loose tendrils of her fiery hair. Dark sunglasses hid her eyes from view, but a smile curved her generous lips.

He wanted to know more about her. He already knew her mind was faster than many business tycoons’, and he could appeal to that part of her, but he wanted to know how to make her laugh, how to pleasure her in bed or out. And that was saying a lot. Seth couldn’t remember the last time he’d met a woman he’d looked at as anything more than either an office irritation or a convenient way to relieve sexual tension. He wasn’t getting much relief now. Tessa had already starred in a couple shower fantasies, and it looked like today’s excursion would end the same way.

She wore a cropped t-shirt and low-slung khaki shorts that left her midriff and most of her slender thighs bare. As she leaned back to look up at the sails again, he noticed something he hadn’t seen before–a small diamond sparkled below her navel. Seth had never been into the body-piercing or tattooing fad, but seeing it on her sparked images of his tongue swirling around it and his teeth tugging on it. He’d let his tongue slide lower then… As his body responded to the image, he turned to adjust himself.

Presenting her with the evidence of his arousal while her little brother was with them was not smooth. After giving himself a firm
down boy
, Seth went back to thinking about her. The diamond was also surprising, given the cool personality she conveyed in the office. He wondered if there was another side of her she kept under wraps. But even so, he knew from what had occurred in Chicago, she was not like the experienced women he’d dated in the past. Far from it, and God, that was its own turn-on.

They reached the isolated cove in a little over an hour. Seth dropped anchor and set up a rod and reel for Zach.

“You going to fish, Tessa?” he asked as he handed Zach the baited rod.

“No. Not right now. I think I might stretch out on these cushions if you don’t mind?”

“Not at all.” Seth could fish and enjoy the view of long, bare legs and the sweet curve of her waist and hips. So even if the fish were not biting, he’d still have a great morning. The time sped by. Zach caught several fish with Seth’s help before everything slowed down around midday.

“They’re not biting any more, Seth.” Zach stared overboard. The disappointment was evident in his voice. Seth hid a grin as he watched the boy trying to see any fish in the opaque surface of the water.

“What do you say we take a break, eat some lunch, and then we can take a swim before we move to another spot?” Seth suggested.

“Yeah!” Zach cheered.

“Give me a hand with the cooler, Tessa,” Seth called, enjoying the view of her stretched on her stomach, reading a book.

She rolled to her feet and came aft, her sea legs already a given. He thought of his poor sister, Anna, who stumbled around and spent half her time on any boat with her head over the side, vomiting. It was something that made her feel alienated from her seafaring siblings. In some ways Tessa reminded him of Anna, prickly and stubborn–not to mention petite–but Tessa was already a lot tougher than Anna had ever learned to be.

Seth wondered sometimes why someone with the family background Tessa had would be so tough. He almost said streetwise, but then there was one major area where she didn’t fit that picture.

“I want a cheese sandwich,” Zach said, “and pickles.”

“Coming right up,” Tessa said with a laugh. While she made Zach’s sandwich and one with ham and cheese for herself, Seth layered at least one of everything onto his bread, slathered on the spicy mustard and topped it off with some lettuce and tomato.

“Yuck!” Zach pronounced, taking one look at Seth’s creation. “That looks disgusting.”

Seth grinned and took a big bite out of it. As tomato juice dripped down his chin, he used the back of one hand to wipe his mouth. Zach’s eyes rounded in amazement.

“Wow! You have a big mouth!”

“Zach!” Tessa scolded, but Seth threw back his head and let loose a roar of laughter that shook his big frame.

* * * *

Tessa’s eyes widened. Where was the gruff man who barked orders at her all day long during the week? When he caught her staring at him, he cocked one eyebrow at her. Tessa’s cheeks heated, but she smiled back at him. Seth in this mood was hard to resist.

He stretched his arms along the gunwale after he polished off his sandwich. “So tell me about this new school Zach’s going to.”

“It’s Chesterfield Academy. It’s not far from where we live.” Tessa gathered up the lunch leftovers.

“I’ve heard the name, but I don’t know much about it.”

“It specializes in working with children with attention and learning disorders. They have a small student-to-teacher ratio, so Zach will get lots of personal attention, something he hasn’t received in the public schools. I know that’s a matter of funding, but…”

“You have to do what’s best for your brother.”

She nodded, pleased he understood.

“I’m going to camp before I go to school,” Zach offered. “Two whole weeks!”

“I had a great time at camp when I was your age,” Seth told him. “It was a chance to get away from all my brothers and sisters for a while.”

“How many brothers and sisters do you have?”

“Two younger brothers and three younger sisters. Scary, huh?”

“That’s a lot. Can we go swimming?” Zach asked, changing the subject again.

“Do you know how?” Seth asked.

“Yes. Tessa taught me when I was real little. She swims a lot. Well she used to when Mom and Dad were still alive.” Zach’s smile dimmed for a second.

“Why don’t you get your trunks on?” Tessa suggested, to divert him from thinking about their parents. The last thing she wanted was for him to have sad thoughts on a day designed for fun.

“Do you want to go below to change?” Seth asked her.

Thinking about the small confines of the cabin made her skin crawl. He looked around and gave her an understanding look. The area where they’d dropped anchor was deserted. “Change up here. No one’s around, and Zach and I will go below.”

“Thank you.” As soon as they were gone, she scrambled into her bikini.

A few minutes later, Seth and Zach reappeared, dressed in their swimming trunks. Seth’s eyes widened when he saw her, but he said nothing and turned his attention back to Zach.

“I know you’re a good swimmer, buddy, but one of the rules of my boat is everyone under the age of eighteen must have on a lifejacket when they swim, and I can’t go against the rules.”

Tessa was surprised when her brother nodded as if that made perfect sense. Seth handed him the lifejacket and helped him adjust the straps so it fit. With a casual helping hand, Zach was up and over the edge, his giggles echoing across the water. In a matter of seconds, the boat rocked as Seth dived in after him. That left Tessa. She stood on the edge of the boat and executed a perfect cannonball, hoping it sent water everywhere.

She came up laughing. Seth dunked her, so Tessa decided to give him a little payback. Staying under, she waited until she saw his legs shift. He must be looking for her. Tessa popped out of the water behind him and started to push him under as he continued his search, but Seth twisted and wrapped one arm around her waist.

“If I go, you go,” he threatened.

Their legs tangled as they trod water, and they started to sink. His eyes locked with hers for a moment, and time stopped. The sounds of Zach laughing nearby faded. Tessa’s own laughter stopped as she saw something in the depths of Seth’s eyes. Stillness surrounded them, and Tessa knew without a doubt there was more going on between them than she was ready to admit, and she doubted that he was any different.

“Get her, Seth!” Zach splashed them both, and the moment was gone.

They swam and played until Zach began to tire. Tessa didn’t want the day to end.

“What do you say we look for another fishing spot for the afternoon before we return to the marina?” Seth suggested. It seemed he felt the same.

“Okay. I need to put more sunscreen on Zach and me before we turn into lobsters.”

Seth climbed the ladder first and then reached down to pull Zach up and into the boat. Tessa jokingly held her arm up, squealing as he pulled her out of the water and clear of the hull with just one arm.

“You must be strong if you can pick Tessa up with one hand!” Zach said in awe.

Tessa made a face at her little brother. “Thanks a lot.”

“She’s a tiny thing,” Seth said, watching her. “No trouble at all.”

“Did you want to change clothes, Zach?” She had to do something to relieve the sudden tension between Seth and her.

“No. Can I stay in my swimming trunks, please?”

Tessa nodded. “As long as you put a t-shirt back on.”

“And shoes,” Seth added. “I don’t want anyone slipping.”

Tessa let the sun dry her bikini and then slipped her shorts and shoes back on. She slathered Zach with sunscreen and rubbed her arms, legs, and stomach, but still needed help with her back.

“May I?” Seth asked from behind her.

Tessa pulled her hair to the side. “Thanks.”

His even breathing brushed her skin as he spread the lotion across her shoulders, being extra careful, it seemed to her, to rub it in. As his hand slid lower, that coil of nervousness twirled deep in her belly. Seth took an uneven breath and continued, still without a word.

As his fingers massaged lotion around the top of her low-slung shorts, Tessa inched away. “I think that’s good.”

She turned to catch an expression of such unbridled heat on his face that she took a half step away. Seth reached out and yanked her to him.

“What are you doing?” Panic surged and she pushed against him.

“Stopping you from a very painful fall below deck.”

Tessa looked over her shoulder. “Oh, sorry.”

“What did you think I was going to do? Ravish you in front of a ten-year-old?” He frowned.

Tessa closed her eyes for a heartbeat and took a deep breath. “No. I…I’m sorry. You startled me. That’s all.”

Seth released her, but the doubt on his face was apparent. It spoiled the mood. Tessa went forward again as he pulled anchor and then got them under sail. Zach stayed with him and Seth let the boy help him, explaining each step of what he was doing. Her brother soaked it all up like a sponge.

Tessa slipped her sunglasses back on her nose and observed the two of them together. Seth’s manner was easygoing, as if he spent every day in the company of kids, and it was obvious Zach enjoyed the attention.

She bit her bottom lip, fighting back a sudden feeling of envy. Why hadn’t there been someone like a Seth in her life when she was Zach’s age? All Tessa remembered were endless summers with cousins, who did their best to make her life miserable.

As the sails filled and
Wistful
gained speed, Tessa stretched out on her back, propped on her elbows, and looked out across the bay, but she saw very little. Instead of the pristine sky and the turn of a gull as it swept down to pick up some morsel from the water, Tessa’s mind filled with memories.

Finding herself mysteriously jammed in the tack trunk was just the first of many incidents. Once her cousins had discovered her fear of confined places, they’d done their best to torment her. The next incident had occurred when someone locked her in the storm cellar of the old mansion, but Tessa had found something to break the door open. She had been the one punished for “damaging” Mont Clair.
What about the damage to me?
Tessa had wanted to scream at her father’s family, but in the end she had shut down.

Tessa hadn’t wanted to tell her mother what was happening while she was struggling so hard to support them. But that last summer, she’d had to speak up. Her mother had just begun seeing Zach’s father, Jack Mallory. Tessa had fought going to Mont Clair for the summer, but her mother had laid a guilt trip on her about the importance of nurturing family connections. Tessa had closed her mouth and packed her bags.

At twelve, she’d begun to mature. Her baby fat had disappeared and in its wake she was developing a woman’s figure, not full by any means, but enough to draw some very unwelcome notice. Her cousin, Peter, was four years older and the primary instigator to making her life a torment every summer. But that year the torment had changed. Instead of trying to lock her up somewhere by herself, he was always trying to be alone with her, touching her and making comments about her body, his body, and what he would like to do to her.

Tessa had quit eating and had begun to lose weight. She had worried so much that Peter would come in her room at night that she’d had trouble sleeping. Then, the night he did come to her room and Tessa had screamed over and over for him to get out, somehow it had been her fault. She must have done something to lure him there.