Chapter Thirty-Three
Mark
Friday
Waking up by myself wasn’t what I wanted. After last night, I thought that things were going really well between us. I kept the image of her in that sexy-as-fuck bikini in my brain, planning for a night of fun, but it didn’t happen. We got back from the Luau, and she slid into her room, closing the door behind her even before I got Justine settled down, making her feelings very clear. She didn’t want to hook up with me again.
I got it, in a way; it made sense that she found it very hard because of Justine, but that didn’t make it easy for me to take. I needed her; I craved her; I wanted to feel her everywhere. I was incredibly frustrated.
“Urgh,” I muttered to myself while swinging my legs towards the ground. “Fucking hell.”
I felt pissy as I walked across the room and I tugged the curtains open. Even the image of the beautiful beach that stretched out in front of me wasn’t enough to cheer me up. There was a deep itch inside of my body that needed to be scratched. If I could have gotten Olivia in here right now, then I would have. But I couldn’t.
Maybe she’s worried about her feelings too… I pondered. Maybe she’s as confused as me.
But she didn’t have a friend like Hudson wrecking things by getting married and weirding her out. Or perhaps she did, I supposed; I didn’t know everything that was going on inside of her brain. Anything could be going on. Maybe she didn’t want to have sex anymore; maybe she needed so much more from me… and there was a chance that I could need more from her as well. I guess I just needed to wrap my head around that first.
I left the bedroom and wandered into the sleek, modern-looking kitchen where I had the breath sucked out of me by the sight of Olivia standing there in a tee shirt so small that I could see a little glimpse of her black panties sticking out underneath. My heart fluttered, my cock stood at attention, my whole body reacted violently to her. It made it even more agonizing that she hadn’t spent the night in my bed. It made me cringe internally.
“Oh, morning.” She gave me a serene smile, clearly not as tormented as me. “How are you?”
“Hmmm, yeah.” There wasn’t any point in showing my anger. “I’m good. How are you?”
She nodded slowly but didn’t say anything. Okay, maybe she wasn’t pleased either. I guessed we were both in a less than ideal situation that we just had to get on with. Even if we wanted each other, it was probably better to keep away for the time being. I hated it, but I had to accept it. Unless her feelings changed…
“So, yesterday was a lot of fun, wasn’t it?” Olivia handed me a coffee. “Justine enjoyed it.”
“It wore her out as well. She fell asleep almost right away. She’s still in her grass skirt.”
“Aww, bless her!” Olivia took a massive sip of her drink. “So, what’s the plan for today?”
“There’s a big market square nearby which I thought would be fun to go to. Do some shopping.”
Olivia looked surprised by my suggestion. “Oh, right, okay! I bet Justine will love that.”
I nodded, proud of myself. If it was up to me, I would probably visit some sort of cultural site, but since Justine wasn’t old enough to enjoy anything like that at the moment, I wanted to do whatever she did. If that meant splashing the cash and spoiling her, just like I used to but this time while spending time with her as well, then so be it. I needed to see that gorgeous smile on my daughter’s face again.
“Are you talking about me?” I spun around as I heard Justine speaking. “I heard my name.”
“We are,” I replied smilingly. “I thought we could go shopping today. What do you think?”
“Can I get a new dress? I want one like Esmeralda had on last night. That red one.”
I couldn’t remember what she had on, but I agreed. “Sure, we’ll see what we can find.”
Olivia pushed back from her chair and smiled thinly at us both. “I’m going to get dressed, okay?”
“Yeah, me too!” Justine squealed. “We can go out for breakfast, can’t we?”
“Sure,” I chuckled. “Why not? We can do whatever you want today.”
As Justine raced away, I glanced down at my own outfit, figuring that it would do. The tee shirt was scruffy, my shorts a little crumpled, but who the hell cared? I didn’t need to look smart and in control right now. It was fine. I smoothed myself down and smiled. It felt good not to be so uptight about everything anymore. It wasn’t just Justine who was better now; Olivia had cured something in me too. A darkness that I couldn’t shake off.
“Oh wow!” I couldn’t keep my opinion in as Olivia came back out. “Nice dress. You look beautiful.”
She was in a very impractical, due to her sunburn, but beautiful yellow summer dress. I felt those bolts of lightning again. God, she looked good with that little bit of cleavage showing and those long, lovely legs. The material clung tightly to her curves, reminding me of what lay underneath. She was utterly amazing. I felt my lungs deflate with glee. Especially as an adorable blush filled her cheeks. I liked to think that she had gotten specifically dressed just for me. That wasn’t the case, but who cared.
“Thank you, but I do think I need to get something for my sunburn while we’re out. It’s stinging!”
I let out a little chuckle. “Okay, sure. I’m positive that we’ll be able to find something.”
Once Justine was ready, we started the long and lazy walk to the marketplace. The sun wasn’t quite so powerful today, and there was a little breeze in the air, which felt good. It was the perfect weather for today.
Predictably, as soon as we got to the market, Justine lost her shit. She immediately found about ten things that she absolutely needed in her life, ranging from a nice dress that was apparently exactly like Esmerelda’s, to jangly bangles that she swore she would never take off her wrist again. Knowing her, she probably wouldn’t!
“You’re spoiling her,” Olivia told me teasingly as Justine moved on to stuffed animals, grabbing about three that she needed for a specific game she was playing at home. “What are you playing at?”
“Oh, don’t you worry about that; I’m going to spoil you as well.” I grabbed a summer dress that was similar to the one that she had on and flashed it at her. “I’m going to buy you this dress. How’s that?”
She blushed again. “Oh, don’t be silly. You don’t have to do that. I get paid very well…”
Olivia liked it, I could tell, so I paid for it instantly. As I handed her the bag, Olivia rolled her eyes at me, but she took it fairly happily. Well, if I ignored the funny little snort that flew out of her nose.
“You don’t have to buy me anything, honestly. I’d rather you spend the money on Justine.”
The thing was, she really meant that, and that made me like her even more. She certainly wasn’t a gold digger; she had no interest in my money at all. I wouldn’t ever have to worry about that with her… if we were to go there. I still wasn’t convinced that we should, however much I wanted to.
“Look, there’s a glass blowing display. Shall we go and watch that?”
Justine didn’t look convinced, but I dragged her along with me and got her to watch it. In the end, she loved it just as I thought she would, and of course, she wanted me to buy her something afterward. I got Justine a little fish, and then I purchased a delicate orange necklace for Olivia. This time she looked even more impressed with my gift, which was awesome. I loved to make her smile too.
“I’m hungry!” Justine finally blurted out once the glass blowing was over and she remembered her stomach. “We haven’t had anything to eat yet. Why didn’t we have any breakfast?”
“Because you raced straight into the shopping!” I chuckled. “But come on, we can go right now. Then, we can go and have a look at the rest of the island if you like? Maybe have a start on your wildlife project?”
“Yeah, sounds great!” She swung my hand excitedly. “Thank you, Daddy! I bet they have some awesome birds here.” He tummy rumbled loudly, making her laugh. “But I definitely want to eat first; I’m starving.”
I threw my arm over her shoulder and started to walk towards the nearest café. I was hungry too! As the scent of food filled my nostrils, that only got worse. Thank God there was everything that we could possibly want here!
***
Somehow, we didn’t end up exploring the island after all. We ended up rocking back towards the beach for another play in the water. Justine was disappointed, but we were all tired and needed the rest. I hoped that my promise to help her tomorrow was enough to cheer her up. Right now, she looked okay.
This time, Olivia had a tee shirt over her bikini, which was disappointing, but I could see the necklace hanging from her neck, which made me smile. It made me realize that I truly did love any connection between her and me, and I only wanted it to grow. Even if it was scary to think about diving head first into anything with her, it was much more terrifying to consider letting her go. I couldn’t imagine what my life would be like without her.
Yes, it was going to be complex explaining things to Justine, but I had a feeling that she would take it very well. Seeing the way that she reacted to Olivia made me believe that she really did love her and she would accept her. Olivia wouldn’t step fully into the mother role, I believed that she would always have respect for Justine’s biological mother, but if a relationship started and it got serious, I had a feeling that their relationship would be perfect. The great balance of mother-style figure and friends.
Yep, better than you have been, I could almost hear my mother scolding me. You need that girl. She kicks you in the ass and sets the pair of you on the right path. Do not let her go, no matter what.
Honestly, I did mean what I said; my mom would have loved Olivia. I just wished that she was still around to meet her. Maybe if she had been, then I wouldn’t have been questioning my feelings for so long. She would have just told me to stop being an idiot, and that would have been that.
It was a nice image to have in my brain, and I felt very confident about it. Now, I couldn’t wait to get Olivia alone again to explain this to her. She was holding back, and I felt like it was because she didn’t know how I felt. If I told her that I actually wanted to be with her, then I hoped she would be back in my bed in no time.
She turned her head as if she could sense my eyes upon her, and she shot me a smile. It made my heart flutter painfully. Yep, what was I thinking? Why didn’t I realize that I wanted to be with her sooner?
At least I knew now, that was the main thing, and I could do something about it.