Saturday morning Mari woke early. She hadn’t slept well, tossing and turning all night as she wondered what was happening on Hank’s date with Simone—where had they gone, what had they done, how late had they stayed out?

Throwing the covers off, Mari climbed out of bed and quickly showered before going into Harper’s room. Harper’s long, blonde hair was spread out on her pillow, and soft snores filled the room. Smiling, Mari left and went downstairs.

When she heard Hank talking to Mrs. Stillman, her heart raced. The sound of his voice left her yearning for his arms to be wrapped around her, for his eyes to be focused on her, for his mouth to be on hers. But when she pictured him embracing Simone, focusing on Simone, kissing Simone, pain radiated throughout her chest.

Softly sighing, she entered the kitchen. Pushing a bright smile onto her face, she said, “Good morning.”

Hank and Mrs. Stillman, who were both standing next to the counter as they chatted, turned to her.

“Good morning,” Mrs. Stillman said, but her usual bright smile had dimmed.

Wondering what was going on, Mari looked to Hank, whose gaze went right to her, his eyes never wavering. “Hi there,” he said. A small smile lifted his lips.

She approached the pair, stopping when she reached them. Though her mind refused to stop thinking about Hank and Simone, she could see something else was happening .

“Mrs. Stillman was just telling me that her husband is having foot surgery on Monday morning,” Hank said.

Mari turned to Mrs. Stillman. “Oh my goodness. I hope it’s nothing serious. Is there anything I can do?”

Mrs. Stillman placed a hand on Mari’s arm with a warm smile. “It’s a minor procedure, and thank you for offering, but we’ll be fine.” She glanced at Hank. “I was just telling Hank that I’ll be gone all next week to care for my husband. We were discussing what to do.”

Without missing a beat, Mari said, “I can help out.” She smiled. “I do know how to cook.”

“Are you sure?” Hank said.

“Of course. Harper can help me. We’ll have a blast.”

Relief filled both Hank’s and Mrs. Stillman’s faces.

“That would be a great help,” Hank said. “Some nights we can order in, but if you can take care of the other meals, that would be awesome.”

“No problem.” This would even add to Mari’s fantasy that she, Hank, and Harper were a family. They would have the house to themselves all week. Just the three of them. Excited now, she said, “Harper and I can go to the grocery store this weekend to prepare. It’ll be fun.”

Mrs. Stillman laughed. “I’m glad you’ll enjoy it.”

“It’ll be a change of pace.”

They discussed a few other duties that Mari would take over—primarily laundry and keeping the house tidy—then when Harper wandered into the kitchen, Mrs. Stillman made French toast.

* * *

Hank was beyond impressed that Mari had volunteered to basically take over all of Mrs. Stillman’s work on top of caring for Harper. He knew women did all of those things all of the time, but since Mari was still willing to when she didn’t have to, it touched him. Another reason he was falling in love with her. He could never imagine London or Simone offering to take on the cooking, laundry, and cleaning. No. Both of them would hire a service. No question.

As he pictured Simone, he thought about their date the night before. Despite his severe irritation with her, the evening had gone reasonably well. They’d gone to dinner and a play, but when Simone had suggested they go dancing, he’d begged off, claiming he was too tired, that he had to get his rest before Sunday’s game. They’d called it a night relatively early, and as he’d driven home he’d harbored a secret hope that Mari would be up, waiting for him. Of course she hadn’t been, and he’d been disappointed.

Now though, he looked forward to the coming week when they could spend time together. They would have to be careful around Harper, of course, but other than that, they wouldn’t have to hide their searing attraction for one another.

Hank sat with Mari and Harper as they ate breakfast.

“I’ll be gone for a few hours this morning,” he said, “but I’ll come home for the afternoon before I leave again to check in at the hotel.”

“I thought your game was at home tomorrow.”

“It is, but when we have home games, the entire team stays at a hotel the night before. I don’t have to check in until seven though.”

“Why does the team stay in a hotel when you could stay in your own house?”

“It’s a good way to make sure everyone is ready for Sunday’s game. Plus we usually have a last-minute team meeting, and on Sunday morning they feed us the right kind of breakfast to get us ready. Also, when everyone’s together, no one will be late to the stadium.”

“That makes sense.”

He watched her for a moment. “Are you going to watch the game?”

Her lips immediately curved upward. “Of course.” Then she put an arm around Harper. “Right, Harper? We’re going to watch your daddy on TV tomorrow.”

“Uh-huh,” Harper said around a mouthful of French toast.

Hank laughed, pleased to know that Mari would be watching him. So much had changed between them over the last week. They had to keep their budding relationship secret, but knowing she was there for him, that she was his, did something special to his heart.

* * *

Mari had finished going over some final instructions with Mrs. Stillman, who would be leaving that afternoon and not returning for another week, when Hank walked into Harper’s room where she and Mari were sorting Harper’s laundry.

“What are you ladies doing?” Hank asked.

“Harper, tell your daddy what you learned today.”

A serious expression came over her face as she pointed to the clothes on the floor. “You have to make two piles, daddy.”

“How come?”

“So you don’t get them mixed up.”

Mari laughed. “Harper learned how to separate the light-colored clothes from the dark ones.” She smiled at Harper. “Cause we don’t want everything to turn grey, right?”

“Right,” Harper said with a firm nod.

Hank smirked. “Good idea.”

“So,” he said with a meaningful look at Mari. “Do you ladies want to go for a swim?”

Harper pumped her fists into the air as she jumped up and down. “Swimming!”

“Mari?”

“Sounds like fun,” Mari said with a shy smile. And with any luck, Simone wouldn’t show up and ruin it again.

“Great. I’ll throw on my swim trunks and meet you out by the pool in a bit.”

A short time later Mari and Harper walked out to the pool. Hank was already in the water, and as Mari removed her cover-up, revealing her blue bikini, she was very aware of Hank’s gaze on her. Glancing his way, when she saw the lazy smile lifting the corners of his mouth, she had to push down the burst of heat that swept over her.

“Ready to get in?” she asked Harper.

“I need my floaties.”

Mari helped her put them on, then walked her to the edge of the pool.

“Jump in,” Hank said, his arms open, ready to catch her.

Harper’s smile filled her face, and after only a second’s hesitation, she leapt into Hank’s arms.

Mari wanted to do the same, but instead she demurely walked to the stairs and waded in to the cool, turquoise water, then made her way to Hank and Harper.

“There you are,” Hank said with a grin when she reached him.

“Yes. Here I am.”

Harper was busy splashing and kicking, not paying attention to the adults, which is when Mari felt Hank’s hand slip into hers under the water. Gripping his hand, she gazed into his eyes, her love for him filling her heart.

Then Mari looked toward the house.

“Don’t worry,” Hank said, drawing her attention back to him. “I told Mrs. Stillman not to let anyone in—even Simone.”

Feeling more relaxed, Mari smiled, her hand still clutching his.

“Look at me!” Harper called.

They both turned to her. She was about ten feet away and doing her best to swim towards them.

“Look at you,” Hank said as he released Mari’s hand and moved in Harper’s direction.

Smiling as she watched them, Mari made her way to them.

“Let’s play shark,” Harper said when they were together.

Hank looked at Mari with a grin. “I’ll be the shark.”

A thrill went through her at the look in his eyes, then she grabbed Harper’s hands and swam backwards with Hank trailing a few feet behind Harper.

“Go, Mari, go!” Harper squealed. “The shark’s gonna get me!”

Mari laughed and swam as fast as she could, which wasn’t all that fast, especially going backwards. It didn’t take long for Hank to catch them, and when he grabbed Harper, she screamed in terror, a huge grin on her face.

“Got you!” Hank said.

Mari released Harper’s hands and laughed with them.

They did this a few more times, and then Harper said to Hank, “Now you get Mari.”

Hank looked at Mari, his lips curving into a smile that sent a frisson of heat pulsing through her. She loved the idea of Hank chasing her, especially because he would easily catch her, but would Harper tell London about it?

“Your daddy’s too fast for me,” she said as she tossed a look of warning at Hank.

“He’s the shark,” Harper said.

* * *

Hank read the warning on Mari’s face, but the opportunity was too good to pass up.

“That’s right,” he said to Harper. “I’m the shark. But I think Mari’s a scaredy-cat.”

Harper giggled, and when he looked at Mari, she was frowning.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “That wasn’t nice.”

“No,” Mari said, her eyebrows raised. “It wasn’t.”

He moved closer to her, wishing he could kiss her, but knowing that would be foolish with Harper watching. Instead, he reached under the water and stroked her back, eliciting a soft gasp from her.

“I think it’s time for me to get out,” she said.

“Why?”

“I just…” She shook her head as she glanced toward Harper, who had turned and begun swimming away. “I can’t do this right now.” Mari made her way to the edge of the pool.

“Hang on,” he said before following her to the edge. At his words, she turned, her back to the wall. Hank looked toward Harper, and after making sure she was swimming the other way, he moved close to Mari, trapping her between the wall and his body.

* * *

“Hank,” Mari said, her body on fire as he pressed against her.

“Shhh.” He pressed a finger to her lips. Then, after he glanced toward Harper once more, he kissed her with a passion that bound her to him.

“Daddy!” Harper called out, and he sprang away from Mari.

Mari’s head jerked in Harper’s direction, but she wasn’t looking their way. Heaving a sigh of relief, Mari smiled at Hank, whose eyes crinkled as he smiled in return.

“What is it, baby?” Hank asked.

“Look at me,” she said.

Hank laughed, then after tossing another smile at Mari, he swam away.

Mari watched him go, her heart brimming with love while her mind reminded her that this could all fall apart at any moment.