Chapter Thirty-One
Lexi
When Andrew had first told me he had a private yacht, for some reason, I'd thought that he was joking. Of course, it only made sense, given that he also had a private jet, but where the jet was in some ways practical, the yacht just seemed like an unnecessary splurge.
When he suggested that we take a family outing on the boat for Independence Day, I had hesitated. But after being assured of all the ways that Emma would be safe on the yacht, I'd caved.
I was glad for it now, too. The weather was beautiful that day, and Emma was thrilled to be out on Puget Sound.
I was pretty thrilled as well. Andrew's yacht was just as swanky as I might have expected, with a full bar, a few staff members, and plenty of food for a whole army of people. But other than the staff, it was just the three of us there, having a nice and relaxing day together.
Andrew got the grill going midway through the afternoon and had burgers cooking up in short order. “Can I get you another drink?” he asked me, noticing that my iced tea was empty.
I smiled at him. “I can get it,” I told him. “You just keep those burgers cooking.”
“Relax,” Andrew said, plucking the glass out of my hand. “I have to go inside and grab a few more things anyway. It's not a problem to refill your drink on the way.”
“Can't argue with that,” I said with a laugh, settling back down on the reclining deck chair, soaking up the sun.
Not that I really ever tanned all that much, but it was cozy and warm there, and I was going to take full advantage of it. Emma was off with Janice, trying to spot dolphins at the front of the yacht. I could watch them from a distance, but it was “me” time at the moment.
I watched as Andrew headed inside the yacht with my glass, thinking as he went that I was starting to love the man.
Wait, what? I wondered where that thought had come from. I was starting to like Andrew more and more, the longer we stayed with him, but I didn't know when I had jumped from “like” to “love.” The more I thought about it, though, the more it felt right to me.
It was exactly what I'd told him, once. After Emma was born, I looked for dads for her, rather than just looking for good boyfriends for myself. But Andrew wasn't just perfect with Emma; he was also a gentleman when it came to his interactions with me. And although he'd once been incredibly rude to me and so commitment shy, I started to see those things change.
He’d cut back on work and spent more time with us, and he was friendly whenever he did. He had come up with a couple ideas for our family days, even, although I had a sneaking suspicion he had probably asked Janice for recommendations on places that Emma might enjoy.
Whatever changes he made in his life, I enjoyed them. That said, I knew I had to be careful. I could sense that Andrew was still holding back, that he was still worried about committing to this. He still hadn't said that he loved me, and even though his actions hinted at that, it could also be simple affection. We had been living in his house for a while now. It was only natural that he would start to feel affection for me since Emma was our daughter. It didn't mean that he wanted to marry me.
“Stop thinking so hard,” Andrew said as he handed my newly-refilled glass back to me. He gestured around. “This day is supposed to be about relaxing and having fun.”
I laughed and rolled over on my stomach so that I could watch him better from my chair. “I am relaxing and having fun,” I promised. “Anyway, aren't you the king of over-working? I would have thought you would understand when someone was overthinking.”
“I understand it, of course,” Andrew mused. “But I don't want to see you doing it, today.” He lowered his voice, glancing around to see if there was anyone who might overhear us. “If you're having a hard time shutting off your brain, I could take you on a tour of the yacht.”
The way he emphasized the sentence left no doubt in my mind as to what that tour would entail, and I shivered despite the heat of the sun.
I smiled up at him and shook my head. “Not now,” I said. “But maybe later. I want to enjoy the sun for as long as I can.”
“You should put on some more sunscreen,” Andrew said, glancing towards the crystal-clear sky. “Want some help?”
“Sure,” I agreed, surprised that he would ask.
I sat up, and he sat on the lounge chair beside me, gathering my hair in his hands and then carefully moving it over one shoulder. His hands were warm, strong, and sure as he began to massage sunscreen into my shoulders. I made a soft noise, and he paused, hands drawing away.
“Sorry, was that too hard?” he asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
“No, it's just, I didn't realize I was going to be getting a massage out of having you apply sunscreen,” I admitted, biting my lip as my face flushed.
Despite the smell of sunscreen lingering in the air, there was something undeniably sensual about the feeling of his fingers as they pressed into my skin, kneading out the tension that I hadn't even known was there.
“Just making sure that it's rubbed in properly,” Andrew said after a momentary pause. If I had to guess, he sounded sheepish, but I couldn't picture him being anything other than cool and confident.
He slowly resumed his ministrations, taking far longer than he actually needed to lather up my back and shoulders. The moment was broken, though, when I turned to face him, and he swiped a stripe of sunscreen down my cheek.
I giggled and reached up to rub in the mark. “Thanks,” I told him.
“Anytime,” Andrew said. He glanced over to the grill and swore, suddenly leaping to his feet and going to flip the burgers.
“Don't worry, I'll eat these ones,” he promised.
I laughed and stood up, stretching and moving over to his side to inspect the damage. They weren't too burnt, but there would be a definite charred taste to them. “Give them to Emma,” I suggested. “She'll need hers cut up anyway and doused in ketchup, so we'll just cut off the burnt parts and she'll never know the difference. She usually doesn't end up eating much of her burger anyway. She likes the bun and the chips the best. And Janice's pasta salad.”
“Good idea,” Andrew said, already starting to fix a plate for Emma.
“Emma!” I called, waving an arm as she looked back at me. She flounced back over to us, followed by Janice.
“Did you see any dolphins?” Andrew asked.
“No,” Emma said, her face falling for a second. “But I seed the water monster!”
“The water monster?” Andrew asked, raising an eyebrow at Janice, who just smiled at him.
A little while later, we were all fed, and it was starting to get dark. Andrew joined me on my lounge chair and curled into my side as we watched Emma coloring pictures and singing cute, tuneless songs about how much she loved boats and being on the water.
“This is great,” I said to Andrew.
He stirred and blinked, as though his mind had been a million miles away. “It is great,” he agreed, squeezing his arms around me briefly. “And the fireworks are about to go off.”
I hummed in agreement. “I can't remember the last time I came down to see the fireworks,” I admitted. “I didn't want to bring Emma down when she was too young because she used to be really jumpy when it came to loud noises.”
“Emma mentioned that she hadn't seen fireworks before,” Andrew said with a mischievous glimmer in his eyes.
I frowned at him. “What did you do?”
He laughed, holding up both his hands. “You're getting to know me too well,” he said. “I paid for the fireworks show tonight.”
“You what?” I asked.
“I just wanted to make sure that Emma got the chance to see the very best fireworks show ever. To make this night really special. So, I donated a substantial amount of money to the city council, with the stipulation that it all went into tonight's celebration. And when they weren't sure if they could do that, I added a little extra money and said that they could keep the extra money if the money that I had originally agreed to donate went to the fireworks show tonight.”
I laughed. “Emma has a pretty generous dad, doesn't she?” I commented.
I leaned in to kiss him, appreciating the gesture. It was another of those things that I wouldn't have expected from him. I was pleased to hear that he wanted only the best for our daughter.
I sighed and settled in his arms, watching the evening grow darker. “It's funny how things work out for the best, isn't it?” I asked, thinking of where I'd been a year ago on the fourth of July.
I'd had a seasonal sales job at a local shop that got a lot of tourists in during the summer. I'd hardly had time to spend with Emma, and I'd been exhausted whenever I did have an hour or two of time for her. We hadn't gone to the fireworks because I'd been working late on the fourth. Misty had been watching her.
And now here we were, just a year later, sitting on the yacht of one of the preeminent businessmen in the city and waiting to watch the fireworks from one of the best seats possible.
“Things always work out for the best, even if you didn't realize this was the way that things were going to work out,” Andrew agreed, watching Emma. He turned back to me. “I'm really glad you're here, in my life.”
“I am too,” I told him softly.
It was on the tip of my tongue to spill that revelation that I'd had earlier, about loving him, rather than merely liking him, but just then, the fireworks began to go off. It was probably for the best anyway. I wasn't sure that either of us were ready for those declarations just yet.
Emma jumped up and squealed as she watched the bright explosions of blue and green and gold as they sparkled across the sky.
“Boom boom!” she yelled, continuing to jump up and down.
Watching her as I sat there in the arms of this wonderful man, I couldn't picture my life getting any better than it already was. In fact, I was happy enough that I could feel tears in my eyes. Tears of joy. I might not have a job, and I might still be dependent on Andrew for everything from food to a place to live, but it felt like we were cobbling together a family, and I'd wanted that more than I had allowed myself to realize.
“Hey,” Andrew said softly, his long fingers coming up to brush away one of my tears as it traced a slow line down my face. “Are you okay?”
“Perfect,” I choked out, laughing. “The fireworks are beautiful.”
Andrew stared down at me for a long moment, his palm cupping my cheek. “So are you,” he said, and it should have been cheesy, but somehow it wasn't.
He kissed me, and I felt my heart swell with happiness. I wished that things could stay like this, forever. Just us, our family, there on the yacht, watching fireworks in the warm evening twilight. I was pretty sure that I'd never been so happy before in my life, and I wanted to hang on to it.
Andrew pulled back, breaking the kiss, but he continued to hold me close as we returned to watching the fireworks and our daughter's delighted antics.