“How do I look?” César asked me, standing and turning his chin back and forth so I could get a good view. His face was a white mask, making him the handsomest ghost around.
“Perfect,” I answered, and he laughed and kissed me, his arms folding me into his body.
“Always, right? Are you all ready?”
I pointed to our bag of beach gear as I snuggled and watched our daughter out of the corner of my eye. She had removed her hat and was busy sprinkling sand into her hair. “Eliana, don’t do that, please. Yes,” I told César. “Let’s go.”
Eliana took her place on the boat, telling both of us about wind and then blowing on the sail to make us move faster. She was always very excited to see her grandparents and her aunt and uncle, and especially her cousin, because Valeria’s daughter was her best friend. I watched her, and I watched my husband sail. He watched us, too, always careful and vigilant on the water. All the time, really. César would have protected us with his life, and I knew that. I scooted down the boat, squeaking my skin on the hull, to kiss him.
He counterbalanced his big body so that we stayed flat and steady. “You need to kiss me right now?” he asked, smiling.
“I need to kiss you always,” I told him, and felt tears well up. Sometimes I felt so full of love for my family that I got overwhelmed. My husband and daughter, Ellie and her little pod, my new relatives through César, and even, a little, my father. We were working on that, with him flying back to Michigan now so that we could talk to a counselor together. He had met Eliana and she had worn a tiny Wilde jersey to a Woodsmen game, which had made him so proud that I had forgiven him a little more on the spot.
“You ok?” César asked me, concerned, and I nodded quickly. I was wonderful.
“There you are!” Ana was waiting outside on the deck of Valeria’s house so she could get her hands on her granddaughter, and Eliana ran up the sand to hug her grandma as César pulled up the boat. Gael wasn’t far behind, and I let them take our little girl as I waited for my husband.
He checked the beach and decided that we were alone enough to slip his hand into my bikini bottom to give my ass a little squeeze, and I wanted him, immediately. “Let’s go back home really quickly,” I suggested.
César stared. “I love it that you’re so eager for me, but we just got here, honey. Let’s wait until it gets darker and then we can take a walk behind the palm trees,” he suggested. We had used that particular stand of trees more than a few times when we couldn’t wait to get back to our house.
I looked over his shoulder to check the position of the sun so I could figure how long until it set, and he laughed and kissed me, pulling me tightly against his body. I felt him pulse a little—he wanted me just as much. “Soon,” he promised.
But first, we played and talked and cooked together, celebrating Valeria’s new little son, my promotion at the team, César’s newest contract, and just that we were all together. “¡Salud!” Miriam said, and we all repeated it and brought our wine glasses to our lips.
Ugh. I quickly pulled mine away. That smell of the cabernet was absolutely noxious.
“Camdyn.”
I looked over to see my husband staring at me.
“Do you have something you want to tell me?” he asked, his voice husky.
I smiled. “We’ll talk later, when we go out to the palm trees,” I said, but he was sure when my tears started to roll. I hadn’t been planning to tell him yet, because I had been working on a big, romantic announcement. A lot more romantic than the last one, when I’d pounded on his door as a stranger and blurted out that I was pregnant. That felt like it had happened in another universe, to other people. It was hard for me to believe that we had ever been ok before, when we had been apart.
“I love you,” César said, and his hand went to my stomach, flat for now.
“I love you,” I answered. That was enough for me, for always.
About the Author
Jamie Bennett (that’s me!) is the author of a bunch of super great books, including more about football. Keep reading here to see what happens with Katie and Davis and more about Camdyn’s sister, Ellie.
You would really like all of those stories! In fact, you should probably find them right now, immediately.
Seriously. Go get them on Amazon.
You can reach me via Instagram and Facebook @jamiebennettbooks (and join the Rocinante group for extra updates).
Thanks for reading. And if you enjoyed this book, please leave a review!
Read More About Katie and Davis: The Checkdown
I stopped dead. A humongous monster truck was parked on top of my car. Not next to, not near, not bumper to bumper with. It was on top of my car. My car was now the cracker underneath a giant wedge of cheese, if I wanted to use a snack food metaphor.
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