Last on the List (Wait With Me #5)(77)

“Are you Cozy?” he asks, pulling his hat down over his shaggy brown hair to block the blistering afternoon sun.

“Yes, you’re Ryne, right? It is Ryne, not Ryan?” I reach out, and he looks confused when I shake his hand.

“Yeah, Ryne.”

“That’s a cool name.”

He shoots me a crooked smile and nods. “It used to be Ryan, but Ryne has more swagger, don’t you think?”

My lips thin as I try not to laugh. “Totally. Anyway…thank you for coming.”

“No sweat. I love the private gigs.” He pulls his sunglasses off and looks over at Everly. “You ready to learn how to swim, little one?”

A peal of laughter erupts out of Everly as she leans against me for balance. Ryne looks confused.

“Sorry, I thought I explained on the phone. The lesson isn’t for her. It’s for me.”

“You?”

“Yeah,” I reply, and Everly holds my hand in solidarity. “I, um…don’t know how to swim, and this one is a fish. I would love to just learn the basics so I can be a better nanny.”

“Nanny?” Ryne looks me up and down, clearly assessing my age. “You’re not this one’s mom?”

“No.” My lip pops out into a childish pout. I would have had to be a teen mom to be Everly’s mother, thank you very much…Ryne. “Can you just do the swimming lesson?”

A slow smile spreads across Ryne’s face. “Bet! Let’s get started.”

Over an hour later, Everly is cheering me on from the side of the pool as I stand on the edge of the diving board hunched over with my hands pointed down at the water. The board dips when Ryne’s weight comes out to join me.

“You need to have your arms up over your ears.” He reaches around me to adjust my arms to the proper place. His hands linger on my waist for a moment, and I cringe at the close contact. Ryne’s honestly a great swim instructor, but this is maybe a bit too hands-on.

“I think I got it,” I announce, shaking him off.

“All right, Cozy…let’s see your dive.”

He steps back, and I roll forward, plunging hands first into the water. That one felt good! I’ve been belly flopping for the better part of twenty minutes, and that was the first dive that didn’t sting!

I practice the breaststroke up to the surface because that was also one of the lessons Ryne taught me. When I wipe the water out of my eyes, my face falls when I see a suited figure standing at the side of the pool.

“Daddy!” Everly peals, running over to embrace Max. She leaves a wet Everly imprint on his perfectly tailored suit, and he can’t even crack her a pleasant smile.

“What are you doing home already?” she asks, holding his hand.

Max’s face is twitchy as he tries to smile down at her. “Oh, I had some things here to take care of, so I got off work early. Why don’t you go inside and get changed and you and me can go get some ice cream when I’m done here.”

“OMG, bet!” Everly says, repeating Ryne’s youthful term of “let’s do it” and takes off toward the house, and I do my best to swim with my newly learned crawl stroke over to the steps. When I climb out, Max is there to greet me with a towel.

“Mind telling me what’s going on?” he seethes, his nostrils flaring angrily.

I wipe my face off, certain my makeup is running all over. I wasn’t worried about it when it was just Everly and Ryne…but my hot boss that I just had condomless sex with a few days ago…I am suddenly acutely aware of my entire appearance.

I huddle under the towel at Max’s lethal eyes. “Ryne’s a swim instructor my sister recommended. Today was my first lesson.”

“You think you should do a swim lesson when you’re on the clock?” Max snaps.

My head jerks at his comment that was made to make me feel like his employee, not the woman he just had sex with less than seventy-two hours ago. Guess we really are done banging it out then. Which means I don’t need to stand for his shit right now.

I square my shoulders and try to stand straight. “Considering he’s a trained lifeguard, I can’t honestly see how you’d be upset about this. If anything, Everly is safer when he’s here.”

“Why didn’t you mention it to me?”

I shrug and puff out my lips. “I guess I forgot.”

“You forgot?” Max laughs and shakes his head. “That’s really convenient.”

“What do you mean?”

“Is this tit for tat?” Max hisses, his head dipping so he’s inches away from my face. “I did something bad so now you do too?”

“No…Max, Jesus!” I snap, realizing we’re not just acting like a boss and employee anymore. “I swear this was a coincidence.”

He stands back up and nods aggressively. “It’s no coincidence that his hands were fucking all over you,” he spits out, and it’s then that I realize why he’s so angry.

“Are you jealous?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Max licks his lips, and his eyes move past me to follow Ryne, who is slowly approaching. He practically snarls at the guy, “You can go now.”

“She paid for ninety minutes.” Ryne is unfazed by the suited caveman beside me.