hoped she could pretend she fit in his. Just for a few days. Just to have a little fun.
Eddy signed his art, too—he chose a red crayon for his signature scribble. “I will treasure these always, guys,” Eric said, folding the two sheets of paper and tucking them into an inside pocket. “I’ll come back and see you again, okay? And maybe your mom will bring you out on the boat. We’ll go swimming and everything.”
Swimming didn’t mean much to the twins—but boat? “Now you’ve done it,” she told him as she came out of the kitchen, her resolve set. They were going to have a lovely weekend and that was final.
Sofia leaned down to give each of the twins another kiss on the head. “Be good,” she told them. “I’ll see you in a few days. Love you.”
Eric put his hand in the small of Sofia’s back. “Longer goodbyes only make it harder,” he said, his voice low in her ear.
He guided her through the door and down the front steps, where a long black car was waiting. It wasn’t quite a limousine, but it was close.
She looked back over her shoulder to see Mom holding the twins at the window, everyone waving. Sofia had to blink hard as she waved back and then Eric had the door open for her and she climbed into his luxury car.
He sat next to her and put the bag of snacks between them. “Ready to have some fun?”
She picked up one of the snacks. Fun. Nothing more and by God, nothing less. “Let’s go wild.”
Normally, Eric enjoyed everything about traveling to a site at the beginning of a new project. Of course he enjoyed making more money. Who didn’t? But he actually loved buying a piece of property, whether it was vacant or the buildings were dilapidated or whatever, and seeing the possibilities. He loved choosing the best option from those possibilities and making it a reality. He was good at it, too. Every development was more successful than the last. Sometimes it seemed like there wasn’t anything Eric couldn’t turn to gold.
He glanced at the woman sitting across from him. She looked amazing today—but his awareness of her went deeper than just how her backside had looked in those white pants when she’d gotten into the car.
So many possibilities.
It didn’t make any sense, how glad he was to see her. He’d gone decades without Sofia in his life and suddenly, he was waking up early, thinking of ways he could make her laugh—or make her eyes deepen with desire, make her tongue flick over her lips in anticipation...
“Should I send that picture to you or your mother?” Sofia asked.
He jerked his gaze away from her lips. “Me.” Because he wanted to hold on to that memory of Sofia’s children in his arms, of Eddy’s easy laughter, of Addy’s slow but sweet smile.
He hadn’t lied—those kids were even cuter in person. Eddy was outgoing and Addy was reserved, but they were two sides of the same coin. They weren’t identical, in either their appearance or temperament, but they did little things together that tugged at his heartstrings, like tilting their heads the same way and smiling the same smile at the same time. They matched each other perfectly in every way.
He touched his jacket, right over where he’d tucked their drawings in his inside pocket. When he thought of those babies, all he saw was possibilities.
His reaction didn’t make any sense, but he wanted to be there for them.
“There,” Sofia said, seconds before his phone chimed. “You like strawberry best, right? I suppose it’s not a great idea to load up on junk food before we get on the plane, though...” She fished out a bright red Jarritos soda from the overflowing bag Mrs. Cortés had packed.
“At least we won’t starve to death anytime soon,” he joked, twisting the cap off the soda. “I haven’t had one of these in years.” He took a long drink. And then immediately started coughing as the sugar hit his tongue like a tidal wave. “Was it always this sweet?” he choked out, his eyes watering.
Sofia laughed. He could see a little of the tension fading from around her eyes. “Yes, it was. You really haven’t had one since we were kids?”
He shook his head and took a much smaller sip of the soda. All he could taste was sugar. It wasn’t so much strawberry flavored, but damn if it didn’t taste like his childhood and all the fun he used to have with Sofia. “I know you may find this hard to believe, but I don’t exactly wander the aisles of grocery stores. I have a personal chef and I dine out a lot.”
Her lips twisted into something that might’ve been a smile. Yes, he knew she didn’t have personal chefs, but he didn’t want to do a side-by-side comparison of their lifestyles.
“That’s true, I suppose,” she said.
“Hey, none of that.” He held out his soda for her to taste. Mrs. Cortés had packed several bottles but he was possessed with the sudden urge to share with Sofia. They always had shared, back when they’d been kids, hiding from his mom’s nutritionally conscious eyes. “We’re going to have a good time this weekend and that’s final. I don’t know if I told you this yet, but you look very nice today.”
She hesitated and then took the bottle from him. “Thank you. I can’t take any credit for this outfit—or anything else. It’s all Clarice.”
“She may have picked it out,” he said, his gaze drawn to the smooth expanse of her creamy skin revealed by the low-cut blouse, “but you’re making it look good.”
Sofia’s cheeks shot bright pink and for a second, he thought she was going to scold him. Instead, she lifted the bottle and placed it against her lips.
Suddenly, Eric couldn’t do anything but watch her throat move as she swallowed. When she handed the bottle back to him, her tongue traced the path around her lips, capturing every drop of sweetness.
He went hard in a heartbeat and it only got worse when she looked up at him through her lashes. So many possibilities. How would she look, her hair undone and her lips swollen from kisses? Would she taste sweet or would she taste more complex, like a fine wine?
He shook back to himself. This was Sofia, for crying out loud. He had to stop thinking about kissing her at random times. About kissing her at all. Or about what she’d look like in a cocktail dress. Or even out of a cocktail dress.
Unfortunately, his thoughts went right back to her children. He dug out his phone and opened the picture and froze. Eddy was clapping, Addy was smiling and as for him?
He looked happy. Happier than he could ever remember looking.
This was bad. No, that wasn’t true. Bad was wanting to strip her down to nothing and spending a long evening in a private hotel suite showing her how much better he’d gotten at kissing since he’d been a kid. He wanted to do bad, bad things to her. Repeatedly. Over the course of a long weekend.
Her babies weren’t bad, because he now knew these twins and might very well keep on knowing them. He could visit them again or have Sofia bring them out on the boat. Hell, he could invite them to his parents’ house because his mother would go crazy for these babies. He didn’t have to cling to
