Dakota found it difficult to get her work done knowing Cam was out there with Zinny. She wanted to watch, and at one point she did. One of the upstairs bedrooms overlooked the pool and she looked down to see a scene that made her heart melt.
It was a warm day. The clouds had dissipated and the bright California sun shone down. Facing Zinny, Cam had her by the forearms and was walking backwards. Zinny was kicking her legs like mad. Dakota could hear their muted laughter and Cam calling out encouragement.
When her phone alarm signaled the end of the hour, she went outside. Zinny and Cam both had hold of the pool’s edge, their mad scissor kicks turning the water into a sparkling froth of bubbles. Cam was stretched out next to Zinny and even though bubbles made it hard to see, Dakota got tantalizing glimpses of the man’s athletic form. He had thighs like tree trunks and obviously his powerful kicks, not Zinny’s, were responsible for the rapidly churning water.
Cam called, “Red light,” and they both stopped kicking.
The water smoothed out as Cam found purchase on the floor of the pool and Dakota got a load of his torso. Holy Mother. Standing there, his wet skin glistening in the sunshine, he looked like a god—every muscle defined, not an ounce of fat on him. She couldn’t get over his picture-perfect six-pack abs and had a strange compulsion to run her fingers over the ridges, something she would, of course, never do.
“Time’s up,” she said.
Zinny, who was out of breath, wailed. “Nooo. Longer.”
“Absolutely not. Cam has better things to—”
“Hey, it’s okay with me if it’s okay with you,” he interrupted.
Zinny said “please” about twenty times as Dakota gave Cam a look that said, “You don’t have to do this,” and his answering look said, “I’m totally fine with it.”
“Well, all right,” she said and Zinny squealed with glee.
“So, I’ll just go back in and do the floors while you two have fun out here in the sun,” Dakota said.
Zinny, oblivious to the sarcasm, said, “Okay, Koko.”
By now Dakota had developed a routine where she spent almost all of the two hours in the kitchen, the family room and his master suite, since those were the areas he spent the most time in. If she had any leftover time, she cleaned up his home gym, but he said he was in the habit of wiping down the machines and weights after he used them.
An hour later, Dakota went back outside. She felt frustrated because with only two hours, she wasn’t able to do many of the things that needed to be done. She longed to really organize that kitchen pantry. And his closet. And the cupboard under the sink. His house was just too big.
When Zinny noticed her, she exclaimed, “Koko, Koko, look what I can do.”
“I can’t wait to see, honey.”
“You’re not going to believe it,” Cam warned.
He stood in the shallow end and Zinny stood on his bent knees. They both faced the edge of the pool, which was about four feet away. As Cam held her by the waist, Zinny held her arms straight out in front of her and parallel to the water.
“Okay, Zinderella, let’s do this. One, two, three!”
With that, Zinny leapt forward fearlessly. After some vigorous kicking and paddling, and a mini heart attack for Dakota, Zinny made it to the edge of the pool. Cam whooped and hollered.
“Atta girl! That was great!”
Zinny was beaming.
“Oh my gosh, Zinny, that was amazing. You can do that after only two hours?” She glanced at Cam who had a wide grin on his face that did something to her insides.
“Wait, Koko. I’M GOING TO SWIM BACK TO HIM!”
With a firm grip on the pool’s edge, her niece twisted her body so she was facing Cam, who had his arms out.
“Go back more,” Zinny said, with a jerk of her chin.
“Are you sure?” Cam asked.
He got a determined nod in reply.
“Okay…” Cam took one step back then held his arms out.
Dakota bit her lip even though she knew that if Zinny faltered, Cam was right there.
Zinny took a deep breath and launched herself from the side of the pool. Her arms and legs thrashed wildly as she dogpaddled to Cam, her head held high, her cheeks puffed out. When she reached Cam a few heart-stoppingly long seconds later, she exhaled as he gathered her into his arms.
Dakota clapped and hollered. “I can’t believe my eyes! That was amazing. You’re swimming!”
“Koko, I’m going to swim to the side again and you film it. I want Nana to see.”
Cam chuckled as Dakota obediently got out her phone and cued up the camera. Without fear, Zinny pushed off Cam and paddled madly for the stone edge, her little face screwed up in concentration. A few moments later, she was gripping the side of the pool, looking up at Dakota with joy beaming from her face.
“Zinny, I am so proud of you. You’re actually swimming!”
“I deserve a reward probably. Maybe a puppy.”
“Nice try, kiddo,” Dakota said.
“She’s not quite pool safe yet,” Cam said. “But she’s well on her way.”
“Cam, you’re a miracle worker.”
He shook his head. “Nah. She’s the one who did all the work. She’s not afraid of anything, seems like. Give us a month and she’ll be ready for the Olympics.”
“Koko, swimming is so much fun. I want to go swimming tomorrow too.”
“First of all, you haven’t been invited. Second of all, Nana wanted to take you shopping to get new shoes, remember? Now come on out. We have to go.”
Zinny’s face fell, but Dakota knew she loved going shopping with her grandmother. Ellen could always be counted on to spoil her just a little bit and they always went to lunch at a sit-down restaurant where Zinny practiced her manners. Besides, Cam had already donated enough of his time today. Dakota was a little worried that from now on she’d have to weather constant requests to come with her to Cam’s so she could swim in the pool.
Zinny reluctantly made her way up the pool stairs and Dakota met her with an open Little Mermaid towel. As she wrapped her niece up, still cooing about how proud she was, Cam joined them on the deck to get his own towel off the chaise lounge. Dakota tried very hard not to look at him as he briskly dried himself off but failed utterly. He was truly a gorgeous hunk of man. Even though he was performing a perfectly mundane task, each movement was fluid and precise. She liked watching how his biceps flexed, and the way his swimming trunks clung to his butt was nothing short of indecent. The entire ritual turned her on so much, she was practically panting. A crazy fantasy unfolded in her head of the two of them in his bedroom, naked and writhing on the very sheets she’d just changed. He would be strong and assertive. He wouldn’t ask permission for everything he did like Mike had, as if uncertain about what he was supposed to do. No. Cam would act first and ask questions later. The body he worked so hard to maintain would be at her disposal, to caress and kiss and lick at will. She suddenly wanted that so mu—
“Koko, I’m hungry,” Zinny said, snapping Dakota out of her trance.
Cam was grinning at her, one eyebrow raised as he rubbed his head with his towel, and she felt a hot flush spread up her neck to her face. He’d obviously caught her ogling him.
“W-we’ll go get a Happy Meal to celebrate your learning how to swim,” she told Zinny, feeling his eyes on her still.
“Yay!”
As Zinny packed up her stuff in the family room, Dakota took Cam into the living room and confessed to the many things she’d had to leave undone because she’d run out of time.
“I didn’t get to the floors in half the house. I didn’t wash any of the windows. The upstairs bathrooms only got a cursory wipe-down. Two hours is just not enough for me to do this big of a house.”
“This could all be fixed, you know,” he said. “Work exclusively for me. Just tell me what you need and I’ll make it happen. Sick days, vacation…”
“How about security against you getting traded?” she asked, crossing her arms.
“We can set up a severance package. If I get traded, you get a certain number of months’ pay, guaranteed, plus a reference to everyone I know on the team. I can think of five guys right off the bat who would jump at the chance to have you be their housekeeper.”
“The only problem is I was talking about not having enough time to do everything today, but on the flip side, forty hours a week would be too much time. I mean you’re messy, but not that messy.”
“Yeah, so I was actually thinking maybe you could also cook for me. Nothing fancy, you know? Just wholesome stuff, like that amazing meatloaf you made.”
“You haven’t tried it yet.”
“Well, I smelled it and it smells so good, I almost just grabbed a fork and started eating it. And besides, anything you make is sure to be better than what I make for myself. This could actually be very beneficial to my performance on the ice. I’ve always known I should eat better and could never manage it. But if you take over the planning and preparation, I’ll be able to get the right kind of fuel inside me, which can only be a good thing.”
Dakota, Ellen and Zinny sometimes played a word game called Boggle that had dice with letters of the alphabet on them. Each round required a player to put a lid over the tray that held the dice and shake vigorously to mix everything up then jiggle until they all fell into the spaces in the tray. When Cam suggested Dakota cook for him, it felt like that moment when the dice suddenly fell into their places.
She had always intended to work for the school district as a nutritionist in the hopes of teaching and guiding children into making healthy food choices. That was one of the main reasons she’d taken the job as custodian. But the idea of being Cam’s personal chef and putting her knowledge to actual use was extremely appealing.
Almost as appealing as the man himself.
“So will you think about it? Please?” he asked.
Their gazes met and held which made her stomach feel fluttery. She’d never really noticed how his irises had a rim of black around the brown. And he had a small white scar on his jaw. She wondered if he’d gotten it playing hockey. It was then that she realized how close they were standing. She could smell the chlorine on his skin. And oh, how much skin there was to smell. He was wearing only his swimming trunks and even though she was still looking into his deep blue eyes, her brain easily supplied an image of that naked torso, slick with water and a backside made sexier than sin because of the wet fabric that clung to it.
She told her body to stand down. This man was not only her client, he was so far out of her league it was laughable. Yes, she had some curves that she’d learned how to make the most of but she had no business getting hot and bothered over him. None.