4. Chapter 4

Sig

I grab the duffle bag at Rachel's feet and head towards the car at a fast clip. "Let's go."

She races after me. "Coming."

You're not yet, but if I have it my way… I groan and speed up. No way in hell am I going there… or giving her a chance to change her mind about this trip. Not when it's an opportunity for me to spend more time with her. "Come on. The kids need you."

"The kids! Fuck!" She races after me. "I mean fudge."

"Duck," I suggest my go-to swear.

"D-duck?"

I wish I knew what was going on in that pretty head of hers. Is she trying to convince herself she didn't see me shift? Does she think she imagined the whole thing?

"Duck is easier to remember than fudge," I tell her.

"Right. Duck." She hurries around me and races up to the kids. "Sorry we took so long."

All three of them glare at her.

It's obvious that she cares about the kids, even when they're making her life a living hell. Makes me picture us having kids of our own—another three, to bring our family up to eight. Well, nine, if you count Nana, and I certainly do. She practically adopted me the moment I moved in next door, baking me cookies, asking about my business, encouraging me to share my passion with the world.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I can't ask Rachel to marry me when we just met. She's still in complete denial… not just about my duckie status, but about us.

I've got all day to get through to her, and I have a plan.

I grab her hand, marveling at how perfect it feels in mine, and pull her toward Ada's van. "Can you drive?"

I've never learned, and with good reason. I could never get behind the wheel knowing that if something were to startle me, I could shift. Sure, I'd just bounce off the car walls, but what about other people on the road? They could get seriously hurt!

Rachel pulls out the car keys and manually unlocks the old Dodge. I wait for it to stall, but the engine's smooth as butter. And the smell wafting from the kids is equivalent to the dump off Carlton Avenue… which makes me wonder if they've been rolling in garbage.

I roll down my windows—literally… because the car is that old. I turn the ducking crank handle as fast as it will go, while the window slides down at a crawl. Rachel copies me. I'd say it's proof that we're on the same wavelength, but the kids roll their windows down too, eager to escape the smell. Because. It. Is. That. Bad.

Rachel sets her phone on the car mount, and I program the GPS. She barely has a chance to pull out of the driveway when Noah asks. "Are we there yet?"

I grin, and so does Rachel. Definitely on the same wavelength.

"Fifteen minutes," I say as my gaze slides down to her legs. They're long, lean, and tanned.

"Do you like swimming?" I ask.

"Yes!" all three kids shout from the back.

Rachel turns to gape at me. "How'd you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Convince them to…" She lowers her voice. "Go swimming."

I chuckle. "I have my secrets."

She smiles, glances at the GPS, and merges onto the highway.

Noah claps his hands. "We're going to Rubber Duckie World!"

I sigh. "We gotta work on keeping secrets, bud."

"Sorry, Sig!"

Rachel gives me the most adorable frown, and I wish I could kiss it away. "What's Rubber Duckie World?"

"Only the best place ever!" Noah yells.

I chuckle. "I appreciate the vote of confidence, but you haven't even tried it yet." Though I have been stopping by Ada's house with progress updates and photos, so the kids know everything there is to know about the place. I turn to Rachel. "It's not open to the public yet."

Rachel frowns. "Then how are we going to get in?"

"Sig owns it. Duh," Lisa says. Girl's got some attitude on her, and she's clearly not on Team Rachel. I plan to get to the bottom of why, and fix it, before the day is done.

For now, I turn to Rachel. "The grand opening is next weekend."

She's still frowning. "What is it, exactly?"

I place a hand on my heart with a dramatic gasp. "How have you not heard of Rubber Duckie World?"

I'm mostly teasing, though I am a bit surprised. My water park is the talk of the town, and the behind-the-scenes footage I've released has been featured in magazines and viral videos for months. The grand opening is completely sold out, and so is the August summer festival, not to mention that I've sold ten times more season passes and VIP memberships than I'd hoped—all before we even opened the gates.

But Rachel just shakes her head, sending her blonde ponytail flying. Strands of hair graze tanned, muscular shoulders, and I picture it down—sliding across her bare shoulders while she rides my cock.

I swallow and force myself to look away. Breathe, duck!

"Is anyone going to tell me what Rubber Duckie World is or not?" Rachel whines.

"It's a water park with over a dozen—" I start.

"It's got massive slides!" Lisa shouts, practically bouncing in her seat.

"And a pool with bubbles," Anna adds softly. "And all these rubber ducks."

"The Duckie Tub," I clarify.

"And you can ride ducks like horses," Noah shouts.

"Down the lazy river," I add. "Ducks are better than tubes." Which is a known fact. Not much else needs to be said.

"They are," Anna says. Kid's got good taste.

"Can we see the gift shop?" Lisa asks. "I want to get Nana a grandma rubber duckie. I'm going to give it to her when she comes back."

"Sure thing." I glance over my shoulder at her and catch her glaring at the back of Rachel's seat. Time to deflect. "I've got some grandma duckies knitting sweaters in stock. I'm still waiting for grandma duckies drinking coffee to come in."

"Nana loves to knit," Noah says.

I guess that's settled.

Rachel shoots me this adorably confused look as she takes the exit I programmed into her GPS. I'm used to that reaction, since most people haven't heard of rubber duck collectors—but my water park is going to change all that.

"Are you sure it's okay that we're going before it's even open?" Rachel asks.

"Yes," Lisa shouts.

I chuckle. "We're shooting some publicity videos later today, so all the rides are operational. My friend, Reaper, is meeting us there. He runs the Duckie Diner, and he's a certified lifeguard. Everyone on staff is, and a few others will be there to run the rides."

I don't add how much I'm paying them for that last minute favor.

Rachel smiles. "Thanks so much for having us, Sig. You don't know how much I appreciate it."

I'd do anything for Rachel. I just don't want to come on too strong and scare her off by telling her. So instead, I respond with a breezy, "It's no trouble at all."

She smiles softly. "I promise we won't stay long."

All three kids—and one grown-ass man—groan. Because, if I have it my way, Rachel and the kids are staying forever. Nana, too.

We're meant to be.

I just need to convince Rachel of that… and it looks like I have my work cut out for me.