Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

Larison

Having Jo with us for beach day was relaxing and exciting at the same time. Every time I looked at her, I remembered what we’d done last night and shivered with the memories. I’d absolutely passed out afterward and had slept better than I had in a long time.

Our eyes would meet, and she’d give me a look and I knew she was thinking about it too. And then Juniper would say something and I’d get a little flustered, as if I’d been caught doing something bad.

Jo carried Juniper’s pail of shells and helped her find pretty rocks and then the three of us threw ourselves into the surf. The two of us grabbed each of Juniper’s hands and towed her through the waves. Jo attempted to do underwater handstands and helped Juniper try, the two of them laughing and spitting water at each other.

I floated on my back and let the sun beat down on me as I listened to Jo and Juniper.

My girls.

That was new. Obviously Juniper had always been mine, but Jo hadn’t been. Or I hadn’t let myself think of her as mine, but that word and that ownership had seeped into my life and had really taken hold last night when we’d been together.

I didn’t believe that sex automatically created connections, but sex with Jo had deepened what we already had and revealed parts of ourselves to each other that we hadn’t seen before.

Intimacy. We’d crossed into another level with each other.

Falling for Jo would be so easy. Like floating. Like breathing. But it was also terrifying. I hadn’t fallen for anyone before. Not really. I’d had my teenage relationships and then had Juniper and never let myself get close enough for that to be a possibility.

I really would have to thank Sophie for helping bring Jo into my life.

“Mama, I’m hungry,” Juniper said, and I flipped around in the water.

“You wanna have lunch?”

“Yes, please. Jo Jo, you can sit next to me.” I met Jo’s eyes and we both smiled.

“I can? Well thank you. I would love to sit next to you.”

“And you can have some of my fries. But not all of them,” Juniper said as we dragged ourselves out of the water and toward our towels that had been warming in the sun.

Jo wrapped up Juniper before I could do it and Juniper giggled as Jo rubbed her arms and legs and head.

“Jo Jo, I love you,” Juniper said casually.

Jo froze as she sat on her knees. Her eyes filled with tears.

I watched as she wiped some water from Juniper’s cheek.

“I love you, Juniper.”

My daughter laughed and flung herself at Jo, who held her with her eyes closed and a few tears rolling down her cheek. My eyes weren’t dry either and I had to look away and wipe a few from my cheeks.

“Can we have lunch now?” Juniper said, turning around to look at me as if she hadn’t just changed our lives.

“Yes, we can have lunch, baby.”

Jo gathered herself and wiped her eyes as I went over.

“You okay?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yeah. I am. I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Kids love to surprise you.”

We stood there looking at each other and I pulled her into a hug, even though we were still cold and damp.

“I think we’re going to have to talk to Juniper about us sooner rather than later,” I said in her ear.

“I think so too. I don’t know why that scares me.”

I stroked my hand up and down her spine, enjoying the touch of her skin revealed by her two-piece suit.

“It’s going to be okay, Josephine.”

“Mmm, I will do anything you say when you use my name like that,” she said, snuggling closer to me.

“Stop trying to seduce me on a public beach,” I said, and she laughed.

“Never,” she said before Juniper yelled that she was hungry again.

We covered ourselves in our towels and walked up to the snack bar where Jo proceeded to pay for all of us.

I snagged a free picnic table and waited for Juniper and Jo to come back with the food. Juniper walked so slowly with the drinks, and I almost got up to help her, but she had to be independent.

“Good job, Juni,” I said, when she set our drinks down without dropping a single one.

We dug into our burgers and fries, sharing ketchup and trying not to talk with our mouths full.

Juniper managed to finish her burger but not her fries so Jo and I split them and made sure no food was left behind.

Juniper took the trash to the bin and dumped the trays.

“Jo Jo, will you make a sandcastle with me?” Juniper asked.

“I would love to do that,” Jo said, taking her hand. The two of them walked together back to our spot and I pulled out my book. I’d join them. In a few pages.

Juniper played so hard that she passed out on the way home, but Jo was the one who got her out of her booster seat and carried her upstairs while I managed everything else.

“She’s covered in sand,” Jo said when we walked through the door.

“Just take her to the bathroom and brush her off into the tub as best you can and then we can let her pass out for a little while. She’ll probably wake up for dinner.”

Jo nodded and took Juni to the bathroom. I put things away and picked up, smiling when Jo came out of Juniper’s room, closing the door behind her.

“Come on, let’s get clean,” she said, holding her hand out to me.

“I’ve got sand in lots of places,” I said, letting myself flirt with her.

“Oh yeah? I’ll have to do a thorough inspection.”

I laughed and fell into her arms as she dragged me toward the shower and we shucked off our clothes and bathing suits, getting our hands soapy and all over each other.

Eventually we got clean and Jo grabbed the bag of clothes and other supplies she’d packed up when we stopped at her house earlier.

I hadn’t even asked her if she wanted to stay the night tonight. She hadn’t mentioned going home and had set up her electric toothbrush on the sink and put her moisturizer on the second nightstand. Jo had also brought her ereader and a few other things to make herself at home here.

She was settling in and that was absolutely fine with me. More than fine.

Juniper slept for a while, so Jo and I sat on the couch and watched a few shows, just enjoying being with each other and sharing touches. Her hands in my hair, my fingers making random patterns on the inside of her arm.

We were both drowsy and I didn’t know if I had it in me to have a repeat of last night.

“God, why does the beach make me so tired? It doesn’t make any sense,” Jo said through a yawn.

“Don’t yawn, you’ll make me yawn,” I said and then yawned.

“Sorry. Hey, we can heat up something from the freezer, or we can order dinner. What do you want to do?”

“I’m good with ordering something,” I said. “Let’s wait until Juniper wakes up. Or we decide we’re starving. Whichever comes first.”

Jo nodded and then straddled me.

“Hello,” she said, smiling down at me.

“Hi.”

She held my face in her hands and kissed me so gently. Slowly. No rush, no hurry.

Too soon, she let out a frustrated sound and pressed her forehead to mine. I had to check and make sure I was still sitting on the couch. My entire body felt like it was floating somewhere near the ceiling.

“I can’t start that with you or else I’ll want to finish it. And I don’t want to traumatize our child,” she said, her voice shaky.

Our child.

My eyes flew open and I stared at her.

“What?” she asked. She didn’t realize what she’d said. The word had just slipped out without her noticing.

“Nothing,” I said after a few seconds. “I just thought I heard Juniper.”

Jo whipped around, looking at Juniper’s door.

Our child .

When there was no sound, Jo let out a breath and slid sideways onto the couch. “We’ve gotta be careful.”

“Yeah,” I said.

I was going to be thinking about those two words for the rest of the night.