No One Else (The Ladies Who Brunch 2)

“Okay!” He holds out his hands to me as I squeeze a few drops in his palm. Momentarily, I wonder if I gave him too much because lord knows he’s going to get it everywhere, but I only have a few seconds to ponder that decision before I’m frozen in place, watching Amelia lift her cover-up over her head, revealing a matching yellow bikini on her body—her incredible, curvy, silky, and tan body—a body that has my dick tenting my trunks in seconds. Maybe swimming with her with my kid around wasn’t a bright idea after all. And it’s not like I haven’t seen the woman naked, but that pathetic excuse for a bikini she’s wearing is such a fucking tease.

Amelia has the body of a woman, curves accentuated by the dip in her waist that leads to the flare of her hips, a thick and luscious ass that is held up by toned legs and voluptuous thighs, and her breasts are the perfect handful for her body, keeping up the proportion of her hourglass figure.

She drives me crazy and makes me feel at peace all at the same time.

Because it’s not just her body that I love, but the way she is with my kid. I was so nervous about letting Oliver spend time with her, but the more they interact, the more I see how loving and nurturing she is with him. This week she even let him hang out with her in her office while I finished up a call in mine before we left for his soccer practice. They played tic-tac-toe, and he helped her stack the business cards neatly again on the table by her door. All Oliver did was talk about her in the car once we left, and part of me wished he’d had more to say.

I crouch down, bending my knees not only to reach Oliver better but to help conceal the physical reaction my body is having to her. And as I stare up at her from my new position, she gathers her wild hair into a ponytail and secures it on the top of her head, exposing the long column of her neck that I instantly want to kiss and lick every inch of.

“There.” Twisting around, she drops to her knees in front of Oliver as he smears the sunscreen on her back, the expanse of her skin barely covered by two thin strings of fabric holding up her top. “Make sure to cover all of my back, Oliver, so I don’t get sunburned.”

“Okay.” As he concentrates harder than I’ve ever seen him, determined to accomplish a task, I finish covering him from head to toe in sunblock and then move to blow up his new floaties.

“Is it all rubbed in?” Amelia asks, glancing over her shoulder at him, catching my eyes in the process as she flashes me a smile.

“Yup!” Oliver proudly exclaims as I peek at her back, noticing a few spots of white still lingering—and by a few spots, I mean her entire back is still pasty.

“Here, Oliver.” I help him slide his arms into his floaties before he combusts from anticipation.

“Can I jump in now, Daddy?”

“Yup! Go ahead.”

“Yay! Cannonball!” he screams, running toward the pool at full speed and then stopping right at the edge just before jumping as high as he can, splashing the concrete when he hits the water.

“He’ll be doing that over and over again until we make him stop to eat or take a drink of water,” I say, turning toward Amelia, who I catch glancing at my ass. With an arch of my brow, I catch her attention. “Like what you see?”

“Always.” She clears her throat and then smiles.

“Um, you might want to turn around for a second.”

“Why?”

“Because my son still needs to work on his sunscreen application skills.”

She chuckles. “Oh.” Twisting away from me, I take a few seconds to admire her backside again before pressing my fingers to her skin, rubbing the white cream in the spots he missed. A faint moan rings out, but I can’t tell if it came from my mouth or hers. Eager to touch her more and use this as an excuse, I use both hands now, massaging her shoulders as her head falls back.

“That feels nice,” she whispers breathlessly.

“God, I wish we were alone right now. I’d be fucking you on that lounger under the gondola over there, and then we’d be skinny dipping so I could feel your naked, wet body all over mine.”

“Ethan, you can’t say things like that to me in front of your son.”

“He’s occupied.” I run my hands down her back and then grip her hips. “Fuck, you’re so sexy, Amelia.” And then I press my cock against her ass so she can feel how close I am to losing my composure.

“Dad! Watch this!” I turn around just in time to see and hear the sound of Oliver jumping into the pool again, bringing me back to reality.

“Nice, bud,” I tell him when his head bobs up from under the water.” Then I turn back to Amelia. “To be continued. And there you go. All rubbed in.”

“Thank you.” She spins to face me again, her cheeks slightly pink as she glances over at Oliver paddling to the steps again. “I love when we’re alone, but I’m glad Oliver is here. He’s a part of your life, and I want to spend time with him too.”

“I can’t tell you what that means to me, babe.” I lift her hand and press a kiss to her wrist as Oliver screams out in delight.

“I’m glad he’s happy and having fun. I’m going to go inside and grab us some drinks. Do you want anything in particular? I made lemonade…”

“That sounds great. Thanks.” I watch her walk back into the house before turning again to the pool, observing Oliver climb out via the steps and then race back over to where he jumped before. “No running on the concrete, Oliver. You’ll slip and fall.”

“I know, Daddy. Now watch!” He plugs his nose and jumps into the water again, alerting me to the fact that I’m going to be watching this same routine repeatedly all afternoon. But I can’t help but smile watching him, knowing he’s prospering and accepting Amelia into our lives too. I truly did miss my little sidekick this week while he was at school and I was working long days to catch up on work. A day of swimming sounds like a good way to make up for lost time.

“Here we go.” Amelia walks out of the house with a tray in her hands, strutting toward me before depositing it on the small table between the two chairs under the gondola she has in the corner of her yard behind the pool.

“Damn. This is some fancy lemonade.” The tray contains a pitcher, three glasses, and a tray of sliced fruit.

“I thought Oliver would like being able to add fruit to his drink. I made popsicles for later too, but I remember you saying that he liked to help cook, so for lunch, I bought stuff for a charcuterie board.” She shrugs. “I thought he’d like to help me fill it up with what we can snack on, give him a little say over what we’re eating.” She stares down at the ground, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say she’s questioning her idea.

“Hey.” Her head pops back up, her eyes locking onto mine. “That’s a great idea. I really appreciate you thinking about that. You didn’t have to, but I know Oliver will love it.”

“Well, I invited you two over, so I planned on feeding you both and wanted to be accommodating.” Reaching for the pitcher, she pours me a glass and then one for herself, picking up a few slices of raspberries and strawberries, gently dropping them inside. “I don’t spend much time with kids, but I wanted to do my best to make you feel welcome.”

“Dad!” Oliver screams from the pool, breaking our conversation before I can praise Amelia for her thoughtfulness.

“What’s up, bud?”

“Are you gonna come swimming?”

I turn to Amelia, who’s smiling across the yard at Oliver, holding her glass of lemonade.

“Duty calls. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Oh, no. Of course not. Go. I’m right behind you.”

With a nod, I stand and reach behind me to peel off my shirt, tossing it on the lounger. And when I look back at Amelia, her eyes are heated as they drift down my chest.

“You okay?” I ask her, pulling her from her perusal of my body.

“Yup. Seems today won’t be easy for either of us.” With a wink, she stands, sets her drink down, and walks around me, casting me a glance over her shoulder. And then she turns to Oliver. “This is how you cannonball, Ollie!” Jumping from the ledge, she tucks her knees into her chest and splashes both him and me a bit, laughing when she breaks through the surface of the water.

“Dad! You have to beat Amelia’s splash now!”

“That’s too easy!” Racing to the pool, I make sure to avoid them both as I jump in to join them, reeling with how effortless this all feels. These moments with the three of us remind me of the memories we’ve missed out on without Monica around. But as I glance at my son, I realize his happiness isn’t dependent on his mother being present—just that people who truly care about him are, and Amelia is quickly becoming one of those people.

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