“Not sure about that. Mrs. Kihoto made it easy. All I had to do was get n**ed in front of a group of Japanese ladies.”
“Funny. Despite Mr. Kihoto’s extracurricular activities, he respects his wife’s opinion.”
“Or maybe he just realized what a great deal you were offering,” she said.
He flicked his gaze over her. “Maybe. What would you like for lunch? Anything is yours.”
“Fish,” she said. “I need all the brain food I can get. Especially after last night.”
His lips lifted. “You flatter me.”
“Not really,” she said. “I just need to keep my mental energy going.”
“Okay, salmon it is,” he said.
Mere moments later, the waiter arrived with their lunch. Calista dug in, enjoying her seafood and focusing on her own meal rather than Leo. She needed her strength, her acuity. Heaven help her, she hoped the food would supply it.
She sipped from her water glass, refusing wine. “That was delicious.”
“Yes, it was,” Leo said, clicking his water glass against hers. “Would you like to go to the lake house this weekend?” he asked.
“I have to visit my sisters,” she said.
“Bring them with you,” he offered.
“Have you met them? I love them, but my sisters can be a royal pain,” she said.
“So can you,” he said, his eyes hooded with sensuality.
“Okay,” she said. “But I’ve warned you.”
She joined him for the events, dressing quickly after work. The first night he met her at home and made love to her. The second time, he took her in the limo. She wondered if she would ever feel normal again.“This is kinda crazy,” she told him as he held her in his arms.
“It’s crazy in a good way,” he said, kissing her.
“Are you sure about that?” she asked.
“Yeah, I am,” he said.
Calista took a deep breath and deliberately drowned herself in him.
She felt him fold her around him as he slid inside her. She held onto him wanting more, wanting everything….
“I’m rolling onto my back,” he said. “You can take me any way you want.”
And she did, but at the same time, she was completely taken.
That weekend her sisters joined Calista and Leo at his lake house. Calista feared he would run screaming from extended close contact, but he managed. She was impressed at the way he handled them on his yacht. Then again, what wasn’t to like about riding on a yacht?
Leo took Tina on an inner tube ride.
“Can I try it?” Tami asked, who was usually too cool to participate in what she deemed childish.
“Of course,” Leo said. “You’re up next.”
After a few more minutes for Tina, Tami jumped off the side of the boat and positioned herself in the inner tube.
As Tina climbed on board, Calista wrapped a towel around her sister and hugged her. “That rocked,” she said and glanced at Leo. “Your husband is the best.”
Leo felt a surprising rush of pleasure at the teen’s compliment. The appreciation he saw in Calista’s gaze gave him an even bigger boost. Watching her interact with her sisters tugged at a long forgotten place inside him. Their teasing camaraderie reminded him of nights he’d spent wishing for a different family. He’d thought he’d buried those longings years ago. He couldn’t help admiring the way the three of them had retained their sense of family even after all their losses and living apart.
“It does look fun,” Calista said.
“You wanna go?” he asked, watching as her hair whipped around in the wind.
“Oh, no, that’s okay,” she said.
“You should try it,” Tina said. “It’s way easier than skiing.”
Calista shook her head. “No—”
“Oh, don’t be a wuss, Cal,” Tina said.
“More than one can ride at a time,” he said, remembering Calista’s traumatic experience.
“I’ll go with you,” Tina offered.
“For some reason, that doesn’t make me feel more secure, daredevil,” Calista said and bumped her hip against her sister.
“It would work,” Leo said, because he could tell Calista wanted to go. “Tina could go with you and Tami could watch.”
“Come on,” Tina said.
“Okay,” Calista said. “But you better make sure Tami isn’t texting instead of watching.”
Minutes later, Calista took the plunge with Tina. He watched her younger sister coach her on the location of the grips. He wondered how often the girls switched roles, becoming the teacher instead of the student. Despite Tina’s bold personality, she was gentle with Calista.
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Tami lifting her cell phone. “No texting when you’re the lookout,” he said.
“Who’s texting? I’m taking pictures,” she said. “Are you ready?” she called to Tina and Calista.
“Yes,” Tina said.
“No,” Calista said. “Okay,” she amended when Tina rolled her eyes. “Just go very slowly.”
Leo eased forward, escalating slowly. Hearing yelling voices, he glanced at Tami. “Tina wants you to go faster,” she said.
“What about Calista?” he asked, focusing on piloting the boat.
“She’s okay,” Tami said.
Leo revved up the speed and took a few easy turns. He heard a scream during the last one and immediately slowed, glancing over his shoulder. “Is Calista okay?”
Tami was busy snickering and taking pictures with her cell phone. “They both got thrown.”
“What?” he asked, searching the water for them.
“It happened during that last turn,” Tami said, still snickering.
Leo spotted Tina screaming with glee then saw Calista yelling at the top of her lungs. Although she was wearing a life jacket, he was certain she was frightened. Stripping off his shirt, he jumped in the water and swam to her. She seemed to be struggling for breath.
“Are you okay?” he asked, pulling her to him.
She gasped then laughed. “Yes, I’m just going to kill my little sister. She did some sort of spinning thing with the tube during that last turn.”
“So you really are okay?”
She met his gaze and her laugh faded. “Were you really worried?”
“I remembered about the time you fell off the boat,” he said, feeling foolish.
“And you thought I was panicking,” she concluded in a wry voice. “Reasonable assumption, but no, this time Tina distracted me. Thanks for jumping in for me, though,” she said and smiled. “Had enough of my sisters?”
“The three of you have an interesting relationship,” he said, pulling her toward the boat. “Tami is busy laughing at you, while Tina is goading you into taking a spin.”
“That’s sisters for you. I’m guessing you didn’t have any,” she said.
He met her gaze and felt a strange twist in his gut. “None that I can remember.”
She hesitated, looking at him and biting her lip. “That must be awful. Not being able to remember,” she said.
He couldn’t bear her sympathy or her empathy. It caused an ache inside him that no pain medication would salve. “Maybe it wasn’t worth remembering,” he said and before she could respond, he added, “Go ahead and climb on board. You need to dry off. Here comes Tina.”
Leo piloted the boat back to the dock in silence, thrown back in time to all those nights when he wondered what kind of family he’d had, what his parents had been like, if he’d had siblings and if they’d died instantly in the car crash that had left him with no memory and a foster father who had abused him. He pulled into the dock, lost in thought.
“Thanks,” Tami said and hugged him.
He saw Calista watching them over Tami’s shoulder and hugged the teenager. “My pleasure. I want copies of those pictures,” he said.
Tami pulled back and smiled at him. “Deal,” she said.
“What pictures?” Calista demanded.
“Just a few of you and Tina in the water,” Tami said innocently. “I thought I’d post them on Facebook tonight.”
Calista cringed. “Don’t tag me. I don’t want my boss seeing those.”
“Why? Because he’ll be jealous you were having such a good time with two hot almost-college girls?” Tami said.
Calista groaned. “Just don’t. And maybe I should send both of you to a convent instead of a university.”
Hours later, after eating dinner and viewing a chick flick in Leo’s screening room, Calista climbed the stairs to Leo’s bedroom and washed her face and brushed her teeth in the adjoining bathroom. Then she crept into his bed, carefully sliding underneath the covers.“Did you have fun?” he asked, startling her.
She froze for two seconds then took a breath. “Yes. My sisters had fun, too. Thank you so much for making this happen. I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. It was fun seeing you with your sisters. It’s impressive that the three of you put things back together.”
Her pleasure in the day dimmed a little. Leo would be all too well acquainted with how her family had imploded, especially her father. “My father wasn’t perfect, but he was affectionate and he made us laugh. He tried to teach me to play golf.”
“Tried?” he said.
“Not my forte. He was one of the most encouraging people I’ve known. I would hit a ball all wrong and he would say things like ‘You almost got it.’ ‘That’s a good start.’” She shook her head, her heart squeezing tight with the memories. “For the most part, he was extremely optimistic. Maybe a little too optimistic at times, but I miss him. I miss his smile and his laugh and his bear hugs.”
Silence followed and Leo covered her hand with his. “You’re lucky to have those memories.”