Leave Me Breathless

‘Oh stop.’ Cami takes me in a hug. ‘Who’s this new woman, then, Ryan?’

‘She’s in the kitchen.’

‘Cracking the whip already?’

I’m cracking something, but it isn’t a whip. ‘Charlotte!’ I sing when she dives out the back of Jake’s Range Rover. ‘When did you get so grown up?’

‘I’m eight in two weeks.’ She holds up eight fingers, and my eyebrows jump up with feigned surprise.

‘She’s a big sister now.’ Cami smiles down at her stepdaughter before directing her attention to Jake. ‘You want to get the baby out of the car?’

‘No, I might wake him.’

I laugh as Jake goes to fetch his son and take Charlotte’s hand, throwing an arm around Cami’s shoulder. ‘So now you get to meet my little girl, Charlotte. Her name’s Alex. And she has something to show you down by the lake.’

Her eyes light up. ‘What?’

‘You’ll see.’ I push the door of the cabin open and stand aside, letting the ladies through before looking back to check for Jake. I nearly split my side when I see the big dude creeping across the lawn with a baby seat suspended from his outstretched arms, keeping him at arm’s length. ‘Shhh,’ I say, earning myself the death stare. I let Jake in and he settles the baby seat on the couch, padding it out with cushions. Obviously he thinks the seat might come to life and jump off the sofa.

‘Guys,’ I say, finding my girls by the sink. ‘This is Hannah and my daughter, Alex. Hannah, Alex, this is Jake, Cami, Charlotte, and that over there is—’

‘Lucifer,’ Jake interrupts, getting smacked on the arm by Cami. His joke breaks the ice somewhat, and I see Hannah relax as she laughs.

‘Hi,’ Hannah says, her hand coming up and then down, as if she’s not sure whether this is a hug or a handshake kind of situation. I smile when Cami moves in and embraces her. Of course it’s a hug situation.

‘Lovely to finally meet the woman who’s tamed him,’ Cami says, throwing me the eye. I ignore her. I didn’t need taming.

‘How do you look this good after giving birth?’ Hannah asks, motioning up and down Cami’s svelte frame.

‘She’s a model,’ Alex pipes in. ‘Dad told me. A super-famous one.’

‘Oh,’ Hannah more or less breathes, her smile faltering. I cock my head, wondering what’s wrong.

‘Was a model,’ Cami corrects Alex. ‘Now I’m more of a designer. Well, part-time.’

‘She doesn’t have to get naked to design,’ Jake says, moving in on Hannah. ‘And that suits her husband just fine.’ He holds out his hand to her. ‘Jake.’

‘Hannah. Lovely to meet you,’ she says as she accepts, her smile still a bit awkward.

‘Come on, Charlotte.’ Alex takes her hand and leads her to the door. ‘Let’s leave the grown-ups to be grown-ups.’

‘Are you okay with her going with Alex?’ I ask Jake.

‘Sure.’ Jake pulls his keys from his pocket. ‘Charlotte, listen to Alex, okay?’

‘Okay!’

They disappear and Jake heads back out. ‘I’ll just get the bags,’ he calls quietly over his shoulder, flicking his wary eyes to Caleb on the couch.

‘No problem, mate.’ I turn and move in on Hannah. ‘Are you okay?’ I ask, and she nods, the movement quick and jerky. She’s nervous. ‘Hey, they’re lovely people.’

‘I know,’ she says, brushing me off and moving across to the fridge. ‘Would you like a drink, Cami?’ she calls.

‘Just water, thanks, Hannah. I’m still breastfeeding.’

Hannah pours herself a wine and downs half. Wow. She’s really nervous. I open the fridge and pull out two beers as I watch her fill a glass with water, and she looks across to me, giving me a strained smile. I try to return it, but I’m back to wondering who the hell she is.

‘What’s on the menu, then, Ryan?’ Cami asks, eyeing all the food on the counter.

I collect the tray of homemade patties. ‘My famous burgers, of course.’ Then I take the dish of king prawns on skewers and shove them under Hannah’s nose. ‘And a bit of shrimp.’

She retreats like I could have just thrust a bowl of dog shit at her, her hand flying up to her mouth as she retches. ‘Sorry.’ She moves away, obviously offended by the food, giving the giant prawns a filthy look. ‘I really hate seafood.’

‘That’s some hate,’ I quip, withdrawing the bowl before she throws up in it. I’m not imagining it. She’s green. ‘You all right?’

‘Yeah.’ She gives me another strained smile and busies herself refilling her wine glass. ‘So how did you and Jake meet?’ she asks Cami, and I leave them to have their girl talk, taking the shrimp far away from Hannah, frowning as I go.

A few hours later, we’re all sitting around the table on the lawn after stuffing our faces with barbecue food and a few tubs of ice cream. The girls came back to the cabin for just enough time to demolish a burger before retreating to the lake where all the magic happens. Caleb has woken up and is currently being rocked in one of Jake’s big arms while he sips a beer with his other, and Cami and Hannah are chatting, both of them sitting forward in their chairs to get closer to each other as they natter. I swear, they haven’t shut the hell up all night. It’s nice to see that Hannah has relaxed a bit now, too.