Claim
Page 126
But Noah and Justin were insistent, continuing to chant “Race! Race!” until Gilly joined in, and the two men looked at each other sheepishly.
“Your boys are shaming us into this,” retorted Ian. “But don’t think I’m going to go easy on you in front of them.”
Nathan shook his head. “I wouldn’t want you to. Let’s say four full lengths of the pool, shall we? First one to touch the wall is the winner. And the loser has to do all the grilling.”
“All right,” agreed Ian. “Let’s do this.”
The children’s excited shrieks brought Julia of the house to see what was going on. Tessa, Gilly, and the boys got out of the pool to give Nathan and Ian plenty of space to swim, while Julia grabbed her smartphone and opened up a timing app.
“All right, guys. Here goes,” she called out. “Ready, set, go!”
Nathan and Ian dove into the water, and began stroking rapidly from one end of the pool to the other, neck and neck the entire way. Tessa and Julia joined their children as they urged the two men on, while Noah and Justin were jumping up and down with excitement. It was something of a letdown for the boys when Nathan and Ian - whether deliberately or not - touched the wall at the exact same time.
“It’s officially a tie!” declared Julia. “Guess that means both of you will be cooking our dinner tonight. I’ll bring out a second set of barbeque tools.”
Tessa handed Ian an oversized towel to dry himself off with as he vaulted out of the pool, the water dripping from his hair and body, and this time she was the one doing the ogling. Her gaze wandered lustfully over the breadth of his shoulders, his chiseled biceps, his powerfully muscled torso, and well defined abs. He had turned forty-five on his birthday back in April, but still had the sort of body men twenty years younger would envy.
She ran a hand up over his arm, giving the bicep a squeeze as she whispered, “You could have won that race anytime you wanted, you know.”
Ian shrugged. “Maybe. But I wasn’t about to disappoint the boys by beating their father. And trust me, if Nathan had been training even a little, it wouldn’t have been any contest whatsoever. I would have been thoroughly trounced.”
Tessa licked a bead of water from the base of his throat as she stepped in closer until their bodies were flush against the other. “I doubt that,” she purred, her hand sliding down his back until it reached the waistband of his swim trunks. “I know you too well, Mr. Gregson. And you always play to win, no matter what the game or the stakes.”
He captured her roving hand as it would have delved beneath his waistband. “And I know you, Mrs. Gregson,” he whispered in her ear. “Very, very well. I especially know when you’re horny. Your nipples are hard. And I’m quite sure that you’re wet right now. Isn’t that right, darling?”
“It’s your fault if I am,” she accused teasingly. “Flexing all of these muscles during that race just now, not to mention looking like a half-naked Greek god all afternoon in these swim trunks. How do you expect a girl to keep her hands off of you?”
Ian chuckled. “Having three very curious young children as an audience might help you in that regard. God knows it’s just about all that’s keeping me from giving this gorgeous arse of yours a squeeze right now.”
“Later,” she promised, giving his earlobe a quick nip. “After all, you deserve some sort of consolation prize for not letting Nathan lose that race.”
He shook his head. “You’re hardly a consolation prize, love. In fact, you’re the golden ring. The crème de la crème. And I wouldn’t say no to a kiss right about now. Just to tide me over, mind you, until we get home.”
Tessa slid her arms around his neck, pulling his head down to meet her very eager kiss, their tongues tangling lazily as Ian’s hands gripped her hips.
It was only the combined efforts of Noah and Justin very loudly exclaiming, “Eew! Gilly’s mommy and daddy are kissing! Eew!”, plus Gilly herself tugging on Ian’s swim trunks and pleading, “Gilly wants kiss, too!” that made Tessa reluctantly release her husband.
“To be continued,” murmured Ian, as he picked Gilly up, acquiescing to her demands for a kiss.
Tessa smiled, cupping his cheek in her hand. “It’s a date, handsome.”
“Liam’s asleep, too. It took a bit longer to get him down since he had that nice long nap this afternoon. Unlike Gilly, who didn’t sleep a wink today.”
Ian smiled at his wife as she joined him in the library. “She crashed the minute I buckled her into the car seat. Those two scamps of Julia’s wore my baby girl out. She’ll sleep very, very well tonight.”
“I agree.”
She curled up against him on the leather sofa as his arm slid around her shoulders. Ian was sipping a snifter of his favorite brandy and held the glass up to her lips. Tessa took a small drink, careful not to have too much since she was still nursing Liam. But since he wouldn’t need feeding again for a good six or seven hours, she knew it was safe to have a very modest amount of alcohol right now.
“I had a really good time today with Julia and Nathan,” she told her husband. “And Gilly loves to play with their boys, scamps or not.”
Ian nodded. “It was a very enjoyable day for sure. Hopefully now that both of the babies are a bit older we can get together more often. Perhaps after we return from Italy we can invite them over for dinner. After I secure some of our more priceless possessions down, that is. Though the twins do seem to be settling down just a bit.”
“I’d love that,” she told him. “Maybe over Labor Day weekend, as long as they don’t have plans already. And I do miss seeing Julia as often as I did when they still lived in San Francisco. I know Tiburon isn’t all that far away, but it’s not exactly the same as being in the city.”
“Hmm.” Ian took a sip of brandy before opening up a page on his tablet. “Funny you should mention that. Nathan made a point of telling me that a house in their neighborhood just came on the market, and that you and I should consider moving across the bay to Tiburon. I was just looking at the real estate listing when you came down from putting Liam to bed. It’s quite a spectacular place, Tessa. See for yourself.”
She took the tablet from him and began to scroll through the numerous photos of the admittedly impressive home located a block away from the Atwood’s. It was spacious and modern, with all sorts of luxurious touches and finishes. Best of all, it had a very large backyard, complete with swimming pool, and lots of space for children to play.
“Your boys are shaming us into this,” retorted Ian. “But don’t think I’m going to go easy on you in front of them.”
Nathan shook his head. “I wouldn’t want you to. Let’s say four full lengths of the pool, shall we? First one to touch the wall is the winner. And the loser has to do all the grilling.”
“All right,” agreed Ian. “Let’s do this.”
The children’s excited shrieks brought Julia of the house to see what was going on. Tessa, Gilly, and the boys got out of the pool to give Nathan and Ian plenty of space to swim, while Julia grabbed her smartphone and opened up a timing app.
“All right, guys. Here goes,” she called out. “Ready, set, go!”
Nathan and Ian dove into the water, and began stroking rapidly from one end of the pool to the other, neck and neck the entire way. Tessa and Julia joined their children as they urged the two men on, while Noah and Justin were jumping up and down with excitement. It was something of a letdown for the boys when Nathan and Ian - whether deliberately or not - touched the wall at the exact same time.
“It’s officially a tie!” declared Julia. “Guess that means both of you will be cooking our dinner tonight. I’ll bring out a second set of barbeque tools.”
Tessa handed Ian an oversized towel to dry himself off with as he vaulted out of the pool, the water dripping from his hair and body, and this time she was the one doing the ogling. Her gaze wandered lustfully over the breadth of his shoulders, his chiseled biceps, his powerfully muscled torso, and well defined abs. He had turned forty-five on his birthday back in April, but still had the sort of body men twenty years younger would envy.
She ran a hand up over his arm, giving the bicep a squeeze as she whispered, “You could have won that race anytime you wanted, you know.”
Ian shrugged. “Maybe. But I wasn’t about to disappoint the boys by beating their father. And trust me, if Nathan had been training even a little, it wouldn’t have been any contest whatsoever. I would have been thoroughly trounced.”
Tessa licked a bead of water from the base of his throat as she stepped in closer until their bodies were flush against the other. “I doubt that,” she purred, her hand sliding down his back until it reached the waistband of his swim trunks. “I know you too well, Mr. Gregson. And you always play to win, no matter what the game or the stakes.”
He captured her roving hand as it would have delved beneath his waistband. “And I know you, Mrs. Gregson,” he whispered in her ear. “Very, very well. I especially know when you’re horny. Your nipples are hard. And I’m quite sure that you’re wet right now. Isn’t that right, darling?”
“It’s your fault if I am,” she accused teasingly. “Flexing all of these muscles during that race just now, not to mention looking like a half-naked Greek god all afternoon in these swim trunks. How do you expect a girl to keep her hands off of you?”
Ian chuckled. “Having three very curious young children as an audience might help you in that regard. God knows it’s just about all that’s keeping me from giving this gorgeous arse of yours a squeeze right now.”
“Later,” she promised, giving his earlobe a quick nip. “After all, you deserve some sort of consolation prize for not letting Nathan lose that race.”
He shook his head. “You’re hardly a consolation prize, love. In fact, you’re the golden ring. The crème de la crème. And I wouldn’t say no to a kiss right about now. Just to tide me over, mind you, until we get home.”
Tessa slid her arms around his neck, pulling his head down to meet her very eager kiss, their tongues tangling lazily as Ian’s hands gripped her hips.
It was only the combined efforts of Noah and Justin very loudly exclaiming, “Eew! Gilly’s mommy and daddy are kissing! Eew!”, plus Gilly herself tugging on Ian’s swim trunks and pleading, “Gilly wants kiss, too!” that made Tessa reluctantly release her husband.
“To be continued,” murmured Ian, as he picked Gilly up, acquiescing to her demands for a kiss.
Tessa smiled, cupping his cheek in her hand. “It’s a date, handsome.”
“Liam’s asleep, too. It took a bit longer to get him down since he had that nice long nap this afternoon. Unlike Gilly, who didn’t sleep a wink today.”
Ian smiled at his wife as she joined him in the library. “She crashed the minute I buckled her into the car seat. Those two scamps of Julia’s wore my baby girl out. She’ll sleep very, very well tonight.”
“I agree.”
She curled up against him on the leather sofa as his arm slid around her shoulders. Ian was sipping a snifter of his favorite brandy and held the glass up to her lips. Tessa took a small drink, careful not to have too much since she was still nursing Liam. But since he wouldn’t need feeding again for a good six or seven hours, she knew it was safe to have a very modest amount of alcohol right now.
“I had a really good time today with Julia and Nathan,” she told her husband. “And Gilly loves to play with their boys, scamps or not.”
Ian nodded. “It was a very enjoyable day for sure. Hopefully now that both of the babies are a bit older we can get together more often. Perhaps after we return from Italy we can invite them over for dinner. After I secure some of our more priceless possessions down, that is. Though the twins do seem to be settling down just a bit.”
“I’d love that,” she told him. “Maybe over Labor Day weekend, as long as they don’t have plans already. And I do miss seeing Julia as often as I did when they still lived in San Francisco. I know Tiburon isn’t all that far away, but it’s not exactly the same as being in the city.”
“Hmm.” Ian took a sip of brandy before opening up a page on his tablet. “Funny you should mention that. Nathan made a point of telling me that a house in their neighborhood just came on the market, and that you and I should consider moving across the bay to Tiburon. I was just looking at the real estate listing when you came down from putting Liam to bed. It’s quite a spectacular place, Tessa. See for yourself.”
She took the tablet from him and began to scroll through the numerous photos of the admittedly impressive home located a block away from the Atwood’s. It was spacious and modern, with all sorts of luxurious touches and finishes. Best of all, it had a very large backyard, complete with swimming pool, and lots of space for children to play.
