Beginning of Forever (Heaven Hill #7) (11 page)

“We’re gonna have so much fun in the lazy river, Addie.” She leaned back, talking to the little girl. “See it?” She pointed over to where there were a bunch of families and kids playing. Being normal was going to be a nice break, but there was a small part of her that wished the rest of the crew had come with them. She could see everyone having a great time here.

“Got it,” Tyler told her as he came back out and sat behind the steering wheel. He put a sticker in the window and grinned at her as they made their way to park at their building.

“This place is awesome,” she told him as she took in the amount of buildings there were.

“I know. I had to all in a few favors to get us a room here, but it was worth it. I’ll do whatever I can to make you happy.”

She knew the words he spoke were the truth, and because of him, she was a very happy woman.

‡
Chapter Twelve

B
ack in Bowling Green, Travis was cursing up a storm in his cave.

“What’s wrong with you?” Christine asked as she came into the dimly lit room. It had been one of her favorite places since the two of them starting dating, but she hardly ever saw him this agitated.

“I think we’ve got a problem,” he told her, talking around the lollipop he held between his teeth.

She waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. “It would be awesome if you could tell me what kind of problem you think we have. Maybe then I could help you through it.”

“I think Stephanie is bad fuckin’ news, and when I say bad fuckin’ news…I mean bad fuckin’ news.”

Those words made Christine’s stomach drop. “What do you mean?”

He sighed. “Babe. I love you.” Steele reached in, kissing her on the cheek. “I need you to leave me be while I try to work this out. I don’t think she is any threat to
you
.” He emphasized the word.

“But she could be a threat to Meredith?” she worked out in her head. “Is that what you’re not telling me?”

He sighed again. “I love you, but go. Let me figure this out, and then I can tell you exactly what you want to know. I don’t want to waste any more time than we potentially already have.”

It went against the person Christine had become not to question him again, but he’d already turned around and was punching keys on the computer in front of him. If anyone could find something out about another person, it was Travis, and she knew that Travis wouldn’t let any of them get hurt. She only wished that she knew what Travis knew.

*

“Do you wanna go on the Ferris wheel?” Tyler asked his two ladies as they walked The Island later on that night.

“I don’t know.” Meredith grasped his hand in hers. “It seems so high up.”

He laughed. “It’s a Ferris wheel. It’s supposed to be high up. It’s enclosed though, I bet it’s beautiful at night,” he kept at her. “What do you say, Addie? Wanna go?”

She was excited because he was excited and squealed happily. “Yes!”

“Then it’s settled. C’mon, scaredy cat.” He put his arm around Meredith and pulled her to the line.

“Something tells me I’m not really gonna like this,” she whispered as they got to the person to pay. Before she could tell him not to pay, he’d already done so, they’d posed for a family photo, and they were stepping into the glass-enclosed space.

“Let’s sit on this side,” Tyler told her, sitting Addie on his lap.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she sat next to him and he put his arm around her, pulling her into his side. Deciding she should make the best of this, she grabbed her phone out of her pocket and extended her arm so that they could have a family selfie with the nighttime backdrop of Gatlinburg behind them. “Tyler, it’s so high up,” she whispered, as they got to the top and started to come back down.

“It’s awesome.” He laughed, pulling her in for a kiss over Addie’s head.

Opening her eyes when he pulled away, she dared to glance down. There she saw fountains that flashed different colors, dancing to a music beat she couldn’t hear up where they were. Swallowing thickly, she closed her eyes again. “It’s nice.” She licked her suddenly dry lips.

“Liar.” He chuckled. “If you want, we can get off the next time it goes around, but I think Miss Addie likes it, don’t you?” He looked down at the girl, who hadn’t spoken a word or made a peep since they’d gotten into the gondola. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open.

“Wow.” Meredith went over to the other side so that she could get a picture of them. “Something that made her speechless. We’ll have to remember this.”

Normally she chatted all the time. Even if you couldn’t understand a word she said, she kept a steady stream of noises and words going most of the time.

When they came around one more time, Tyler got the ride attendant’s attention so that they could exit. “What should we do next?” he asked them.

Meredith checked her watch. “How about we get some ice cream and head back to the condo. We can get a good night’s rest. Tomorrow’s gonna be a big day ’cause we’re goin’ to the aquarium.”

At the mention of the word, Addie’s eyes lit up. She’d been excited since the first mention of it, after Meredith had explained to her what it was.

“I still think she just gets excited ’cause we’re excited,” Tyler whispered. “I feel like we could call her all kinds of bad names, and do it in that tone of voice, and she would think it’s the best thing ever.”

“Tyler!”

“What?” he questioned. “It’s not like I’ve done it before or anything.”

She stopped walking in front of them and looked back at him. “Oh my God, you have. Haven’t you?”

“It was a scientific experiment,” he defended himself. “I was tryin’ to learn something, and I did.”

Meredith couldn’t stay mad at him; she’d never been able to stay mad at him long. “Don’t do it again.” She pointed her finger at him.

He leaned in, grabbing her finger in between his teeth and nipping gently. “Yes ma’am.”

There was something about the way he said the words that made her think she was in deep trouble when they got back to the condo and put Addie to bed.

*

“She’s down,” Tyler told her as he came out into the living area.

“I was worried she’d have a hard time because it’s a new place for her. She’s used to the clubhouse and stuff.”

He blew against his fingernails and rubbed them on his chest. “I’m that damn good.”

She giggled as he scooped her up from the couch. They’d come in from having ice cream and had all taken showers or gotten baths, so her hair was still wet, as was his. “We shouldn’t go outside with wet hair,” she told him as she saw him point them towards the balcony.

“It’s summer, wifey. Live a little.”

There was a piece of her heart that got excited when he called her wifey; it made her a quivering mess, to be honest. Never in her life had she thought she’d be that person who would get caught up in labels, but that was one label she would never give up.

“This place is gorgeous,” she told him as he took them out on the balcony and they had a seat on the lanai.

He pulled her closer to him, tucking her in front of him. “It is,” he agreed. “There’s something about the way the lights move and the way you can look at and see them for miles. You don’t see that at home. It always looks so inviting and like people are having a good time all the time.”

“The lights are probably to entice the kids and to make their parents pay a million dollars for all the fun things there are to do on the strip.” She laughed as she ran her hands up and down his legs.

“Good point, but you have to admit, we spent a pretty penny tonight, and Addie’s not really even old enough to enjoy much of this. We’re suckers.”

“That we are.” She leaned back and angled her head so she could see him. “She’s worth bein’ a sucker for, though. There isn’t anything that I wouldn’t do for her.”

“I agree with that.”

A thought occurred to Meredith. She quickly glanced to the sides and saw that no one could see them from the sides; no one could see them from the front either. Even though they faced the strip, there was no way for people to see their balcony. Turning over onto her knees, she gifted him with a saucy smile. “There’s nothin’ I wouldn’t do for you either.”

He knew that; she’d told him that many times over the course of their relationship, but there was something about the way she was looking at him, something about the way the air had changed between them.

“What do you have in mind?” he asked, wanting to know what was going on inside that head of hers.

The saucy smile turned downright sexy as she reached for the hem of her shirt and took it off. For the first time he noticed she hadn’t worn a bra after her shower. “Why don’t you sit back, relax, and I’ll show you exactly what I had in mind.”

‡
Chapter Thirteen