Live-In Position (19 page)

“Mommy!” she sang. Connor and Ilene had arrived. I sighed heavily and started to clean up the kitchen.

The kids were finishing up when Max arrived. His boisterous voice carried in from the foyer. It wasn’t long after his arrival that Larissa and Allison appeared in the kitchen.

“It’s time to head down to the beach.” Allison smiled and walked over to Gregory and Michael who hopped down from their seats and followed their mother. Allison looked up to William. “Make sure you have a blanket and jackets for them.” He nodded and headed toward the stairs.

“Hey,” I stopped William. “Why don’t you head down and I’ll run up and grab jackets and blankets?” I looked at Amber. “You too.”

“Are you sure?” Amber was bouncing MJ in her arms.

“Yeah, take Victoria down with you and I’ll be down in a few.” I started for the stairs.

“Sophia,” I looked back to William. “Across the driveway is a set of stairs that leads down to the beach.” I nodded, thankful he’d told me.

I collected towels and jackets for Gregory and Michael, then moved on to find Ryan and MJ’s, and finally I grabbed towels and a jacket for Victoria. Shoving everything into two beach bags, I threw two large blankets over my shoulder. Halfway back down the hallway, a darkened figure brought me to a stop.

“Sophia.”

“Mr. Bedford,” I said curtly and tried to walk around him. He grabbed my arm and backed me against the wall. The bags and blankets fell to the floor when I pushed him back.

“Please, call me Jonathan,” he sneered, appraising me.

“Shouldn’t you be down at the beach?” Annoyance wrinkled my brow.

He laughed. “I’ll head down…once we’re finished here.”

“We’re finished. Step back, please,” I snapped.

His hand ran up my arm.

“Don’t,” I spat and smacked his hand away.

“You’re such a beautiful girl.” His eyes bore into mine. “And feisty.”

“You have a beautiful wife and children,” I countered.

He snorted. “That evil, frigid, stuck-up snob is far from beautiful. Her appearance is deceiving.” His fingers moved up and danced across my neck.

I jerked away from his touch. “Don’t touch me. It’s the last time I’ll warn you.”

“What are you planning to do? Run and tell Collin?” He rolled his eyes.

“You should probably know who you mess with before you make these kinds of moves, Mr. Bedford.” He smirked at my warning. “I assure you I don’t need someone to rescue me from you.” I shoved his chest – hard – but he barely budged.

“There is such passion in you, Sophia. I admire it. You’re warm, smart, beautiful. It’s very rare in this family to see someone like you. I’m highly pleased.” He cupped my cheek and moved his face closer toward mine.

“I warned you,” I growled.

Grabbing the wrist belonging to the hand on my neck, I moved around his body and wrapped his arm against his back. My knee was pressed between his legs and I pushed him against the wall. He struggled for a moment, but I pushed his arm upward harder until he stilled.

“Get off of me!” he yelled.

“I told you not to touch me!” I shouted back. “Perhaps you should listen next time.”

“My father was a police officer, Mr. Bedford. Do you think he would let his only daughter go through life without knowing self-defense?” He twisted his head to glare at me. “Don’t touch me again,” I exclaimed and then let him go. “I’m also very good with a gun.”

He was rubbing his arm as I picked up the beach bag and blankets.

“Maybe you should go spend time with your family.” I glowered at him before heading toward the stairs.

C
hapter
T
welve

I STOPPED IN the kitchen to gather bottles of water. When I walked out the front door I came face to face with Allison. Her eyes were narrowed and searching.

“Excuse me,” I mumbled as I attempted to step around her.

She stepped out of my way, but I could feel her hard eyes on me.

“Where’s my husband?”

“I wouldn’t know.” I kept my back to her and walked toward the beach.

“Allison.” The surprise in Jonathan’s voice was obvious.

“Jonathan.” Even I could hear the accusation in her words.

“I was just coming to meet you down at the beach.” The bastard’s tone switched to jovial, revealing nothing. My footsteps came faster.

Once I stepped foot on the beach, I kicked off my shoes and let my toes sink into the sand. It was a little cool but still felt good.

“Let me help.” William appeared and started grabbing things from my arms.

“Thanks,” I said with a smile.

Amber and I stretched the blankets out on the sand.

“It’s really pretty when the sun sets.” She stared out over the beach toward the sky.

I looked around the beach and saw William helping Ryan and the twins bury Max in sand. Larissa stood holding MJ and laughing at them.

“Ryan, I can’t believe you are burying me alive. Help, help!” Max pretended to be afraid and made gasping sounds. Ryan and the twins were in hysterics.

“Mommy has taught him well,” Larissa smirked down at Max. Max feigned surprise and hurt.

“That’s it, woman,” Max chuckled and emerged from underneath the sand. Larissa squealed and shoved MJ into my arms. I quickly grabbed him as she took off running down the beach, Max chasing her, and Ryan following. Merriment floated around them. Max caught up to her and threw her over his shoulder, heading toward the water’s edge. I cradled MJ in my arms.

“Maxwell Joseph Bishop, don’t you dare!” Larissa screamed.

“Are they always like this?” I asked William. He nodded. “Can I be like them when I grow up?”

He looked at me and started laughing.

“Daddy!” At the sound of Victoria’s shout I turned and watched her run toward an approaching Dr. Bishop. Allison and Jonathan were close behind. A part of me felt a great sense of relief that he had arrived.

The remainder of the evening went nicely. After Max started a beach fire and roasted hot dogs with the kids, everyone sat around to watch the sunset.

Victoria and I were wrapped up in a blanket, sitting on the sand. She dozed off on my lap after a while. William and Amber collected the blankets, shoes, jackets, etc. I was wrapping Victoria’s limbs around me when Dr. Bishop appeared.

“I’ll take her.”

The shock of him actually wanting to interact with her, even if she were sleeping, slowed my response. After taking her from my arms, he started walking toward the wooden stairs that led back to the house. I helped William and Amber gather the remainder of our belongings and walked back to the house with them.

As Collin entered the house with Victoria, Ilene shouted.

“Collin, wake her and brush the sand off!”

He stopped abruptly, and I accidentally bumped into his back.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, taking a quick step back.

He started walking again.

“Collin, you’re going to track sand through the entire house,” Ilene scolded.

“I’ll pay for someone to clean it,” he snapped, but it wasn’t loud enough for her to hear. I bit the side of my mouth.

During the first week I recognized how similar the vacation routine would be to life in Seattle. Allison and Ilene were often out of the house, shopping, having brunches, and the like. Larissa would join them sometimes, but she would also stay at the house and take Ryan to the beach or other areas of the island with Amber.

The third day on the island, Victoria and I went down to the beach together.

“Come on, Sophia. I want to build the tallest castle ever,” she yelled and skipped down the waterfront with her shovels and buckets.

“I’m coming.” I dropped the beach bag containing sunscreen, water, and towels. Pulling out the beach blanket, I stopped when I caught sight of Dr. Bishop. He sat in the sand next to her.

I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but I could see the excitement all over Victoria’s face as she used her hands to explain what she planned to do with her buckets. Instead of interrupting, I sat down on the blanket with my writing journal, giving them a very rare father-daughter moment.

“Sophia!” Victoria jolted me out of my writing thoughts.

“What’s up?” I placed the journal next to me.

“Come see the castle Daddy and I built.” She smiled so wide my own excitement grew. She grabbed my hand, dragging me toward the castle and Dr. Bishop.

“Well, it definitely is a big sand castle.” I walked a circle around it, evaluating their creation.

“Look, it has shell windows and this right here,” she pointed to some rocks, “is the pathway that leads to the private pool.” She pointed with her finger to a hole she had dug in the sand and filled with water. “The water won’t stay filled up though,” she pouted.

“I think it’s great.” I gave her a wink. “Good job.”

“Daddy helped.” She shrugged and looked at him.

He smiled.

“Let’s go swimming!” Victoria dropped her shovel and ran toward the water.

“Hey, wait!” I went after her.

“What?” She looked back from the edge of the water.

“You need some more sun block.” She rolled her eyes. “Come on.” I took her hand. Dr. Bishop followed us back to the blanket. I reapplied sun block on Victoria before rubbing some onto my own shoulders.

“Can we go in now?” Victoria begged and pulled on my arm.

“Yep,” I smiled and pulled my sundress off. “Let’s go.”

Linking my fingers with hers, we headed to the water. I could feel the intensity of Dr. Bishop’s gaze and, as usual, I was unnerved.

“Ah!” Victoria screamed when the water rolled over her toes. “It’s cold!”

I smirked and grabbed her, pulling her into the water with me. She was right. It was freezing, but it was more hilarious listening to her laugh and yell at me for pulling her in.

“Daddy, come in,” Victoria yelled and waved for him. I glanced in his direction and saw he was sitting on the blanket watching us. “Come on,” she yelled again.

“Victoria, maybe he doesn’t want…” The corner of my eye caught motion. I looked toward the edge of the water and had to refocus my attention immediately to Victoria.

It was only a glance at Dr. Bishop’s naked chest, but good god if it wasn’t perfection. Victoria jumped at me and sent me under the water. I emerged with a gasp listening to her giggle madly as I caught my breath.

“Oh, that’s it, little girl!” I playfully threatened and moved to retaliate. I was silently thankful for the distraction.

Once I had a hold of her waist I rolled us both and took her under the water. We both emerged and gasped for air. The water came to her shoulders and she started to walk in closer to the beach as she breathed deeply.

“Are you okay?” Dr. Bishop asked quickly. I watched a flash of mischief cross her face and realized what she was doing.

“Look out,” I tried to warn, but Victoria had already jumped. Dr. Bishop lost his balance and fell backward into the water with Victoria on top of him.

Her head broke the surface, and she started to swim away from him as quickly as possible. I was in hysterics and had backed up to where the water was just at my waist. Dr. Bishop sucked in a large breath when he resurfaced.

“I can’t believe you did that.”

At first, I wasn’t sure if he was angry. I looked at Victoria and could see a mirror image of my emotions on her face. Dr. Bishop chuckled and started after her. She squealed. Before I realized it, she was heading straight for me.

“Help me!” She wrapped her arms around my waist and I lost my footing. We were both falling back into the water when Dr. Bishop arrived, guaranteeing we went in. He grabbed Victoria’s shoulder and mine, pulling us both back. We both screamed as the water engulfed us. When we came up, Dr. Bishop was laughing at the both of us. It was an odd sight. The sound was so deep and warm.

I splashed Victoria.

“What was that for?” She splashed me back.

“You got me involved,” I chuckled and splashed her again. A splashing battle ensued.

Over an hour of swimming passed before we returned to the beach blanket and collapsed. Victoria sat Indian style, and I handed her a bottle of water, a sandwich, and chips. Not surprisingly, Dr. Bishop left the beach to return to his office.

A few days into the second week of vacation, the Bishops were planning a dinner at a restaurant with family and friends. This was a popular weekend for the community – there would be fireworks over the water, boats everywhere, and the beach jammed with tourists. It was also my weekend off, not that I expected that to happen.

Allison had made it blatantly clear I wasn’t required to attend the dinner. In fact Amber, William, and I had the evening free. Victoria looked at me sadly as they pulled away.

We started our free night at Toby’s, a local bar, and moved around to a few other local places. Our last stop was at a karaoke bar called China City. It didn’t take long before we were ready to head back.

“Let’s go down to the beach,” Amber clapped, slightly buzzed. “Go get your suits on,” she ordered and ran off. We obeyed her orders, stumbling toward the house to change.

We swam until Amber decided it was getting too dark. As we wrapped ourselves in towels, the soft glow of a beach fire caught our attention. We sat watching the group that had formed. A couple of the people were pretty drunk.

“I think I’m gonna go shower and relax until the kids return,” Amber sighed and stood to leave.

“Me too,” William stated quickly. I had to bite back a chuckle at his eagerness.

“I think I’m going too.” I was about to join them when someone interrupted.

“Sophia?”

“Dominic?” My voice was shrill.

“Hey.” He held up one finger to me and turned to the group he’d been walking down the beach with. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.” He approached me quickly.

“You don’t have to –”

“Nah, it’s fine, I’ll see them all weekend,” he beamed at me. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh. The Bishop’s are vacationing, so here I am. What about you, vacation?”

“Sort of. My grandparents own a house here and this is a big weekend so I came to visit with the rest of my family.”

“You mean the fireworks and –”

“Yeah, that, but it’s also my grandparents’ anniversary.” I always found his propensity for interrupting annoying.

“That’s…nice. How long have they been married?”

“Sophia, we’re going to head up, okay?”