That Day, Karen Deen [early readers .txt] 📗

lives on in a happier place. Jenna was the name she was given by her parents when she was born, but she felt that she had grown into her life now as Asha, the strong woman she had become, and she loved that I knew her as Asha and not the timid woman she was before that. I don’t care who she is, because to me, she will always be the love of my life, in every way, shape, and form.

When two souls are so compatible like ours, the rest is irrelevant.

Five years laterASHA

“Mommy, I did it! Did you see me? I stood up like Daddy.”

Jenna comes running at me up the sand, water flying off her dark curly hair that is hanging all over her face. She looks super cute in her pink-and-navy wetsuit with her bright fluorescent-pink life jacket on. Kurt insisted that if she wanted to learn to surf, then she had to have a life jacket that stood out for miles around.

There is one thing that will never change in my husband and that’s his protective nature.

First it was just all directed at me, but now he shares it around our little family and drives us all nuts at times.

Sitting under the shade tent with Eva sleeping in my lap, I quickly put my finger on my lips to try to get Jenna to stop yelling so loud, but of course it’s too late. There’s a difference between the energy that a five-year-old can have and poor little Eva at two years old, struggling to keep up with her sister. I rock her a little so she gets a few seconds to try to wake up slowly at her own speed.

“Daddy said I was clever. Clevera than Eva is.”

I try not to laugh at her. “Clevera is not a word, Jenna, but to be fair, your little sister is three years younger than you. Give her time and she will be as clever as you on that surfboard.”

As usual, her concentration span is small and already she’s moving to the next thing, picking up her bucket and spade, ready to play.

“Come on, Eva, let’s build a sandcastle for the puppy dogs.”

From being in a sweet slumber, Eva is up off my lap and running after her sister to the spot just next to me.

Looking back down at the water’s edge, I see my husband picking up Jenna’s board along with his own and starting back up towards us.

We might have aged a little, but that man never stops heating my body up. Seeing him with water running down those abs and that scruffy beard that tickles me in places I shouldn’t even be thinking about with the kids around.

There is no wetsuit today because he was only out in the shallows with Jenna, so I’ve had the joy of watching his sexy ass all morning bending over in his boardshorts each time she fell off.

The sight of him walking up the beach, wet and with the sun shining off his body, will never get old.

“Like what you see?” His voice is a little deeper than normal, and I can see my heated stare has given him some ideas too.

“Yeah, the water looks beautiful today.”

His smirk gives me a hint I’m about to pay for that comment. “So, nothing here interests you at all?” He waves his hand up and down his torso, waiting for a bite from me. “No problem, I’ll just take this ache away on my own, shall I?” he says, dropping the boards down next to me.

“Don’t you dare, you know that’s my job.”

“My, is my little vixen feeling a little hot today?” He knows he’s making this worse the way he is purposefully adjusting himself in his shorts.

“Yes, and it’s not from the sun. Now, if you can manage to get those two terrors packed up, home, and lunch eaten so they are ready for their afternoon sleep, then I might be able to cool off.” I stand and turn with my back to him and slowly bend down to pick up my shirt to put on over my bikini, and I hear the growl behind me.

“You are cruel. Girls, let’s go, time to pack up, and make it quick. Mommy has plans for the afternoon.”

Moving at lightning speed, the ridiculous number of things you need for kids at the beach is packed into the bags, and the girls are waddling up the sand with Coco beside them like the good guard dog she finally became. She might not move as fast these days, but wherever the girls are, she isn’t far from them.

The usual grumbling is happening as we finally lay the girls down in their rooms, but within minutes, they are both out like a light. A morning at the beach makes for a quiet afternoon in our house, that is always a guarantee.

Before I even make it down the hallway, I’m snatched from behind and lifted over my caveman’s shoulder. He runs down the stairs with me, into his study where we have a sofa that has become a favorite daytime make-out hiding place.

“You know when you put that fucking gorgeous body on show that I can’t get through the day without putting my hands on you. Yet you tease me anyway. So, let’s see how it goes when the teasing is on the other foot. Remember, no screaming, the kids are asleep.”

His mouth comes down over my sun shirt and bikini top and he takes my nipple into his mouth. He bites just a little to let me know what I’m in for.

“You are a bad man, Mr. Dolan.” His mouth is now kissing and nipping my skin, across my collarbone and up my neck.

“You’d better believe it, Mrs. Dolan, and I know for a fact that you like it that way.”

Biting my lip as his hand slips under my shirt and into my bikini bottom, I agree in the softest moan I can muster.

After a