Playing for Keeps (7 page)

"
So do it," she encouraged. "Or try it, anyway. If it doesn't work out, we'll change it."

He smiled.
"I have five guys on my crew. I know they'd be happy to switch to six a.m. I doubt I could convince them to switch back because it wasn't convenient for me."

She wiggled his hand.
"It'll be fine. You should do it. I hate to think of you baking out there in the afternoon sun."

He rolled on to his back and stared up at the sky, holding her hand. He was quiet for awhile, and finally said
, "You know what might be even more convenient, for me, anyway. You staying out here."

She glanced at him.

He went on, "It wouldn't be as handy for you, of course. But you'd have the added perk of me fixing you dinner every night. Plus a few other perks I can think of."

She rolled on her side next to him.
"You mean it?"

"
Sure." He looked a little nervous, like he was trying to convince himself. "We can try it, anyway."

Maddie laughed out loud.
"God, you're positively green! Take the offer back real quick, before I have a chance to consider it."

He smiled.
"I don't want to take it back. I think it would be great."

"
Keep saying it; pretty soon you'll believe it."

He rolled
over and faced her. "This is a big step for me, with Sophie here and all. I just have to be sure I'm doing the right thing."

"
I know that." She touched his cheek gently. "So what if we take this real slowly? I'll bring a few things over, stay a few nights, and see how it goes. If it doesn't work, we try it my way. Or, we go back to afternoon delight."

He smiled and nodded. He kissed her and brought her body under him, his knee wedging
firmly between her legs. Maddie wrapped her arms around his neck, and they necked until Sophie stuck her face next to theirs. "I'm thirsty."

Rob
paused, but didn't let go of Maddie. He looked at his daughter. "I'm kissing Maddie right now. Check the cooler for a juice box."  They watched her pull out the little box.

"
I need help with the straw." She handed it over.

Maddie lifted her hands from his back and
reached for the drink. "Here." She pulled the straw off the box, peeled away the wrapper, and poked it into the box. "Don't squeeze until you drink some." She pointed to Rob's back.

Sophie
's eyes sparkled as she reached for the juice box and squeezed it over her father's back. Juice bubbled forth and soaked his t-shirt.

"
Why you little…" Rob grabbed for his daughter but Maddie held him firm.

"
Run, Soph! I'll distract him for a minute to give you a head start."

Sophie chuckled and took off. Rob looked at Maddie and grinned.
"Co-conspirators, eh?"

"
You said something about kissing me?" She batted her eyes, and he kissed her.

A short while later
, after Rob tickled Sophie until they were all almost in tears; he decided to get the sprinkler out to cool off. He stripped off his t-shirt and rinsed off his sticky back with the hose, threatening both girls with a soaking if they tried any more tricks. He attached a rotating sprinkler to the hose nozzle, and set it on the ground. Sophie and Bo romped through the water, occasionally spraying some on the adults, and when the afternoon was over, they were all drenched.

"
I'm glad I have clothes to change into." Maddie wrung some water from her shirt and tried to dry off before she went into the house.

"
Ah, don't change." Rob eyed her wet shirt.

"
Sorry. These clothes got to go."

T
hey all went in to change. She stripped out of her wet things and dried off with a towel.

"
Hmmm…" Rob stepped up behind her, naked.

"
Well hello." She turned to face him.

He nipped at her neck, and ran his hands down her back to her butt.

"We need to get dressed," she reminded him.

"
I know," he murmured and squeezed her, jumping when the bedroom door rattled. "Did you lock that?"

"
No." She pulled away, and he threw on his clothes fast, hurtling himself at the door to block it. When he was dressed, he stepped aside.

Maddie
pulled her shirt down as Sophie bounded into the room. "What's for dinner?" the child asked.

"
Whoa there." Rob sat on the edge of his bed. "You ever think about knocking before you come running in here?"

"
No," Sophie admitted. She jumped on him. "I'm hungry."

"
God, didn't we just eat?" Rob leaned back and stretched.

"
I'm still hungry," Sophie insisted.

"
Why don't we order pizza?" Maddie suggested.

Sophie pushed up and down on Rob
's chest. "We never get pizza! Please daddy, let's get pizza!"

Maddie looked at Rob
quizzically. "Problem with the Capitalist Pizza Industry?"

He gave her a look and smiled.
"I don't like to get fast food when Sophie's here. We attempt to limit processed foods."

Maddie rolled her eyes.
"Well la dee da." She put her hands on her hips. "I enjoy pizza, and I don't believe it's hurt me too much."

He
eyed her up and down. "No, it definitely has not. But you're not three years old. We're just being careful with her."

Maddie didn
't like the 'we' business, and tried to steer Rob away from it. "I hope you realize that the macaroni and cheese you fix her has processed cheese in it."

He stood up and deposited Sophie on the floor.
"I know that. But when I cook for her, I can control things somewhat. Like adding real cheese to the powdered stuff."

Maddie smiled.
"You think you're pretty smart, don't ya?"

He pulled her close to him.
"Look who I have in my arms? Yeah, I guess I do." He looked from Maddie to Sophie. "Why don't we order pizza?"

"
Yay!" Sophie hopped up and down.

Maddie gave him a quick kiss.
"A good parent is flexible. You're a smart man."

He snorted and they went to the kitchen to look for pizza menus.

"
The sprinkler was fun," Sophie announced later as they ate. "But I wish we had a pool."

Maddie
's eyes lit up. "A pool would be great. I love to swim." She gave Rob a seductive look, suggesting some other things she liked to do in a pool.

He shook his head at both of them.
"You guys think I'm made of money? A pool is expensive, and a pain in the butt to install. Behave yourselves, and maybe we'll go for a swim in the lake one of these days."

"
Ooh, the lake is good." Maddie looked at Sophie. "Have you ever been there?"

"
Once, I think," she said thoughtfully.

Rob nodded.
"Once, maybe. We should go again."

They agreed to that plan, and cleaned up the dinner dishes together. Sophie wanted to play a game, so they lay on the floor and played Candy
land. Rob won every time, the girls suggested he cheated, and the tickling began again.

It was just past eight-thirty when Sophie yawned for the last time, and let her father and Maddie tuck her into bed, Bo on the floor by her feet. Rob pulled the door shut part-way, and turned on the night light in the hall. He made sure the house was locked up, as Maddie turned out the lights. He extended his hand to her and asked
, "Ready to go to our room?"

"
Our room," she repeated, liking the sound of it. "Oh boy, am I ever ready."

Maddie went to her house alone the next day to pick up some things for the week. She packed two suitcases, wanting to take enough clothes, but not so many to turn Rob's face green again. She could always come back for more. She'd stop by a couple of times during the week for her mail and to water her flowers, anyway.

Before she left, she sat down on her bed and dialed
Rosa's number. "Hey, guess what I'm doing?"

"
Taking a break from Keith Urban, it would seem, considering this is the first time you've called me all weekend."

"
He does not look like Keith Urban," Maddie protested, although she mulled over the idea.

"
Uh, yeah, he does. But hey, there's nothing wrong with that! I'm just more of a Toby Keith girl, myself."

Maddie chuckled.
"So, do you want to know what I'm doing?"

"
Spill it already! I know you're dying to tell me."

"
Packing my bags to go stay with him and Sophie."

Rosa
squealed excitedly. "You're moving in with him? You slut! You've only known him, what, like two weeks?"

Maddie sighed.
"Two fantabulous weeks, yes. But we're not calling it 'moving in together' just yet. He gets a little nauseous when we say that. I'm just staying there so he can go to work earlier, and get off earlier, to beat the heat, you know?"

"
Yeah, the construction worker summer schedule. Good excuse. You talk him into that?"

"
You're a pain in the ass, you know?" Maddie teased her friend.

"
Always have been," Rosa agreed. "But now I'm a jealous pain in the ass. Give me a little somethin' to tide me over. A little morsel, any little sexual tidbit will do."

"
No way!" Maddie squealed. "He'd kill me."

"
It's not like I'm going to walk up to him and say, 'I hear you have a tongue that would melt frozen butter'."

Maddie laughed
. "Ooh, good one! And you didn't hear it from me, but,
oh my God
, he does! Bye Rosa."

Rosa
groaned. "Bye Mad." And they hung up.

Chapter Four

Sophie wasn't sure about Maddie being the one to take her to Sunny Days every morning. Rob convinced his daughter it would allow him to leave work earlier, thereby picking her up sooner. She finally decided it might be okay.

She was very cooperative with Maddie on Monday morning, and they got to the center right on schedule.
Frances noticed the child arriving with Maddie, and had questions. Maddie explained about the construction worker schedule, and how Sophie's father needed to drop the child off a couple hours early. She left out other pertinent details.

"
Well you know," Frances said with a look of concern, "the center insurance will not be in effect until you arrive here each day."

"
That's no problem," Maddie assured her.

"
I hope he's paying you to do this."

"
He's paying me very well," Maddie agreed, and smiled.

Rob was cornered by Frances when he arrived to pick up Sophie that afternoon. Maddie eavesdropped as he got the speech about 'no center insurance until they arrived there each day' and the admonition about 'remunerating Madison for her time'. He assured Mrs. Bergman that he had his own insurance, and that Maddie would be well taken care of.

Maddie grinned when he said that, and he winked at her as he left with Sophie in tow.

"
Hi honey, I'm home," Maddie called as she entered his kitchen after work.

"
Hello, gorgeous." He greeted her with a kiss. "Here to collect your remuneration?"

"
Definitely." She tossed her purse in the corner and held her arms out to him.

Before he could kiss her again, Sophie ran into the kitchen.
"Maddie! Maddie! Daddy bought me a movie!"

"
What?" Maddie looked at Rob with surprise.

"
The Little Mermaid!" Sophie hollered.

Maddie chuckled.
"He's gone over to the dark side."

"
Yeah." Rob shook his head. "I felt like I was lining the pockets of the Corporate Capitalist Machine when I bought it, but I wanted to give the munchkin something to do so we could talk tonight."

"
Talk?" The word made her slightly nervously.

He grinned and patted her arm.
"It's all good. Why don't you go change and I'll start her movie? I'm dying to tell you what I did today."

Maddie smiled at his excitement, and went to change into her shorts and tank top. Sophie was engaged in the movie as Maddie passed through the living room, so she kept going to the kitchen.
"So, what's up?"

"
Come on." Rob grabbed two beers from the fridge and led her out to the back porch. He positioned himself so he could see if Sophie approached, and settled back into his chair. "Cheers." He raised his bottle in toast to her.

"
Yeah, whatever." She raised her bottle and took a sip.

Rob laughed.
"Okay, okay, I'm dying to get this out. We're getting a pool."

"
What?" She blinked.

"
Let me start at the beginning. You know Sophie's birthday is coming up."

Maddie nodded.
"She talks about it non-stop. I keep forgetting to ask you when it is."

"
One week from today. Monday, July fourth."

"
Oh, that's neat!" Maddie smiled. "So you're getting her a pool for her birthday?"

"
Sort of. Not exactly. I'm getting the pool for us. All of us. I knew I couldn't afford an in-ground model, but I talked to a sales guy today and he showed me this really big, really cool above-ground pool. Wait 'til you see it. I bought it."

"
Wow." She wasn't sure what to say.

"
Here's what I've figured out. This is Sophie's weekend with her mom."

"
I wondered about that." Maddie nodded. "Something tells me we're not going to have another weekend like we did before."

He shook his head.
"Sorry, no. But this will be fun in a different way. I'm going to take Sophie to her mom's Thursday night, and I'm taking Friday off. I talked to the guys on my crew, and they're going to come help me put the thing together."

She raised her eyebrows.
"You can just take the day off like that?"

He nodded.
"We're ahead of schedule. One day won't hurt anything. I figure we can get the ground ready and the pool halfway assembled on Friday. Saturday we should finish the pool and build the partial deck and gate. Then we can fill it, and it should be ready to go Monday night for Sophie's party."

Maddie smiled.
"What kind of a party?"

He laughed.
"A very eclectic kind. I promised the guys a keg, some hamburgers and fireworks. Of course we'll have presents and cake for Soph. Anybody who wants to swim will be able to."

"
Wow," Maddie said again. "That is a major amount of thinking you did today. Your brain must still be sizzling."

His face glowed with excitement
. "What do you think?"

She shrugged and nodded.
"It sounds great, I guess. I'm sure you'll enjoy your pool."

He looked at her.
"It's
our
pool."

"
Right." Maddie nodded.

Rob set his beer down and leaned forward.
"Sweetheart, I'm not sure what you expect from me, but right now I'm giving you all I have to give. I'm sorry if you want more."

"
I never said I wanted more. I'm just trying to absorb everything you've thrown at me. You're talking about a party with all of your friends, and since it's a birthday party for Soph, there's the potential for her mother to be there. I'm wondering if I should even be around."

"
You can sure as hell go home if that's what you want," he muttered.

"
Funny, I was starting to think of this place as home."

He
simply stared at her.

"
Don't tell me it was all one sided. 'Come into our room.' 'It'll be our pool.' You said those things to me."

"
I did," he agreed.

"
So let's try and sort this out. Are you prepared for me to meet your friends, the guys you work with?"

"
Absolutely! I talk about you all the time. I never tried to hide our relationship. I'm excited for you to meet them."

"
And what about Dionne? Are you excited for me to meet her?"

"
That's different. What happens between you and me is one thing. Where Sophie's involved, I feel the need to tread lightly. I'm not sure you need to meet Dee at this point."

"
Okay." She shrugged. "Just so we're both on the same page here."

He reached for her hand and swung it.
"It's going to be great. It'll be a hell of a busy weekend, but if it goes the way I've planned, we should be able to carve out a little you-and-me time by Monday."

Maddie
stood and moved to his lap, facing him. Sliding her legs through the arm holes of the chair one at a time, she straddled him.

"
Ooh, I like this." He jiggled his legs up and down. "If I could be sure the Little Mermaid in there would keep swimming for a few more minutes, we might have to strip naked and get adventurous."

Maddie smiled and kissed him gently.
"We'll have time. I'm not going anywhere, you're not going anywhere. There'll be plenty of time."

"
I like the sounds of that," he murmured, and kissed her again.

Maddie went to work as usual on Friday, and returned to Rob's house in the evening to a bustle of activity. As Rob had predicted, the pool was mostly assembled. There was a bulldozer off to the side, and Maddie could see they had moved a lot of dirt to level the ground before putting up the pool.

She slipped inside and took a quick shower to cool off
, then changed into jean shorts and a tank top, her summer staples. She opened a bottle of beer and wandered out to the construction zone.

"
Look, it's like one of them beer commercials!" someone said. "Beautiful woman strolling toward you with a bottle of beer in hand."

"
Don't come out here with only one beer!" someone else called.

"
Uh oh." Maddie smiled and hid the bottle behind her back. "Am I going to get attacked for my beer?" She looked around and didn't see Rob.

"
You might get attacked for something, but it ain't gonna be beer!" someone else said.

"
That's enough, you animals." Rob stood up from behind the back of the pool. "Hello, gorgeous."

Maddie smiled and approached him.
"Are you talking to me or the beer?"

He gave her a quick kiss and wrangled the bottle from her hand.
"Both of you." He took a long draw from the bottle, and handed it back. "We're winding down here. Think you could find six more of those in the fridge and bring them out?"

She held up her bottle and looked inside
. It was more than half gone. She handed it back to Rob and said, "I'll make it seven. Be right back."

He grinned and downed the last of her beer. The whistles and catcalls Maddie received walking into the house changed into applause
when she returned with beer for everyone.

Rob introduced his friends to her
while he passed out the beer.

Maddie tried furiously to remember their names. Shorty was about six foot two
. Smoky was short and stocky with a black handlebar mustache. Dugout had long hair pulled back into a ponytail. Doc had bright red hair like hers, and Fred was the oldest, by far, of them all.

She grinned.
"I can't wait to hear the stories explaining these names."

They all sat around the edge of the pool, and Rob said
, "Easy. Shorty, well, he needs no explanation. Smoky considers himself the best barbecue grill man in Oklahoma. Doc is an E.M.T. and firefighter on the rural fire department out here. Dugout, well, when we played softball, that's where he spent most of his time. And Fred is just Fred."

Maddie smiled at the older man.
"Poor Fred. No cutesy nickname for you, huh?"

He chuckled.
"They used to call me Gramps. Then they realized I was doing the work of three of them. That ended pretty quickly."

There were rumblings of disagreement and things tossed around. Maddie sat back and enjoyed watching their easy
camaraderie. They were obviously good friends. She finally asked Rob, "Would you like me to fix something to eat? You guys must be hungry."

"
Nah, Coop." Fred stood up and the others followed. "We're taking off." He raised his cap to Maddie. "Pleasure to meet you, Ma'am. We'll probably see you tomorrow."

Rob took off his ball cap and waved it after them
. "See you guys. Thanks." He wiped his brow and finished his beer.

"
Bye," Maddie said as the men walked around to their cars at the front of the house.

Rob reached for her wrist and pulled her between his legs.
"Come here, you."  He pressed her into him. "You sure look pretty today."

She slid her arms around his neck and made a face.
"And you are a sweaty mess!"

Grinning, he
nuzzled his face in her neck, while she tried to squirm away. "I'm a mess, am I?" He grasped the back of her head and pulled her face to his firmly. He kissed her forcefully, his tongue playing against hers.

When she could catch her breath she whispered
, "Wouldn't you like to clean up a little bit first? I've already had a shower, you know."

"
Must be why you taste so sweet," he murmured.

"
Rob!" she squirmed in protest. "What if someone comes back?"

"
Then they'll get quite an eyeful. Because I have plans for you, right here and now." He leaned her back against the stack of boards they'd use to build the pool deck.

Maddie groaned
. She could only protest so much, then lust took over and she gave in.
As usual.

* * * *

"
You are so naughty," she said when he released her.

"
I am so exhausted," he answered. "I want a shower and a bed."

She put her clothes back on and followed him into the house.
"How about something to eat?"