Spike strode onto the balcony, his arm hooked over his fiancée's shoulders. "Come on up, Crusty. Most of the squadron's already here and ready to party."
Daniel pulled Austin out before shouting, "Thanks, man, but I need to unload the truck and start putting together furniture so we're not bunking on the floor again. Besides, uh, I've got the kids."
"No problem," Spike insisted, tucking a bathing-suit-clad Darcy Renshaw closer. "There are plenty more rug rats here."
A carrot-topped little girl crawled between Spike's legs seconds before a linebacker-size man plowed past to scoop her up. Mary Elise forced herself not to wince at the sight of a baby that too easily could have been hers and Daniel's.
Darcy stepped forward to lean over the balcony. "Didn't you hear us, Crusty? Most of the squadron's here. Surprise! We're throwing you a baby shower."
Chapter 7
Three hours later, Mary Elise dangled her feet in the pool and tried to soak away the tension of attending a "baby shower" eleven years after the fact with Daniel. Actually, a truly thoughtful gesture on the part of his squadron friends, and she refused to allow past baggage to taint it.
And man, did these people know how to party.Chlorine drifted along the salty air while Mary Elise kept guard over Austin splashing nearby in the shallow end with his newly christened pair of inflatable water wings. Tables and loungers filled with adults and kids, the pool packed with squadron guests bearing gifts of toys, clothes, even a surprise extravagant present of two bikes.
Three couples strayed beyond the fence to the marshy coastline, gushing tidewaters surging against the beach with circling gulls and herons overhead. Darcy and Spike's condo had overheated quickly with the press of people inside until they'd moved the party, complete with Bo's guitar entertainment, to the pool in hopes of cooling off.
Feet swishing through the lukewarm water, Mary Elise watched Danny step under the pool shower. Cutoff jean shorts rode low on his slim h*ps until she could count every ridge of his six-pack abs. Spray streamed down his face, between his defined pecs in a trail southward that left her swallowing hard.
She jerked her gaze away before it followed that water straight down. Geez, how totally embarrassing, not to mention insulting. She liked to think of herself as a normal woman with healthy urges, but also a thinking woman and not an out-of-control bundle of hormones.
As she'd once been around this man.
Gentle guitar pluckings floated along the ocean breeze in a sensual serenade. Great. Apparently, bad-boy Bo had decided to turn his talented fingers to a sappy love song as he sprawled in a chair at an umbrella table. No doubt playing in hopes of luring the splashing hot tub mermaid back to his place.
Couples. Couples. Couples everywhere. Ugh.
At least she and Daniel wouldn't be swimming together half-naked as they'd done so often in his parents' pool. Darcy had offered to share an extra bathing suit with her, but Mary Elise found lazing by the pool the perfect way to end a draining day.
She accepted that some of her lassitude could be attributed to her lack of medicines since her supply now sat useless in her cabinet back in Rubistan. She would have to check in with a doctor soon about new prescriptions. At least the over-the-counter, iron-fortified vitamins she'd bought would help with the anemia that accompanied endometriosis in full tilt.
Her body chemistry might be out of whack, the building pain only mildly numbed by extra-strength Motrin. But she'd lived with the fallout of her illness for so long, she refused to let it rule her anymore. She would enjoy the moment before her life shifted into another unknown direction.
Besides, since Austin had a conniption fit any time she stepped too far out of his sight line, napping back at Danny's condo wasn't an option.
Across the stretch of cement, Danny yanked the shower chain, ending the spray in a trickle. Shaking the droplets from his hair, he strode toward Mary Elise, the loose-hipped grace of his walk leaving her longing to trace the band of those low-riding cutoffs.
"Are you okay here while I swim? You know Darcy." He jerked a thumb toward their tomboy bombshell hostess sprawled in a lounge chair with a beer at her ringside seat for Bo's concert. "And you've met Julia Dawson, right?"
"Come on over," Darcy called from beside the woman Crusty had called Julia—wife of the prior Squadron Commander. The earthy blonde–Julia–wriggled her red toenails while her toddler son gripped them and giggled.
More families. More couples.
Mary Elise shook off the senseless frustration. Time to cut the self-pity crap.
Crap?
Geez, already Daniel was sneaking into her life and mind in so many ways. And now he had to soften her heart with sensitivity in making sure she didn't feel abandoned or awkward in the group. Yet, he achieved it without plastering himself to her side possessively as Kent had done.
No thoughts of Kent. Not tonight. Just enjoy the moment. "I'm fine, thanks."
Daniel knelt beside her. "I've got Austin now. Go visit or whatever."
Music and swirling water whispered a wake-up to her dormant creative muse. "In a minute."
He canted closer. "Are you okay? Everyone's being nice, right?"
Mary Elise struggled to keep her eyes on his face. She surely didn't want the sensual domino effect that would come from roving eyes, anyway. She'd seen his chest quite well a few seconds ago.