My Cowboy and Our Kids

Ah, Vacation

The next morning Ryder and I woke up to the delicious smell of bacon and pancakes. I looked at the clock and it was 7:30 in the morning. I tried rolling into Ryder's arms to fall back asleep. It was no use.

"Doll, I know you want to sleep, but I really have to go to the bathroom." Ryder stated.

I didn't move for a moment but I couldn't resist his sexy southern accent. I rolled over and crawled out of bed. We both headed downstairs to check out what was cooking.

"Oh! Good morning!" Juliana exclaimed, extremely chipper.

She already had her hair and makeup done, flawlessly, for the day. She was dressed for her "White House tour guide" job.

"Jules, how are you so...so awake?" I asked, struggling for the right words.

"I've been up since 5. Elliot leaves for work at 6 and I make him breakfast. I think it might also be these new smoothies I drink. Anyone want one?" She asked in return.

Ryder and I both took her up on the offer and she even delivered plates of food to the island bar countertop in the middle of the kitchen where we were sitting. The gorgeously white kitchen stayed impeccably clean, despite the breakfast ingredients. Sunshine flooded the room with all the windows her kitchen had. I took a moment to enjoy the sunshine and the smoothie with my breakfast and the soothing sounds of sizzling bacon on the stove. I looked out of the window behind me into the backyard. I didn't realize she had a pool. It was small, her whole backyard was tiny. Then again, I have acres of land so anything less is small to me. As I was contemplating a morning swim, Ryder started talking.

"Hey Juliana, maybe we'll take a White House tour today. How cool would that be? You could show us around." Ryder stated.

Without hesitation Juliana replied, "Oh I wish, but I can't. I have scheduled V.I.P. tours all morning for several international representatives and after that I get to escort those reps to their meetings all day." She even rolled her eyes for effect as she used a sponge to scrub the already pristine counter.

No wonder she's a damn good FBI agent. I would have never guessed she was lying.  I poured Ryder and I cups of coffee and I took my mug upstairs while I put a White string bikini on. I pulled my hair into a cute messy bun. I was in the guest bathroom inside our temporary bedroom. The door was cracked open a bit.

"What are you doing?" Ryder asked, sipping his coffee in the bedroom doorway.

"Oh, I'm putting my swim suit on. I wanted to take a morning swim." I answered through the bathroom door.

It must've sounded like a good idea because he changed and we headed to the pool together.

Juliana was headed to work as we care down the steps.

"Oh good, I was hoping to catch you guys before I left. Help yourself to anything in the fridge and text me if you need something." Juliana tossed us a key so that we could get back in if we left and came back.

"Thanks again for letting us stay here." I announced.

She smiled, grabbed her briefcase and her coffee, and headed out the door. We headed through the kitchen and outside. You couldn't really see anything overtop of their dark wooden fence, so I knew I would enjoy my secluded swim. I sat along the edge of their in-ground pool and sipped on my coffee. Ryder talked about how weird it was not waking up to babies screaming. I laughed in agreement. It was weird. It was significantly more fun waking up to the smell of fresh food. Not that waking up to screaming triplets isn't fun...

Just then Ryder lightly splashed me. Luckily I opted for the waterproof cast on my arm because now I was all wet.

"Don't you start." I warned.