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“Asher!” she shrieks as I start climbing the stairs.
“Shhh.” I lift her skirt and swat her bare ass. “You’ll wake the neighbors.”
“But the blanket and stuff.”
“I’ll come back later.”
Ten steps into our ascent, she says, “You can’t carry me all the way up. There are seventy-three steps, you’ll give yourself a heart attack.”
I stop and set her down. “You think of me as old enough to have a heart attack?”
“Umm… no.” She looks guilty as hell. “It was just a saying.”
I tilt my head. “Does our age difference bother you?”
“Botherme? Asher, I think our age difference is hot. So do all my friends.”
I feel ten years younger as I hoist her back up on my shoulder. She talks about me to her friends. I’ll take that as a win. “I’ll giveyoua heart attack as soon as we get up to your bed.”
She giggles as I bounce her up the next sixty-one steps.
~ ~ ~
I’m shaking sand out of the blanket, reliving the best moments of last night, when I hear an all-too-familiar voice.
“Dad?”
I turn to find Bug, Charlie, and Maisy standing near my sister, who has a massive smile on her face. Marti must know whose bungalow is up the stairs behind me. And my uber-romantic little sister has always favored Allie and I getting together, even if she does keep to herself on the subject. Mostly because every time she brings it up, I tend to redirect the conversation.
“Uh, hey, Bug. What are you doing here?”
“What areyoudoing here?” she asks defiantly, eyeing the blanket and empty champagne bottle. “Our room is at the other end of the property.”
“I, um…”
“Ash? Oh, there you are. I thought you left.”
I spin around and look up the stairs. Allie is about fifteen steps up, wearing a short, white robe emblazoned with the resort logo. It shows off her tanned legs as well as a good bit of cleavage as she’s not secured the tie very well. As soon as she sees the others, she pulls the tie tight, giving me an apologetic look.
I close my eyes. This may well be the worstdadmoment of my life. My daughter has just caught me red-handed. Bug doesn’t want any woman in my life, but she seems hell-bent on me not having a relationship with Allie in particular.
I realize now that it’s because she must sense my feelings for her. Either that, or shehasbeen reading my texts.
“This time of day is the best for finding sharks’ teeth,” Marti says, trying to break the tension.
Maisy leans over, picks something up off the sand, and smiles. “I found one,” she signs excitedly.
“Good job,” Marti says and signs to Allie’s deaf niece.
Bug looks down at her hand where there must be a half-dozen black sharks’ teeth. She throws them into the water and stalks off.
“I amsosorry,” Allie says, still up on the stairs.
“It’s not your fault, but—” I look in the direction Bug went.
“You should go after her.”
“Yeah. I…”