Page 24 of A Daddy for Christmas 3: Nova

“Someone’s excited.”

“It’s sand sculpture day,” I declared as I leaned over to kiss him before we took off.

“It sure is,” he replied. “And I’ve got a few surprises for you in the back that might help you bring your vision to life.”

“Sweet,” I said, twisting around to see if I could catch a glimpse of anything.

Denied.

Whatever the surprise was, it must have been securely placed in the box in the bed of the truck, because there was nothing else back there besides the rack that held his surfboards.

“Uh-uh, you’ll have to wait until we get to the beach to see what there is.”

Huffing, I narrowed my eyes at him and followed it up by sticking my tongue out at him in a childish, silly gesture that made me blush the moment I did it. “Tease,” I muttered, crossing my arms over my chest and facing forward so he wouldn’t see me blush.

“You know it,” he replied, chuckling as he started out on a route I now had memorized after how many times we’d driven it together.

“That’s so not fair,” I grumbled.

“Really? Hmm, I’ll keep that in mind for next time,” he replied. “Doesn’t mean I’ll change my teasing ways, but I will be sure to give due consideration to the level of teasing the next time I decide to mess with you.”

“And with my luck, that just means you’ll rev it up,” I replied with another huff.

“If it will bring about another adorable pout, I will definitely have to up my teasing game.”

“Meh,” I muttered, barely reining in the impulse to stick my tongue out at him again.

“Meh, huh?” he replied, chuckling again. “Someone’s fiesty today. Adorable too. I like this playful side of you.”

“Playful is when we get to the sand and I can squish my fingers in it and draw out my outline for the sea turtle. Then I can just build upward and add the sandcastle and his starfish buddies because he’s got to have a few friends around.”

“That he does.”

“What are you going to make?” I asked.

“I’m going to attempt the SWAK method and see if I can make a sand replica of your lips, since a sandcastle is beyond my capabilities,” he replied.

“SWAK method?”

“Sealed with a kiss,” he explained.

“Thus, why you’re sculpting lips.”

“Exactly.”

“I can’t wait to see how they turn out,” I replied. “But you can forget about me kissing them. The only lips I intend to kiss are the ones attached to your face.”

“Fair enough.”

We were laughing as we pulled into his driveway, and I was out the door before he killed the engine, racing around to theback of the truck and waiting somewhat impatiently for him to get out and let me see my surprises.

“Eager much,” he teased as he climbed in the back of the truck and opened the box.

“You have no idea how much.”

Chuckling, he just grinned at me as he passed me two mesh bags bulging with beach toys.

“Whoa,” I said as I held them close to my face so I could study the contents. “There are all kinds of molds in there.”