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T he heat of the day made her swelter. She’d felt sure that there would be a breeze at the ocean that might cool her down.

But no.

“You need to take your clothes off.”

Turning, she gaped up at Ian. What the heck?

It was the day after the pool incident. Uncle Willy had woken up early this morning, full of energy and ready to scout out locations.

So she, Ian, and Uncle Willy had headed out to the beach early this morning. Jack was doing something else, but said he’d join them later. She missed his happy energy.

“I’m not taking my clothes off.”

Again, he hadn’t bothered with the niceties first. Like offering to buy her dinner.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been out to dinner. Her budget didn’t stretch past fish and chips. And even getting the fish was too much. Uncle Willy wasn’t fond of eating at restaurants. So they mostly just lived on snack food when traveling.

She’d love a good hunk of steak and some garlic bread. Maybe that’s what she’d cook for the guys when she got around to making them dinner. If she could afford the steak.

She sighed. More likely, she’d be making mashed potatoes and sausages.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with a good sausage.”

“What?” Ian asked.

“What?” she repeated.

“Why were you talking about sausages?”

“I was just thinking about the dinner menu. Why are you talking about sausages?”

Ian shook his head, then frowned as he took her in. Okay, so she wasn’t dressed like some of the stylish women she’d seen walking around the shopping center this morning. But she didn’t look completely terrible, right?

She glanced down at her black sweatshirt with a picture of a skull on the front and her ripped denim jeans. Her black combat boots topped off her look.

And yeah, she was roasting hot.

“It’s too hot to be wearing long sleeves,” Ian told her. “Take it off.” He reached out as though he was going to pull the sweatshirt off her. She stumbled back and would have fallen on her bum if he hadn’t grabbed her.

Unfortunately, he grabbed both of her wrists to steady her and she hissed out a pained breath.

Immediately, Ian let her go. “What happened? Did I . . . did I hurt you?”

“I, uh, it’s fine,” she told him.

“No, it’s not. How did I hurt you? Show me.”

The worry in his voice floored her. Sure, he was over-the-top. But as someone who’d rarely experienced concern over her well-being without an ulterior motive . . . his actions were something she lapped up.

“Ian, I’m fine. I need to go help Uncle Willy.”

Her uncle was currently fiddling with his camera farther down the beach and not paying either of them the slightest bit of attention.

“Maggie, I’m not letting you go until you show me where I hurt you.”

“You didn’t hurt me. I just . . . I have a bruise on my arm and you touched it. That’s all.”

“Show me this bruise. Why did you not tell me about it before?”

“Am I supposed to show you every bruise I get?” she asked with exasperation.

“Yes. I’m responsible for you. I need to know if you’re hurt.”

“You’re mad as a hatter,” she told him.

“Maggie, this isn’t a debate.”

“Maggie, I need the other bags from the car,” Uncle Willy called out.

“I’ll get them.” She stepped away from Ian, but he grabbed her elbow. “I have to go and get the other bags.”

“I will go get them. After you show me your bruise.”

“I can carry the bags, Ian.”

“But you won’t, Maggie. Bruise. I’m willing to stand here all day until you show me.”

“Fine.” She pushed up the sleeve of her sweatshirt. “Happy, now?”

“No. Not at all. How did you get this?”

“I don’t know. I bruise easily. I must have banged it.”

“This doesn’t look like you banged it. It looks like someone grabbed you. Hard. Did someone do this to you? Was it me?”

“No! You’d know if you bruised me.” He looked so horrified. As though he was trying to think about whether he’d done this to her.

“Look, the truth is that Uncle Willy was feeling slightly unsteady and grabbed me to regain his balance. I bruise easily. That’s all.”

Ian’s face grew hard. “He hurt you?”

“Not on purpose.”

“Promise me.”

Sheepsbollocks.

She felt bad. But she had promised Uncle Willy before Ian. And besides, it wasn’t really a lie. Uncle Willy hadn’t really meant to hurt her.

“I promise.”

“Maggie!” Uncle Willy called out.

“Coming! Please don’t say anything to him. He’s upset that it happened.”

Ian nodded but still didn’t look happy. Maggie turned away to head up the sand dunes to where the car was parked, but he grabbed her. “I’ll get the bags.”

“It’s my job. Your job is to watch us. Remember?” she said.

“I’ll get the bags,” he repeated sternly. “You need to stop arguing.”

Such a diddlemonkey. But she decided to give him this since he wasn’t going to mention her bruised wrist. She sighed in relief.

“Maggie! I need you over here to play model,” her uncle called out.

“Coming!” she called back and jogged over.

There was something wrong.

And Ian didn’t like it.

It was just a bruise. And it could easily have happened just as she’d said.

So why didn’t he like that explanation?

“Yo, what’s up? What are you doing up here alone?”

He looked over as Jack jogged up to him. “Getting the bags.”

Jack raised his eyebrows. “And taking your eyes off our charges? Not like you.”

“I can see them from here.” But he didn’t like being apart from them.

From her.

So he handed Jack one of the bags and started back down toward the beach, where William was taking photos of his niece.

Ian found himself curious about what those photos would look like. And if he could get himself a copy.

“What’s up with you? You seem even grouchier than usual.”

“There’s a bruise on her wrist.”

“What?” Jack reached out to stop him. “A bruise? From what?”

“She said that her uncle grabbed her to steady himself.”

“And you don’t believe her? Do you think this is another situation like Chloe was in?”

Chloe’s employer, who turned out to also be her father, had been abusive.

“I don’t know. She doesn’t seem at all afraid of him. And she’s not that good at hiding her thoughts and emotions.”

“So it could just be like she said. Maybe you need to ease up a bit, man. You’ll worry yourself bald if you keep going like this.”

Maybe Jack was right.

There was no reason to worry about her. She seemed happy. If anything, she was a bit too carefree about everything.

It was likely that she led a charmed life. She’d probably never known the hardship of having to choose between eating or paying rent.

Grumbling to himself, he settled in to spend the next few hours bored to death.

Three hours later, Maggie was dead on her feet.

But when she caught sight of Uncle Willy’s tired face as he started packing up, she knew she couldn’t relax just yet.

“Let me get that, Uncle Willy.” She reached for the bags he was holding.

“What are you doing? Give me that.” Ian grabbed the bags off her. “The two of you need to go sit in the car while we get this. Jack has gone to turn on the air-con.”

“I can help carry the bags,” she told him. Who did he think lugged all this around when he wasn’t there?

“And?”

She huffed out a sigh. Fine, he could carry everything. Who was she to stop him?

“All of this tension between you can only mean one thing,” Uncle Willy said to her as Ian walked behind them.

“Uncle,” she said warningly. She had a feeling that she knew where he might be going with this and had to head him off.

“There’s no smoke without fire, my dear.” Her uncle smiled at her. “And there’s so much fire with you two that it could send us all on flames.”

She groaned. Yep, that’s where she’d thought he was going.

“What?” Ian asked. “What fire?”

Uncle Willy sighed, turning around to glance at Ian. “Not much of a romantic, are you, lad?”

“Lad? Romantic? I’m not following.”

“Listen. I’ll make it easy for you. Take her on a date. Okay?”

Um, what the bloody heck! What did Uncle Willy think he was doing?

“Uncle Willy!” she protested.

“What?” he asked, looking genuinely confused. Although sometimes it was hard to tell with him. It could all be an act.

Sneaky old bugger.

“You can’t arrange dates for me,” she told him sternly.

“Why not? You won’t arrange them for yourself. Besides, you’re still young. You should be out having fun. Not spending all your time following a doddery old fool around.”

“You are not a doddery old fool!” she protested. “And maybe I don’t date because I don’t date. Perhaps it’s a choice.”

“Course you do, my dear. You’re just shy.”

Ian made a choking noise and she shot him a dark look. “You be quiet. This has nothing to do with you.”

“Nothing to do with me? I’m the one he wants to take you on a date.”

“You or that other young chap. Good-looking boy.” He nodded over at Jack, who was walking toward them. “Got some depth to him.”

What did that mean?

“I reckon he’d be a good protector, as long as he didn’t eat you first, that is.”

What the heck was he talking about?

“I am not looking to date anyone.” Although an orgasm she didn’t have to give to herself might be nice.

Shoot. She needed to be careful or eventually, she’d say something out loud that she didn’t want anyone to hear.

Ian strode past her without a backward look.

What the heck had gotten into him? Was he that upset that her uncle had suggested that he date her? No doubt, that idea horrified him.

The jerk.

Ian didn’t know what to think as he walked away.

She wouldn’t date him? Why the heck not?

Are you forgetting that you decided she wasn’t the one for you? Or for Jack and Jameson?

Remember what’s important, bringing Jameson back to your relationship.

Finding a woman they all wanted.

“Everything all right?” Jack asked quietly as Maggie and her uncle walked past them. She didn’t even look at him.

Ian just grunted.

“Was it something with Maggie? What did you say to her?”

“What makes you think I said something?”

Jack just shot him a look.

Ian sighed.

“I like her. I’m thinking of asking her on a date.”

Ian nearly stumbled. He put the bags he was carrying down to look at Jack. “No, you aren’t.”

“I think I will.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Why not?” Jack asked.

“Because I don’t want to date her.”

Jack raised his eyebrows.

“We agreed to have a relationship with the three of us and one woman. And she’s not the woman for us.”

“Isn’t she?” Jack turned and started walking back to the car.

“She’s a brat. She needs a spanking.”

“Ahh, so you want to be the one to spank her? Interesting . . .” Jack turned to grin at him.

“That is not interesting. She’s just a brat who likely has to work for family because no one else will have her.” As soon as the words were out, he wished them back.

He’d seen how hard she’d worked today. She wasn’t like some of the women Jameson had wanted to date.

She isn’t Elizabeth.

Jack grabbed the bags and carried them to the boot of the car.

Ian stomped over. He came to a stop as soon as he saw it.

Fuck.

The windows of the car were down slightly.

Had she heard anything?

He felt ill at the idea that she might have. And he didn’t want to examine that feeling too closely.

“What the fuck did you do?” Jack snapped.

Turning, he saw the other man giving him a cold look. One that promised retribution.

“I didn’t fucking know.”

Ian climbed in, spinning to glance into the backseat. He was prepared for the glare. But he wasn’t prepared for who it came from. William scowled at him, his eyes full of disapproval.

But that didn’t affect him the way the sight of Maggie did. She was hunched, her shoulders up to her ears as she stared out the window. There was something wrong with the way she looked. She’d been so full of attitude before.

Now . . . she looked tiny and defenseless.

Fuck. Had he done this?

“Maggie,” he said in a low voice. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say. He didn’t even know this girl.

No . . . and yet look what you’ve done to her after knowing her a few short days.

He’d just . . . he’d thought her skin would have been thicker. It was confusing. Where was her attitude now?

Maybe she’s not as tough as you thought she was, asshole.

“I’ve changed my mind,” William said.

“What?” Ian asked.

“You are not good enough to date my niece.”

Fuck.

No. He really wasn’t.