Page 10 of Tiny Precious Secrets (The Brothers of Calloway Creek The Montanas #4)

Asher

Bug and I spend the afternoon with Marti and Charlie while Dallas and the other Montanas head to an island winery. I cherish every minute I get to spend with my sister and nephew. I’ve missed them a lot since they moved to Calloway Creek.

It’s been hard living so far away. Marti and I were rarely apart growing up.

Mostly because I was the one who raised her after losing first our mom when Marti was little and then our dad when she wasn’t even as old as Bug is now.

My sister has always been there for my daughter and me.

She was my rock through the infertility treatments and miscarriages with Stella.

She was the pillar of strength Bug and I needed through the divorce that followed.

Sometimes I think of moving closer. But Bug likes our house. Our neighborhood. Her best friend.

On the way back to our room to get ready for the evening’s festivities, we run into Allie’s brother Blake and his wife and daughter.

“Nice to see you,” I sign to Ellie, who, like Blake’s daughter Maisy, is deaf.

“Nice to see you,” she signs back. Then she looks at Bug. Blake interprets, “I like your hair. The blue suits you. Very pretty.”

“Thanks,” Bug says, always eager to get compliments on the unusual color.

I wave at six-year-old Maisy. “Hi, Maisy. Did you find”—I turn to Blake and ask him how to sign ‘sharks’ teeth.’ He shows me, and I complete the sentence.

Maisy smiles and signs back as Blake interprets.

Our conversation is short. Mostly because my ASL sucks, and Maisy hasn’t yet learned to read lips like Ellie. They trot off, all of them holding hands, Maisy sandwiched between her parents.

I look after them, thinking about the unique circumstances that brought them together.

Blake didn’t even know he had a child until she was dumped on his doorstep a few years ago.

It sure makes my problems pale in comparison.

My life is a piece of cake if you put it up against what they’ve gone through.

Not to mention what Dallas and Marti have overcome to get to this point.

Have I seriously been feeling sorry for myself when my biggest problem is that my hormonal daughter wants me all to herself?

Okay, maybe that’s not my biggest problem. The winner of that award might be that I have no idea how the woman I’m in love with really feels about me.

“Dad?”

“Mmm?” I tear my eyes away from the retreating happy family.

“Since when do you know ASL?”

“I don’t know a lot, but I learn what I can.”

I leave out the part where Allie has been teaching me a little bit here and there.

And I definitely leave out the part where some of what she’s been teaching me has to do with dirty words.

My thoughts instantly flash back to one specific time when I asked her to show me the sign for ‘sex.’ One sign led to another, and before we knew it, we’d had our own little version of ASL foreplay.

“How come?” Bug asks, suspiciously.

“Well, let’s see.” I start walking, contemplating the best answer. “Maybe because tomorrow, Aunt Marti will become Maisy’s aunt and Ellie’s sister-in-law.”

“I get why she needs to learn it. But why are you?”

I thumb back in the direction of Blake’s family.

“Because of situations like that. Because when we go to Calloway Creek it’s nice to be able to say hello to them.

Because Maisy needs people in her life who speak her language.

You spent time with her this morning. Didn’t you say anything to each other? ”

She shrugs. “Not really. Aunt Marti did most of the talking. ASL seems pretty cool though. I was thinking about taking it as my language elective in high school next year.”

I stop and look down, not wanting to think about the fact that my daughter will be entering high school in the fall. A huge high school. In Orlando. With thousands of other students.

Pushing aside my fatherly fears, I try to focus on the here and now. “Really? That’s fantastic. If you like it so much, why the third degree?”

“We should go. It’s going to take me forever to wash and curl my hair.”

Her non-answer says it all. She thinks I’m learning it because Maisy is Allie’s niece.

“Bug.” I put a hand on her shoulder.

She shrugs it off. “Fine. Whatever. You’re learning sign language. Who cares?”

She stomps off toward our building, her blue hair blowing in the breeze, as I wonder once again if there is any universe in which Allie, Bug, and I could somehow become a family.

~ ~ ~

The rehearsal dinner is packed with Montanas and Calloways. With Allie and I keeping our distance from each other, I’ve gotten more of a chance to get to know her Montana cousins—the ones who aren’t in the wine business. They own the Calloway Creek Golf and Country Club.

While Allie and I aren’t directly talking to each other, that doesn’t keep us from staring at one another.

Is she thinking about the beach last night?

Because I haven’t been able to get it out of my head.

How beautiful she looked straddling me against the backdrop of the moon and stars.

How her soft, tanned skin prickled under my touch.

How her third orgasm perfectly aligned with my second, her walls squeezing my cock in spectacular synchronization.

I have to look away before my dick gets any harder. But I still hear her talking with a few Calloways. Her voice is as soft and sensual as her skin.

“So, which is better,” Serenity Calloway asks, “Australia or Antigua?”

“That’s hard to say,” Allie replies. “They both have so many wonderful qualities.”

I close my eyes and absorb her voice as I listen to her make comparisons between the two. I wasn’t even aware Allie had been to Australia. She’s never mentioned it. She’s spoken of other family trips to amazing places like Switzerland, Thailand, and Fiji, but never Australia.

I pick up on a few facts I didn’t know about Allie, as in she spent many months Down Under doing an internship for a winery when she was nineteen. But then something strange happens. The more I listen to her talk about Australia, the more inaccuracies I pick up on. I should know. I’ve been there.

I open my eyes and study Allie as she speaks. It’s odd. She’s not even excited about it when Serenity prods her for more information. It’s almost as if she doesn’t even want to talk about her time in Australia. Maybe something bad happened when she was there.

But when Cooper Calloway asks if she liked Vegemite, and Allie has no idea what that is, I know something’s off. There is no way in hell you can travel to Australia, especially for as long as she claims to have been there, and not tried Vegemite. It’s practically a staple to the locals.

She catches me watching and finally her frown turns into a smile. Since Bug is nowhere to be found at the moment, I walk over. “Mind if I steal Allie for a minute?”

“Not at all,” Serenity says, sharing a secret look of ‘I know what you two are doing’ with her husband.

“Care for a drink?” I ask Allie.

She glances around. I know what she’s looking for. Or more specifically, who .

“She’s off somewhere with your mom and Charlie I think.”

“I could use a drink.”

I wave over a waiter carrying a tray full of champagne and grab two glasses. I take a sip and nod. “Brut. Your favorite.”

“So you were paying attention.”

I lean in to whisper, “I always pay attention, Al,” and her arm brushes mine.

Damn, how I wish I could pull her against me.

Put my arm around her. Sit and talk with her all night.

Part of me says fuck it , Bug should have to learn to deal with whomever I choose to spend time with.

But the other part, the part that knows how fragile these years can be, that’s always the part that wins the battle.

We stand at the bar as if we’re both ready to bolt in opposite directions should we be spotted by my tenacious daughter.

“You never told me you’ve been to Australia.”

Her smile falls. Her posture slumps. She even sets her glass down. It’s like all the air has been sucked out of the space around her. “It was a work thing.”

“I spent two weeks there.”

“Mmm,” she mumbles, looking anywhere but at me.

Ordinarily, when two people find they’ve visited the same uncommon place, they’d talk about it. Compare experiences. Ask things like ‘did you do this?’ or ‘did you see that?’ But Allie looks like she’d rather have a root canal than talk about her time there.

“I heard a rumor,” she says.

“I hate rumors.”

“But this one is about you .”

I raise a questioning eyebrow.

“You and Bug are camping on the beach tonight?”

I sigh and run a hand through my hair. Then I apologize.

“I’m sorry. I know we were going to try and meet up.

After Bug saw what she did this morning, she kind of backed me into a corner in front of your mom about the whole camping on the beach thing.

And then she told Marti, and apparently…

everyone . So now I feel it has to happen or people will think I’m a horrible father. ”

Her hand covers her laugh. “Oh my gosh. She forced you into it so you couldn’t spend another night with me? You have to admit, your daughter’s got a lot of spunk.”

“Spunk. That’s what you call it?”

“Determination then. But hey, it’s my fault for going down to the beach half-naked this morning.”

I put a hand on her hip. “You should always be half-naked.” I smile and wink. “Unless you’re all naked.” Leaning away, I continue, “There’s no way you’d have considered the possibility of my kid being down there.”

“I’ll bet she really hates me now, huh?”

I’m not about to tell her Bug called her a slut. “I don’t suppose you’re on her list of all-time favorites.”

She laughs. “No, I guess I’m not.”

Getting irritated, knowing this is not a laughing matter, I toss back a long drink. “Why are we letting my thirteen-year-old control what we can and can’t do, Al? We’re grown adults and she’s old enough to understand things.”

“We?” she asks. “There’s no we about this. She’s your kid, Asher.”

“I know. It’s me. I’m the one who’s letting her walk all over me.”

“I get it. You’re a single dad. You want to protect her. And you put her happiness before your own. Things are great between you. As good as it gets between a father and daughter. You don’t want to rock the boat.”

“But there’s more to life than keeping my kid happy. I mean, you look fucking amazing in that dress and all I want to do is kiss you. I want to kiss you right here and not care who sees.”

She leans against the bar, looking all sexy and inviting. “Then do it.”

Our eyes lock and her gaze pulls me in like a tractor beam.

I want to look around for Bug, but it’s as if Allie is issuing me a challenge.

Kiss her, and the world be damned. But it’s almost like she’s also offering me an invitation.

An invitation to officially make this—whatever this is between us—public.

Without breaking our stare, I accept the invitation—or challenge, as it may be—and kiss her.

Putting my hands on the small of her back, I tug her to me, closing the gap between us.

I lean down, finding her pink strawberry-flavored lips with mine.

And I kiss her. I kiss her out in the open as if we’re together.

A couple. Boyfriend and girlfriend. Lovers.

And for just a moment, I get lost in the dream.

The moment is broken when I hear a high-pitched scream.

“Someone fell in the pool!” a waiter yells.

I turn to see a pale-blue dress floating atop the surface before a head of wet blue hair pops up from under the water. “Dad, help! My dress. I can’t swim.”

Bug can swim. She can surf. Hell, we’ve even been scuba diving. But I’m not about to stand here and let everyone think I’m a loser for not ‘rescuing’ my daughter.

I run over, tossing my phone and wallet on the ground before jumping in and ruining one of my best suits as I swim out to the deepest part of the massive pool where Bug grabs onto me for dear life.

She’s very convincing when she sputters out water.

“I thought I was drowning. My feet got caught in my dress.”

I don’t reply. I tow her to the side where a dozen people help pull her out and cover us with towels. They’re all asking if she’s okay and if we need help.

“I’m fine,” she says. “We were playing tag and I slipped.”

“Who was playing tag?” I ask.

“Me and the other kids.”

I glance around, seeing no other kids. I pick up my things, take her elbow, and say sternly, “Come with me.”

Allie is looking at me as we pass her. Guilt is written all over her face. It’s quite possible we’re the only two people here who know we’ve just been played. “Guess I’ll see you at the wedding,” I tell Allie.

Sorry , she mouths.

I close my eyes and sulk, embarrassed that Bug caused a scene and ruined the rest of our night.

And I dread what’s going to happen next. Because I know it’s time to grow some fucking balls and stand up to my manipulative daughter.