Page 9 of Tiny Precious Secrets (The Brothers of Calloway Creek The Montanas #4)

Asher

If I wasn’t sure of my feelings before tonight, I am now. I’m one hundred percent in love with Allie Montana. Locked and loaded. Head-over-fucking-heels. And I’m a goddamn dead man walking if I find out she doesn’t feel the same.

Which is why I don’t ask. And it’s why I won’t tell her.

Better to live in na?ve bliss than be tortured by the knowledge of loving someone who doesn’t love you in return.

She hasn’t been with other men. But for how long? Months? A year? What does ‘recently’ mean. Since we first hooked up sixteen months ago?

The champagne is long gone. The moon is much lower on the horizon. Gentle waves crash upon the beach. We’ve been here for hours and not another living soul has wandered by.

I rise on an elbow and watch Allie watch the sky. This truly is paradise.

“There!” She grabs my arm. “Asher! Do you see it?”

I look up to see a faint white streak darting across the sky. A shooting star. If that isn’t a sign, I don’t know what is.

She releases me. “Did you know shooting stars aren’t even stars at all?”

I chuckle. “Thanks for ruining the moment, Al.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize we were having one,” she says playfully. “We did have a lot of other moments tonight, however.”

I pinch my chin. “Let’s see, if I remember correctly, you had four moments and I had three.” I swipe a piece of hair off her face. “Okay, Ms. Smartypants, tell me about shooting stars.”

“They are actually meteors burning up as they enter Earth’s atmosphere.”

“How have I gone over forty years without knowing that?”

She shakes her head. “Sometimes I forget how old you are. And it kind of makes me feel smart to know one thing you don’t.”

I let the ‘how old you are’ comment roll off me.

As a rule, I try not to think about our age difference.

I’m pretty sure it’s the main reason I’m keeping my feelings to myself.

I’ve had a wife. A family. I have a teenage daughter.

Hell, I worry about things like how much I’m saving for retirement and Bug’s wedding.

Things Allie has probably never even given a second thought to.

I feel like I’m on a trajectory to the end of my life while hers is just beginning. She has so much ahead of her.

“You are smart,” I say. “You know a lot of things I don’t.

Especially about wine. Do you know I’m always worried whenever I order wine around you?

” I motion to the empty bottle. “I hesitate to tell you how long I mulled over which bottle to buy tonight. But honestly, the hotel shop only had three kinds of champagne, so it wasn’t too terribly painful. What did you think of it?”

“Fortunately for you, I’m not a wine snob like Lucas,” she says.

“He’s the worst. Blake and Dallas aren’t so bad.

I couldn’t care less. I mean, yeah, I want people to buy from us, and I do like a great glass of wine, but I’ll never complain about what you choose to bring.

And, for the record, it was really good. Brut has always been my favorite.”

“Duly noted.”

“Noted for what?”

I hop up and extend my hand to pull her to her feet. “Future encounters under small pieces of space rock.”

“I didn’t say all stars were space rocks, just shooting stars.”

“Flexing your space knowledge again?” I say as she grips my hand and I use her momentum to hoist her over my shoulder.

“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?”

“Bother me? 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 give you a 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 are you doing 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 worst dad moment 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 she has been 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 am so sorry,” 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…”

“We’ll talk later.”

I nod and race off down the beach.

I find Bug sitting in the sand a few hundred feet away. She’s picking up shells and throwing them into the water.

I plop down next to her, pick up a shell and throw it. “I know what you must be thinking.”

“No, Dad. You don’t. Because if you did, you’d know that I was thinking how convenient it was that Marti invited me for a sleepover so you could go have a booty call with the slut who probably just slept with that other guy a few hours before moving on to you.”

I take a deep breath, knowing I need to tread carefully. “Darla, you will not call Allie a slut again. It’s very disrespectful and absolutely untrue. Do you hear me?”

She knows I mean business—I rarely use her given name—and nods. “Did you arrange the sleepover?”

“No, sweetie, I didn’t.”

“But what about that other guy she was with?”

“It was Storm Calloway. Her cousin.”

She visibly deflates. “Great. Just freaking great.” She throws a large conch shell, and it makes a big splash.

“Bug.” I take her hand and hold it in mine. “I really like Allie.”

Her head shakes over and over. “It’s gross. She’s practically my age.”

“She’s more than twice your age. She’s a grown woman. And I’m a single man. There’s nothing wrong with what we’re doing.”

“You see her when you go to New York City on business.”

It’s not a question.

“Yes. I do.”

“And when we visit Marti and Charlie, you sneak away and spend time with her.”

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that you’ve picked up on all that.”

“Is she using you?” She pulls her hand away and throws another shell. “Are you using her?”

“Nobody is using anyone. It’s just… complicated.”

“Complicated how?”

If I can’t answer that question for myself, I sure can’t explain it to Bug.

“Hey, you two.” Allie’s mom, Sarah, comes up behind us. “Welcome to Antigua.”

I stand and kiss Sarah’s cheek. “Thanks. It’s really beautiful.”

Bug scoffs and mumbles something unintelligible.

“Bug, I have your dress in our bungalow. When would be a good time to try it on? We have someone on hand to make alterations if it doesn’t fit properly.”

Bug looks at me like she’s as relieved as I am that our conversation came to an abrupt halt. Is she worried about Allie becoming a permanent fixture in my life? Am I worried that she won’t?

I swear to God both questions loom in the air between us before she spins to Mrs. Montana. “I’d like to do it now if that’s okay.”

“Now would be perfect.” Sarah raises a hand. “I’ll see you at the rehearsal dinner tonight, Asher?”

“Sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

She turns back to Bug. “Are you excited?”

“Oh, yes. But mostly I’m excited about after. Dad promised me a movie and said we’d get a tent and sleep on the beach and then go hunting for sharks’ teeth at dawn. He’s a great dad.”

I raise my brows.

“It sounds like the perfect father-daughter date,” Sarah says. “Well, let’s get going, Bug. I’ll bet you’re going to look beautiful in your bridesmaid dress.”

As they leave, Bug turns to see my reaction. All I can do is shake my head knowing I’ve been railroaded by my own daughter.

Well fucking played, Darla.

I turn and walk back up the beach wondering where in the hell I’m going to find a tent.