If I Didn't Know Better (The Callaways #9)(50)

"Absolutely," he said, relishing the idea of her hands on him.

She smiled at his enthusiastic response. "Maybe just your back. You can do the rest yourself."

"Fine." He pulled his T-shirt over his head and tossed it on the blanket. He liked the way Mia's gaze ran across his bare chest with a gleam of hunger in her blue eyes. The way she was looking at him now reminded him of the way she'd looked at him last night, just before they'd gotten naked and made each other crazy.

Mia cleared her throat. "Turn around."

He obediently turned, mostly because he needed to get his own reactions under control. They were on the beach surrounded by people, and one of those was his daughter. Despite the fact that he was looking away from her, Mia's hands on his back did amazing things to his body and he was almost happy when the painful but pleasurable massage was over.

"Thanks," he said, turning back to her. "What about you?"

"I'm good. I already put some on."

"Let me know if you need more. I'm here for you."

"You're in a good mood," she said with a smile.

He was in a good mood. He felt better than he had in months and that had everything to do with the beautiful blonde by his side. All of his problems, his nagging pain, disappeared under her warm gaze. A cautionary voice in his head urged him to slow down on the feelings, but it was probably too late to send that train back to the station. He already liked Mia more than he probably should. But he wasn't going to worry about anything today.

"Let's talk about our castle," he said. "I think we should go big and detailed at the same time. While the judges like the showy stuff, what they like even more are all the little things, like panes in the castle windows."

She raised an eyebrow. "How on earth would we make paned windows with sand?"

"You pack the wet sand in really tight and then use the point of your finger to make a small square. I'll show you."

"You're going to do more than show me; you're going to actually do it."

He laughed. "Okay, but you'll still need to help with the turrets and of course the moat."

"Turrets and a moat?"

"It's a castle, Mia. You've seen those, haven't you?"

"I think you're a little ambitious."

"Go big or go home."

She laughed. "All right. I'm in. Ashlyn, are you ready to build the biggest and best castle this beach has ever seen?"

Ashlyn gave a vigorous nod.

"Great," he said, happy to have his team excited and enthusiastic. He looked at his daughter. "Have you ever built a sand castle before?"

She shook her head.

He was happy that this was something he could do with her that she'd never done with her mother. "Well, you are going to love this," he promised. "We can't officially start for another ten minutes, but why don't you get your feet wet and fill up a couple of buckets and we'll figure out the best place to build our castle."

As Ashlyn moved toward the water, he saw Colin and Kara approaching with their two daughters and the two nieces they'd had at the park the day before.

"Hey," Kara said with a wave as they came over. "I didn't know you guys were going to be here. Colin, this is Mia Callaway, Carly's niece."

"Nice to finally meet you, Mia," Colin said with a cheerful grin. "I hear you've hooked my wife on coloring books. I can't say I'm unhappy about that. Now she can color with the girls. They laugh at me when I try; I have trouble staying between the lines."

"The coloring books for grown-ups are fun," Mia replied. "And who are these darling girls?"

"The redheads are mine," Kara said. "The three-year-old is Faith and the almost fifteen-month-old is Becca. The blondes are my two nieces, Jeanette and Melody, nine and seven respectively."

"Hi girls," Mia said.

"Let's set up right here," Kara told Colin. "Then the girls can all play together. Ashlyn and Melody hit it off yesterday."

"Sounds good," Mia said.

"We'll sit next to you, Kara," Jeremy interrupted. "But you guys are building your own castle."

Kara laughed. "Fine. I forgot you take castle building seriously." She looked at Mia. "Did you know Jeremy won this competition like five times when we were kids?"

"I did not know that," Mia said, giving him a pointed look. "No wonder you said you wanted to win."

"I think it was six times that I won," he said. "I grew up here. There wasn't a lot to do."

"I grew up here, too," Kara said. "But I never looked at sand castle building like it was an Olympic sport, but then Jeremy was always an overachiever."

"I think I can give Jeremy a run for his money," Colin said, stripping off his shirt. "Let's do this thing."

"You're on," he told him.

Colin laughed. "May the best man win."

"We already know who that will be," Jeremy replied.

"We'll see."

A shrill whistle ended their conversation. A man stepped up to the microphone on the stage. He announced the rules of the competition, encouraged good sportsmanship, and started the sixty-minute sprint toward the perfect sand castle.