Penthouse Prince(32)
He was toned then, but he was also young. A boy.
But the Lexington Dane in front of me now is all man. And I mean all man. I literally have to look up at the sky to keep myself from counting his abs. Not that I need to. I know for a fact there are six of them, each chiseled and firm.
If this is a dad bod, well, sign me the heck up.
To make this uncomfortable moment even more awkward, Grier decides to chime in with her thoughts on the situation. “Daddy, Corgi so pretty!”
Oh sweet Jesus. Of all the things she could say right now, did she have to go with that?
But Lexington just chuckles, ruffling Grier’s windblown hair. “Yeah? I think she looks good in blue too.”
Wait. Blue? But my cover-up is white.
I glance down, double-checking that I’m not losing my mind, only to discover that the sunlight is shining through the thin white fabric just right. My little blue bikini—and everything else it doesn’t cover—is fully on display. And by the way Lex clears his throat into his fist and subtly adjusts his swim trunks, I’m thinking he may be enjoying the view quite a lot.
What. Is. Happening?
“Grier, honey, why don’t you go fill up the bucket with water?” he says, picking up the pail and handing it over to his daughter. “Wet sand will be better for our sancapple.”
He shoots me a knowing sidelong glance, and we both have to conceal our laughter. Luckily, the little one doesn’t catch on. She just toddles the short distance to the water, trying and failing again and again to capture the tide in her little pink pail.
“Sorry that my daughter doesn’t understand the concept of a day off.” He chuckles, an apologetic smile tugging at his lips. “You, uh, you do look good in blue, though. She wasn’t wrong about that.”
There’s that blush on my cheeks again. This time it’s accompanied by a quick surge of heat between my thighs.
Am I seriously getting turned on in public right now? With his daughter a couple of feet away? Pull it together, Corrigan. You are stronger than this.
“Th-thanks,” I stutter. “And you look good in . . . uh. Not a shirt.”
What. The. Actual. Heck. Did I just say that? The second the words come out, I feel every drop of blood drain from my face.
I’m a heartbeat away from bolting back to my car and pretending this whole encounter never happened, but then Lexington’s low, sweet chuckle fills the air. He smiles, pats the spot on the towel next to him, and shifts over to make room for me. And I don’t know what to do other than take a seat. So I do.
“She’s loving living this close to the beach.” He tips his chin in the direction of his daughter, who is inspecting a seashell in the palm of her hand. “Don’t eat that!”
At the sound of her daddy’s voice, Grier flings the shell into the water, then grabs her bucket and toddles back our way.
“You’ll have to take her to Dak’s place sometime. Maybe early in the morning, before the party crowd shows up. I bet she’d love the surfboard bar.”
Lex nods in agreement, watching as Grier settles back in next to us and returns to working on her sancapple. “Good idea. She’d get a kick out of that.”
It’s quiet between us for a moment, and I focus on drawing lazy circles in the warm sand with my fingertip. Anything to keep from ogling his half-naked body again. Before long, Lexington cracks the silence wide open with a sentence I totally wasn’t expecting.
“I mentioned to Dak that I asked you out.”
I flinch, my brows pushing together into a tight line. “What? Why did you do that?”
He lifts a shoulder. “Because I’m trying to be more honest. Life is too short to keep things from people, you know?”
My chest tightens at the sadness behind his words. He’s thinking of his mom, I’m sure. No wonder he’s been so seize the day lately, what with asking me out and all.
“Well? How’d that go?”
“Not great,” he says with a sigh, his gaze glued on Grier, and I can’t tell if he’s supervising or just trying to avoid eye contact. “He basically said my track record with women is awful, and to stay away from you. So that’s where we’re at.”
I stifle a laugh. That sounds like Dak, all right. “Suddenly, I’m remembering why we hid the whole us dating thing from him in high school.”
“Yeah, but we were only kids then. I wouldn’t let his opinion stop me now.” Lex pauses, then finally shifts his gaze toward mine, his blue eyes only bluer against the ocean behind him. “If you were, you know, reconsidering.”
I bite the inside of my cheek, wondering how much to say and how much to hold back. If he’s trying to be honest, I suppose I should too. Swallowing the lump of nerves in my throat, I squeeze my eyes shut and come right out and say it.
“I like you, Lex. I really do. But . . . I have a date this Saturday.”
He blinks, his brows shooting up his forehead. “Oh?”
“Yeah. He’s a fifth-grade teacher at my school. He asked me out right before the school year wrapped up.”
“Oh,” he says again, this time with more disappointment in his tone, maybe even a twinge of jealousy. “Um, I hope it goes well.”
“Me too,” I say firmly. And I mean it. At least, I think I do.
This teacher is cute, tall, and great with his students. No, maybe he’s not quite Lexington-level hot, and he’s never made the butterflies in my stomach flap quite the way Lex has. But he’s also never hurt me before. There’s no messy history. A clean, easy start could be just what I need.