One Look: A grumpy, single dad small town romance(36)

“Don’t forget her back, Daddy.”

I lowered my lashes, trying to hide the flood of color I could feel rising in my cheeks.

Penny stubbornly crossed her arms. “You always say I have to even though I hate when it feels sticky.”

Wyatt swallowed hard and nodded.

“Would you mind?” I looked over my shoulder at him.

He looked around, searching for the discarded bottle of sunscreen. “Yeah.” He cleared his throat, and I hid a smile. “Of course.”

Satisfied that she wasn’t the only one being tortured with sunscreen, Penny walked back toward the hole she’d been digging in the sand.

Wyatt squirted a dollop of sunscreen on his hands and rubbed them together. I wiggled on the towel, mostly to inch a little closer to him but also to help ease the ache that pooled between my legs.

Jesus, he smells good—like sun and sand and spicy man cologne.

Nothing more had happened between Wyatt and me, but the memory of that one kiss was seared into my mind. His hands hovered over my shoulders for a fraction of a second before his wide palms smoothed over me. Warm and rough, his hands made slow work of moving down the slopes of my shoulders, up the back of my neck, and across my shoulder blades.

Despite the summer sun, goose bumps erupted on my skin. When I thought he was done, he squirted another blob of sunscreen on his hands and moved lower, smoothing lotion over the rest of my back.

I looked at him over my shoulder. “Very thorough,” I teased.

His hands moved slowly up my back. His fingers toyed with the slim strap forming an X across my shoulder blades, dipping beneath them and tracing over every inch of exposed skin.

“I like to be thorough.”

Oh, hell. I’m sure you do.

I pressed my knees together and hugged them. We were surrounded by families, and his kid was only feet away, but all I could think about was him hovering over me and pressing me into the warm sand as he covered my mouth with his. My nipples hardened to needy little points.

I wanted to see just how thorough he could be.

I had opened my mouth to speak when a volleyball inelegantly plopped beside me, sending little grains of sand flying up. The rowdy laughter of Kevin and Michael broke the spell, and Wyatt hopped to his feet.

I also stood and shook out my towel before stuffing it into my beach bag. I had to go. There was no way I could sit with him, with my boss, on the beach and not think about naughty, delicious things I wish he would do to me. It was better to keep my distance.

Flustered, I threw my bag over my shoulder. “Okay, well, I think I am going to go after all.”

Wyatt frowned again, and I turned from him to power walk toward the car.

“Hey, Lark.”

I stopped and turned toward him.

“Tootie is having everyone over for dinner tonight. She asked me to see if you’re free.”

I glanced at my watch.

As if I have anything else to do.

“Yeah, sure. I can make that work.”

“I’ll drive.” Wyatt flashed a rare grin, and I nearly melted in a gooey puddle right there.





16





WYATT





I checked my hair for the seventeenth time and cursed myself for feeling nervous.

It’s just dinner.

“I’m ready!” Penny shouted from her room, so I exhaled and headed her way.

She met me in the hallway and my smile widened. She wore high-top sneakers, a silver tutu, and a T-shirt from Halloween with Frankenstein’s monster below the words Let Me Be Frank.

“Bloomers?”

Penny inelegantly lifted her skirt to reveal the bike shorts she wore under dresses and skirts. “Yup.”

I laughed and ruffled her hair before calling up the stairs. “We’re out of here. Stay out of trouble!”

Footsteps pounded down the stairs as three of my top athletes practically fell over themselves to get to us.

Kevin made it down first. “We’re coming with.”

I looked at their eager faces.

Joey shrugged. “Free food.”

I shook my head at them. “You always have free food. I feed you.”

“Will Lee be there? I was going to talk to him about the service.” Michael had lowered his voice, and I clamped a hand on his shoulder and nodded. Michael was smart. He was a great athlete, but he also knew pro football wasn’t always something that panned out—even for the best players. He was hedging his bets. My chest pinched for him. Of all my players, he had the most raw talent, and I wanted his football dreams to come true as badly as he did.

“Yeah, he’ll be there. Load up, guys.”

I watched as they razzed each other and messed around, Penny tucked between them and looking up as if they’d collectively hung the moon and stars. I didn’t know how it happened, but somehow our quirky little family was growing.

After closing the front door, I looked up the barn steps to watch Lark’s hand glide down the banister to join us. On the last step, she made a little bounce and looked up. “They’re fixed.”

The muscles in my cheek flickered, happy she had noticed. “Yep.”

A part of me wanted to point out that the light was also working now, but I kept my mouth shut and opened the back car door for Penny.

“Can I ride with them? Please, Daddy?”