Total pages in book: 165
Estimated words: 166103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 831(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 166103 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 831(@200wpm)___ 664(@250wpm)___ 554(@300wpm)
“Here, let me help you wash your hands.” He bent down and splashed a bit of water up onto her hands. When he stood, he used his shirt to dry them.
“Thank you.” She stared up at him in amazement. No one had ever taken care of her like this.
“So what do we do now?” Owen asked when they returned to where he and Judd were sitting. “We’ve eaten. And now . . . we sit?”
“What would you like to do, Freckles?” Beck asked.
“Oh. Well. Umm.”
Beck drew her hand away from her hair. Drat. She hadn’t realized she was doing that.
“Tell us what you want to do,” he told her.
“Do you think it’s silly if we build a sandcastle?” she whispered. She tensed up, waiting for them to laugh at her.
“Yes!” Beck clapped his hands together.
She jolted, staring at him in surprise. That was unexpected.
“I am the champion of sandcastle builders,” he said.
“You are?”
“Yep. Mine will be the best one.”
“I doubt that,” Judd huffed.
“Really? How good are your skills?” Beck asked.
“I’m sure it can’t be that hard if you’re good at it,” Judd replied.
She waited for Beck to fire back at that insult. But he just shrugged those massive shoulders. “We’ll see.”
“Doesn’t matter how good the two of you are. Mine will beat them all,” Owen said.
Beck winked at her.
She sighed, shaking her head. “I don’t know.”
“What?” Judd asked, looking concerned. “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t want to say it and hurt your big boy feelings.”
“My . . . big boy feelings?” He gaped at her.
“Uh-huh. See . . . I’m a bit worried . . .”
“About what?” Judd demanded.
“That you might cry when my sandcastle whips your sandcastle’s butt.”
Judd gaped at her. “You think I’ll cry?”
“Yep. Like a baby. Big tears . . . snot . . . all of it.”
Judd’s eyes narrowed. “Oh, I don’t think so. I never back down from a challenge.”
She grinned. “Neither do I.”
“Let’s do this! You want to pair up for this since we don’t have enough buckets and spades?” Beck asked.
“We don’t need buckets and spades,” Owen said. “But fine. Judd and I against the two of you.”
“It’s on,” she said. “The two of you are going down.”
30
“What the hell is wrong with this sand?” Owen complained.
Beck grinned as he glanced over at Owen. Dude didn’t have a clue what he was doing.
“Do you think we should help them?” Chloe asked. “I feel a little bad.”
“Oh no. They were the ones who laid down the challenge. They think they’re going to do so much better than us. And don’t feel bad for them. They’re using all the dirty tricks they have.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean the fact that they’re both trying to distract you.”
Both of them had been strutting around half-naked. Beck had felt a stab of envy.
But it didn’t matter if she found Judd attractive.
It doesn’t lessen her feelings for you.
Owen had even poured water all over his head and chest.
Asshole.
“Hmm. I think we can play that game too.” She strode over to the cooler and bent over, wriggling her butt back and forth.
He watched as both Judd and Owen stopped to stare. Then she pulled out a bottle of water and tilted it back as she drank it down.
Oh yep . . . those boys were goners.
But then, so was he.
She walked back over with a sassy grin.
“You’re naughty,” he told her.
She laughed.
He looked over at Judd, shaking his head. “Do you think Judd will ever work out how to get water to stay in his moat?”
“Nope.”
She giggled as Judd poured out more water into his moat, swearing as it all disappeared.
“I’m going to go find shells to decorate our castle,” she said. “It’s looking super good.”
“Isn’t it?” He checked his phone. “Time’s almost up.”
Judd groaned. “This is impossible!”
“Why won’t this sand stay still?” Owen grumbled.
Beck just shook his head. If they hadn’t insisted they would be great at this, he would have given them some pointers.
Although . . . that wouldn’t have been as funny, and he loved listening to their girl giggle at their complaints.
Their girl.
Damn. He hoped that they could figure out a way to make this work that didn’t involve them moving to London to be with her.
Although . . . was it fair to expect her to uproot her life for them if they weren’t willing to do the same?
They finished putting some of the shells on their castle. It had a large main body with four turrets and a functioning moat.
He held up his hand to Chloe. She slapped her hand against it. Bits of hair had fallen out of her ponytail. She had sand on her face, her chest, her hands . . . and probably other places. A lot of her make-up looked like it had been wiped away and her face was flushed.