"This isn't okay."
"You think I don't know that? And what's with her being a woman? Nothing against my gender and tough jobs.
I'm just wondering if he expects her to follow me into ladies' rooms or just doesn't trust a guy to watch me."
"Are you serious? Why the hell are you sunbathing instead of chewing him a new one?" The idea I'd been toying with fully formed in my mind.
"I'm plotting."
"Oh?" His mouth curved in a wicked grin.
"Do tell."
I picked my smartphone up from the little mosaic-topped table between us and scrolled through my contacts until I found Benjamin Clancy - my stepfather's personal bodyguard.
"Hey, Clancy.
It's Eva," I greeted him when he answered after the first ring.Cary's eyes widened behind his shades.
"Ooh ."
Pushing to my feet, I mouthed, I'm going upstairs.
He nodded.
"Everything's fine," I said, in answer to Clancy's query.
I waited until I'd ducked indoors and knew Sheila was several paces behind me and still outside.
"Listen, I have a favor to ask you."
* * *
I'd just ended my call with Clancy when another call came in.
I grinned when I saw the Caller ID and answered with an exuberant, "Hi, Daddy!" He laughed.
"How's my girl?" "Causing trouble and enjoying it."
I spread my sarong out on a dining room chair and took a seat.
"How are you?" "Stopping trouble from happening and occasionally enjoying it."
Victor Reyes was an Oceanside, California street cop, which was why I'd chosen to attend SDSU.
My mom had been going through a rough patch with husband number three and I'd been in a rebellious phase, making my own life hell as I tried to forget what Nathan had done to me for so long.
Moving out of my mom's suffocating orbit had been one of the best decisions I'd ever made.
My dad's quietly unshakeable love for me, his only child, had changed my life.
He gave me much-needed freedom - within clearly defined limits - and arranged for me to see Dr.
Travis, which led to the start of my long journey of recovery and my friendship with Cary.
"I miss you," I told him.
I loved my mom dearly and know she loved me back, but my relationship with her was a rocky one and it was just so easy with my dad.