glow even darker. I closed my eyes, even though they were hidden behind my sunglasses, in a massive dose of willpower as if that would help inoculate me against being attracted to him or something.
For another half hour, father and daughter played in the waves while I watched from the shaded comfort of the beach chair. I couldn’t believe how I’d just spoken to him about his father. But to be fair he’d asked for my thoughts. If he didn’t like them, that was on him. Still, my insides were all sorts of messed up. Every time we actually had a conversation, the line between boss and employee blurred, and he was always cutting it off before it went further. It was as if he forgot sometimes. Which made me think despite Evan being his friend and being surrounded by people, Xavier Pascale was … lonely. Perhaps it was by his own design. I wasn’t a psychologist, but I had a feeling that deep down where he refused to acknowledge, he was yearning for a connection. I wondered what his late wife had done to him to cause him to bury his heart so deep.
Dauphine suddenly came running up toward me. “Come. I need you to play Jeu de Loup. It’s not fun with just me and Papa.”
“I don’t know the game.”
“One person is the, um … le loup …” She twisted her lips sideways as her brow furrowed.
“The wolf?” I offered, the word popping up from the depths of my brain.
“Yes! One person is the wolf and the others must try to get away. And when the wolf bites them, they must become the wolf.” She clapped and shivered as she explained.
“Come here,” I said and dried off her face and shoulders and reapplied some sunscreen.
“Good. You will play?”
I glanced out to the water. Her father was swimming freestyle in large powerful strokes parallel to the beach as he waited for her to come back.
“Please. Papa said yes. And he said I can be the wolf first.”
But what happened when her dad became the wolf? I shivered. “It sounds like the game of tag, but with biting.” An image of Xavier catching me and biting me flew into my brain, and I kicked it out so fast I had to shake my head. I didn’t need an X-rated film reel in my head while there were children present, thank you very much. Things were already bad enough.
“You don’t bite, silly.” She looked sympathetically at the alarm that must have crossed my face. “You just take, like so.” She grabbed my wrist. “Say yes. Please. It’s not scary, I promise.”
That was debatable. I chuckled. “I don’t know how anyone says no to you. I honestly don’t.”
“Me neither.” She shrugged like it was the most confounding thing.
My chuckle turned into a full laugh. “All right. Here, put some more sunscreen on me.”
After a rudimentary swipe, Dauphine took my hand and dragged me to the water.
“Now, it’s perfect,” Dauphine said, her eyes bright. “He is swimming and he does not know I am coming to catch him. I will make him the wolf!” She slowly made her way forward, hoping to intersect him. I saw the moment his head turned sideways for a breath, and his eyes found me and then immediately darted to Dauphine. She must have seen him spot her because she let out an excited squeal and went rushing forward. There was a flurry of splashes and then a triumphant Dauphine squealed again and yelled something that probably meant, I got you. And then she was swimming madly toward me.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” I said as she tried to use me as a human shield, the form of her father fast approaching under the water like a shark. But she grabbed me like an octopus and then thrust me forward with her feet.
“Ow!” I half yelled and laughed, adrenaline spiking as I tried to swerve out of the way of the oncoming predator, but she practically pushed me on top of him. I screeched as a hand shot forward and grabbed my waist, our bodies sliding together.
Holy fuck.
The entire universe exploded then contracted in an instant to that single sensation.
He let go immediately, but I’d already gone down sideways. I came up spluttering at the same time he surfaced and stood in the waist-deep water. He gave a head flick to shake the water from his hair, his eyes dark and guarded.