and Lacey took it with a frown. “Thank you.”
The porter swiped an arm over his sweaty brow and smiled. “No problem.”
Given his size and the redness of his face, it had clearly been a problem. Galen pulled a ten out of his pocket. “Thanks”—he glanced at the name tag—“Jesus. The missus and I appreciate it.”
Jesus smiled his thanks, pocketed the cash, and turned to start his slow descent back down the hill. Galen turned to Lacey, whose frown was deepening as she read.
“What is it?”
“From my mother.” She handed him the pile and pressed two fingers to her temple to rub.
He hadn’t read a word of it, and he was already annoyed. In a matter of one minute, Rowena had ratcheted up Lacey’s anxiety tenfold and it had him half wishing a house would fall on her. When he started reading, the half wish ramped up to burning desire.
Lacey—
Call me IMMEDIATELY. Do not make another move until you contact me.
—Mother.
He flipped to the next one.
Lacey—
Call me this instant. You’re behaving like a child.
—Mother
The next:
Take a day to sulk, pick yourself up by your bootstraps, and plan to return home tomorrow. There are multiple important matters that need your attention.
I will expect a call tomorrow with your flight number so I can send a driver to collect you at the airport.
Apparently, the salutations were no longer needed.
He fanned out the stack, and she shook her head. There were three more and, if the pattern held, they would only be increasingly hostile.
“Listen, I don’t think you should—”
She held up a hand. “Say no more. I agree. I’m done with her for the time being.” She took a deep breath and crumpled them into a ball. “Lead me to that beach, sir. I need some cooling off.”
She looked so strong in that moment, he wanted to pump his fist or give her a high five, but he held back. When he was preparing for a big fight, his trainer would take him mountain climbing to build up his hand strength and endurance. Max’s favorite piece of advice? Don’t look down until you reach the summit. Galen had asked why, thinking Max would give him some inspirational shit about the satisfaction of seeing how far he’d come at the end or something. Instead, Max had snorted, “Because it’s fucking scary.”
This was another small step toward independence for Lacey, and he wasn’t about to call too much attention to it, because it was definitely scary for her.
But inside? Inside he was beaming with pride.
.
An hour later, Galen found himself sitting under an umbrella on a lounge chair, seriously questioning his sanity. What the hell had he been thinking taking her to the beach? It had been bad enough with her prancing around in boxer shorts and a tank top, but this was ridiculous. She’d started off in some sort of muumuu-type cover-up, but after twenty minutes in the sultry heat, she’d seemed to gather her courage and had shucked it off. He, along with every other guy on that spit of beach, had nearly swallowed his tongue.
She stood before him now against the backdrop of crystal blue water in a nefarious white string bikini. Four triangles of cloth clung to her with no more aid than a slender chain on each curve of hip and one looped around her neck. It was enough to rock his socks off.
“Does it look stupid?” She wrapped her arms around her waist, which only succeeded in pressing her breasts together, plumping them against the edge of her suit, which, in turn, sent something plumping against his. “It looks stupid. I’m going to go to the gift shop and get a tank suit. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
She retrieved her cover-up and was in the process of tugging it back on by the time he finally trusted himself to speak. “Don’t.”
She paused and met his gaze. “I look silly. This isn’t me. I’m not ballsy enough to pull this off.” She bit her lip and turned away. “I just wanted…”
“I know what you wanted.” He would’ve stood, but his physiological response to her state of undress made that impossible unless he wanted to get himself arrested for indecent exposure. “You wanted to let go, have some fun, do something different and exciting.” The genuine sadness in her eyes kept him from adding, And for the record, I’m different and exciting.
She clutched the brightly patterned cloth more tightly in her hands. “Yeah.”
“So I don’t know why you’re trying to