Barefoot Beach

by Debbie Mason

  “You have a crush on the DiRossi boy too, do you?”

  Their father was annoying too. “No. Why would you think that?”

  “You haven’t taken your eyes off him.”

  “I’m watching the kids horsing around this side of the first buoy. They’re out too far, and the lifeguard is too busy flirting with the group of girls hanging around his chair to notice.”

  Which was mostly true. Every once in a while, her eyes may have strayed in Marco’s direction. She might be ticked at him, but that didn’t interfere with her ability to admire his incredible physique. The way the water glistened on his bronzed chest or the way his pecs and biceps flexed when he lifted the boys. He was also pretty great with kids. Patient and fun. It was no wonder they loved the guy.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Daniel’s smirk. She put her fingers to her lips and blew a shrill whistle. “Hey, you up on the chair! Stop flirting and do your job.” She pointed to the kids near the buoy, earning her glares from lifeguard’s fan club and a smile from Marco. It wasn’t her fault he happened to be between her and the kids near the buoy.

  Beside her, Daniel sighed as he watched his daughters vie for Marco’s attention. Daphne wore a sexy purple bathing suit with strategically placed mesh inserts while her sister wore a crocheted pink bikini, which was modest compared to Daphne’s swimsuit. The sisters lay on their backs on their floats. They looked like they were catching a few z’s and enjoying the rays. But if you focused on their hands and feet, every few minutes one of them would push off the other’s float or kick it away to get a lock on the prime real estate, which was directly in Marco’s line of sight.

  Daphne obviously had had enough and shoved her sister’s flamingo float off with her foot. Due to the strength of her shapely runner’s leg, she had enough power behind the kick to send Penelope careening into several swimmers, who were not particularly pleased to be run over by a pink flamingo. Which meant the bird received a few well-placed shoves and overturned, its occupant shrieking that she didn’t know how to swim as she went under.

  How a woman who lived in California never learned to swim was beyond Theia. As far as she and Daniel were from shore, there wasn’t much she could do to help, so she sat back and watched Marco expertly handle the situation.

  Be still my heart. Okay. Those were four words she’d never thought to utter, even if they were in her head. She gave herself a pass because watching Marco in action was a breath-stealing sight. He had the situation under control within two minutes. His calm and confident manner as he ensured the boys remained safe on the air mattress while he rescued their mother guaranteed the twins weren’t traumatized. Penelope was another story. She clung to Marco as he deposited her on the righted flamingo, thanking him for saving her life.

  “Two sisters going after the same lad never ends well in my experience,” Daniel said, nodding at his daughters. “They’ve only just set their sights on him and look what’s happened. Mark my words, it’ll get worse.”

  He was right. They needed a plan. A better one than Theia crashing Daphne and Marco’s date. “I have an idea.”

  “So do I. You run interference. The lad seems to like you, and you like him.” He held up a hand when she opened her mouth to argue. “Don’t bother trying to kid a kidder. I see what I see. So do us both a favor, ask the lad out. It won’t do either me or your boss any good if the girls are fighting. They’re liable to do the opposite of each other when the month is out.”

  “You’re still onboard with Caine’s plan, then? You haven’t changed sides?”

  “What are you talking about? I haven’t changed my mind. My situation hasn’t improved, as you well know. You threatened me with exposure not two days ago. And while I may be living here for free, my ex, Tara, she’s coming after me to pay for Clio’s schooling. Not to mention the bill collectors nipping at my heels.”

  “All right, calm down. Caine said he’d help, and he will. But you’ve been ignoring both of us for the past couple of days, so you shouldn’t be surprised that we thought you bailed.”

  “I was afraid the girls would turn me away and couldn’t face another rejection. By then I’d heard about Granny’s codicil and knew I had some time to work up the courage to face them.” He smiled out at the sea. “Marco’s mom, Tina, she’s been helping me with that. She’s been good for me.”

  Theia grimaced, remembering talking about Perky Boobs to Marco. It hadn’t been her finest moment. She’d had a lot of those kind of moments in Harmony Harbor, and Marco had borne witness to each and every one. Which meant Daniel’s plan wouldn’t work. Despite his teasing, Marco wouldn’t want to date her.

  She ignored the tiny pinch in her chest at the thought, focusing on Daniel instead. “I’m glad to hear we’re good, and you’re good, but just how much have you told Tina?”

  He rubbed his earlobe between his thumb and forefinger. “I may have inadvertently told her everything.”

  “What were you thinking? You—”

  “It wasn’t my fault. I’m telling you, the woman has magic hands. She did this thing, Reiki, I think she called it. She had me bawling like a baby one minute and confessing all my sins the next.”

  She was just about to ask if he’d confessed hers when he answered her question. With the one answer she didn’t want to hear.

  “You don’t have to worry about her blowing your cover. She wouldn’t hurt me. She loves me.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Marco crouched by a tree at the far end of the park to ensure the inflatable movie screen was well secured. He usually enjoyed movie night, but he couldn’t wait for this one to be over. He had visions of Daphne and Penelope Gallagher having a cat fight in the middle of the movie, their hair-pulling shadows illuminated on the big screen for everyone to see.

  Despite what some people thought, guys did not get off on a girl-on-girl brawl. He thought about a couple of firefighter friends. Okay, so he didn’t get off on women fighting. Especially when it was over him and the women involved were related to his best friend. He had no idea how he’d gotten himself into this mess.

  “Hey, Marco,” a familiar voice called from behind, reminding Marco exactly why he’d agreed to the date with Daphne.

  He stood, taking a second to rearrange his face into a smile before turning.

  With his arm wrapped possessively across Callie’s shoulders, Johnny looked around. “Where’s your date?”

  “On her way. I volunteered with the setup and had to come an hour early. Not much fun for her to hang out on her own.” Total overshare, DiRossi. He couldn’t help himself. He was nervous around the couple, afraid he’d do or say something wrong.

  He glanced at Callie, unable to stop his gaze from dropping to her stomach. The jean jacket she wore over her sundress made it difficult to tell if she had a baby bump. No help solving his dilemma of whether or not to offer his congratulations. He wasn’t sure if they’d shared the news about the baby with their family and friends or if Johnny had blurted it out in a fit of jealousy.

  He decided it was safer not to mention it. “Hey, Cal. How’s it going?”

  “Not bad.” Her smile was off. “So, who’s the lucky girl?”

  He didn’t have to look at Johnny to know he wasn’t happy with his wife’s question. Marco could probably take care of that by joking that he appeared to be dating two women at the same time, sisters at that, and wasn’t sure which one would arrive. He’d be relegated to dog status in Callie’s eyes, and Johnny would be happy. So would Marco. He didn’t like to think Callie still had feelings for him and clung to some misguided notion that one day they’d get back together.

  Johnny must have been thinking the same thing because he said, “Yeah, tell us who it is. Inquiring minds want to know.” He smiled down at his wife. “He’s the talk of the station. He’s got the chief’s nieces on the hook and the woman I told you about, the fighter pilot who took the probie on in the challenge.” Johnny shook his head. “You always were a dog, DiRos
si.”

  The guy was taking it a bit too far. Especially after the crap he’d pulled with the disconnect valve and the joint offshore drill. But since Marco had been thinking of saying something along the same lines, and it was more believable coming from her husband, he let it go.

  The anger that was directed at himself was harder to release. He’d been so concerned dating one of Liam’s cousins would put a strain on their friendship if things blew up (which, come on, was an absolute given) that he’d completely overlooked the fact that Daphne and Penelope were also his boss’s nieces.

  The last thing Marco wanted was to jeopardize the promotion he had in his sights. Even if his recent screwups were orchestrated by Johnny, they didn’t look good for him. Mainly because he’d let the guy off the hook and took the blame. But the higher up the chain of command he climbed, the more his interpersonal relationships with his fellow firefighters came into play. Punching Johnny in the face could come back to bite him.

  What he needed was a way out of this that would keep everyone happy: Johnny, Liam, the chief, and Kitty and Rosa—especially Rosa. So that meant he needed to date someone who wasn’t related to the Gallaghers. Someone who wouldn’t get the wrong idea and want more than some summer fun. There was one problem with the idea. That was basically Marco’s previous dating strategy in a nutshell, and look where that had gotten him. He needed to hire someone to play his girlfriend, or better yet, get someone to volunteer.

  He glanced at the silent couple in front of him. Apparently, while he’d been figuring out his dating dilemma, Callie and Johnny had been arguing with their eyes.

  It looked like the silent thing wasn’t working out because Callie huffed, “You guys are worse than a bunch of old ladies. You better not let Mrs. DiRossi hear you talk about Marco like that, or she won’t sell you a slice tonight, Johnny. And since I’m married to you, she probably won’t sell me one either.”

  Last spring, Marco had finally given in to years of Liam’s constant prodding to open a pizza shop. But a pizza shop on Marco’s terms. He liked making both money and pizza, and he was great at the latter, but he didn’t want the headaches of operating another year-round business. He already had that with the family deli he helped Rosa run.

  So he bought a food truck and got himself a permit and sold pizza at every event in Harmony Harbor. He opened up for the Flower Festival in May and shut down after the Turkey Run in November. He’d made some good coin last year, and business was already up over last. For obvious reasons, Rosa had been only too happy to take his shift tonight, and Mia was more than happy to help out. Though her father had grumbled about child labor laws.

  And Callie was clearly not happy about the prospect of no pizza at the movies.

  “I’ll put in a good word for you, Cal. Ma always liked you.” And clearly Marco was clueless in situations like this, because that’s not what either Callie or Johnny wanted to hear, as evidenced by the regretful expression on Callie’s face and the resentful one on her husband’s.

  He was drowning and needed help, which might have been why, when he caught sight of the woman coming through the trees on the path, he broke into a wide thank God smile.

  Theia Lawson was exactly the person to help him out of this mess. She was decisive, dependable, confident, and no drama. Okay, so she could be a little dramatic. But not in an irritating way. She was cute and funny, even a little awkward. He liked that about her. She was also no BS, and he liked that even more.

  He didn’t have to worry about her getting the wrong idea. She’d be up for a good time…well, any good time that involved a physical challenge or a competition. He liked the same, and he really liked her sexy voice and the way she looked in the faded denim shorts and the gray sweatshirt she wore.

  She frowned at him from across the green, then looked behind her. A second later, she shrugged and then self-consciously returned his smile as if still not convinced it was meant for her.

  He grinned. That pretty much settled it for him. Theia Lawson would make the perfect fake girlfriend. Now he had to convince her.

  Feeling better and more relaxed, he had just opened his mouth to smooth over the situation with Johnny and Callie when Daphne and Penelope caught up to Theia on the path.

  “If it isn’t Charlie’s Angels,” Johnny said with a smirk. “You’re a better man than me, DiRossi. I couldn’t handle more than one woman at a time.” Callie elbowed him. “What? That’s a good thing, isn’t it? Babe, what did I say wrong?” he called after Callie, who’d walked away with a disgusted expression on her face. Whether it was reserved for Johnny or for him, Marco couldn’t be sure. Probably both.

  Johnny didn’t seem to care though. He gave Marco a friendly slap on the back. “I owe you, bro. Thanks for not outing me about the baby. Callie doesn’t want to say anything until she’s in the second trimester.” He grinned as the Gallagher sisters and Theia approached. “Good luck. It looks like you’ll need it.”

  Theia strolled his way, glancing back at Daphne and Penelope, who’d stopped in the middle of the path to argue. He had a good idea who they were arguing about and muttered, “Thanks” to Johnny. The guy was getting on his nerves.

  Johnny nodded at Theia, then turned to waggle his eyebrows at Marco. In his head, Marco flipped him off.

  Theia looked from Johnny’s retreating back to Marco. “Not your best friend?”

  “Not exactly. He’s my ex’s new husband.” If he was going ahead with this, he might as well go all in and give her the lay of the land.

  “Ah, I see,” she said as she watched Johnny catch up with his still-annoyed wife. Callie said something to her husband before glancing Marco’s way, her eyes narrowing on Theia.

  Now’s as good a time as any, he thought, and stepped closer to the woman he hoped would agree to fake date him. He smiled down at her and went to brush the hair from her eyes. A gesture Callie would assume was intimate.

  Theia’s forehead creased, and she took a step back, glancing at Liam’s cousins, who were still arguing. It looked like Daphne was trying to convince Penelope to leave.

  Even if she did, Marco was still committed to his plan. But if he wasn’t careful, he was going to scare off his plus one. “Sorry. You had a caterpillar in your hair.” He shouldn’t have said that. It wouldn’t help his cause if she ran away from him screaming at the thought of a creepy-crawly in her hair. “Not a caterpillar, definitely not a caterpillar,” he quickly added. “A twig. From the trees. The ones you walked under.”

  “Um, okay,” she said, looking at him like he was an idiot.

  He was an idiot. The woman was a navy vet, a former fighter pilot. Probably nothing scared her.

  She held out the blanket she’d been carrying under her arm. “Here. You’re going to need this more than me. I hope you brought a chair for Daphne though. She’s not exactly a casual-night-at-the-park date. Penelope is, so you’ll be okay on that end.” She laughed, a laugh as raspy as her voice, and he wondered what he had to do to make her laugh some more. “I don’t know what will be more entertaining, watching you three or the movie.” She turned to walk away…laughing.

  Good to know her laugh didn’t always make him picture her naked and tangled up in his sheets. Still, no way was he letting her get away. “Wait. You have to stay. I didn’t invite Penelope. I can’t go on a date with two women.”

  “So, what, going on a date with three women is better?” She made a face. “You don’t want to date me. You want me to chaperone. I knew that.”

  She couldn’t have given him a better segue if she tried. “Actually, now that you mention it, the dating thing wouldn’t be a bad…” He trailed off, turning to follow her gaze.

  Arms crossed, she stared at a guy in a dark-blue uniform a few yards away, checking out Penelope and Daphne. “Who is he?”

  “One of the security guards.”

  She arched an eyebrow.

  “Oh, you mean do I know him?” All he could see was a hint of the guy’s profile beneath the nav
y ball cap. Marco leaned forward. “Looks like it might be Ryan Wilson. Why?”

  “I don’t know. Just something about the way he’s looking at Penelope and Daphne seems off.”

  He was going to say the sisters were the type of women who drew attention, but then he saw what Theia did. The guy wasn’t just checking them out. He was studying the two women intently. Just then he remembered Wilson’s name coming up in a conversation with Liam. “Something happened last summer, and Ryan got kicked off the force. Supposedly he blames the Gallaghers and has named them in his suit against HHPD. So obviously he’s not a fan of Harmony Harbor’s founding family.”

  As though he sensed them watching him, Ryan glanced their way. Tugging the bill of his cap lower, he set off across the green toward the bandstand, where a group of teenagers had congregated.

  “Why would someone hire a cop who was kicked off the force to act as a security guard?”

  “I’m not exactly sure. But whatever the charges against him were, he denies them. I guess that was good enough for Night Moves. They’re the company that operates Movie Night in the Park. Not everyone in town is a fan of the Gallaghers. They have their fair share of people who’d like to see them brought down a notch.”

  “So, what you’re telling me is this Ryan Wilson is just one of many who have a problem with the Gallagher family?”

  “You make it sound like they have a boatload, and that’s not the case. It’s more like a handful…maybe two handfuls. There’s a lot of Gallaghers, you know,” he said in an attempt to tease the serious expression from her face and get the conversation back on track. The track where she immediately agreed to be his fake girlfriend.

  “That’s great. You probably know everyone who has a problem with them and could write them down if I asked.”

  “You don’t actually mean you want me to write down everyone in Harmony Harbor who has a grudge against the Gallaghers, do you?”

  “That would be helpful, thanks.”