First Time in Forever (Puffin Island 1)

“You’re going to teach her to swim?”

“No. I can’t swim myself.” She thought about Ryan’s offer and dismissed it. There was no way she was putting as much as a toe in the water, but she was prepared to go to a lobster bake on the beach. That would be a start.

It had been Ryan’s parting remark that had been responsible for her change of heart.

A party on a beach would be your idea of a nightmare.

But not Lizzy’s. And why should Lizzy be made to suffer because she was freaked out by water? The last thing she wanted to do was pass her phobia on to the child.

Lizzy came back downstairs wearing pink sparkly flip-flops. “Can we make a necklace to wear to the beach?”

“Great idea.” Skylar pushed a box of beads toward her and glanced at Emily. “We’re fine here if you want to go and change.”

Leaving Lizzy to make jewelry with Skylar, Emily walk out of the kitchen, but her friend’s voice followed her up the stairs.

“Emily? Don’t wear black.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

LOBSTER BAKES WERE a regular feature during the summer months. Anton, the chef from the Ocean Club, prepared the food the old-fashioned way, steamed in seaweed and cooked in wash kettles over open fires using water from the ocean. The event drew locals and tourists alike, all keen to savor the tradition and taste the very best seafood while enjoying an unparalleled view. Some did a little beachcombing, while others, the braver ones, chose to swim in the sea.

Overseeing it all, Ryan was in midconversation with Alec when he noticed Emily hovering at the edge of the beach. If it hadn’t been for the fact that Lizzy and Skylar were by her side, he wasn’t sure he would have recognized her. She’d swapped her usual discreet, dark colors for a dress that flowed around her curves in a swirl of purple and blue. The breeze breathed life into the fabric, playing with it so that it lifted and revealed a flash of toned leg.

Ryan lost the thread of the conversation. Hit by a punch of sexual awareness, his brain blanked.

Emily was holding Lizzy’s hand firmly. That sight alone should have been enough to damp down the lust.

It didn’t.

He wondered how long it had taken her to pluck up the courage to bring Lizzy to a party on a beach.

“Single mother,” Alec reminded him, handing him another beer. “All your alarms should be going off right now.”

“My alarm is malfunctioning.”

“Then get it fixed. Last time my alarm system malfunctioned I found myself with an expensive divorce.”

Ryan ignored him. “I need you to do me a favor.”

“The answer is no.”

“You don’t know what I’m going to ask.”

“Yes, I do.” Alec drank. “You want me to babysit so that you can drag her back to your cave and get laid. We may have Wi-Fi and hot and cold running water, but that look on your face hasn’t changed since the day man roamed the earth dressed in animal skins.”

“I don’t want you to babysit. I want you to be friendly to Skylar. And you can relax because I’m sure a woman as gorgeous and happy as she seems to be wouldn’t need to ruin her day by getting involved with a moody bastard like you. If it helps, I think she’s already in a relationship. Some guy running for senate.”

“Makes sense. She seems the sort to be turned on by power.”

Ryan didn’t think Skylar seemed that sort at all, but he kept that thought to himself. “So, are you going to do it?”

“You do know you have a major problem, don’t you?”

“You’re talking about my choice of friends?”

“I’m talking about the fact that in order to get the girl, you’re going to have to deal with the child.” Alec lifted his beer to his lips. “For you, that’s like walking through a ring of fire.”

“All I had in mind was a drink and conversati