Single Dad Seeks Juliet

“I’d be practicing my crying if I were her.” I giggle. “Heck, that’s what I was doing when I was her.”

Jake smiles, and it feels like a reward. I keep going.

“I was a teenage girl once. I know the feeling of impending punishment. I have many years of training for an Oscar. Can’t believe I didn’t use it to make buckets and buckets of money.”

Mouth still curved toward his eyes, he holds up the paper between us and asks, “Mind if I keep this?”

I shake my head. “Not at all. I have another copy.”

“But do they all have a heart drawn on them?” he teases, and I almost faint.

“My dog did that,” I blurt, despite the fact that it’s both preposterous for an animal to be drawing and I don’t have a dog.

He chuckles, and I’m almost tempted to think of some more dumb things to say.

God, he’s cute. The women in the Bachelor Anonymous contest would have eaten him up. And I’m still considering all the ways I can make a fool of myself for the benefit of his laughter when he bids me goodbye.

“It was nice to meet you, Holley.”

“You too, Jake.”

With one more chin jerk and a smile, he scoops up his bag and his towel and heads for the sidewalk at the top of the beach. I watch as he goes for a moment, but I finally snap myself out of it.

I look down at my toes and sigh. I’m a fucking mess. I don’t know if I have any extra clothes in my car, but if not, I’m going to have to drive home practically naked. Because there’s no way my Infiniti’s seats will survive this.

Hiking the strap of my purse farther up onto my shoulder, I start my walk through the sand, headed back to where I came from on the other side of the Hotel Del. We’re down a little ways, and I’ve lost sight of Jake, so I’m sure he’s gone.

I dig in my purse, grab my keys, and bleep the locks on my car as I approach. The parking lot is mostly empty, thankfully, so I head straight for my trunk and pop it with the button on my key fob.

Please God, let there be something in there that can help me.

And, for the love of everything, please make finding a new Bachelor Anonymous easy.JakeStuff tossed into the bed and dry towel resting on my driver’s seat, I climb up into my truck, shut the door, and turn the key to fire up the engine. The radio comes on, and immediately, I turn down the knob to soften it.

Normally, I listen to my music loud. I like to jam as I drive, but I’m not the same person who got into the truck this morning to come here, a father whose teenage daughter would never dream of signing him up for a fucking dating contest.

Now, I’m torn between knowing my daughter is still sweet and loving and kind and an amazing human being—and a huge fucking shit-stirrer.

I cannot believe she did this behind my back.

I’m honestly shocked.

I close my eyes and let my head fall back onto the headrest. I take a minute to gather my thoughts, to process the whole cluster of a morning I wasn’t expecting.

I come here to swim every day. Every day for the last seventeen years, that I’ve been home, I’ve gone swimming in the ocean to start my day. None of them has shaped up quite like this.

I open my eyes again, prepared to put the truck in gear and head for the house when I see the lone car across the parking lot light up as the locks bleep.

Holley materializes from the beach onto the sidewalk, heading directly to the Infiniti.

What I should be doing right now? Putting my car in drive and heading home to figure out what in the hell Chloe was thinking with this Bachelor Mysterious—or whatever the fuck it’s called—stunt.

But what I’m actually doing? Still sitting in park, watching the enigma that is Holley Fields.

She moves to her trunk and pops it open, dropping her bag on the one side and leaning so far in all I can see is her sand-covered ass.

I bite my lip, laughter so close to the surface I can feel it in all the features of my face.

She’s something. Awkward. Kind of a mess. But really, that’s just camouflage. After ten minutes on the beach with her, it’s more than obvious she’s both funny and beautiful.

I take my hand off the shifter and relax into my seat, unable to stop watching the show. She roots around for a while, looking for god knows what, and when she finally emerges, she holds a towel in the air like it’s Simba and she’s Mufasa, presenting it to her kingdom.