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She looked stunning.
“What is it? Oh no. I’m probably a mess.” She tried to tidy up her hair and he moved over to her, grabbing her hands in his. She tried to tug her hands free, but he held them firm.
“Hey, no. You don’t look like a mess. You look perfect.”
She nibbled on her lip. “That can’t be true.”
“It is, though. You look beautiful, no matter what. But right now, you are stunning.” Leaning in, he kissed her forehead.
“Oh.” She stared up at him with a small smile.
“That was sweet,” Owen said.
She jumped, and they both turned to find Owen staring at them hungrily. Judd was, too, although Beck thought he saw a hint of jealousy.
He got it. He’d felt far behind Owen and Hux in his relationship with Chloe. But it didn’t matter if they moved at a different pace. The end goal was all the same.
Claiming Chloe.
Christ. In some ways, it felt like they’d known each other forever. He had to remind himself it had been less than a week since she’d arrived.
And that they shouldn’t move too fast. Despite the fact that Owen seemed to have the opposite view. Owen had always done things at his own pace.
“You okay, Freckles?”
“Yes,” she whispered. “Are you?”
He gave her a surprised look, then he nodded. “Yeah, I’m more than good. Sooo, who is going to win this competition? The immaculate, impressive Château Chloe or the unimpressive, falling down Shack a la Judd.”
“Hey!” Judd protested. “It’s not that bad . . .”
They all stared as half of Judd and Owen’s sandcastle fell away.
“It’s shit,” Owen said.
Chloe started giggling. “It really is.”
Judd was still frowning, his arms crossed over his chest. He stared over at them, narrow-eyed.
He leaned down to grab some of the wet sand from his failed moat. He picked it up in his hand and turned to Chloe. “What did you just say?”
Her eyes widened and she stumbled back. “Nothing. I didn’t say anything! It was Owen.” She ducked behind Owen, who dodged away as Judd ran toward Chloe.
She started running away before stumbling.
“Shit!” Owen said.
“Her ankle, Judd!” Beck called out.
Instead of getting her with the wet sand ball, Judd dropped it and picked her up with one arm around her waist. “I’ve got myself a mermaid!”
She started giggling again, wriggling around in his hold.
Owen stepped up beside him. “Judd’s smiling.”
Beck glanced over at him with a nod. “Yeah. I wasn’t sure he’d ever smile again after Ester.”
Neither had Beck.
“Chloe, since these two lost the sandcastle competition they should have to do something we want, right?” Beck called out.
“You’re right! We were the winners, and it’s only fair.” She nodded seriously. “It’s a sandcastle competition rule.”
“Something you want?” Owen asked. “What would that be?”
Chloe had to hide her grin. Oh, he was in for a surprise. It was obvious what Owen thought she was going to ask for.
“Lie down. Both of you. Side by side.”
Beck just watched her with a look of indulgence. She could get used to this. Having all of their attention. Having them play with her. Her Little side was practically dancing in happiness.
“All right, we’re lying down,” Judd grumbled. “In the sand. Now what?”
“Now, you’re going to get buried.” She kneeled between them and used her bucket to pour sand over their legs.
“What?” Judd sat up.
“Nope. You’ve got to lie down. You lost.”
“Who says we lost?” Judd complained. But he laid back down.
“Your castle is a ruin,” Beck said, helping her by filling up buckets of sand. She patted it down around their legs. Owen was surprisingly quiet, just lying there. It took her a while to bury their legs properly. Then she moved onto their bodies.
Okay, this was a bit more of a problem.
It was a smorgasbord of abs. Seriously. How could they be this ripped? And tanned? Did they walk around all the time with their shirts off?
Judd was wider than Owen and had notches in his hips that made her mouth water. While Owen had the most perfect forearms and hands she’d ever seen on a man. She’d never understood how forearms could be sexy.
Until now.
But like the trooper she was, she soldiered on. It sure was a hardship to touch all of that smooth, hard skin.
Yep. Definitely a hardship.
She got to work, and by the time she was finished, both men were covered in sand except for their necks and faces.
“All right, now that we’ve got sand in every crevice, can we move?” Judd asked, frowning.
Such a Grumpzilla
“Move?” she asked. “No, you can’t move yet. I haven’t decorated you.”
“Decorated us?” he asked, giving her a suspicious look.
With a giggle she ran off to grab some shells from her sandcastle.
“No running,” Beck ordered, reaching out to lightly grasp hold of her hand. “Only walking. Or tell me what you want and I’ll bring it to you.”
