So endearing. The love he felt showed in his gaze, gave him a warm smile, and she couldn’t be immune to it.
Wearing a life preserver over her bathing suit, Sadie sat on the very edge of the shore, where the water just reached her bottom and legs. Two boys had buckets and shovels, and together they were building sandcastles.
Even though the boys looked a few years older, Sadie was clearly in charge.
Tash looked up when she and Mike stopped beside him, and his smile brightened. “Autumn.” He immediately stood. “I didn’t know you’d be here.”
Mike looked back and forth between them, and a calculating grin formed. “Probably because her sister dragged her along.” He peered out at the water, then turned back again to ask, “Mind if I drop her stuff here?”
“No problem.” Tash quickly brushed sand off the towel.
“Thanks.” Putting everything behind the towel where Tash had unlaced running shoes and a cooler, Mike said, “Now you kids behave...or not.” He headed back to the lake while Autumn stood there trying to figure out what to do.
Towering over her, windblown and gorgeous and smelling like sunshine, Tash smiled. “There’s room if you want to take a seat.”
Being unloaded on him made Autumn ridiculously self-conscious. She could just mosey away, much as Ember had. Though she wasn’t great at mingling, there were people here that she knew. Or she could walk along the shore, enjoy the air—
“Autumn.” Smile widening, he bent his knees to look into her eyes. “You don’t want to join me?”
Want? Yes. She wanted that. Would she? It didn’t feel right. “It seems like I’m always imposing on you. Dinner, picnics and now this. I promise, it’s not a problem for me to find another place to—”
“I’d rather you stay.” Her heart took a leap, until he added, “You’re a familiar face.”
Ah, familiarity. No reason for her unruly heart to get excited. Too bad it already made her a bit breathless. Trying to sound blasé, she said, “You grew up here.”
“Ages ago, but other than the Johnsons over there, I don’t think I knew any of these people very well.”
The Johnsons were part of the elderly group, and they’d been in the area forever. “You used to cut grass for them, didn’t you?”
“For damn near everyone.” He gestured for her to sit, waited until she finally did before joining her. To stay out of the sand, he sat close, his hip nearly touching hers. Drawing up his knees, he rested his arms over them. “I had one hell of a business going until college.”
Seeing him this relaxed did funny things to her. “I remember.” Autumn did what she could to stay covered. The big shirt helped, and now she draped Ember’s cover-up over her lap to sit yoga-style, turning slightly away so her leg wouldn’t overlap his. The cover-up almost entirely hid her bare legs. “My sister used to beg our folks to hire you to cut the grass, but they insisted we do it. It was one of her most hated chores.” Her smile went crooked at the memory. “She got even by wearing a halter on the rider and when guys started driving by just to whistle at her, Dad gave up.”
Curiosity brought his gaze to hers. “So who cut the grass?”
“He gave her a different chore and I inherited grass duty.” She wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t mind so much, except for when it got really hot.”
“Which was most of the summer in Kentucky.”
“True.”
“Why didn’t you just do the halter trick?”
Laughing, Autumn glanced at him...and realized he was serious. “It wouldn’t have been the same.”
“Why not?”
Because no one would have whistled at me. Surely he knew that, since he was one of the guys who’d never paid her any attention.
Tash continued to watch her, waiting, so she worked up a credible and casual shrug. “Mom and Dad always saw through my BS.”
As if seeing through her, hearing things she hadn’t said, Tash held her captive with his gaze.
She felt herself sinking. Heck, she might’ve even leaned toward him a little, drawn in by his intense interest.
Luckily, Sadie laughed, breaking the spell and drawing away Tash’s attention. Smiling in anticipation of his daughter’s happiness, Tash looked toward her. Her antics made him grin, putting a dimple into his lean, bristly cheek. In profile, she noted his long lashes, his straight nose and high cheekbones.
The wind-tousled hair, the casual clothes over a body carved with strength and the evening beard shadow all detailed his masculinity, but it was his open affection toward his daughter that really sealed the deal.
After blowing out a quick breath to ease the squeezing of her heart, Autumn turned to see Sadie layering a clump of seaweed over the castle walls with artistic flair. The boys loved it.
“She’s a charmer.” The seaweed really did enhance the castle. “I’m glad she’s having fun.”
Tash’s smile lingered. “It’s why we’re here. I’m hoping she’ll make friends, but most of the girls are swimming and she didn’t want to. Instead she corralled those two boys into building the castle she wants.”
“They don’t seem to mind.” Flickering light played over Tash’s body. He also wore board shorts, but unlike Mike, he’d topped them with a snowy white T-shirt that fit close to his wide shoulders. He had long, narrow feet, and damn it, to her beleaguered brain even they looked sexy.
The way he’d pushed back his hair, she knew he’d been swimming earlier. Already a few locks dropped forward, making her fingers tingle with the need to touch them.
“The other day when you were over...” He shifted to face her, and the way he stared into her eyes made it damn difficult for her to think. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
That didn’t make any sense. “What?”
“You realized Sadie was worried.” Frustration seemed to emanate off him. “She’s worried far too often. Her mom used to promise stuff left and right, but most of it never happened.”
How terrible. She’d suspected something along those lines, and having it confirmed helped explain some of Sadie’s cynicism. “She’s afraid to get too excited.”
He nodded. “You saw that, and I appreciate the way you reinforced things. I know you don’t normally take payment upfront, but—”
“You’re apologizing for trusting me in advance?” Since getting paid wasn’t always that easy, she laughed. “Believe me, not a problem. And, hey, if I helped to convince Sadie that you’re here to stay, I’m glad.”