Page 31 of Love At The Shore
Real Housewivessuddenly didn’t sound so bad. It was definitely preferable to the real-life version ofThe Bachelorstarring Lucas McKinnon.
Chapter Six
Lucas was vaguely aware ofa knocking sound on his front door the next morning, but he kept his eyes closed and burrowed deeper into his sofa.
The noise couldn’t be a visitor. Who got up this early at the beach? No one, that’s who. It had to be a something else—a confused pelican, maybe?
Knock, knock, knock.
There it was again, and to Lucas’s dismay, it indeed sounded like it was coming from regular human knuckles.
He cracked one eye open and looked at Tank stretched out beside him. “You want to get that, buddy?”
Tank didn’t budge.
Knock, knock, knock.Whoever was pounding on the door wasn’t giving up.
“All right, all right. I’m coming. I’m coming.” Lucas dragged himself off the couch and gave Tank a parting scratch behind his ears. “Some guard dog you are.”
He glanced out the window on the way to the door. Ally stood on his porch, waving at him with the kind of enthusiasm that only an extreme morning person could muster.
Why was he not surprised?
He swung the door open and yawned.
“You said morning.” She jammed one hand on her hip and held the other hand out, palm facing up. “Leash, please.”
He glanced past her to try to figure out how she’d managed to breach the perimeter of the fence Jenna had slapped up between their opposing sides of the patio.
Ally followed his gaze and shrugged. “You left your door open.”
He’d have to watch that next time he offered to let her walk his dog. Seriously, it was summertime. Weren’t kids supposed to be sleeping in?
He held up a finger, signaling she should wait. Then he scooped a very sleepy, very confused Tank into his arms and clipped a blue leash to the dog’s collar. Lucas couldn’t remember the last time he’d walked Tank on a leash. Usually, his pup trotted around faithfully at his heels. But Ally seemed determined to do this properly, so he carried Tank back to the patio and set him gently on the ground.
“All right, I don’t have any rules.” Lucas handed the leash over to Ally. “Just bring him back when you’re done.”
She stared blankly at him, probably because she’d never encountered a rules-free experience. Her hand came to rest on Tank’s head. “You sure you don’t want to come with us?”
Lucas arched an eyebrow. “That would defeat the purpose of you walking my dog.”
“Except you might have fun.”
He considered it for a moment, then came to his senses. What was with his sudden interest in hanging out with kids? “Nah. I’m good. I should get back to my nap.”
“Suit yourself.” She wagged a finger at him as if taking a nap was criminal. It didn’t take a genius to know where she’d learned that move.
Ally took a step, but Tank stayed put. He cast Lucas a glance, heavy on the puppy-dog eyes, as if he too expected Lucas to come along.
Not going to happen.
“Go on.” He pointed at the stairs.
Tank shuffled after Ally.
Lucas yawned, grabbed the latest copy of his favorite surfing magazine and plopped down on the porch swing. He flipped through the pages, only half-seeing the print. He needed coffee—or some serious, uninterrupted shut-eye.
But sleep wasn’t going to be possible because suddenly Ally’s little dog walk had become much louder than he’d anticipated.
