They reached Ursula at the same time, which meant that Molly couldn’t reprimand her dog. Doing so in front of Max would have been embarrassing, either to Ursula, Molly, or, more probably, both of them.
“Hi, Max,” she said, smiling as if her puppy wasn’t currently engaged in the behavior that seemed to bug Max more than sand stuck in the lining of his swim trunks.
He scowled down at Ursula and then lifted his gaze to Molly. “What’s she doing here?”
Wow. Rude. “Max, this is the dog beach, remember? If anything, we’re encroaching on Ursula’s territory.”
“Today, it’s really more of a turtle beach,” he countered.
Molly shook her head. “Definitely not a thing.”
Ursula dug faster, paws flying.
Max picked her up and held her at arm’s length. The little dog let out a whine and pawed ineffectually at the air.
“Please.” Max thrust Ursula toward Molly. “Can you please get her to behave, just for the next couple of hours? Once Crush is safely back in the water, Ursula’s reign of chaos over the dog beach can continue.”
Molly gathered Ursula in her arms. “Fine. But come on, Max, look around.”
She gestured toward the crowd of people pouring onto the shore from the wooden steps of the beach access. There were already more camp and lounge chairs than she could count set up along the sand, and eager spectators were still arriving in droves. Molly hadn’t expected nearly this big of a turnout. Realizing that so many people on the island wanted to cheer Crush on as she made her way back to the sea tugged at her heartstrings in a major way.
It also made her stand up a little straighter and taller when confronting Max. This whole thing had been Molly’s idea, and so far, it looked like a big success. Couldn’t he overlook a tiny puppy-sized hole in the sand?
Max’s gaze swept the shore. “It’s a madhouse.”
“Exactly. We’re going to make a fortune.” She shot him a triumphant grin. “And the sea turtle hospital is getting some major exposure. There’s even a photographer here from theTurtle Daily.”
Max’s frown deepened, par for the course. “Let’s just hope everything goes okay.”
“Itwill.” Did he know how to relax? At all? The T-shirt and board shorts combo were clearly just false advertising. He was still wearing an imaginary shirt and tie. “We’ve got everything totally under control.”
Max’s eyes flashed over to her again. They were as blue and tumultuous as the deep end of the ocean. “The last time someone said that to me, I ended up immortalized half-naked in sand for all the world to see.”
“I can promise you that won’t happen again.” Molly crossed her heart between her two clam shells.
She couldn’t, in fact, promise him anything of the sort. There was no telling what the Charlie’s Angels might do from one minute to the next. But Molly wasn’t about to tell Max that. He seemed tense enough already.
Also Molly definitely would have noticed if another scantily clad homage to her boss had popped up on the dog beach. So far, the coast was clear.
“The Charlie’s Angels are in charge of the sales table. From the looks of things, they’ll be too busy to cause any trouble,” Molly said.
“And this one?” Max deigned to reach out and scratch Ursula under her cute little chin. “What’s your plan for keeping her out of trouble?”
Alas, Molly didn’t have one of those. Yet. “I’ll keep her with me while I paint faces. Would that make you happy?”
“You could always take her home, you know.” He made a big show of checking the time on his waterproof smart watch. “There’s still time.”
Molly tightened her hold on Ursula. “I can’t. She needs me.”
The set of Max’s chiseled jaw relaxed a bit. And this time, when he looked at her, she caught a glimpse of the man who’d charmed her parents and almost kissed her under the pier…the man who she’d almost believed was real. Until she’d found out who’d really been behind her rehiring.
“Are we still pretending Ursula’s the one who needs you and not the other way around?” he asked in a low voice that scraped her insides raw.
He was doing it again—acting like he cared. About her messy breakup, about her feelings, even about her puppy. And it would have been so easy to let her guard down again and admit that maybe, just maybe, Molly liked having Ursula with her at all times because the puppy made her feel like her old self again instead of the girl who’d been cheated on.
But she couldn’t. It was almost shameful to admit how much The Tourist had hurt her and how broken she’d felt when Opal had shown her his engagement announcement.
Opal had just happened to be in Charleston for the weekend visiting friends when the announcement had appeared in their local paper. She’d come straight back to Turtle Beach to deliver the news to Molly in person, because that’s what kind of friend she was.