Page 56 of The Grumpy Boss Agreement

“Sire, I hath brought thou the maps thou hath ask-eth for.”

I arch a brow at her.

“Savannah!” Charlie calls. He runs straight over to her, plowing into her hard enough to send them both tumbling to the ground.

I jump into the fray and help Savannah up. She flips her blonde tresses back with a hand and grins at Charlie. “It’s nice to see you too, Charlie.”

I frown at my son. “You shouldn’t knock people over, kiddo. Tell Savannah that you’re sorry.”

I help him up and he brushes his hair out of his eyes sheepishly. “Sorry. I got excited.”

Savannah bends down to pick up her hat from the ground and winks at him. “I feel that way all the time. It’s always nice to see people that I know.”

“I love acting!” he blurts out. “I love the L--.” He pauses and his brows lower. “Loll-i-pop.”

“You make a great Munchkin, kiddo,” Savannah says.

I tousle Charlie’s hair. “Go ask Walker if he needs any help.”

“Okay!” Charlie takes off, sprinting flat out toward my dad.

“Where does his energy come from?” Savannah shakes her head. “My nephew Dexter is like that. I would kill for a tenth of that kind of energy.”

“I know. It’s annoying that it’s a natural resource that seems to dry up when you get past childhood.”

She nods then looks up at the sun. “Do you want to look at these blueprints now?”

I shade my eyes and glance around the beach. “I don’t know. Can you stay for a while, or…?”

“You can have me for as long as you want me,” she says. Our eyes connect and she blushes. “Today, I mean. I’m not busy.”

“Right.” I squint, refusing to feel awkward. “I’ll just get my family set up and hang out with them a bit. Then we can sneak off and study the blueprints.”

She swallows. Our eyes meet once again, sticking for a few seconds too long. I can’t help but notice her worrying her lip. The curve of her full bottom lip draws my attention.

The sense memory of Savannah in my arms as her lips work against mine is almost paralyzing.

…and then I realize that I’ve been staring at her mouth for what seems like an age. Jesus.

Shaking my head, I clear my throat. Savannah looks at me like she isn’t quite sure what to say.

“Hey!” Walker comes over with another stack of driftwood. He tosses it down in the clearing and brushes his hands off. “I think this is a good start.” He notices Savannah and gives her a friendly smile. “Hi, I’m Walker.”

Savannah’s smiles. “I know who you are. You’re almost as well known in Cape Simon as Rex. You raised a lot of money for Lighthouse Hospital by running a marathon.”

“That’s me,” Walker admits. “To be fair, Rhett and Rex were running it with me.”

I scowl as they shake hands. Walker is tall, handsome, and has a great head of dark blond hair, I can see why any woman with eyes would fall head over heels for him. He’s a lawyer, he’s in shape, there’s always a smile on his face, and he looks like he just hopped off a runway.

In essence, Walker is Savannah’s type. If he were shoeless on the beach, I would legitimately be worried right now.

Every girl I liked in high school lusted after Walker. I’ll always see him as a threat, no matter how nice he is. And because I have certain feelings about Savannah, I can’t help my kneejerk reaction. Walker and Savannah are still smiling at each other when I cut in.

“Savannah, let’s head back to the house now.” I clap my hands and look around. “Everyone else is still busy.”

Savannah narrows her eyes at me. “Didn’t you say that you wanted to help your family get settled?”

I laugh and place a hand on her arm. What am I doing? I shouldn’t be touching her so casually.

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