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Casey turns in my arms and loops hers over my shoulders, letting her fingers play in the hair at the back of my head. “Honestly, Tenn… her bathing suit is fine.”

“It’s a two-piece,” I point out.

“And a modest one at that. It adequately covers her boobs and her butt, and even has a ruffle on the back end. It’s sweet. I wore suits like that at her age.”

“But she’s exposed,” I grumble. “And boys… did you see how many boys were vying for her attention out there yesterday?”

“I hate to tell this to you,” Casey says with a sympathetic smile, “but your daughter is stunning. Doesn’t matter if she’s wearing a two-piece or a one-piece, they are going to swarm.”

Lowering my forehead to hers, I let out a sigh. “She’s growing up too fast. Makes me feel old and prudish.”

Casey laughs, tilts her head up, and touches her lips to mine. “You are most definitely not prudish. Have you even listened to yourself when you talk dirty to me? You’d make a porn star blush.”

I grin at her, kiss her quickly, and say, “I do like me some dirty talk.”

“I like it when you talk dirty too.” She grins back.

“So the suit is fine?” I ask again, just to verify one more time.

“It’s fine. Besides, it’s not like they’re going to try anything with you sitting there.”

“Fine,” I say before kissing her one last time, thinking to make it quick, but when she slips her tongue in my mouth… well, there’s no disregarding that move. So I kiss her deep instead but ultimately pull away when I start to feel lust stirring me below the waist.

My phone starts ringing, so I release Casey and walk over to her dresser where I had left it charging last night. I see it’s Nix calling.

“What’s up, man?” I ask as I connect the call.

“Looks like Emily and I can come down this weekend. Would that be good?”

On the heels of my visit to see Nix in New Jersey, we’ve continued to brainstorm over my business idea. I told him about the garage for sale here in Nags Head, and while he’s questioning the locale, he did agree to come down and see it.

“Yeah, that sounds great, man. How long can you stay?”

“We’ll stay a few nights… make it a mini vacation,” he says. “Emily’s dad actually has a friend with a house on the island, so we have a kickass place to stay.”

Nix’s fiancée Emily has connections. Her dad is a U.S. Senator, and the rumor mill is he’s looking at a presidential run. Her family also comes from insane money, which gives me a little pause for concern, but I don’t say anything about it just yet with Casey standing in the room with me. That’s not a beast I’ve figured out how to tackle, because I do think some of Casey’s views about rich people could be a little skewed.

“Okay, man… why don’t you text me the details of when you’ll be in and we’ll arrange a time for you to see the garage, and then I figured we could get together one night and pound some beers,” I tell Nix as Casey sashays past me into the bathroom.

“Works for me,” he says and then disconnects after a quick, “Later.”

“Nix coming down to visit?” Casey asks from the bathroom as I watch her take her hair down and rearrange it back up into something that looks just like the tousled pile she had up there before.

I walk over to the doorway and lean my shoulder against the jamb. “Yeah… this weekend.”

“Cool,” she says. “Although, I wish I had room to let them bunk here.”

“They were able to get a place for a few days,” I say vaguely and luckily, she doesn’t ask me more details. I figure in the circles that Emily Burnham travels in, the house that was probably loaned to them is a mega-mansion like her friends Gavin and Savannah live in. I haven’t seen it yet, but Casey tells me it’s monstrous.

I’m not sure why I’m reticent to bring up the fact that Emily comes from a powerful family and lots of money. Casey has friends that are rich… Gavin, by way of example. And Brody’s fiancée Alyssa is an heiress as well. But those are her friends… she knows them in the context away from their money, so I’m assuming Casey makes exceptions. But past that, Casey is admittedly judgmental when it comes to the power money gives people and the way in which it changes them.

Based on her experience with Jeff, she intimately ties money and power with a man’s character, and that totally gives me concern because I haven’t been overly forthcoming with Casey about my own background.

In a cowardly maneuver, I’ve glossed over a lot of the details about my family when Casey’s asked. It’s not because I’m necessarily hiding it, but it’s that I don’t want to give her any room to be skittish with me. After the “Jeff” ordeal, there’s no telling what will come into that head of hers and her fragile sensibilities regarding relationships.

“Okay… I’m ready,” Casey announces as she turns toward me and holds her arms out to the side for inspection.

My eyes slide over her… over golden skin that I’ve pretty much licked every square inch of. Looking back up to her, I give her a smirk. “I guess you pass muster.”

“Pass muster?” she asks dramatically with narrowed eyes. “This is the hottest thing you’ll see on the beach today. I think I more than pass muster.”

I grin licentiously at her, grab her by the waist, and pull her in for a kiss. After I rob the breath from her lungs with said kiss, I smile and rub my nose against hers. “You are the hottest, sexiest thing ever. You more than pass muster. You outshine the sun.”

“God… your dirty talk is good, but your sweet talk is even better,” Casey mutters as she shimmies past me and out the door of her bedroom.

I watch that fine ass as it sways out the door for just a moment before I follow her.

It’s a massive production to get set up on the beach but by nine AM, we are in business complete with foldout lounge chairs, a cooler with ice and water for Casey and Coke for Zoey and me, towels, and the ever-needed sunscreen. I suggested getting one of those large umbrellas you stick in the sand, but Casey actually sneered at me.

“Shade is for wusses.”

I threw up my hands in quick defeat and said, “Sorry, Miss Beach Goddess. Didn’t know there were rules.”

She just smirked at me, and then put on a production by slathering the front of her body with sunscreen. It took some concentrated effort on my part not to get turned on by that, but I managed and mainly because of my daughter being there. It’s amazing how free I am with Casey when it’s just me and her… having no boundaries when it comes to expressing our mutual desire for each other. With Zoey here, it’s a bit different. I have to check myself so I don’t say something completely dirty to Casey or I don’t get a full-blown hard-on when she does something as simple as putting on sunscreen.

Casey and I get settled in beach chairs next to each other while Zoey heads down to the water’s edge. She starts walking south, stopping every once in a while to pick up shells.

“I have off tomorrow and I’d like to take Zoey up to Corolla to see the wild horses,” Casey says as she tilts her face up to the sun.

“Am I invited?” I ask playfully as I tilt my face up too, closing my eyes against the glare.

“Sure,” she says impishly. “Why not?”

“Gee thanks,” I mutter, slightly put out.

“It’s just… I know how much Zoey loves horses, so I thought that would be something cool I could do for her.”

“I love horses too, Goldie,” I point out.

The creaking of Casey’s chair has me opening my eyes and swiveling my head to look at her. She’s turned over onto her side, one hand propping up her head and the other arm resting gracefully along the length of her ribs and hip. This position really catches my attention because her breasts squeeze together and… eyes back up to her face before I get a woody.