Page 42 of Single-Minded
Presley bent and slid a purple-pink tie-dye kayak from the water onto the shore. I did my best not to watch her in action, instead turning to Jagger.
“You in a hurry?” I asked.
“Nope. This has the potential to be an interesting show.” He shot me a look that was curious bordering on knowing, as if he had me figured out.
He likely fucking did.
It didn’t take a genius to lay eyes on Presley Holiday and guess that I or any heterosexual guy might have thoughts involving her.
Presley walked out onto her dock, talking to the girls as Jagger maneuvered the boat close enough for us to disembark.
Realizing Presley probably didn’t know the first thing about mooring a boat, I moved toward the dock side and hopped off. I grabbed the line at the bow, tied it to the cleat, then did the same near the stern, acting like the task took all my concentration. In reality, I was striving to get my shit together and ignore that Presley was eighty percent bare-skinned and just a few feet away from me.
When the boat was secured, I stood and faced Presley, determined to keep my gaze on her face. “You sure it’s okay to unleash them?”
She laughed. “If you mean let the girls out of the boat, absolutely. I want to show off my pretty new kayaks.”
“You realize you could fit something bigger in your boathouse?” I asked as I helped my girls to the dock one by one, with Jagger pulling up the rear.
“I haven’t ruled that out,” she said. “I decided to start small.”
“With three kayaks,” I teased. “Have you figured which one is just right, Goldilocks?”
Jagger hopped onto the deck and came up next to me.
“This is Jagger McNamara,” I told her. “Jagger, meet Presley Holiday.”
They shook hands and exchanged niceties. I forced myself to follow my daughters off the dock and not think about the fact that Jagger was touching Presley, even if it was just a handshake.
Sienna and Scarlet climbed into the rainbow-colored tandem kayak where it sat on the grass. Nova dashed to the blue-green one.
“Girls, Miss Presley didn’t give you permission to get in her kayaks.”
“They’re fine,” Presley said, coming up behind me.
“You’ve been busy since I left,” I said.
“You probably passed the delivery truck on your way home.”
“Lake Life Outfitters?” Jagger asked, joining us.
“Yes. They gave me a great deal on the third one.”
Jagger stepped closer to the boats and looked them over.
“Sorry to drop in unexpectedly,” I told her. “The girls love going by the hotel. You’re on the way home.”
“I was doing a test drive,” Presley said.
“Did you figure out how to ‘drive’?”
She laughed. “I learned how to paddle a kayak on YouTube. In theory. Work in progress.”
“Miss Presley, can we go in the water?” Scarlet called out.
Presley met my gaze as if wanting me to weigh in.
“Not tonight, Scarlet. We can’t just drop in on Miss Presley and expect a boat ride. Besides, the sun’s going down soon, and our captain for our other boat ride might leave us.”
