Page 56 of Lowering His Guard

She blinks. “It’s for the children.”

Jaxon won’t be able to deny her. He’s her brother-in-law for one thing. He also dotes on her two adopted children. And this charity is to help children who are in the same situation as his nieces were in.

Miles saunters toward me. “Hey, surfer girl. Careful with the moonshine. It’s strong enough to loosen your wallet for the silent auction.” He hugs me, but pulls back when someone growls.

I glance over my shoulder to discover Brock glaring at Miles. “What are you doing here?”

He doesn’t respond. He maintains his death glare at Miles.

“Hello!” I snap my fingers in Brock’s face. “Earth to giant. Come in, giant. Uh oh. Is the alien around? Do we need to feed it?”

“Who are you?” Brock asks Miles instead of answering me.

“Let me do the introductions. Brock, aka the grumpy giant with an alien problem, meet Miles. I told you about him the other day.”

Miles offers Brock his hand. “You’re Brock Porter. Nice to meet you.”

Brock shakes his hand. When Miles grimaces, I shove my way in between them. “No need to break anyone’s hand today. Today is for charity. It’s about the children. Speaking of children, where’s Jace?”

Brock scowls at me. “Not bringing my teenager to a moonshine tasting.”

I roll my eyes. “Obviously. What’s he doing?”

“I dropped him off at the boardwalk with his friends.”

“Welp. I hope you don’t have to pick him up because you are not going to be able to drive later.”

His brow wrinkles. “It’s a tasting.”

“Have you tried Smuggler’s Hideaway moonshine?” He shivers and I tap his chest. Oh, it’s hard. I wonder if his skin is soft over those hard muscles. I snatch my hand back before the temptation to find out overwhelms me. “Aha! You have.”

“How did you get here?”

“I drove Mer-Mini.”

“Your car is ridiculous.” But his lips tip up. He likes my car. But he doesn’t want to since he’s a giant and it’s a Mini.

I motion to Dakota. “Pay the lady. We need to get the good seats before it gets crowded.”

“There are good seats?” he asks but he does pay Dakota.

She grins at him. “Do you want to buy a raffle ticket?”

He doesn’t bother to ask what he can win. “Give me twenty.”

“Twenty?” She nearly swallows her tongue.

“It’s for charity, isn’t it?”

She shakes herself. “Of course. Do you need a receipt?”

“Nah.”

I wait for him to put away his wallet. Then, I grasp his hand and pull him into the tent. There are people mingling everywhere. I smile at my friends but don’t stop. I’m on a mission.

“We have to sit over here.”

Brock glances around. “Why?”