“Are you?” I asked, my voice soft.

He stood and tossed his sunglasses on the chair. “Not even close,” he said and turned to walk down to the water.

“Wait,” I burst out.

He turned, his eyes narrowed.

I sat up.

“Yes?”

“Did you need sunscreen on your back?” I asked. Ohhhh, I did not just ask that. I did not. Fuck.

His head cocked to the side, his eyes giving away nothing.

“Never mind.” I waved him away. Go, I willed him. Just pretend that never happened.

He narrowed his eyes, like he knew every thought in my brain, and turned away, and my entire body almost collapsed in relief as I watched him walk to the water. His muscled back tapered into those turquoise swim shorts that made his bronze skin glow even darker. I closed my eyes, even though they were hidden behind my sunglasses, in a massive dose of willpower as if that would help inoculate me against being attracted to him or something.

For another half hour, father and daughter played in the waves while I watched from the shaded comfort of the beach chair. I couldn’t believe how I’d just spoken to him about his father. But to be fair he’d asked for my thoughts. If he didn’t like them, that was on him. Still, my insides were all sorts of messed up. Every time we actually had a conversation, the line between boss and employee blurred, and he was always cutting it off before it went further. It was as if he forgot sometimes. Which made me think despite Evan being his friend and being surrounded by people, Xavier Pascale was … lonely. Perhaps it was by his own design. I wasn’t a psychologist, but I had a feeling that deep down where he refused to acknowledge, he was yearning for a connection. I wondered what his late wife had done to him to cause him to bury his heart so deep.

Dauphine suddenly came running up toward me. “Come. I need you to play Jeu de Loup. It’s not fun with just me and Papa.”

“I don’t know the game.”

“One person is the, um … le loup …” She twisted her lips sideways as her brow furrowed.

“The wolf?” I offered, the word popping up from the depths of my brain.

“Yes! One person is the wolf and the others must try to get away. And when the wolf bites them, they must become the wolf.” She clapped and shivered as she explained.

“Come here,” I said and dried off her face and shoulders and reapplied some sunscreen.

“Good. You will play?”

I glanced out to the water. Her father was swimming freestyle in large powerful strokes parallel to the beach as he waited for her to come back.

“Please. Papa said yes. And he said I can be the wolf first.”