I couldn’t support her weight any longer and had no choice but to break her fall as gently as I could. “Penny? Penny? What are you on?” I peered into her eyes, but they didn’t appear dilated. “Are you high right now?”

Her stare was blank.

I hauled her up again, almost falling over when her dead weight fell against me. “Come on, Penny. You’re going to start walking. One foot in front of the other. There, that’s it.”

With my coaching, she managed to steady her legs and walk down the pier, her arms hugging her body. My arm was wrapped around her waist, making sure she stayed upright. Between the two of us, we managed to get her off the pier and into the soft, golden sands of the beach.

“Good. Feet hurt,” she mumbled.

I spotted a mother with two little girls looking our way. Under the brim of her straw hat, the mother shot me a frown and held her hand out to the girls, saying something I couldn’t hear at such a distance.

I realized that not only had Penny’s robe flapped open again, giving everyone a free show, but in my haste to get out of there, I’d forgotten to put shoes on her feet. “Damn it,” I swore, closing my eyes in frustration. Easing us both down to the sand, I pulled the robe closed.

When I opened them again, she still hadn’t closed her robe. Hickeys blotched her torso, bruised and already purpling. Vince. Ugh.

“Babe?”

I turned around, using my hand to shield my eyes from the glare of the sun. “Lorcan?”

He jogged over to us, his golden retriever puppy, Merlin, and his cavoodle, Lulu, dashing ahead of him. They were so well trained he never had them on a leash, and they skidded up to me, yipping in recognition.

“What’s wrong with her?” Lorcan said in a whisper, noticing Penny’s drowsy expression and bare feet. To his credit, he didn’t gape at the scene we made.

I told him, as quickly and discreetly as I could manage.

“She hooked up with Vince?” Lorcan widened his eyes. “I never got good vibes from that guy.”

“I think it’s because Chad broke up with her,” I said in a small voice.

At the sound of his name, Penny murmured something under her breath and moved closer to me. I pulled her onto my lap, letting her head drape on my left thigh. Missing my usual scratches and pets, Merlin gently butted Penny’s leg in affront before burrowing his way underneath her to head for Lorcan.