Distracted by her disgusting realization, it took her a moment to realize something felt different. Even then, she didn’t figure out what was wrong until she caught sight of a flash of bright yellow bobbing in the waves a few feet away.

Damn it. She had known she shouldn’t borrow Kat’s swimsuit. It was too snug in the butt and too loose in the boobs. She’d pulled the strings as tight as she could and tied a double knot at the neck, but apparently that hadn’t been good enough.

Julia glanced back toward the beach. Nobody had noticed. Everyone was focused on their castles or on each other and she was the only one who’d been idiotic enough to venture into the lake. Holding an arm over the girls, she reached with her other arm for the top, but it had already floated too far away.

Ugh. Julia dug her toes into the rocks and sand and kicked off, swimming toward the runaway bikini. Her fingers barely brushed one of the ties when a shadow passed overhead. Glancing up, she spotted an increasingly familiar ball of white feathers winging toward her like a missile. On instinct, she ducked her head underwater.

When she resurfaced, the seagull was gone.

And so was her top.

“Thief!” she yelled, smacking the waves with her palms.

Her shout got the attention of a few people on the beach. Wonderful.

She sank lower, waves lapping at her chin.

“What’s wrong?” Andie called, her coach voice loud enough to attract the attention of anyone who might not have been looking Julia’s way already.

Working her way toward the shore while staying as submerged as possible, Julia pointed toward the sky.

Luke seemed to be the first to realize what was happening. He scrambled forward, scattering sand in every direction, heedless of the structures in his path.

“Hey, that’s my castle!” Andie yelled.

“Hey, that’s my top!” Kat cried.

“Give that back, you flying menace!” Luke shouted, shaking his fist.

Unimpressed, the seagull circled overhead with its loot, bright yellow strings fluttering in the breeze like an erotic kite. Luke hurried down to the shoreline. “Here.” He tossed Julia his shirt. By the time she’d managed to pull it over her head, he was racing across the beach, yelling expletives as he chased after the bikini bandit.

She hurried after Luke, finally catching up to him crouched behind a large rock. “Where did he go?”

“Shh.” He put a finger to his lips before waving at her to get low.

Julia hunkered down next to him behind the rock. He was still breathing heavily from the run—and so was she, for that matter. She sucked in air, laughing quietly. “This has got to be the most running I’ve done in one week in years.”

“This has got to be the most time I’ve spent shirtless in public in years,” he muttered.