Saving This (The McCallans #5) by Hadley Quinn

pressures of stardom hadn’t met him quite yet, and really, most of the time they were out in public was without their dad’s knowledge anyway.
    On his last standing coast inland, he noticed Anna sitting in the sand on her board. He’d lost track of time and had no idea how long she’d been there. As he stepped off and slogged through the water to join her, he tried to gauge her mood.
    “Well, well, well,” she smiled at him. “For someone who didn’t want to leave the house this morning, you sure made good use of your time.”
    He wiped the salty water from his face and then sat on his board a few feet from her. “Sorry if I made you wait.” She paused for so long he looked to his right to see if she’d heard him.
    Anna was still smiling, shaking her head. “Are you kidding?” she chuckled. “It’s nice to have someone outlast me for once.”
    Max cocked an eyebrow and ran a hand through his wet hair. “Sweetheart, don’t underestimate my endurance.”
    She opened her mouth in surprise, and then smiled like she was unsure of his humor as she eyed him for a moment. Or, maybe she was just caught off guard that he would imply something like that. Either way, her reaction was entertaining.
    Anna stood and pulled her board up from the sand. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving and need something warm and salty in my mouth.”
    She gave him the same arched eyebrow as she turned for the parking lot. Her wit made Max laugh to himself as he hoisted himself up to follow, but he also felt like she was challenging him.
    “Hey, don’t you eyebrow me and walk away,” he called from behind.
    She stopped and turned around, surprise written all over her face. Then she laughed out loud. “ Eyebrow you? Did you seriously just say ‘don’t you eyebrow me’?”
    He shrugged a shoulder, and now that he’d caught up to her, they started walking together. “Yeah, don’t do that eyebrow thing to me. It’s not cool. Nor is it cute.”
    That was a total fucking lie. If he hadn’t been in fifty-five degree water less than five minutes ago, he might have been turned on by her feisty sass. Wetsuit or not, the cold water was an enemy to his manhood.
    She scoffed at him. “Don’t tell me not to eyebrow you. You eyebrowed me first. You can’t eyebrow someone and then tell them they can’t eyebrow you back.”
    He was ready to laugh at this banter. Instead, he kept a neutral face. “Well now you’re just acting like a brat. It’s okay if I do it. You, however, don’t get to eyebrow people. On cute little blondes, it just looks bitchy.”
    She smiled as they approached her car. “You make no sense. What the fuck is wrong with you? I’ll eyebrow you as much as I want. You of all people don’t get to call me a brat. You’re a brat.”
    This was too funny. For once, it was hard for him to maintain a straight face. He couldn’t tell if she knew he was just messing with her right now or not. It was hilarious and adorable all at the same time, and it was enough to make him forget he was completely exhausted at the moment.
    Max grabbed a towel from the back when Anna opened it. As he used it to wipe the sand off his board he said, “So do you want something warm in your mouth, or not? Because if you keep yapping, you’ll be so full of hot air it might be enough to fill you up. No room for anything… better .”
    She responded with, “Ha!” which made him smile as she ripped the towel out of his hand to hastily brush the sand off her board. “No wonder your brother doesn’t like you.”
    “No wonder your parents don’t like you .”
    She shrugged, then threw the towel in the back and slid her board up on the top rack. As she stripped off her wetsuit, she casually shrugged. “You don’t know anything about my parents.”
    “You don’t know anything about my brother and me.”
    While she was standing there in just a bikini he was trying not to stare at, Anna yanked another towel from the back and started