Justin winked at the boy. “Guess we’ll let him bag up his trash, too, then.”
Kyle grinned. “Thanks, Captain.”
“You’re welcome.” Justin returned his attention to the rest of the crew. “Now, you pirates—eat, cleanup after yourselves, stay where I can see you, and we’ll be back on the river in thirty minutes, to plunder the rest of these waters for treasure.”
When Daisy had thoroughly checked out her immediate surroundings, she eyed the boys who were gathering their food with longing, like the little scavenger she was.
“You can’t have the boys’ lunch,” she warned the dog, but Daisy’s expression said, Yeah, right.
Riley spotted an old log about twenty meters back from where the group was gathering for their lunch. Leading Daisy, she walked over to it, sat down on the log, and watched as Justin and the other two adults got the boys settled.
Even in this environment, where Justin was doing anything but trying to look sexy, Riley found him so. How could she not with the sunlight glinting off his hair, highlighting every natural hue? With his arm muscles perfectly displayed in his sleeveless T-shirt and lifejacket? With his easygoing rapport with the boys and how their eyes filled with adoration when they looked at him?
Ugh. She should not be finding his parenting skills sexy. His parenting skills were none of her business.
As if he sensed her thoughts were on him, he looked her way, grinned, then came over to her, held out the hand disinfectant.
“Can’t have you picking up any germs on our trip,” he teased, squirting a generous dollop into her palm. “I’d miss you if you had to call out of work.”
She rubbed her hands together and held them out for his inspection, as the boys h
ad.
He made a show of checking them. “Guess that’ll do.”
“Thanks, Captain,” she replied, unable to resist the tease. “Good to know I pass muster.”
His gaze met hers from behind his mirrored sunglasses and heat filled her at what shone in his face.
Lust and so much more.
Her insides trembled with the recall of what it had felt like to be the sole recipient of his attention.
She didn’t need to hear his, “Oh, you pass muster, all right...” to know she wasn’t the only one battling physical attraction.
CHAPTER SIX
RILEY DRAGGED HER gaze from Justin’s face to what he held.
“Sandwiches are all the same, so I hope you like peanut butter and jelly.”
“No problem. I know we captives can’t be choosy. But are you sure you have enough for me to have one? I don’t want to take anything away from the kids.”
“I brought plenty for the kids—besides, even pirates’ captives have to keep up their strength when they’re expected to man their own ship.”
“There is that.” Her gaze dropped to the sandwich and her stomach growled. “I am hungry.”
“Floating down the river works up an appetite.”
Were they talking food or a different type of appetite? If so, the river had nothing to do with how starved she felt. Justin alone was responsible for the cravings rocking her.
Taking the sandwich and removing it from the bag, she eyed him before taking a bite. “You know, when you said ‘floating,’ I pictured a relaxing trip, enjoying the scenery—not all this paddling to keep pace with the kids. They seem to think we’re in a race to get to the end.”
“They always do.” He walked over to the makeshift lunch line and grabbed a sandwich of his own, some fruit, and a couple of individual-sized bags of chips.
Once back to where she sat, he joined her on the log. “Banana or apple?”
She took the apple and the bag of chips he held out. “Best sandwich ever. Thank you.”