In the Line of Duty (First Responders 2)

He grimaced inwardly at how lame it sounded coming from his lips, but there it was. For a moment Kendra hesitated, but then she unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door. “Come on then,” she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “High tide isn’t going to last all day.”

He flashed a grin as he got out and grabbed the cooler. Mark and his wife were gone camping for the weekend—Jake had called ahead—so they had the place to themselves. Kendra had already found the rock-bordered path leading to th

e edge of the grass and then the natural steps that dropped to the sandy beach below. He watched her from behind, admiring her form. She might be small-town law enforcement, but she took care of herself. He didn’t exactly mind muscles in a girl, especially when they were packaged with some feminine curves like hers were.

She spread out a towel and put her tote bag on it. “Swim first?” she asked.

“If that’s what you want.” For a woman who was so hesitant, she sure was in a hurry to get to the water. He wasn’t about to complain though, or think too much about it, because the next thing he knew she was stripping off her shorts and T-shirt.

His mouth went dry looking at her, and his tongue felt twisted into knots. There was nothing spectacular about her suit. It wasn’t particularly revealing in the general way men liked a bathing suit to be revealing. It was simple and solid black. But the bottoms skimmed her butt, curving over her hips deliciously. He’d bet a week’s profits that her ass was tight and muscled, just like the rest of her.

Well, almost all the rest. As she dropped the T-shirt onto the towel, his gaze dropped to the demure hint of cleavage revealed by the V-neck of the halter top. Her breasts were fuller than he expected, and the lycra suit skimmed her ribs and waist.

He was in big, big trouble. The flicker of attraction he’d been feeling was suddenly an all-out flame. He had the hots for Kendra Givens. Wasn’t life just full of surprises?

“Well, are you coming or not?”

He bit back the suggestive reply that rose to his tongue—she’d already formed an opinion about him and he certainly didn’t need to reinforce it. “Right behind you,” he said, slipping off his flip-flops and pulling his T-shirt over his head. People swam every day. People wore bathing suits every day. But today—with Kendra—he was pretty aware there wasn’t a whole lot of clothing between them.

The water was warmer than he expected, and he followed Kendra out into the waves. The roar of the ocean filled his ears, followed by the rhythmic splash of the breakers on the sand. She turned around and smiled at him a moment before taking a huge plunge and disappearing beneath the waves.

He followed her, diving under. The cold covered his body and the salt buoyed him so that he surfaced, catching his breath. She was treading water several feet away, watching him with mischief in her eyes. Mischief and something more, something darker and seductive. Awareness. They’d always maintained this barrier between them—the cop and the barman. They’d been on opposite sides and it had been easy to arm themselves with banter and differing opinions.

That barrier had slipped this afternoon, just as he’d wanted it to. Still, the curiosity that gleamed in her eyes came as a surprise, and he very deliberately put his feet on the ground and stood, letting the water run off his shoulders and down his chest to where the waves rose and fell around his waist.

He waded over to where she was, going deeper until the water reached his chest. Kendra’s eyes widened and he wondered what her skin felt like all slippery and wet.

He was only a few feet away—close enough he could reach out and touch her—when she grinned, splashed him and dove under again.

So that was how she wanted to play it. He waited, watched for when she was just about to surface, and then slipped beneath the water, using powerful strokes to push himself in her direction.

When he surfaced she was right there, only inches away, her hair slick with sea water and droplets running down her face. Her lashes sparkled with moisture and she opened her lips in surprise. They were out over their heads, but Jake didn’t care. For a few seconds, he let the waves rock them toward each other. And then he did what he’d thought about doing since she’d stripped off her clothes on the beach. He slid his hand around her waist, pulled her against him and kissed her.

Her lips tasted of some sort of fruity gloss mixed with salt, a delicious blend of the best things of summer. But what surprised him most was that her mouth opened beneath his. Her body might have been cold from the water, but the interior of her mouth was soft and warm, and he felt the vibration of a soft moan as he deepened the kiss.

But the twining together of their legs and Jake’s arm around her waist made it difficult to keep treading water, and they started to slip beneath the rolling waves. Jake broke the contact and pedalled with his legs to stay afloat.

“Oops,” Kendra said, surprising him with the easy response rather than the dressing down he’d expected. He grinned and was gratified when she smiled too. Oops indeed. They’d never gotten along before, but she wasn’t exactly acting like a woman who disapproved of what he did or who he was.

She started swimming toward shore and he followed her, refreshed from the quick dip and ready to enjoy the sun. They came out of the gentle surf together, shaking the water from their hair. The sand was soft and wet beneath his toes. So different from the sand in the Middle East, he thought. Maybe in time he’d forget that too. He doubted it, but he could hope.

But he wasn’t going to think about that and let it ruin today. He wondered if Kendra knew she was his first date since opening the pub nearly a year ago. He figured if he revealed that little tidbit of info, she’d head for the hills at breakneck speed.

Kendra reached for her towel and hid behind it, briskly drying off her arms and rubbing her hair. She had to calm down. Had to stop freaking out about the fact that Jake had kissed her. And she’d kissed him back. What had she been thinking?

She swallowed and forced herself to be casual about laying the towel back on the sand as Jake came up behind her. She could at least be honest with herself and admit she’d been curious. And Jake couldn’t be all bad, right? Maybe she didn’t approve of his business, but to his credit he’d never caused any direct trouble since his return, and he seemed to have some civic pride, giving back to the community.

That or she could just be putting a fine shine on him to make herself feel better about this…attraction.

“You hungry?”

His voice was close to her shoulder and she shivered. “Sure. But I’d better put on some sunscreen first. I’ve already been in the water, and the last thing I need is a sunburn.”

She reached inside her bag and took out a tube of cream while Jake got the cooler from beneath the shade of a rock. Doing her legs was no trouble, nor her arms. She smoothed some on the V of her collarbone and over her nose and then paused. She really should put some on her shoulders and top of her back. And the only way to do that was…

“Need some help?”

She looked up. He was watching her blandly, no innuendoes in his eyes, no suggestive looks or remarks. It was almost as if the kiss in the water hadn’t happened—even though she could still taste the salty-sweetness of his mouth. She ran her tongue over her lips without thinking and swallowed. “Um, sure, I guess.”