Stripped Down (Tap That)

“I’m fine,” she said, and it sounded more snappish than she really intended. “It was just a long day. But I am positive I’m really going to love this job. It’s a good fit for me.”

“You love animals, huh?”

“Yep.” Sloane pulled Finn forward and blew a raspberry on his chubby cheek. He shrieked in delight. “I have a dog but I lost her in the divorce. It’s honestly the worst thing that’s happened to me as an adult. Worse than the marriage ending.”

“You had a custody fight for your dog? Damn, that sucks.”

She nodded. “You know how they swear that you’ll see someone’s true colors in a divorce? But everyone insists their own divorce will be amiable? Well, Tom turned out to be a p-r-i-c-k.” She spelled it out since Finn was on her lap. “He doesn’t even like Kate, but he bought her so he kept her. It was mostly a way to hurt me, nothing more.”

“Because you broke his heart?” Rick asked, picking at the label on the bottle. He had one leg up and a forearm resting on his knee.

Sloane wanted to reach over and run her fingers over his beard and kiss him full on the lips. He was so damn sexy and masculine. Even sitting this close to him did strange things to her insides. He was wearing the jeans and T-shirt he’d had on earlier. The one thing about northern Minnesota was it was full on August and it wasn’t even that hot. No one needed to be wearing shorts. But Rick had changed his work boots for sandals.

His words made her wrinkle her nose. “I did not break Tom’s heart. In fact, he actually left me.” She shot a quick glance in Rick’s direction. “For a guy he’d been dating secretly for a while.”

“Shut the hell up.” Rick looked as astonished as she probably had the day Tom had told her.

“Yep. So, there you have it.” She gave a laugh. “And I haven’t told a single person in Beaver Bend the whole truth either, until just now. I don’t like to talk about it. I have no idea why I just told you that.”

“It does explain a few things.” Rick reached out and put his hand on her neck, massaging it. “No wonder your marriage was a total dud in the sack.”

“Rick, you shouldn’t do that. Secret, remember?” His hand on her in front of everyone made her extremely uncomfortable. “Very true,” she said, and scrambled to her feet with Finn in her arms. “Where’s River?” she asked, partly to change the subject, but mostly out of curiosity. “Your sister seems like a bright kid.”

“She’s an evil genius,” Rick said ruefully, slowly rising to his feet. “And I’m not kidding. She’s brilliant, top of the class. And I have no idea how to raise her. I’m stumbling around in the dark, most likely jacking her up, but what else am I going to do?” He blew out a deep breath.

There was a furrow in his brow that Sloane could see indicated genuine worry. “I’m sure you’re doing a great job,” she said. “She seems like a cool kid, and hey, aren’t you and I both living proof that as long as there is an adult who loves you, you can turn out relatively normal?”

Rick grinned. “Are we normal?”

“I can’t speak for you, but I’m totally normal.” A little dented but for the most part, doing all right. She bounced Finn on her hip. “Hey, you’re around my dad a lot, right?”

“Yes.” Rick took another sip of his beer. “I have always admired Liam. He’s been good to me, the ragamuffin kid coming around.”

“Does he date?” She figured if anyone would know about it, it just might be Rick. Her dad kept everything from her and Sullivan—go figure-—but she worried about him. “Does he have a secret girlfriend or anything?”

“I think the key word to ‘secret girlfriend’ is ‘secret.’” Rick shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of, but it’s not like we’re buddies. I’m his kid’s best friend.” Rick turned and glanced at her father flipping burgers on his insanely over-the-top gas and charcoal grill. “I’m sure a lot of women would go for his type though. He’s what, fifty? Still young. He keeps in shape.”

“Not even fifty. He’s forty-eight. Back in high school I had a couple of friends who said they had crushes on him, which was horrifying at the time. But I can see it now. He’s a cool guy. He should be enjoying his life more.”

“Agreed. And I can’t imagine not enjoying my life. I enjoy my life a lot.”

Rachel’s body count comment popped into Sloane’s head. She was sorry she had brought the subject of dating up. She made a face. “So I hear.”

“Jealous?”

“No. And you already asked me that. Stop repeating yourself.”

“You repeated yourself first,” he pointed out. “You already mentioned rumor has it I’m never lonely.”

He was right, which annoyed her. She had no comeback, which further annoyed her.

River came over and saved her from saying someone petty or stupid. She was tempted to give the kid five bucks for saving her ass.

“Hi, Sloane.”

“Hi, River. What’s up?”

“Can I hold the baby?” River had her arms outstretched.