Stripped Down (Tap That)

Finn was asleep on L

iam’s shoulder, his little life preserver engulfing him.

River was reading a book by flashlight. Normally he would have forced her to put it away and enjoy the moment, but he was too happy to worry about it right now.

“On a scale of one to ten how happy are you right now?” Rick asked Sloane.

“An eleven.”

That was the perfect answer. “Good. I’m an eight.”

“What? Why only an eight?”

“Because we’re not alone. We’re going to have to figure out how to sneak away later,” he murmured in her ear. “And have ‘I love you’ sex.”

Sloane wiggled her body against his and turned to give him a sassy look. “I already had a pickle today. I’m good.”

She’d come out to play. He laughed. “Oh, you’re going to pay for that when I get you home.”

“I can’t wait.”

Damn. She was everything he wanted in a woman, and then some.

Lilly leaned over several feet away and said, “I think we should make the charity event an annual thing. Sloane, you don’t care if Rick does another Tap That Dancers routine, do you?”

“Of course not. It’s for a good cause and he really, really likes to strut it.”

Oh, yeah, she was practically begging for a spanking. “If you’ve got it, flaunt it,” he said with a grin. “I’ll just make it very clear I am off the market.” He kissed the top of Sloane’s head.

Forever.

“I’ve always been taken,” he murmured in her ear.

“I love you,” Sloane said with a fervor that made him want to take her below deck.

“I love you, too.”

Sometimes, all you need to do is strip it down to see what was always there.

* * *