Daddy Undercover (Crescent Cove 9)

His lips were cold and hot at the same time. The air was balmy for November, and a surprising change from last night’s chill, but it still had enough bite to it to remind me we were outside. But the water was behind us and the ducks had wandered off with full bellies. For all intents and purposes, we were actually alone.

I wound my arms around his shoulders and reveled in the fact that he could actually hold me up. I mean, he had carried me down the street after Sadie had tried to take me out before the tree lighting. But I’d been so woozy I couldn’t really enjoy it, and I hadn’t dwelled on the snatches of memory overmuch since.

Abject embarrassment tended to dull the thrill from such adventures.

Here, all his

muscles bunched under my fingers and yet he held me as if it was effortless. My best friend was now my lover, and…

No. Just be in the moment, Regina Maria. Be present.

I smiled into the kiss and let my feet dangle. And because I could, I popped up one foot at the pure joy of being his. His large hands molded to my hips, holding me tight to his ridiculously firm chest and the growing bulge trapped between us.

“Put your legs around me,” he said against my mouth.

“I am wearing a dress, sir.”

“I know.” He bunched the material, dragging it higher to cup my ass. “Ah, man. Thong? You know my weakness for those.”

I grinned at him. I sure did. “Didn’t want my panty line to show. But you better not steal these. Hmm, who do I call when the sheriff is a klepto?”

“Wiseass. You’re going to kill me.”

I wrapped my legs around him and locked my ankles at the small of his back. “But we’re outside, Sheriff.”

“Why are you calling me Sheriff so much all of a sudden?”

I quickly tucked a lock of my whipping hair around my ear. “Maybe I like it.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Maybe you like seeing me go a little crazy? Lose my professional control?”

“Maybe.” Okay, definitely.

He nibbled my lip. “With all the mayhem inside, I forgot to ask about the shower. How was it?”

“Good. Tiring. Erica was fretting a bit, but she’s still a glowing, excited mama-to-be.” I smiled. “I’m much happier to be here right now.”

Here we were on a sunny Sunday afternoon, and he was actually with me. Not worried about going back to the station, not distracted with some endless chore in town, or some training he thought he had to catch up on.

Just me.

Just him.

Just a cloudless blue sky and the water lapping around us.

“What are you going to do with me?” I asked huskily.

He strode down the dock. “I’m going to violate my brother’s boat.”

I let out a strangled half scream and half laugh as he jumped onto Mason’s boat. It rocked with the force of us both hitting the deck. The bouts of unseasonably warm fall weather had made for a longer than usual boating season. It was a large pontoon boat made for long summer days on the lake. I knew, since I’d been on it many times with his family in the year since Mason had returned to the Cove.

Most of the time without Jared, since he was married to the badge. But there had been a lot of amazing memories made on it. And just maybe, we could make one more.

I slid down him slowly, every breathtaking muscled inch of him, until my heels hit the deck. He held up a finger then moved to the front of the boat. He crouched in front of the small locker and swore a few times as he spun the dial on the old-school combination lock.

I twisted my wildly flying hair into a loose tail over my shoulder. There wasn’t much to the boat, but what it lacked in amenities, it boasted in space. My heels clicked along the slip-resistant flooring as I crossed to the railing to look out on the vast Crescent Lake. Houses dotted the landscape in the distance. This side of the lake wasn’t as populated and was almost desolate this time of year. The beach was public, but it was most definitely the off-season.

His warm hand slid along my middle, sneaking into the loose folds of my wrap dress to cup my breast before pulling me back to rest against his chest. “Do you want me to take you back?”