“Okay. A lot,” she conceded, unable to stop smiling. “Now are you going to listen to what I have to say?”
He stood and tugged her hand, pulling her to her feet, then stole her chair, only to compensate by pulling her into his lap. “I’m listening.”
“The house I bought is in Arlington. As in Virginia.”
“I’m still listening.”
Yeah, and he was grinning like a fool, too. But he was her fool, so it didn’t much matter.
She laced her fingers with his. “I have a job clerking for a federal district judge. I start in two weeks. Probably not nine to five in the strictest sense, but close enough for now,” she told him. “But I will have to cram for the Virginia bar exam in February, so I’ll be a little swamped for the first few months.”
“It’s your career,” he said solemnly. “I’ll never stand in your way.”
“I appreciate that.” She pulled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Because I’d really like to try being a working mom. At least for a while. If it doesn’t fit, then I’ll quit and stay home with the kid, or kids.”
Caution, along with a fat dose of optimism, filled his gaze. “Any idea when the kid thing might happen?”
“Yeah, about that.” She drew his hand to her stomach and flattened his palm against her abdomen. “Does five months work for you?”
He laughed, the sound even more joyful than she’d been fantasizing about ever since she’d gotten the results of the pregnancy test. She explained to him that her life had been a whirlwind of activity since she’d found out about the baby. At first, she’d been stunned, but she’d made the decision to relocate to Virginia so her son or daughter would at least have a fighting chance at having a caring father in his or her life.
Although she wasn’t one to believe in signs, she’d tried to look at the situation in a positive light, especially when every step of her plan had fallen so perfectly in place.
Noah held her close and kissed her senseless. Granted, they barely knew each other, but they’d known enough to have fallen crazy in love. The way she figured it, they had the rest of their lives to work out the rest of it.
Acapulco Heat
ELISABETH NAUGHTON
For Becky,
Lover of books and all things adventure-related.
This one’s for you.
CHAPTER 1
His luck was in the crapper. And judging by the sexy show in full swing in front of him, it didn’t look to be improving anytime soon.
Finn Tierney’s eyes narrowed on the photo shoot across the white sand beach. No, sexy wasn’t the right word for what he was being subjected to watching. Pornographic was more appropriate.
He worked to keep his shoulders relaxed as he stood in the tropical Acapulco heat, the light breeze ruffling his shirt. He was a guy. Normally, he’d be all over watching this kind of thing, but after the string of bad luck dogging him like a curse, Finn was rethinking everything he’d once enjoyed.
And if the asshole with the wandering hand moved his fingers even an inch lower on that white bikini bottom, Finn was going to unleash his unique brand of bad luck on the dickwad directly in his line of sight.
“Javier,” the photographer to Finn’s left said, “spread your fingers and move your hand just a little lower, like you’re drawing her in.”
Finn clenched his jaw to keep from wrapping his hands around the photographer’s neck and wringing the life out of her. The woman seemed to know every one of Finn’s twisted that-better-not-happen thoughts and then put them in motion.
As the greased-up male model followed instructions, the photographer shifted. “Good. Now, Lauren, lift up on your toes and slide your arm around Javier’s neck. Perfect. Tilt your face up.” The photographer looked through her camera lens and clicked the shutter release in rapid fire.
Behind the duo, blue-green water lapped at the sandy shore and a soft breeze blew at the perfectly placed light hoods. Around the perimeter, tourists gathered to watch the shoot, and every second Finn stood here party to this carefully choreographed porn show, his blood pressure amped up another notch.
He reminded himself it could be worse. He could be babysitting a spoiled-ass prince in the Arabian Desert, looking for an heiress lost on safari in the Serengeti or dodging Guatemalan drug lords in Central America. He’d spent more than his fair share of time in shit-hole backwater countries during his years with the Irish Army Ranger Wing, Ireland’s special ops unit, baking in heat strong enough to melt a man’s brain while being surrounded by morons he’d rather shoot than rescue. And over the past five years as an operative for Aegis Ltd., the elite security firm he worked for now, he’d always been able tomaintain that professional distance and those high standards required by his employer. This assignment though? This time not so much.
The sunlight accentuated supermodel Lauren Kauffman’s high cheekbones and pouty lips. She shot Finn a wicked look before moving in closer to Javier Santiago’s body. So close the tips of her breasts grazed the male model’s chest. One side of her mouth curled as she continued to stare at Finn, yards away across the beach. She lifted her face, leaving her succulent mouth only centimeters from the brainless model who was about to lose his hands if he dropped them any lower on her ass. Then she giggled. Like she knew some wicked secret and wasn’t about to let anyone else in on the dirt.
Finn flexed and released his right hand. Had visions of whipping out his gun and plugging Santiago right between the eyes. And that’s when Finn realized what should have been obvious hours ago. The little vixen was playing him. And she was doing a damn good job of it, too.