She might be able to finish the entire trilogy.
“What are you going to do?”
“Didn’t you hear? I have a competition to get ready for.”
She gave him a look that told him he wasn’t fooling her with the laid-back routine; apparently she already knew him too well. “Sit back” wasn’t in his vernacular. He was going todo a little research on his own on the Ocean Protection Front and North Sea Offshore Drilling. There was something about the whole thing that bugged him. Why kill Julien and Claude? Why not just toss the explosives overboard and go with the robbery angle alone? Murdering one’s compatriots seemed extreme even for an ecoterrorist group. Was there another reason? Something they were missing?
He also wanted to check out what Taylor had found on the rear admiral. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe him; he just had the feeling the LC was still holding back about something.
“There are a few things I need to take care of this afternoon.” He eyed the two surfers who’d been watching her earlier, but they were clearly avoiding looking in their direction. “You okay here by yourself?”
“You don’t need to worry about me, Tex. I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
He tried not to jelly at the name, but damn... how had she guessed? Although admittedly it wasn’t the most original nickname in the world. But...shit.
Oh well, he supposed it was better than Dan.
“Besides,” she said with a wry smile and a nod in the direction of the two guys who were now three. “I think you scared them off. Those guys won’t come near me with a ten-foot pole. I doubt any guy who saw me talking to you will.”
He frowned. He couldn’t tell from her voice whether she was disappointed or not. She wasn’t interested in those bozos, was she? And why did that thought make him feel like cracking a few heads? “I didn’t like the way they were looking at you.”
She waved off his concern. “They’re harmless.”
He wasn’t so sure. She was hot enough to make men stupid. He should know. “I’m not.”
“I think they figured that out. But you don’t need to go to all the trouble; I’m not planning on talking to anyone.”
If that was why she thought he’d done it, he wasn’t going to put her straight. “No trouble,” he said. “But I’m going to make sure they got the message. Come here.”
She might have taken a step back. “Why?”
“I think you know why.”
She eyed him warily. “I thought you said that was a mistake.”
“It was. But I’m about to make another one.”
He closed the distance between them in a long stride and pulled her into his arms. One palm slid over the warm smooth skin of her waist before coming to rest on the silky pink bottoms of the bathing suit he’d admired a few minutes ago. God, that ass. He couldn’t resist squeezing and lifting a little. It was taut and firm and fit perfectly in his hand.
Her hands had looped around his neck almost instinctively. He liked that. But what he really liked was the feel of all that warm, bare skin plastered to his.
She was looking at him with a bemused smile on her face. “You don’t strike me as the PDA type.”
“You do strange things to me.”
“You don’t need to do this.”
“Yes, I do.” He was fucking dying to do this. The next time when he made love to her, he was going to be doing it just like this—facing her.
There wasn’t going to be a next time, he reminded himself.
Right. He was fucking crazy if he thought he could stay away from this... from her.
The next moment his mouth was on hers, and he was kissing her. He groaned at the contact—at the taste of cherries.
She was killing him. But what a fucking way to go. He threaded his fingers through her hair to clasp the back of her head and bring her mouth more fully against his. He filled it with his tongue, taking long, deep strokes until the fire in his blood started to pound in his ears.
For a moment he forgot where he was. All he could see was stars. But his cock was thickening by the instant. If he didn’t want everyone on the beach to know exactly how much he wanted her—although that was probably pretty damned obvious from the kiss—he’d better pull away.
