Читать книгу Dan All Over Again: Dan All Over Again / The Mountie Steals A Wife - Barbara Dunlop - Страница 15

AS DAN SENT THE LURE OUT over the water again, he glanced over at Cassie. She was sitting there with Samuel in her lap, Thor curled up at her feet. Her little notepad sat next to her, its chain draped over her ankle. Was that where she kept that compatibility list of hers? The criterion she would use to stay married to the next man. The next man who would hold her at night, warm his mouth with her kisses, nibble that place behind her ear and hear that little meowing sound she made…

Why did that bug him so much? If she’d had such a list back when they’d dated, she probably wouldn’t have married him in the first place. And despite everything about the divorce, even losing Samuel Kent, he wouldn’t trade those days for anything.

Cassie picked up the notepad. Oh, no, more notes. He’d no doubt added several more criterion to her compatibility list, things her perfect male couldn’t have.

But she put the pad in her tote bag, pulled out a tube of sunblock and started slathering it on her shoulders and face. He watched her fingers slide over her skin and the way the sun glistened over the slick areas. The breeze lifted the hair from her shoulders as she tilted her neck to rub lotion down the length of it. That reminded Dan of the massage to come.

When she was finished, he rolled his shoulders and asked, “How about putting some of that on my shoulders?”

“I don’t suppose this would count as the massage, would it?” she asked, coming over.

“Babe, you’re surfing in Nebraska if you think I’m letting you out of that one.”

“You’re a hard man, Daniel McDermott.” She closed her eyes. “Oh, brother, did I walk into that one. Okay, go ahead. Give it to me. I mean, say whatever it is you’re going to say about being hard. I know you want to. Let’s have it.”

He could only stare at her. “You lost me after you asked me to go ahead, give it to you, and knowing I want to, much less letting you have it.”

Her face flushed red. “You have a dirty mind. Now turn around.”

“Me? My mind’s as pure as the Hudson River. You’re the one assessing my hardness, not to mention the string of invitations afterward.”

“Augh! They were not invitations.”

“Were, too.”

“Were not! Just because you have sex on the brain, so like a typical male, you think every word out of my mouth is some kind of invitation, but let me tell you, buster, I have no intention of falling for your charms or innuendoes…”

Blah blah blah. He wasn’t sure he could use her skimble-scamble against her, so he tuned out her words and concentrated on those soft, sweet lips of hers. The way they moved around her words, the way the bottom edge of her top teeth showed once in a while, and every so often the tip of her tongue would peek out to tantalize—

“Dan? Are you listening to me?”

She ducked down to the level of his eyes. Well, at least he wasn’t gazing at her chest. “Of course I am. I was paying quite a bit of attention to your mouth—I mean, the words coming out of your mouth.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I ought to…”

“You’ve already thrown me off my boat and hooked me in my butt. What else can you do?”

“Maybe I should throw you off your boat again. The guys seemed to enjoy that.”

He pressed the tip of his finger to her collarbone. “You are not throwing me off my boat again, understand?”

He didn’t like the devilish grin on her face as she saluted. “Aye, aye, captain. Now turn around.”

He closed his eyes the moment her hands made contact. The lotion was cool on his hot skin, and it smelled light and airy. Her touch was soft and slow as she swirled the lotion on his shoulders. When she reached up to his neck, he felt goose bumps rise all over his body, accompanied by an involuntary sound coming from his throat.

“Remember when you used to rub my back when we went grocery shopping together?” he asked.

“Sure.”

“And when I made spaghetti sauce, I’d be at the stove and you’d just come up behind me and start doing what you’re doing now?”

“Yeah.”

She sounded noncommittal, so he added, “You couldn’t keep your hands off me, could you?”

And then he felt a big glob of lotion slide down his spine.

“Oops.” She cleared her throat. “Well, I did admit to being flaky back then, didn’t I?”

He squirmed as the lotion dripped lower. “I think I liked you better when you were flaky.” He could have sworn more lotion dripped down into his shorts.

“Why, because now I can resist your charms, and keep my hands off you? Because rubbing sunblock on you doesn’t have to be a sensual experience?”

More lotion puddled in his shorts. He would have complained, but she kept right on kneading his back with her fingers. He could live with the puddle, he supposed.

“Don’t you worry about becoming boring with all these rules and lists?” he asked.

“Boring? I’m not boring, I’m sensible. Like right now, it’s sensible to put lotion on you, since you can’t reach your back.”

“So what you’re doing now is strictly industrial?”

“Strictly. You think I’m enjoying this? Running my hands across your broad shoulders, feeling your biceps tighten beneath my touch, feeling all that smooth, warm skin and the way—” She cleared her throat again. “Turn around, and I’ll put some on your nose. You always did get a pink nose when you went fishing.”

He sat in the chair and positioned his face inches in front of hers. Those sparkling green eyes of hers met his, and her mouth went slack. That’s what happened right before she knew he was going to kiss her. And since he didn’t want to let her down, he decided to oblige. Her eyes widened, her mouth opened slightly. She wanted this kiss, too. His mouth was only a hair away from hers. A hair away from heaven.

And then she creamed him with a palm full of lotion. Her eyes were still wide and slightly startled, but she busied herself with smoothing in the lotion as though the most delicious experience wasn’t about to happen between them. He could smell the butter rum on her breath, speaking of delicious. Those sucking noises weren’t helping things, either. Her eyes were on his the whole time she smoothed on the lotion, rubbing it in over and over. He felt her finger run along that fine scar on his cheek the way she’d done a thousand times. The scent of her, the lotion and those candies, combined with her touch and close proximity were doing heady things to him. When was the last time he’d felt like this?

When he was married to her.

“Can I have one?” he asked, making her fingers stop.

“One what?”

“Candy.”

He could see it in her eyes, the memory of the times he’d asked for one when he really meant he wanted the very one in her mouth. He didn’t waste another second, didn’t want to lose the moment.

He leaned forward and moved his mouth against hers in a slow back and forth motion, testing the waters, seeing if there were any nibbles. Her eyes fluttered closed, and her mouth molded to his. Warm, sweet lips that were soft beneath his. She was going to have to break the kiss, because he wasn’t going to give her an out.

Somewhere in the logical part of his mind, he became aware of a cool sensation in his lap. He wasn’t cool down there, that was for sure. He pushed away those thoughts and focused on the heat of her mouth and the texture of her lips.

My, but she felt good, even this small bit of contact. He didn’t know where he was anymore, or why he was there. All he felt was her mouth against his, hers slightly open. When he inhaled, he tasted butter rum. Ah, that’s why he was there, to steal her candy.

He opened his mouth on the next kiss, pushing a little harder. She made a hoarse sound, and he wanted to capture it, swallow it. Her mouth opened to his so easily, almost as though she’d been anticipating this kiss as much as he had. The candy was anchored to the roof of her mouth, and he left it there for the time being. He slid his fingers up into her hair, his thumb grazing the edge of her ear. He felt her teeth scrape his tongue as he slid inside. She made another sound, and he moved closer and dived deeper inside her mouth.

Pure, sweet delight filled his senses. Not just the butter rum, but all the textures and tastes of her mouth, all the memories that assailed him. He even heard bells ringing as though a thousand angels blessed this kiss. He could feel the rise and fall of her chest, and realized he was breathing heavily, too. Her tongue traced the length of his, pausing at the tip before going down the other side. He could lose himself in her, but he’d come on a mission. His tongue scooped up the small, smooth ring.

He heard the bells again. Barking penetrated his consciousness, and then a little furball jumping up and down. With a sigh, he finished the kiss. “I see Samuel still barks when we kiss.” He’d done it since the first time he’d kissed Cassie in front of the little pipsqueak, and every time thereafter. And now he had Thor joining in.

She looked dazed, reminding him of the way she looked after they made love. She blinked, wavering a little before catching her balance.

“I…could have given you a new one,” she said in a light voice.

He positioned the ring on the tip of his tongue and stuck it out to show her. “I wanted thith one.”

She shifted her gaze to Samuel, who was jumping up and down between them. But her gaze went back to the front of his shorts, and a look of sheepish embarrassment washed away the daze. “Oh, my.”

“Well, Cass, you just do that to me.”

She lifted an eyebrow at him, trying hard to hide a grin. “I think you’d better look.”

The front of his shorts was covered in white sunblock. And at the same level, gripped in her fisted hands, was the incriminating bottle. As he’d kissed her, she’d been squeezing the bottle.

“Oops,” she said.

“Oops. Is that all you can say?”

“Sorry?” she offered with a shrug. “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t even realize I was doing it.”

He glanced around. A few of the guys were watching their little display, getting their chuckles at Dan’s expense. Great. Just great. When he turned back to her, she was staring at the white blob that at least camouflaged the effect of his desire. The only thing that mollified him was that she’d been so swept away by their kiss, she’d involuntarily squeezed the tube. She set the sunblock on the side of the boat and gave it a little pat.

Then she shook her head. “Dan, what are you—we doing?”

“Marveling at the condition of my crotch?”

“No! The other thing.”

“The kiss, you mean. Can’t you even say what it was?”

“All right, the kiss.”

“What about it?”

Her eyes grew wide. “It, er…I forgot what I was going to say.” She gave him a nudge. “That’s what I’m talking about. What are we doing here? This is crazy.”

“What’s your point?”

She gave him an exasperated look. “What are we doing?”

“If you mean right now, we’re standing here analyzing our current activity. If you’re talking about a minute ago, we were, uh, let’s see.” He moved closer and kissed her again, murmuring, “Ah yes, this is what we were doing. Had to refresh my memory.”

It felt just as wonderful the second time, even better when she sighed in surrender. He held her face in his hands, tilting it just right.

He heard bells again. Then Sammy’s yapping intruded, and little paws pushed against his legs. Dan nudged the pipsqueak away with his foot.

He blinked, feeling as though he’d just downed a six-pack of beer. “Maybe we should get some fresh air.”

“That’s all we’re getting.”

“Oh. Yeah.” He gave Sammy a pet on his head. “Does Sammy—Samuel bark when you kiss other guys?” He didn’t really want to know, but the question had popped out anyway.

She picked up the dog and nuzzled his head with her nose, looking at Dan through his hair. “He growls at the other guys.”

He wasn’t comfortable at all thinking about her kissing anyone else. Though he liked the growling part. He suddenly felt restless, and then remembered he’d been feeling that way before Cassie arrived. Since then, he hadn’t had that unnerving feeling he’d forgotten something. “Wanna go for a spin? We can stop at Biff’s Waterside Store and get you what you need for tonight.” And he’d pick up some condoms, just in case.

“Sure.”

“But first I’d better change into another pair of shorts. At this rate, I’m going to be naked by tomorrow morning.” He enjoyed her look of surprise before disappearing into the cabin.

A few minutes later, they were cruising. She watched all of the contestants studiously casting and reeling, but her thoughts were still back when Dan had kissed her something silly. She stole a glance at him, his hair slicked back from the wind, his gaze trained forward. Thornton was in position next to his captain, head up in the same way. Sammy twisted in her hold, and she put him down. He took a place next to Thornton and Dan, his head also poised. The blast of wind and thump of the waves beneath them coincided with the emotions twisting inside her.

She fought the desire to touch her fingers to her lips. Kissing Dan had always been nice, but now…wow. Maybe it was because she hadn’t been kissed like that for a long time. But it couldn’t happen again. And she still had that massage to give him. Good grief, why had she agreed to that, anyway? How was she supposed to maintain distance when she’d be touching his body? She’d lost her mind just putting sunblock on him.

They stopped at the little store on the water, where she picked up some necessary items. “Let me drive back to the island,” she said, feeling restless. At his questioning look, she added, “I know not to hit the pilings or go too close to the shoreline. What could happen?” Okay, it was impulsive, she knew that. Something about Dan brought that out in her.

He still looked skeptical, but nodded toward the keys in the ignition. She rubbed her hands together and turned it, then put the boat in reverse.

“Wait!”

He needn’t have mentioned it. The boat jerked to a stop, pulling the rope tethering it to the dock taut. He flailed his arms to keep his balance, which he barely managed.

“Okay, one little mistake. So shoot me. I promise I’ll be careful.”

He untied the boat and she continued backing up, mindful of the motor and proximity of the shoreline that harbored Australian pines. Several pelicans sat precariously on the thin branches. Dan stayed up by the bow, keeping a careful eye on the dock and pilings. She veered closer to the trees so he wouldn’t worry.

It couldn’t possibly be her fault that a pelican decided at that moment to get rid of its dinner. While Dan was beneath it. Could it?

White, watery stuff covered his bare shoulder and sprayed the side of the boat. She cut the motor and covered her mouth. “Oops.”

He didn’t move.

“At least it missed your hair.”

Mouth in a tight line, he finally met her gaze.

She put her hands on her hips. “Oh, and I suppose you think this is my fault?”

The boat drifted into the open water, caught in the current. He walked stiffly toward her. She put out her hands as he neared her.

“Come on, Dan. I didn’t mean for that to happen. You can’t think I did!”

He kept advancing.

“Ew, you smell like…fish. Don’t come near me. I’m warning you. I’m warning you…”

As she backed away from him, the boat came to a sudden stop. She didn’t have to warn him anymore; he’d gone sailing over the side of the boat.

“Dan!” She ran to the edge and saw not water, but sandy beach. The boat had run aground. He lay splayed out on the beach, waves washing up over him.

She jumped over the side and crouched beside him. He was staring up into the sky. “Dan, are you all right? Say something. Anything.”

He reached out and clamped onto her chin, pulling her closer. In a pained voice, he tried to speak. “You…”

“What? Tell me you’re all right. Say something.”

“You…are a lousy captain.”

Unable to hold her weight anymore, she found herself straddling his waist. He must be all right, she assured herself, or he wouldn’t be so mad at her.

“Actually, I’m an excellent captain.”

She used his surprise to get to her feet.

He propped himself up on his elbows. “You are kidding, aren’t you?”

“Nope.” She brushed sand off herself and moved closer to the boat. “I got all the pelican poop off you, and you didn’t have to lift one finger.”