anything back there?” he asked, sounding genuinely shocked. “You mean I’m doing all the work?”
“Work, schmerk.” She laughed. “You’re not working. You’re fishing, and I’m holding down the dock.”
And a damn fine dock it was. Jane was soaking it up, lying on this short expanse of hardwood jutting out into the Hanalei River. She could hear the surf breaking out in the bay, and if she turned her head just right, she could see where the fresh waters ran into the ocean.
A woman was paddling up the river, standing on a surfboard, with a little dog sitting at her feet along for the ride.
The day was gorgeous, absolutely sun-dappled, the heat made bearable by a languid breeze and the pitcher of ginger lemonade they’d brought down to the dock along with their lunch.
“Do we have any more cupcakes left?”
“You mean the little vanilla ones filled with mango mousse with the pineapple cream cheese frosting? Those cupcakes?” She turned her head the other way to look at him, and he glanced back over his shoulder with a grin.
“Yeah,” he said. “One of those.”
“Did you want one with the sprinkles on top?” He was so beautiful, his smile coming easier as the months had passed. He was wearing a pair of green and white swim shorts and a blue parrot shirt, unbuttoned and well worn, given to him by C. Smith Rydell for good luck.
Good luck for what? she’d asked him, and he’d just grinned. But she knew, in his job, every ounce of good anything helped to keep him safe.
He’d come home to Steele Street, and every day, in every way, the chop shop boys rallied around him. It did her heart good to see him back in the fold.
“With sprinkles, yes,” he said, a little warily.
“Oops, sorry, all gone.” She settled back onto her beach towel.
“How about one of the coconut macadamia nut cupcakes with the lime zest frosting?”
“Gone.” She made a little gesture with her hand, as if to say they’d all just disappeared.
“And the raspberry-filled poppyseed cupcakes with chocolate frosting?”
She shrugged her shoulders and adjusted her sunglasses on her face, and she waited.
“How about if I eat you for dessert?”
Rolling onto her side, she faced him with a grin. “I’ll race you to the house.”
He looked up the dock to the path leading through a lush forest of trees and vines and flowers.
“You’re on,” he said, and then he leaned over and kissed her, settling his mouth on hers and wrapping his arm around her waist, pulling her close—and Jane was in heaven.
She never would have guessed life could get as perfect as it had been since the night she’d spotted him on Wazee Street. The missions he went on with the other SDF guys were full of risks. The chop shop boys operated on the cutting edge of Special Ops. She knew that, but she wouldn’t have him be anything other than what he was: a soldier, a warrior, and hers.
The kiss was sweetly luxurious and led to the inevitable need they had for each other, for the intimacy they created and shared. His body was so hard to the touch, so strong. She loved being with him, making love with him, being his woman—and she was all his.
He slid down more fully beside her, and she intertwined her legs with his, feeling the heat rise between them. J. T. Chronopolous, the most dangerous man she’d ever met, made her feel safer than she’d ever been.
She snuggled in as close as she could get, loving the smell of him and the way he felt, like a slab of granite, except warm and vital. His hair was longer now, dark and starting to curl around the back of his neck. She loved the curve of his muscles and the strength in his arms and the stubble along his jaw.
After endless minutes of tasting his mouth and holding him close, she broke off the kiss and met his gaze.
“I’ve been thinking,” she said.
“What a coincidence.” J.T. grinned. “I’ve been thinking, too. What have you been thinking?”
“About my mom.”
He lifted his eyebrow in question, and she continued. “Carpenter, Wyoming, isn’t that far from Denver, a couple of hours, and it’s been a while since I’ve seen her.”
“That’s a good idea, babe.” To go up and see her mother, a woman named Leona.
Half a smile curved her mouth for a moment, then faded. “You might want to withhold judgment until you’ve been there, until you’ve met her. She and the guy