Kara Lennox - The Good Father

Allie grinned. “Not that I know of.” She dropped her voice. “But Cooper and I decided to try. I don’t know how it will work, with the charter business and all, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

Jane grasped both of her friend’s hands. “Oh, Allie, I’m so excited for you. Work should never stand in the way of having a family, if that’s what you really want.”

“Hey, if we have a kid, at least you, me and Sara can trade off babysitting.”

“It’s a definite plus, having friends who are so generous as you and Sara have been.”

“So you want to leave Kaylee here for the night?”

The possibility had never occurred to Jane, and she must have looked confused, because Allie hastened to explain.

“Cooper and I decided since it’s a late night, we would sleep on the boat like we did in the old days. We could watch Kaylee for you, too-that way you won’t have to wake her up when we get back to port.”

Jane was undeniably tempted. Not that she ever begrudged spending time with Kaylee, but she also occasionally needed grown-up time.

But then a thought occurred to her. “Did Max put you up to this?”

“Max?” Allie looked puzzled. “Why would he…” Then she gasped. “You and Max?”

Oh, hell. She’d given it away, and so easily.

“Uh…well…”

“I knew there was something going on with you two.” Allie bounced up and down like a little kid. “That cinches the deal. Cooper and I will take care of Kaylee tonight, and you and Max can be alone.”

“That’s not…I mean, we haven’t-”

“Cooper is going to be so happy. Now that he and Reece have discovered the joys of matrimony, they both think Max-”

“Whoa, stop right there. Slow down, Allie. I’ll admit, Max and I have become more than friends. But you can’t tell anyone. It’s touchy-he’s my boss. And Kaylee-we don’t want Kaylee to know.”

Allie looked puzzled. “Why not? The two of them are priceless together.”

“That’s just it. If they get too close and it doesn’t work out-”

“Why wouldn’t it work out?”

Jane let out an exasperated breath. “So many reasons. Neither of us want Max to become a father figure to Kaylee because we don’t want her hurt. Please, Allie, trust me on this one.”

“Okay, sweetie.” Allie gave her a hug. “But leave Kaylee with us for the night. At least take a night off for yourself. You work so hard. Have you found a place to live yet?”

“Yes, but I can’t move in until October.”

“You can stay in our spare bedroom…for as long as you need.”

Jane was so lucky to have such good friends. Sara and Carol had both offered, too. “Thanks, Allie. All right, keep Kaylee for the night.”

Allie clapped her hands. “Yes, I get to keep Flipper!”

“Be sure and lock the hatch-and take the key. She’s very good with doors and latches.”

Allie held up her hand. “I will, promise. Now, go find your guy and invite him over. He’s yours for the night.”

They reached the harbor a few minutes later. Max was helping Sara pack up the leftovers; Carol was picking up a few remaining plastic cups and empty beer cans.

“Your party was an unqualified success,” Jane said to Carol, who beamed with pride.

“I told you it would work out. And I hardly went over budget at all.”

“Yeah, we’ll talk about that later,” Max said, but his voice held more teasing than warning. It was good to see him so happy. Maybe the agency had turned a corner, and that worry line between his eyebrows would disappear for good.

“I can get the rest of this, Max,” Sara said. “You should go home and get some sleep.”

Not if Jane could help it.

The brazenness of her thoughts surprised her, but Allie was right-she did need a grown-up night, away from kids, some place where she could forget budgets and deadlines, where she could stop worrying about the future and live in the now.

Max must have sensed something was up, because he stopped in the middle of tying the top of a garbage bag and looked straight at Jane. “Where’s Kaylee?”

“Asleep in the V-berth. Allie and Cooper have kidnapped her for the night.”

He nodded. “Ah. Ahh.” He leaned closer and whispered, “Do they know, too?”

Jane sighed. “Everybody knows, Max. And they all think it’s just so cute.” She rolled her eyes. Didn’t Allie and Cooper remember how complicated it was for them to get together? And Sara and Reece-he had to change his whole life to be with her. But, no, both of her best friends were in newlywed la-la land.

Just because two people “looked cute” together didn’t mean they could just live happily ever after.

“Stop obsessing,” he said firmly. “So they know. That means we don’t have to be secretive anymore.”

“It also means Kaylee knows, or she will shortly.”

“Kaylee? She’s just a baby.”

“A baby who picks up on everything. If everyone around us has sensed it, she has, too. Which might explain her attachment to you.”

The Dragonfly had docked, and everyone was getting off. Max grabbed the garbage bag and quickly finished tying it closed. Reece and Sara were negotiating the gangway with Sara’s many containers of food and utensils.

“My purse is below deck,” Jane said. Then added cautiously, “See you in a few?”

He gave her a look that nearly ignited her on the spot. “Absolutely.”

Struggling for breath, she went below to grab her purse. Allie was straightening up the galley.

“Thanks again,” Jane said.

“My pleasure. But tomorrow I want details.”

“Allie…don’t say anything to Kaylee about me and Max. Okay?”

Allie smiled. “She already knows.”

That was what Jane was afraid of.

The evening had cooled off, and she shivered slightly as she made her way down Cooper and Allie’s dock to her own, wondering how long before Max returned to her. She could hear voices from the parking lot as people said their last good-nights.

As she turned the key to open the Princess II ’s hatch, something moved in the shadows on deck. She gasped-until she realized it was Max. “You scared me.”

“That’s not the reaction in you I’m looking for.” He pressed her shoulders against the still-closed hatch and claimed her mouth with his, after which nothing else seemed to matter. The keys dropped from Jane’s limp hand, and she wrapped her arms around Max’s firm body and gave in completely.

As Allie had said, Max was her man…for this night, anyway.

Max cupped her bottom with one hand while the other slid inside her shirt at her waist, caressing the bare skin on her back and sending delicious shivers reverberating through her body like ripples from a stone dropped into a still pond.

He tore his mouth from hers, breathing heavily. “Maybe we better take this inside.”

“I dropped the keys.” She almost sobbed.

“I’ll find them.” He lowered himself slowly to the deck, skimming her body with his hands as he went down, tracing his fingers down her bare legs and placing a soft kiss on her thigh before feeling around on the deck.

What if they’d bounced into the water?

“Got ’em.”

Relieved, she stood aside and let him open the hatch. She walked down the three steps, her legs shaking. The hatch had scarcely latched behind them when she was in his arms again.

They started toward her cabin, leaving a trail of clothing as they kissed and caressed one step at a time, but they never actually made it there. Jane found herself on the sofa in the salon, but that proved too small and they ended up on the carpet.

She couldn’t get enough of the feel of his skin and his hair, long enough that she could grab handfuls of it. He smelled like citrus and his skin tasted faintly of salt from being out on the ocean.