Lauren Dane - The Best Kind of Trouble

Mary smiled up at him, patting his arm. “I can handle it. Now go. Have a good time and use a condom!”

He found himself blushing and felt better when Damien cracked up.

* * *

NATALIE GAVE HERSELF one last look in the mirror in the staff bathroom. The earrings made her smile. Like a little bit of Tuesday was going on the date with her.

Date. With Paddy Hurley. She was so stupid.

And yet there she was, freshening her lipstick and finger-combing her hair. “Time to go,” she told herself in the mirror before she waved goodbye to her coworkers and headed out to the sidewalk.

Where she heard the purr of an engine and knew it was him before the deep green classic car pulled into view.

He pulled up and shook his head so hard when she moved to open her door that she drew back as he got out.

“Wait!” He came around.

“Is it broken?”

Paddy snorted. “No. But my manners aren’t, either. First things first.” He took a long look up and down, and she was glad she’d worn the heels. “You look pretty. I want to say more, but I don’t know if I should.”

“Well, now you have me nervous.”

He kissed her then. Nothing really untoward, a quick peck smack-dab on the lips. But those traitorous lips tingled and his scent was in her by that point. He wore cologne, which seemed odd, but it was nice. Sexy and masculine without being overwhelming.

He hadn’t had a beard all those years before. She liked the slight scratch of it.

Paddy opened the door and indicated she get in. She managed to do so without showing her underpants or looking too ungraceful.

He got in just a second or two later and pulled away from the curb.

“You have great legs and cute toes.”

He said this as his attention was on the road, so he didn’t catch her blush.

“Um. Thanks.” God, did he have a foot fetish or something weird? She thought back on their time and flushed, a sweat breaking out. Okay, so that was unwise because he was really supergood at sexy stuff. But he hadn’t seemed unnaturally interested in her feet.

“Where are we headed?”

“My boat. I figured we could have dinner out on the deck. It’s such a nice night and it’ll be light until so late. I’ll take us away from the marina. I know a nice little stretch just east of here. Deserted, so we’ll be able to see the sunset and I’ll have you all to myself. But not in an it rubs the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again way.”

She burst out laughing. “Did you just quote Silence of the Lambs at me? Serial killer dialogue meant to reassure me?”

He cursed under his breath, and she reached out to pat his arm to reassure him. “I know it was a joke. Really. I’m more concerned you have a foot fetish than with you being a serial killer.”

“Foot fetish?”

“The toes comment? I mean, look, if it floats someone’s boat, more power to them. But I can’t even get a pedicure because people touching my feet weirds me out.”

“Note to self, don’t try to paint Nat’s toenails.” He turned with a grin on his face. “We’re both being way more nervous than we need to be.”

“Yeah. Probably.”

“I like cute toes when they’re painted and looking great in nice high heels. I don’t want to lick them or anything. Yours would probably be worth it. But I can control my baser urges.”

He parked at the marina, which was less than five minutes from the library, and walked her down the row, heading to a rather impressive boat.

“So, what’s that? Fifty-footer? Nice.”

“Someone knows her way around boats. I like to go fishing with my brothers and our friends. In the summer, if we’re here and not out on tour, we can watch fireworks from the water. Have dinner out here. It’s a good thing to have. You’re okay with boats, right? No seasickness or anything?”

“I love being out on the water. My grandparents had a boat. Sometimes, as I was growing up, we’d go out on it. They lived on Lake Washington.”

“Oh, Seattle locals?”

“Medina.” Her grandparents had lived in a mansion with a sloping lawn to the lake where their yacht had been moored. Too bad they paid more attention to the lawn and their things than what their spoiled son got up to.

He held her forearm as she got on the boat.

“Oooh, swanky. What brought a rich girl from Medina to a shithole bar in Portland?”

“They’re the rich ones.” She blew it off, not wanting to get into it. She was rich, too, but it was their house and their lifestyle. The guilt would start if she thought about it too long. Guilt and anger and all the stuff she knew didn’t belong to her, but she felt it, anyway.

He let her avoid the topic. “Come on, then. Let me get ready. Have a seat up there. Once we’re away from the marina, I’ll crack open some champagne.”

She watched him, the sun behind his head highlighting him like a freaking angel. He was confident there at the wheel. Hands steady, sunglasses shielding his eyes and rendering him even more attractive.

* * *

THE TIME IT took to get away from the marina to the cove where they finally ended up had allowed her to get herself together and shove all that stuff about her family far away.

He handed her a glass. “Now, what should we toast to? New beginnings? Old times?”

“Dinner.”

He smirked and clinked his glass to hers. “That’s a good start. Come on over and sit while I work.”

She managed to climb down and finally just bent to undo the shoes. Yes, they had been cute and sexy but walking barefoot was easier on a boat than in heels. “Hope you don’t mind,” she said when she caught him looking at her.

“I don’t mind at all. They’re sexy heels, I can’t lie. But I like you making yourself comfortable on my boat even more. I’m hoping your skirt blows up enough for me to see if you’ve still got those bows on the backs of your thighs.”

He’d licked her tattoos a time or three, if she remembered correctly. And she knew she did because it would be impossible to forget a man like Paddy Hurley licking the skin at the top of your thighs and then giving your ass cheeks a sharp nip. She shivered and was proud of the way her voice didn’t betray how breathless he rendered her. “Those’d be some powerful gusts. The breeze isn’t that strong and the dress is long enough to defeat what we’ve got now.”

He looked back over his shoulder at her. “So, the bright red bows are still there?”

“I hear tattoo removal is pretty painful.”

“Shame. Maybe I can see them later. Or next date you can wear a shorter skirt.”

“Don’t get your hopes up. I have to bend and kneel all the time at work. Parents in Hood River tend to frown upon librarians flashing their panties at the library.”

He groaned. “You’re a wicked tease, Natalie.”

He made her laugh. She hadn’t expected to feel so relaxed with him. But she did. This was dangerous ground, but she couldn’t help herself. Flirting with him was fun. And...it was easy because things just flowed between them.

He shook his head at her, still smiling. “Be right back. I need to put something in the oven and the microwave.” He dashed down to the galley, and she contented herself looking out over the water. She loved being out on the water, but it had been years since she’d been on a boat. The last time had been when Tuesday had scattered Eric’s ashes.

He popped back up a few minutes later. “Need a refill? I have juice and sparkling water, too, if you prefer.”

Champagne was one of her favorite things, so on the rare occasions she did drink, she loved it. However, she needed to go easy because Paddy was like three glasses on an empty stomach just by existing.

“I’ll have more when we eat.”