Chapter 21 #2
“I don’t know how I’ll survive until next June when I can put a second ring on your finger,” he said when they came up for air.
“That’s a formality, Dan. As far as I’m concerned, we’re already married in all the ways that matter most.”
“I thought you said—”
“Forget I said that. I’d never, ever want you to feel insecure about me or us.”
“I don’t. Not really.”
Those two little words he added on at the end exposed the truth.
She took him by the face and stared into his glorious eyes. “I will never, ever, ever do to you what she did.”
“And I will never, ever hook up with one of your sisters the way he did.”
“Please don’t have those worries until June. I’d hate to think of you feeling like that between now and then.”
“I’ll try not to.”
“I know I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating—I’m sort of glad now that Kelly hooked up with Matt, and that your ex did your best man before the wedding. Both of those awful things led us to exactly where we belong—with each other. And nothing has ever been like this for me.”
“Me either, baby.” Burying his face in her hair, he held her tight, seeming to breathe her in.
“Now that we have that resolved, can we please do something about this office of yours?”
“If you insist.”
“I do.” Kara got up from his lap and tugged at his hand to bring him with her. Dropping to her knees in front of one of the open boxes, she started taking things out.
“Thanks for the help, babe.”
“Happy to do it.”
“Now, about those strippers…”
“Shut up, Dan, and get to work.”
Chief of Police Blaine Taylor paced from one end of Naughty & Nice to the other, full of barely contained rage as he waited for his wife to finish a customer transaction that she seemed to be dragging out.
Or so it seemed to him. He could not believe what he’d just heard over coffee at the South Harbor Diner with Adam McCarthy and Joe Cantrell.
Strippers? Male strippers? Were they out of their goddamned minds?
The customer finally left the store, and Blaine pounced on Tiffany. “You want to tell me what the hell you’re thinking hiring male strippers to perform at Jenny’s party?”
“Hi, honey.” Wearing a cheerful smile, she came around the counter to hug and kiss him.
When she would’ve pulled back, he anchored her to him with an arm around her waist. He wanted to rage and scream and protest, but she was pregnant with his baby, and he’d never do anything to hurt or upset her.
“Don’t try to use your considerable charms on me, Mrs. Taylor,” he growled. “Answer the question.”
“A, I did not hire strippers. Sydney is Jenny’s matron of honor, so you’ll need to take this up with her.” She batted her eyes at him. “I’m just an invited guest.”
“What’s B?”
She thought about that for a second. “No B. Just an A. I had nothing to do with it.”
“I don’t believe that for one second. In fact, I happen to believe this whole thing was your idea.”
“Why, Blaine, whatever are you inferring about your wife?”
“That she’s an operator of the highest order, and if anyone knows where to get male strippers, it’s the island’s sex-toy queen.”
“I’m offended by the implication.”
“But you’re not denying it, are you?”
She tightened her lips as she looked up at him, seeming to be deciding how much she should say. “Out of fear of self-incrimination, I’d like to plead the Fifth.”
Though he was seriously concerned about this harebrained plan of theirs, he couldn’t help but laugh at that. She was so damned cute and so damned sexy—never more so than she’d been since conceiving his baby.
“Listen to me,” he said sternly when he was done laughing. “You need to let me run background checks on these guys. I’m dead serious, Tiff. You have no idea who they are or where they’re coming from. What if they have criminal records?”
As she patted his chest, he sensed condescension coming his way. “Don’t worry about that. Sydney and Abby went through a reputable agency to hire them.”
He put his hand on top of his head, fearing it was going to blow off at any second. “This is not happening.”
“Blaine, honey, take a deep breath. It’s all in good fun. Who deserves a big blowout of a sendoff more than Jenny does? After all she’s been through… Come on. You wouldn’t do anything to ruin that for her, would you?”
“You’re doing that thing you do…”
“What thing?”
“With your eyes. You think if you look at me that way, I’ll melt into putty at your feet.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you don’t,” he said with a laugh.
“Promise me you won’t mess with Jenny’s surprise.”
“I don’t know if I can make that promise.”
She leaned in so her lips were brushing against his ear. “If you do,” she said in a husky whisper, “I’ll suck your dick until you explode down my throat later.”
“Motherfucker,” he muttered. He was no match for her. He never had been, but damn, he loved her anyway.
To make her point completely, she cupped his suddenly rock-hard erection and dragged her fingernail over the full length of him, making him shudder from the effort it took not to come in his pants like a horny teenager.
“Promise?”
“I promise not to do anything to screw with Jenny’s party. You, on the other hand…”
“You may screw with me to your heart’s content.”
“Oh, I will. You’d better be ready when I get home tonight to pay up on that promise you made.”
“I’d never renege on a promise to you.”
He tightened the arm he had around her. “I want one other promise from you.”
“What’s that?”
“You will not touch those strippers or let them touch you, or I won’t be responsible for my actions. You got me?”
“Yes, dear.”
“Are you pacifying me?”
“Would I do that?”
“You absolutely would.”
She smiled up at him, her eyes twinkling with mirth. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, even when you’re manipulating me.”
“I’ll make it well worth your while tonight.” She gave his hard cock an extra squeeze for good measure.
“You’re really going to make me walk around in this condition all day?”
“What would you have me do about it?”
Though he was on duty and absolutely shouldn’t do this, he released her, strode to the door, locked it and put the Closed for Fifteen Minutes sign in the window. Then he took hold of her hand and half-walked, half-dragged her to the back of the store.
“Blaine,” she said on a nervous laugh. “I’m working here. You can’t just—”
Pressing her against the same wall that had hosted one of their very first encounters, he kissed the words right off her lips.
His hand worked its way under her skirt, where he encountered a tiny string thong, the kind that never failed to turn him into a stark raving lunatic whenever he saw it wedged between her sweet cheeks.
He pushed it out of his way and sank two fingers into her.
She turned her face to break the kiss and drew in a sharp breath.
He froze. “That didn’t hurt, did it?”
“God, no. Don’t stop.”
Keeping her anchored to the wall with the tight press of his body, he used his free hand to open his uniform pants. This was madness. He was on duty. He was the goddamned chief of police about to fuck his smoking-hot pregnant wife against a wall in her store in the middle of his shift.