Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
Maddy hurried down the dock as fast as she could go without risking sloshing any coffee out of the lid. A warm glow spread through her when she saw Lachlan bent over in the front of the zodiac.
He wore a black V-neck sweater under his bright orange flotation suit pants with suspenders, and a navy knit cap. The day was bright and crisp and there was a certain magic in the air, as if anything were possible.
“Ahoy there.”
He looked over at her, and it felt like something sank through her ribcage and clamped around her heart. The smile he gave her made her insides turn gooey. “Hi there.” He eyed the cup in her hand. “Is that for me again?”
“Maybe.”
He hopped out onto the dock to meet her, stared down into her eyes, and all she could think about was the way he’d hugged her last night. How she’d wanted to burrow in closer and stay in the circle of his strong arms for hours.
And how she’d wanted more than a hug when he’d let go.
“You’re spoiling me,” he murmured, green eyes twinkling as he accepted the cup.
“It’s the least I could do after you manhandled that desk to my new place.” She eyed the breadth of his shoulders, the swells of muscles under the sweater across his chest and upper arms.
No wonder that hug had felt so amazing. Or that she wanted to see him without a shirt on and run her hands over him.
“You sore today?”
“Little bit,” he said with a wry twitch of his lips. “I’m not in the kind of shape I used to be in, but I had a soak in the hot tub last night and that helped.”
He looked like he was in plenty good shape to her. She couldn’t imagine the punishing fitness and training level he’d had to sustain during his time in the military. “You have a hot tub?”
“You don’t remember? It’s out on the back deck overlooking the water.”
No, she didn’t remember. She didn’t remember much at all from that night, thanks to all the chocolate martinis she’d consumed. “It was dark. I never looked outside.”
“I gave you a tour. Because you asked for one.” Humor glinted in his eyes.
“Oh.” Of course her drunk ass had.
His gaze strayed to her left, down toward the edge of the dock, and a smile tugged at his mouth. It had been a long time since she’d fantasized about kissing anyone, but it had been all she’d been able to think about when she’d been lying in bed. And now.
“Come see this,” he said.
Curious, she followed him to a ninety-degree angle in the dock where a short jetty stuck out. Lachlan knelt down and pointed a little way out. “There. See it?”
Maddy followed his finger, saw something small moving through the water toward them. “What is it?”
“Oscar.”
Who? Maddy moved to the edge of the dock to peer into the clear green water, gave a little gasp of delight when she saw the little creature more clearly. “Oh, a sea otter?”
“Yep. He’s been showing up here almost every day for the past few weeks. Come crouch down here next to me, and we’ll see if he wants to visit.”
She did, captivated as the animal swam right up to them. His little brown head popped through the surface, dark eyes fixed on them and his long whiskers full of water droplets.
Somehow she held back her squeal of delight, her fingers itching to reach out and rub his damp fur. That level of cuteness should be illegal.
“Hey, Oscar. What’s up, buddy?” Lachlan asked.
Oscar turned his long body sideways so it was parallel to the jetty and rolled onto his back, watching them.
After a moment he reached his little paws down his tummy and pulled something out of the water.
He shifted the white object around for a moment, then plunked it down on the plank in front of her.
She blinked at the little rock. “What’s he doing?”
“He’s showing you his favorite rock. You should be honored. He only shows it to people he likes, and he’s never met you before.”
It was probably only because Lachlan was next to her, but she’d take it. “His favorite rock?”
“Otters carry their favorite rock in a little pouch in their fur. They use it to crack open sea urchins, clams, mussels and whatever.”
A smile spread across her face. “I didn’t know that. I’m flattered.” She didn’t care if the look on her face was ridiculous, he was the cutest thing she’d ever seen.
Oscar kept floating there on his back, seemed to be watching her expectantly.
“Am I supposed to pick it up?” she asked, not understanding the protocol.
“I think he’d be offended if you didn’t.”
Utterly charmed, she picked up the little white rock in her fingers and turned it over. “It’s beautiful, Oscar. What a nice rock. Thank you for showing me.”
“You can hand it back to him.”
She glanced up, saw that Lachlan was filming her with his phone. She stretched out her arm to offer the rock. Oscar watched her for a moment, then snatched the rock back in his little paws and tucked it into his pouch.
She couldn’t stop grinning. “I feel like I might die from the cuteness.”
Lachlan chuckled. “Oh, trust me, he knows exactly how cute he is, and he uses it to his advantage at every opportunity. We try not to feed him because we don’t want to interfere with his ability to gather food on his own or make him reliant on humans, but he’s been known to get plenty of treats from the fishermen. ”
Maybe because he realized that no treats were forthcoming from either of them, Oscar disappeared back under the surface, returning to his mysterious ocean domain with barely a ripple in the water. “Well, that’s already going to be the highlight of my day. Anything else is gonna pale in comparison.”
“I’m gonna try to change your mind about that.” Lachlan reached a hand down for her.
She grasped it, let him draw her to her feet, a thrill shooting through her when that now familiar heat flowed up her arm and down into her belly.
His gaze fixed on something behind her. “There’s the rest of our party. Come aboard and get your suit on while I finalize the waivers and do the safety briefing.”
It felt routine now. Comfortable as she slipped on the bright orange pants and jacket while everyone else came aboard.
She was just doing up the zipper on the jacket when a hose started running close by.
She jerked upright and whipped around, her heart shooting into her throat. But it was just Lachlan on the dock rinsing the side of the boat.
Maddy turned away fast so he couldn’t see her face. Shut her eyes and focused on trying to breathe because her nervous system was convinced she was about to undergo more torture.
Pinpricks of heat and then a blast of cold hit her, turning her legs weak.
She sat sideways on a straddle seat before her knees could give out.
Stared out at the blurry marina and fought to regain control.
Did everything she could think of to stop the full-on panic attack from happening here in front of Lachlan and a bunch of strangers.