“Can you swim?” he yelled, still prepared to jump in after her.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She focused her attention on Lady, who was at Gabe’s side barking excitedly and wagging her tail as if trying to kick up a wind storm. “Bad dog,” she said and then she laughed.

“Very bad dog,” Gabe agreed. “Go lie down.”

He pointed to the back of the boat where Beau was still sleeping.

Lady refused to be chastised. She bounced around on the front seat and then leaped over the side to join Melanie’s fun.

“I lost your pole,” Melanie said as she paddled around to the back of the boat where there was a ledge and a ladder.

“I don’t care about the goddamned pole. I just don’t want to lose you.”

“Don’t worry, I’m a good swimmer,” she called from the water. “My parents made sure of it.”

He remembered that her little brother had drowned, so it made sense that her parents had made sure she could swim. He silently praised them for their overprotectiveness. He felt a bit of it himself. Even though she sucked at fishing, this woman was precious to him. If something happened to her… He shook off the thought, not wanting to even think about the possibility.

Lady swam beside Melanie, obviously thinking they were having some sort of race. Lady showed off her impressive water-dog breeding by swimming laps around the human. Crazy dog. Gabe was going to have to keep her on a leash if she refused to behave.

After Melanie reached the back of the boat and hefted herself onto the diving platform, Gabe grabbed her by her upper arms and hauled her on board. He probably should have teased her about being graceless and a poor fisherman, but all he could do was wrap her in both arms and hold her dripping body securely against his.

He rubbed his lips against her forehead, “You scared me,” he murmured. “Don’t ever fall off my boat again.”

“I think you need to take that up with your dog.”

He looked down at the beast in question, now sitting in the seat next to Beau and making a huge puddle. Tongue flopping in and out of her wide mouth as she panted, Lady met his eyes, her head cocked to one side as if to say, Well, that was fun, what next? It was really hard to stay mad at the damned dog.

“Do you have a towel?” Melanie asked. She pulled away from him and twisted the hem of her tank top, splattering his bare feet with cool water.

“Yeah.”

He released her, begrudgingly, and pulled a towel from a compartment under one of the bench seats.

“I lost one of my shoes,” Melanie said, peering down at one bare foot.

He wrapped her in the huge beach towel and then hugged her against him again. He heard his line take off as a fish took his bait, but he ignored it. His need to hold Melanie far outweighed his desire to catch fish. There was another splash, and Gabe sighed when he caught sight of a length of black fur swimming in the water again.

“I think you have a bite,” Melanie said.

“Mmm hmm.” He drew her closer.

“And Lady is in the water again.”

“Yep.” He rubbed her back through the towel, wishing they were alone and naked, entwined in each other’s arms.

“I’m okay, Gabe,” she said. “Honest.”

He kissed her deeply just to make sure.

A very wet dog interrupted their kiss by dropping something cold and soggy on Gabe’s foot. Startled—because there was no telling what Lady had fished out of the water—he jerked away and looked down at Melanie’s lost shoe.

“You found my shoe!” Melanie cried out, dropping to her knees to give Lady an appreciative scratch behind the ears. “Good girl.” Lady licked Melanie’s face before she could escape the dog’s wide tongue. Melanie only laughed and rubbed Lady’s head some more.

Lady was so pleased with herself that she picked up the shoe, carried it to the back of the boat, and commenced chewing. In less than half a minute, Melanie’s cute canvas shoe was in shreds.

Gabe slapped himself in the forehead. “Shit, Mel, I’m sorry. Bad dog!”

Melanie just laughed. “Finders keepers, losers weepers. I’ll just have to gnaw on one of her chew toys when we get back to your house.”

He was glad his woman was so laid back and, well, nice. Not to mention nice to look at. When she lifted the towel to dry her hair, he couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering to the wet tank top clinging distractingly to her round breasts.

“You should probably get your fish,” she said, apparently oblivious to the turn his thoughts had taken. Or maybe she thought he needed a distraction to keep him from tackling her to the deck and having his way with her.

While she worked at getting herself partially dried, Gabe reeled in his line, glad that the fish had stolen his bait and escaped. He didn’t feel much like fishing anymore. He felt like getting lost in Melanie. Maybe it was time to head home.

Something damp smacked him in the back of the head. He peeled Melanie’s wet tank top off his neck and spun to look at her. She was wrapped in the towel, but knowing that she was half naked beneath it did tent-like things to the front of his shorts.

She wriggled beneath the towel, squatted down, and then sent her wet shorts sailing in his direction. He caught them in one hand.

“Would you mind spreading those out to dry?” she asked.

He dropped her wet clothes in a small heap on the deck and took two steps in her direction.

“Gabe,” she said, one hand extended, “don’t look at me like that.”

Like what? Like he wanted to devour her whole? Like he was about to shove her down on the deck and fuck her until she screamed his name? How was he looking at her exactly? She couldn’t expect him to behave when his emotions were on high and she was in nothing but her bra and panties beneath a towel. Especially when they were in this secluded cove that happened to be void of all humans except for the two of them.

“Take your panties off,” he said.

“I was just going to let those dry on my body,” she said.

“Take them off.” He knocked his cowboy hat off his head as he mindlessly shed his shirt.

“Gabe, I’m not going to take my panties off.”

He took another step closer and reached for her, pulling her against him. “Do you want me to rip them off you?”

He reached inside her towel and caught the top of her panties in one hand and gave them a sharp tug. She stared up at him as if in a trance.

“Do you?” He lowered his hand so that his middle finger slid into her cleft.

Her mouth dropped open in shock.

“Where’s your daring, Mel?” he asked, fisting his hand in her panties and stopping just short of ripping the fabric. “You’ll come for me in the bathroom at work, but not here?”

Her fingertips slid down his belly, bumping over muscles on their way to the elastic at the waist of his shorts.

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” she whispered.

She tugged the front of his shorts down, scraping the entire length of his cock until it sprang free between them. She slid her hand between his legs to cup his heavy balls in her palm. He gasped as she massaged them gently. The fear of pain—should she get a little too rough with those overly sensitive parts—fueled his excitement.

He tried to lower her panties, but he was immobilized by the feel of her hand fondling him, exciting him. Driving him mad with need.

“You didn’t think I’d do this here, did you?” she said in that sultry voice she used when they were being naughty on the phone. “Touch you like this? Want you to touch me in the same way?”

“Thanks for being full of surprises,” he said breathlessly.

She grinned at him, tossed the towel over her head to hide her face, and began a slow descent, sucking kisses down the center of his chest, his belly, and lower. She dropped to her knees, her head and upper body still hidden beneath the towel, and grasped his throbbing cock in one hand. When her soft wet tongue began to dance over the head of his cock, he groaned in bliss.