ToServeAndProtect (24 page)

“Becca,” he said. “Ouch!”

“Who’s Becca?” Dawn asked. “You can’t say another
women’s name at a time like this.”

“Is that Dawn?” Dustin asked.

“I wasn’t. Becca is Dustin’s neighbor,” Tyson said,
grabbing for Dawn before she moved away.

“Shit, Tyson, you work fast,” Dustin said and then
laughed.

“I think we’ve both lost our heads on this one.”

“Dustin, who’s Becca?” Dawn hollered while she
struggled. Tyson kept her from wiggling away.

“What a piece of work, this one is,” Tyson said to
Dustin. “Lied right to my face again.”

“Don’t you mean piece of ass and I haven’t lied.” She
reached for the phone. “But you obviously have. How many are in your harem?”

“One night together, and she’s acting like a jealous
wife.”

“You’d know,” Dustin said.

Dawn grabbed the phone as Tyson caught her around the
waist. “I hope you’re taking care of Mickey,” Dawn said as Tyson moved her onto
his lap. “So who’s Becca?”

“Nothing to worry about,” Dustin said without a trace
of deception detectable in his voice. “Has a face like a horse, no body.”

“What was Tyson thinking?” Her laugh was interrupted
as Tyson’s hands moved hotly down her body. “Can’t talk,” she said and dropped
the phone.

“Call you back,” Tyson said into the phone but Dustin
had already disconnected.

“Any luck?” Dustin asked Carrie after he hung up.

“There’re lots of moving companies that begin with B,”
she said, looking at the yellow pages. “Bekins, B&B, but nothing that
sounds or looks like Bradford’s.” She smiled wide and grabbed the yellow
highlighter. “Detective?” she said, beaming a bright smile at him. “Redford Moving and Freight.”

Dustin crossed to the counter and jotted down the
number. “You’ve got the right idea.” He picked up the phone and dialed the
number. Hopefully they had a truck with Roslyn’s belongings still in holding.

Carrie closed the phone book at the same time he hung
up with the moving company. “Yes! They’re the one.” He stood while still
writing on a yellow legal pad. “Thanks for the help,” he said to Carrie. He
frowned, looking at his watch. He’d been longer than expected. “Thanks again,”
he said as he left and headed back to the room.

Assuming the room would be dead bolted, he knocked.
When McKenna didn’t answer his stomach clenched. Quickly inserting his keycard,
he then entered the room.

“Mickey?” A flash of fear zipped through him. Nothing
appeared out of the ordinary. “McKenna?” If the Marino’s had been in the room,
he figured they’d have the fight of their lives getting McKenna to go quietly.

He set his papers on the table by the balcony door and
saw the note.
Where’s Waldo? Look straight toward the sea. Hint: he’s
wearing a yellow bikini.
Dustin went out onto the balcony and let his eyes
slowly scan from the sidewalk toward the water looking for blonde hair and a
yellow two-piece. Half way down the sand, he saw her lying on her stomach.
Black sunglasses, skin shimmering in the sun, and blonde hair dancing in the
breeze.

Shit, the Marino’s were in town and they had a new
lead. Focus should be on the case and not lying on the beach and frolicking in
the surf. But stress and worry had McKenna wrapped tight. Instead of tracking
down the next lead or scoping out the area for the Marino’s, he changed from
the dress shirt he was wearing into the beach print, short-sleeved shirt
McKenna had hung from the railing. Long, cargo shorts to cover his scar, a
towel from the bathroom, and he was off to join her.

Stopping at the vending machines, he grabbed two cans
of soda and two bags of chips, lunch.

McKenna became increasingly annoyed as the afternoon
progressed. She’d lost her place in the book three times because she kept
looking back at the shirt. Distracted with wondering what was keeping Dustin,
she gave up and put the book down.

Straightening her towel, and fluffing her pillow, she
flipped onto her belly. Picking the book back up she tried to start the same
paragraph for the fourth time. Before she could reach the end of the page, she
glanced at the balcony. She sat up and her breath caught. The shirt was gone.
She made a shield above her eyes with her hand. First, she looked to make sure
the shirt hadn’t simply blown away. Not seeing it, her heart beat a little
faster. If Dustin had returned, he’d come looking for her. Quickly, she picked up
the book and tried to appear engrossed in the story.

For a few minutes, she listened intently, not wanting
to be caught watching for him. As she was about to turn around, Dustin laid out
his towel next to hers. “Couldn’t wait for me?”

“I was growing old in the room. Hollywood Hotties on
pay-per-view isn’t my thing.” She propped her elbows up on the pillow.

“Nice.” His glance caressed her bare shoulders, down
her cleavage, and her nipples puckered. A quiver fluttered in her tummy as his
gaze wandered lower. “Here,” he said, handing her the chips and soda. “Thought
you might be hungry.”

“Thanks.” She opened the chips and popped one into her
mouth. “I hope this isn’t dinner.”

“Found the moving truck.”

“Great.” She chewed, and his eyes locked on her mouth.
She smiled and licked her lips. Her tongue targeted a crumb on her upper lip.

“The Marino’s are in town.”

“Not so great.”

“After I have a look around Roslyn’s tonight, I’ll
swing by Redford’s Moving and Freight. The truck is sitting in their yard.
We’re lucky. Final pickup is scheduled for tomorrow before it heads for Arizona.”

McKenna took a sip of her soda. “And how did you come
to all this information?”

“The power of my charm.” He lay back on his towel and
folded his hands under his head.

“Don’t forget the sunscreen.” She tossed it onto his
stomach.

Dustin rubbed his arms, legs, and chest with
sunscreen. “Do my back?” He handed her the bottle.

McKenna knelt behind him and squirted a blob onto each
shoulder blade and a wide, half circle onto his lower back, making a smiling
face. “Now you look happy to see me.” She grinned back at the sunscreen happy
face then vigorously spread the cream around without any finesse. “There,” she
said, rubbing the extra cream into her thighs. Dustin glanced over his shoulder
with furrowed brows. “What?”

“Nothing.” He looked away and popped a chip in his
mouth.

“Disappointed I didn’t take the opportunity for a
little seduction?”

“Maybe.”

“If you want seduction, you’ll have to make the next
move.”

He stuffed the bottle into the sand then leaned back
on the towel. “You brought a pillow from the bed to the beach?” Sand, ants, and
a few crawling critters moved against the stiff white linen.

“Yeah, I wanted to be comfortable since I didn’t know
how long I’d be on my own.” She stood. “I’m going in.” She dropped her
sunglasses on the towel and headed for the water.

“Have fun.”

She wiggled her ass just enough to keep Dustin
attention. She glanced over her shoulder. A smile found his mouth. He stood and
she hurried into the surf. But within a few long strides, he was at the water’s
edge, following her in. She squealed, waves crashing against her thighs.
Gliding through the surf, he grabbed her legs and pulled her under. She kicked
away and surfaced spitting water.

“That was a crappy thing to do.” She pushed her
dripping hair back off her face and treaded through the water toward shore.

“Don’t get mad.” He grabbed her around the waist and
pulled her farther out into the ocean.

“I’m not mad. I’m drowned.” She chuckled.

“Are you a good swimmer?” The water splashed against
their chests.

“Yes, but this is deep enough.” When the waves crashed
over them, the water washed over her shoulders. “Swimming pools are different
than oceans. Riptides, currents, sharks—”

“Yes, dangerous. Exciting.” He lifting her and
immediately her legs wrapped around his waist. “F.Y.I. if you ever get caught
in an undercurrent swim parallel to the shore. You’ll tire trying to swim
against it. Usually a few yards in either direction and you’ll swim right out
of it.”

“I’ll remember that. So why did you bring me out into
the sea?” The nearest human was close to shore, fifty feet away. For all
intent, they were momentarily alone. She ran her hands over his shoulders. “Are
you going to kiss me again?”

“If I do I’m afraid I’ll lose my balance, and we’ll be
helplessly swept out to sea. But I did want to get my hands on you. In the
water, I can hide what it does to me.”

“I’ll tell you what,” she said, combing her fingers
through the damp clinging hair at his temple. “You keep your eyes open, and
I’ll do the kissing.” She opened her mouth over Dustin’s. His lips parted and
she swept the inside of his mouth with her tongue.

Dark and delicious pulses clenched her pussy. The hard
ridge of his cock rode against her slit. With subtle gyrations, she worked
against him. His fingers dug into her rear while he pulled her close, tempting
the barrier of her bikini bottoms. His slick well-honed chest pressed against
her. Aching nipples pressed against the thin material of her bikini top. Need
swirled in her belly.

Dustin’s fingers worked inside the crotch of her
bottoms. A moan thundered from his chest as his thick finger slipped into her
swollen folds. Ocean current cooled her heated flesh. He focused on his fingers
dipping into her channel. She locked tight to his shoulders and tasted
saltwater from his neck. Stubble rasped against her tongue. He matched her
kisses with the slide of his finger farther back to her tight rosette. She
gasped as he penetrated to the first knuckle.

She sealed their mouths, gliding her tongue along his.
At the same time, she thrust her pussy against his erection and he fingerfucked
her ass. Pleasure flowed through with the same intensity of the crashing waves.
Orgasmic spasms jarred her body. She rubbed against his cock. His finger pumped
into her ass and his kiss swallowed her cries of release.

He tore his mouth away from hers. “We can’t do this
here.” He glanced around. “I want inside you, but not here.”

“Too many kids,” she said, and pulled his mouth back
to hers. They kissed, wildly exploring the untested waters of abandoned
intentions. “But it feels so good.”

Dustin ground hard against her. “Fuck.” He groaned and
rested his forehead against hers. “Staying focused is impossible when I’m
around you.”

“Actually I’d say you’re very focused…just not on the
case.” She smiled and dropped her still trembling legs.

They walked into shallower water. “I have to stay in
for a minute.” Dustin winked. “I have a small problem.”

She giggled because his cock was long, thick, and
hard. “If it were small, it wouldn’t be an obvious problem.”

“You’re right. Now swim over there for a minute or two
and don’t touch me. Let the cold water do the trick.”

Ten minutes later, Dustin and McKenna had collected
their belongings and headed back to the hotel room.

“I won’t be gone too long tonight.” He slid his key
card through the lock, opened the door, and followed her into the room.

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be with you.” She walked
into the bathroom and closed the door.

“No way.”

Exactly. No way was Dustin leaving her behind. She
responded to his objections by turning on the shower and drowning him out. But
as she undressed, she had a disturbing thought. Cracking the door, she said,
“Don’t think about leaving without me. I will follow you. Remember you already
told me the name of the moving company.”

She stepped under the hot needles of water just as
Dustin walked into the bathroom. “You’re not coming.”

She pulled back the shower curtain. Dustin crossed his
arms over his chest. No, she wasn’t coming, but if he joined her in the shower,
she would be. “Why not?”

“The Marino’s, the neighbor, the unknown. I’m not
going to worry about your ass when I’m trying to watch my own.”

She let the shower curtain fall back into place. “You
didn’t mind watching mine earlier. Give it up, Detective. Tonight we’re
partners.”

“I don’t like it.”

She peered out again and his eyes snapped to hers. He
sat on the commode. A tingle tightened her nipples. Only the thin curtain
separated them. “I’m going.”

“We’ll talk when you’re done.”

“You won’t change my mind.” What if she just flung it
all the way open and invited him to join her? “But you can try.” She opened the
curtain.

His scorching gaze blazed a trail over her flesh. He
slowly stood. “More likely, you’ll use your charms to get your way.” He jerked
off his shirt and dropped his shorts. “You’ll go with me, slow me down, and
we’ll make easy targets for the Marino’s.”

“Wonderful, we can put to rest that you think my going
is a bad idea, but that
I am
going. As long as we’re both cognizant of
the situation.”