Page 40 of Shallow Remains

Peace.

When he eased his hold, her soft smile turned him inside out. “Thank you,” she murmured.

“For what? Kissing you?” He wanted to laugh. Because he wanted to do a hell of a lot more than kiss her, and she’d all but shredded his control without trying. She had no idea what she did to him. The power she wielded.

“Well, that too. But no, I meant thank you for the most perfect day ever.”

Hell. She was making it damned near impossible to stop here for now. What was he going to do with this woman he barely knew and everything she made him feel?

His phone chirped in his hip pocket. He ignored it. Just as he’d ignored the three times it had buzzed prior to that.

“Should you check that?” Maddy asked.

“No.” He didn’t give a shit who it was.

Until a familiar ringtone broke the quiet. He groaned.

“Something wrong?”

“No.” Maybe. “It’s a SAR call,” he said as he dug it out to answer. “McCaffrey.”

He listened while dispatch relayed the situation. A small vessel taking on water seven miles away with two passengers aboard. The Coast Guard had been alerted, but it would be an hour or more before they arrived on scene. Grey and another member of the team were enroute to the marina to meet up with him.

“Roger that,” he said. “Standing by.”

“You need to go?” Maddy asked when he ended the call.

He nodded. Couldn’t resist cupping the side of her neck and running his thumb over the edge of her jaw. There were so many other places he wanted to kiss her. “When can I see you again?”

She blinked as if surprised, then gave a slow smile that cinched the band tighter around his chest. “I dunno. When do you want to see me again?”

“As soon as I’m done with this mission.”

“I’m at a special girls’ night get together at Willow’s tonight. It’ll probably go until late.”

“Tomorrow night then.”

“Okay. Tomorrow it is.”

It seemed like an eternity from now.

He kissed the bridge of her nose, then grasped her hand and helped her onto the dock.

She turned back to him, flashed a grin and surprised him by dropping a fleeting kiss on his mouth. “See you tomorrow.”

He stared after her as she walked away, admiring the shape of her silhouette and trying to understand how she’d gotten under his skin so far so fast.

Three quarters of the way down the dock, she passed Grey and Emma. They were both dressed in team gear and carrying equipment as they hurried toward him.

Lachlan had suits ready for them when they climbed aboard. “Two passengers aboard a small boat taking on water. Coast Guard is on alert but not launching yet. Any other intel?”

“Not that we’ve heard,” Grey said, bending to secure the lines while Emma tugged on her flotation pants.

Lachlan eased them away from the dock and sailed for the mouth of the harbor. The last bit of the sun had dropped into the ocean a few minutes ago. They only had another half an hour of daylight to work with, if that. Water ops were always tougher in the dark.

Emma rode up front, ready to handle the searchlight mounted at the bow. Grey stood next to him at the wheel, talking with dispatch and the Coast Guard while Lachlan steered them west out of the harbor and into the rougher water of the strait.

The light was almost gone by the time the stricken vessel came into view off the port bow. A small pleasure craft listing heavily to its starboard side.