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“Detective, what do I owe the pleasure to today?”
“You’re naked,” he deadpanned, subtly adjusting himself as he looked up to the sky and clenched his jaw.
I huffed out a laugh. “Yes, I know that.”
“Why?” he grated out.
“I always swim naked. The feel of the rushing water against my skin turns me on. So sensual and sexy.” I lowered my lashes and tucked my elbows into my sides, pressing my tits together. They were my best assets by far—a perky double D that never failed to draw attention.
“Zali,” Ryder snapped, swinging his gaze around to me and narrowing his eyes in a challenge. He snatched the fish from Flynn and stomped forward, heading toward the bow to clean and fillet them.Damn him.I sighed, hating that he’d put me in this position. Covering up would look like he was winning, something I wasn’t prepared to allow him. Not when I was the boss, and it was my body on display. But up on this deck, the breeze coming off the Pacific was strong enough—and brisk enough—that my nipples were about to snap off. The only compromise I was prepared to make was the micro bikini laid out over the very seat Ezra was hiding behind.
Plucking the tiny black G-string up first, I slowly stepped into it, inching it up my legs and over my hips, letting the elastic waist snap into place when I was finished. The micro triangles of my bikini top didn’t come close to covering my tits, but that was how I liked it.
And maybe we’d be able to move on from men acting awkward around a woman secure enough in her body to be unafraid to bare it all.
At least if Detective Fraser got to talking, I’d be able to go bask in the sun and keep building up my tan for summer. It’d be worth temporarily succumbing to societal clothing expectations for that.
“Sexy,” Flynn commented as he reclined on the two-seater lounge.
It didn’t take long for the detective to eye me over again and move woodenly to the couch, strategically white knuckling a manilla folder in front of his groin. I waited until he was comfortable and had shifted in his seat a few times before I adjusted the tiny triangles, revealing a little more underboob and the edge of my areola.
I slipped onto the couch next to Flynn and stretched my legs over his lap. He leaned over, wrapping me in his slim frame and squeezing tight. “Missed you,” he murmured.
“The job I just wrapped up took me longer than expected,” I explained with a sigh of contentment. Flynn’s touch was gentle yet firm, and he understood my need for human contact—for sensual touch, even though it was entirely platonic. He also knew when I needed alone time to achieve the outcomes I wanted. The compulsion to get to the bottom of every dirty crevice and clean out every skeleton in my target’s digital closet was so strong, it was overwhelming sometimes.
“Was it a good outcome?” he hummed against my hair as he glided his hands over my shoulders, massaging my tight muscles.
“Yes. The guy was a dirty fucker. If the prosecutor can secure a conviction, he’ll be eating quite a few meals from jail.”
“It was worth it, then.” He kissed my cheek, brushing my hair off my shoulder. His eyes were the colour of the ocean on a clear day, a bright blue to match his sunny personality. He was a few months younger than I was—he hadn’t yet turned twenty-three—but we may as well have been light years apart. He was innocent, untouched by the grubbiness I associated with. Kind-hearted and loyal to a fault too, the only thing more beautiful than his personality was his angelic face. He had the ideal trio—a perfectly smooth jawline, a straight nose, and pouty lips absolutely made for kissing. Add to that his eyes and hair, and he was prettier than any man had a right to be.
He wasn’t oblivious to the attention, but he didn’t get a high from it either. I’d also never known him to have a crush on anyone. He was proudly and openly bisexual; he said he enjoyed sex, but he’d never once told me about a hook-up either. The ideal kind of man in my books.
“If you need to talk about what you found, I’m here.” I knew what he was implying. I’d found enough kiddy porn online to last a lifetime. But this guy, Denyer, was a white-collar criminal, and although he’d done horrible things to good people, he didn’t seem to be that kind of monster.
“He handed out bribes, used secrets to extort people, that sort of thing. There wasn’t anything more disturbing than that,” I assured him, patting his knee.
Now that I’d wrapped up my search on Denyer, I had some free time. I’d planned on kicking back and enjoying the scenery at my favourite spot to drop anchor. But instead, maybe I could convince Flynn to stay. We could drop Detective Fraser back to where he’d boarded, and I could spend some time cuddled up with my best friend.
Either way, I was ready to get the show on the road. “Detective?” I inquired.
“Right.” His voice held a distinct rasp, deeper than normal, and he cleared his throat. “I have an assignment for you.”
I absently played with my hair, curling a piece of it around my finger before letting it fall between my breasts. Running my fingertips along the same path, I waited for him to continue, but his words had stalled, his gaze fixated on my pebbled nipples and the goosebumps that had appeared over my body.
My baiting was unintentional, but a perverse part of me loved the detective’s discomfort. It was the biggest reaction I’d ever witnessed. Mr Cool, Calm, and Professional had finally revealed a chink in his armour. In all the years we’d known each other—ten to be precise—I’d never seen him do anything more than look away.
I was a kid when the overzealous rookie had come knocking on my father’s door, ready to arrest him. My first big, successful hack, and I’d made a beginner mistake, forgetting to hide my tracks well enough that I couldn’t be traced. When he realized I was the mastermind, not my father, the officers’ tones changed. Instead of charging me, they set about conscripting me, figuring I was young and impressionable enough to convert to the light side.
It left me moonlighting as a good girl, helping out Australia’s equivalent to the criminal investigative arm of the FBI. The irony that I was guilty of enough criminal behaviour to put me in the same jails as my targets wasn’t lost on me.
“So, this assignment?” I asked, resting my head on Flynn’s shoulder.
“Yes.” He clasped his hands and looked at my friend.
The hairs on the back of my neck pricked and I knew whatever he said wouldn’t be go—
“Flynn has already signed up.”
