Her Firefighter SEAL by Anne Marsh Page A

critic. “ She has a name. Whosurdaddy. And some of us are showing even more wear and tear than the boat.”
    He slapped his knee. Yeah. He had even more scars than the boat and he was even uglier than Whosurdaddy .
    “I’d forgotten how awful your taste in rides is.” She started unfastening the boat cover.
    It was true that his boat had seen better days. Plus he’d named it when he’d been fourteen and still learning how to drive, which explained at least half the dents in the boat.
    “People who jeer don’t get sandwiches.” He peered in the cooler in the back of his truck. “Or Oreos or muffins. They might get carrot sticks if their host takes pity on them.”
    She had a nice laugh, warm and slightly rueful.  She might do yoga, but she’d never been one for warm carrot sticks. “Give me a muffin. You made me miss breakfast, so you can make it up to me now.”
    He gave her a muffin and his gym bag. “Clothing. In case we didn’t grab enough stuff from your place. They’re clean.”
    She took a ginormous bite of muffin and looked into the bag. “You need to spend more time at Nordstrom’s. Trust me.”
    She didn’t look like she minded too much though. Rolling up her sweatpants, she shoved her feet into the rubber waders he handed her. “How well did you plan this kidnapping?”
    He tossed her the toothbrush he’d snagged from her place. “Exhibit A. You get to practice oral hygiene.”
    ~*~
    “A -plus for you,” she said.
    Kade smiled at her, a slow, lazy smile that did dangerous things to her insides. Friend , she reminded herself. Ex-boyfriend. Not dessert. He was being nice to her because he felt sorry for the widow and Katie had asked him. She had no doubt that he loved Katie in his own manly, wouldn’t-ever-admit-it way.
    “We’re launching in ten minutes,” he said and tossed her a bottle of water. “Your five-star, en suite bathroom awaits.”
    “Next time, we field trip to the Four Seasons.” She waddled toward a low strip of bushes to pee and primp. The man’s feet were positively ginormous. His waders swam on her. When she came back, teeth brushed and bladder emptied, he passed her a tube of sunscreen and the ugliest fishing hat she’d ever seen. “Really?”
    He grinned at her and added an equally ugly orange life jacket to the stack. The thing was bulkier than her sofa and sported a suspicious smear on the front.  His previous fishing companion had gotten a little too close to the catch of the day.
    “Safety first. No sunburning the baby. No drowning. Not on my watch.”
    “Did you bring the Bubble Wrap?” She pulled the life vest on though, because there was a look in his eyes that said he wasn’t negotiating. Fine by her if they didn’t go fishing, except... now that he’d got her out here, she was kind of curious to see what happened next. Kade definitely wasn’t boring, even if he was more safety conscious than a ninety-year-old man.
    “I’m saving that for later,” he said agreeably, and then he proceeded to check her straps. The safety check brought him into close proximity with her, his hands moving perilously close to her breasts and other parts. He paused when he got to the bottom buckle, apparently not sure if he should tighten it or if he’d squash Will Junior. Since she enjoyed watching him squirm, she didn’t help him out.
    “All aboard,” he said finally, gesturing toward the boat. “You ride. I’ll push.”
    Since she was the pregnant one, she climbed into the boat and kicked off the boots. As the nonreproducing member of this fishing party, he could be the one with wet feet and get them launched. Whistling, he waded in and pushed them off, then vaulted into the boat. The boat rocked and then settled lower into the water.
    “One of us weighs too much,” she pointed out.
    “Hah. Pot. Kettle.” He turned the motor on, guiding the boat out toward the middle of the lake.
    “You did not just call a pregnant woman fat.” She flicked water at