Her Firefighter SEAL by Anne Marsh Page B

him.
    “You called me fat,” he pointed out.
    “Good to know you’re an eye for an eye kind of guy.”
    Yes. He was. He turned the motor on low and putted them out toward the middle of the lake at a sedate two miles an hour.
    “I swim faster than this,” she pointed out.
    He shook his head. “You’re a speed demon.”
    When they got farther from shore, he killed the motor, gliding them toward some unseen target.
    “Secret ninja stealth approach? Do fish even have ears?”
    “They can feel the vibrations from the motor. Shut up,” he said agreeably, reaching out to twitch her hat lower. His own hat was a monstrosity, rainbow-colored camouflage with a dozen equally neon fishing lures. He’d blind any fish stupid enough to surface near the boat.
    She considered saying something, or possibly singing the ABC song at the top of her lungs, just to be contrary, but it was strangely peaceful out there on the lake. Or maybe she was still in a stupor from her dark o’clock wake-up.
    “Aye, aye, Captain,” she mouthed and trailed her hand over the edge of the boat, hoping his wonder fish weren’t light sleepers. She hadn’t planned on fishing, but she didn’t actually want to ruin his day, and Kade seemed really, really into fishing.
    She took the rod he handed her and cast off, watching the red float bob along the surface of the lake. He didn’t seem to feel the need to fill up the silence, and that worked for her.
    The fish were biting, which probably meant he’d be all I told you so when they got back to shore. For the first hour, she concentrated on her reel, but Kade was the one pulling in one trout after another. Since he had the fish covered, she set her reel down and settled for looking at him.
    In addition to a ragged pair of cargo shorts, the battered fishing hat, and a fire department T-shirt, Kade sported a pair of hiking boots on his feet. Either the boots were waterproof or he had no problem with wet socks. His arms flexed as he expertly worked the reel.
    The baby moved, waking up, and she rubbed her hand over her stomach. It was kind of nice to have him there. She felt another pang for Will, but at least she had this, and really, it would have been Will’s idea of a joke to send a surly, badass SEAL with a shared past to look out for her.
    She was lonely. Kade was right there, his butt planted on a seat a foot from hers. He wanted to help, so...
    Why not kiss him ?

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    Chapter Five
    M aybe it was Christmas. His birthday. Ode to Returning SEAL Day. Fuck if Kade understood the reason, but he suddenly had a lapful of woman. Ordinarily, that was a good thing, but this was Abbie.
    Apparently her hate was selective, and it was less at the moment.
    A lot less.
    She wriggled her butt against his front, sending a hundred erotic possibilities rampaging through his mind, and she yanked his head toward her. “No talking,” she ordered. “Kissing only.”
    That was an order he could get behind. “Abbie—”
    “Breaking the rules,” she muttered and sealed her mouth to his. He had no idea if her words were an order or a complaint or just a simple statement of fact, and he didn’t care. He’d had more than one fantasy about kissing Abbie, but the reality was better than any dream. Her lips were soft and determined, as sweet as the woman herself. The rough groan was his, almost drowning out her soft whimper. She held onto him, her fingers digging into his shoulders like she thought he might try to get away. Not a chance in hell. He threaded his fingers through her hair—he did like to make things even—and returned her kiss.
    And she more than met him halfway, no hesitation, no holding back. She took his mouth, and if she wasn’t practicing self-restraint, why should he? She tasted like all his favorite things, which right now were Abbie, Abbie, and more Abbie. She set him on fire, swept away his resistance and his mental list of all the reasons why kissing was off-limits. He’d been