Thigh High (3 page)

“I'll be off soon; do you think you could round up Barkley and bring him to the station? I can call a vet clinic from here.”

“Will he be inside or on the deck?”

“He's got a dog house on deck. Should be there.”

He hung up suddenly, but no sooner had he disconnected than she heard his voice, sultry and warm, on the radio again. She turned the volume back up and smiled as he joked about the thong one more time.

This time he made it sound like a shoe rather than a panty.

She put a call in to Fiona and left a message for her not to expect the thong for a while. Her sister had protested long and hard about going to a remote wilderness camp for a honeymoon. But Bernie, her longtime fiancé, had perked right up at Frankie's suggestion. Raised in the city, Bernie had wilderness fascination big time.

Next up on the honeymoon whirlwind was a safari in Kenya. Anything to keep her sister out of the limelight. With Bernie on her side for a change, Frankie felt confident they could keep their whereabouts a secret for at least another month. She hoped so. Being on the run sucked the big one.

Having connected with Daniel, she looked forward to spending more time here. Victoria had a lot going for it. The city was small, clean, beautiful and out of the way for her. No one would think to look for her here.

Daniel's voice seduced her as she dressed quickly. It was clear the man loved what he was doing. The blues called to him, in spite of his sense of humor. He loved the music, loved the intimate format of his show. Yes, he seduced and cajoled and turned her mind to the wild thing. But while she dithered in front of her closet, dreaming about the man behind the voice, his dog may be suffering.

What did a woman who wanted to impress a man wear to a middle-of-the-night run to an emergency vet clinic?

The man in question had definitely noticed her chest earlier, so she pulled on a fresh pair of shorts. Keep it simple, girl.

D
aniel sat beside her in the waiting room with Barkley on his lap. They were surrounded by dismal-faced, tired people whose pets were suffering real emergencies. But if Barkley was trying to pass diamonds through his system, it could soon be a matter of life and death.

“He seems fine, don't you think?” she said for what must have been the hundredth time. But they'd both been saying the same thing since she'd arrived at the station with the dog.

Daniel nodded. “Perky as usual. I think we're on a wild good chase here. If he had a gutload of rhinestones, I think he'd be miserable by now.”

She petted the dog's head and gave him a good scratch behind the ears, torn up by the prospect of Fiona's thong causing Barkley distress.

The doctor arrived and they stood. She clasped Daniel's forearm and gave it a squeeze in support. The doctor smiled. “No foreign objects show up. Whatever he did with your thong, miss, he didn't eat it.”

Relief washed over Daniel's face, and he gave the dog an affectionate buss on the head. “Thanks, Doctor. That's a relief.”

A couple of people in the waiting room brightened at the good news and gave their congratulations. Frankie's worry meter rose a notch.

She looked at Daniel, busy petting Barkley's head. “Where could he have put it then? I searched under every big tree I could fit under.” Except for the love nest. Her cheeks warmed.

The memory of the amorous couple heated her through.

The doctor moved on to his next patient.

“You need to think back about how long he was out of your sight,” Daniel said. “How far into the park could he have run and still buried it so completely that you couldn't find it?”

“Good point. It was only a minute or so, maybe two. There's no way he could have run as far as I went. It must be closer to the top of the ramp.” She hadn't thought to check the water. He might have dropped it into the harbor. “I didn't see him drop it into the water, but he might have.”

Daniel walked to the desk with his wallet open, but she insisted on paying the bill for the X-ray.

“No, Frankie, I should have had Barkley under better control. It's just that everyone knows him. He was left behind last year, and we all fed him until he settled in with me.”

“I shouldn't have allowed him on the yacht in the first place. He thought he was welcome to make himself at home.” And she was the one who'd got bent out of shape about getting the thong back. “So, we'll split the bill,” she said, handing off the cash.

She regretted that she couldn't tell Daniel the truth. But, really, a diamond-studded thong? She still rolled her eyes at Fiona's indulgence. Her sister was the one who needed to be leashed.

Maybe Frankie could find one of those electric collars and put it on her sister's neck. It could give her a jolt anytime she got within fifty feet of a jewelry store.

“Let's go home, buddy,” Daniel said, setting Barkley down.

He reached for Frankie's hand and she slid her palm into his larger one. Slow heat and heavy desire sparked awareness between them. His eyes warmed with promise when she caught his eye.

Barkley danced at Daniel's knee until they exited the clinic. He watered three bushes on the way to the car. Daniel chuckled. “Yes, he's definitely behaving normally.”

His hand felt large compared to hers. Strong and surprisingly calloused. “Callouses?” She tugged on his hand and inspected his palm in a pool of light from the clinic's window.

“Yes, I do a few repairs on the boats and float homes. Not everyone's still capable.”

She'd noticed some older retirees on the houseboat side. “That's sweet.” Sexy, funny and generous with his time. Oh boy, she could be in trouble here. “You call them float homes not houseboats?” Another term she'd need to learn.

“That's right, they float on tons of hollow concrete. That's why they're as stable as they are.”

She nodded. “So folks don't get motion sickness on them?”

“Depends on how sensitive the person is. But with a two-story home the second floor moves a little more. You're not afflicted, are you?” Warm concern drenched her, and she felt absurdly pleased and excited to be able to tell him no.

“I've got a rock-solid stomach onboard. I've never felt anything but happy to feel the roll under my feet. Considering I didn't grow up around boats, that's pretty cool, huh?”

“Pretty cool.” His grin was warm and promised warmer. Her body responded with slick heat, and moisture pooled in her panties.

“It's late,” she said, checking the color of the lightening sky. “Or maybe I should say, it's early. I'm bushed.” She yawned, unable to hide it.

Since she hadn't had a job in six months, she'd finally come around to her natural sleep rhythm and had begun to sleep in later and later. But still, she'd been up for hours now and dawn was fast approaching.

He opened his car door and nuzzled her hair as she slid into the seat. “We'll look for the thong together after we get some sleep,” he said, his voice throaty with steam.

A thrill of anticipation chased down from her head to her pussy. “Are we doing that together too? Sleeping, I mean.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “If you'll have me.”

“I'll consider it,” she said with enough spark to keep him guessing.

Barkley jumped into the backseat and curled up to sleep immediately. “Funny,” Daniel said, “he usually demands the front passenger side to himself.”

She clipped her seat belt into place while Daniel crossed the front of the car to climb in behind the wheel.

No sooner had he buckled in than he grabbed her hand again to set it to rest on his thigh. Under her palm, the rough denim heated while his muscle felt firm and hard. She squeezed lightly.

“I'd like to see the inside of your float home, Daniel. I've never been in one before.” Better his place than hers. Company on the yacht would be a huge mistake.

He slanted her a glance that melted her. “If I show you around in there, it could take all night.”

“Good, I like all-nighters.” Once she got started taking care of this itch, it could take awhile. Six months was a lot of time to make up for.

After that, she couldn't think of a thing more to say. The atmosphere in the car turned quiet and soft and felt like expectation.

Warm, gentle anticipation. The best kind.

Her stomach sent thrills of desire up to her chest, and she decided Daniel was a slow, careful lover. She sometimes liked rockets like any other woman, but tonight wouldn't be about rockets. Tonight with Daniel felt slow. Quiet.

Promising.

She settled into her seat with a sigh, her nipples hard and scratchy under her newest lace bra. Barkley snuffled in his sleep in the backseat. “Think he has any idea of the trouble he's caused?”

“Since his brain's the size of a walnut, or smaller, I doubt it.” He twined his fingers with hers and moved their hands to her lap. The pad of his thumb found her pulse and circled there. Her heart rate jumped, but his hand was warm and gentle. Soothing her with easy promise.

Oh yes, tonight would be all about slow.

To help speed things up she thought of pulling his roving thumb to her crotch. Her pussy creamed and pulsed with need, her clit plumping as he teased the delicate flesh at her wrist. She shifted to widened the space at the top of her thighs.

Daniel, damn the man, didn't take the hint.

The dashboard lights glowed red, giving the object of her lust a devilish glow. His eyes gathered the red, and she imagined sparks of fiery need deep in their depths. If he didn't touch more than her wrist and hand soon, she swore she'd unzip her shorts. Maybe then he'd get the hint.

He turned into the short drive that led to the parking area for the marina. As they traveled the length of a playing field that ran alongside, she pulled her thoughts to more mundane things. There wasn't much she could share about herself, but she remembered something.

“I wanted to buy one of these cars a few months ago.” Before her life had exploded. “But I was turned down for a loan.”

“You're living in a yacht the size of Texas and you couldn't swing a car loan?”

“I'm, ah, yacht-sitting.” The lie everyone had agreed on only felt a little wrong. “It's just as well about the car because I found myself unemployed shortly after being turned down.”

He grinned and winked. “Then I guess you'll be around for a while. Things do have a way of working out for the best.”

She chuckled and turned her face to her window so he wouldn't see the glow he'd put in her cheeks, or the guilt in her eyes from the lies she'd already told. There would be more, too, she was sure of it.

Her belly jumped with worry. She'd never been a stone-cold liar, and she didn't expect to be able to keep it up for long. The best she could hope for was that they'd tire of each other before the truth became awkward.

“Think we'll be able to find the thong tomorrow? I need to get it back.” If it was anywhere the sun could catch at the diamonds it would be picked up, if not as a curiosity by a child, then as a fabulous find by a discerning adult. The diamonds were of such quality any woman who'd ever gazed in a jewelry store window would see the truth.

Her belly sank.

If word got out that an honest-to-goodness diamond-studded thong had been found at the Dallas Road oceanfront, she'd have to get gone. For good.

She glanced at Daniel, and her desire ticked up a notch.

So what if the truth came out first thing in the morning, she'd have this time with him now.

He pulled the car into his parking spot at the top of the docks. Barkley jumped into her lap from the backseat and put his front paws on the armrest to look out the window. His back paws dug into her naked thigh.

Daniel trotted to the passenger door and opened it. Barkley, true to his name, set off down the ramp at a dead run, voicing his joy at heading to his own bed.

“I used to yell at him to shut up, then I realized I was making as much noise as he was. Most of the time, my neighbors tune him out.”

A chorus of other barks responded to Barkley's, and she chuckled. “I wondered why there was such a racket every morning at this time.” Now she knew all the dogs on the docks welcomed him home.

He closed the car door and slipped his hands to her shoulders. “If I don't do this soon, I'll lose what little mind I have left.”

“You've lost some of your mind?”

“Shut up and let me kiss you.”

She looped her arms around his neck, cupped the back of his head and pulled him to her. “About time, Mr. DJ.”

His lips were hot, hard and demanding. More demanding than she'd given him credit for. Daniel may be a gentle name, with no hard sounds or harsh syllables, but it said nothing about the man's potency. Nor did his soft eyes and his I'm-so-fuckable voice.

No, no. Daniel was a great kisser, full of gusto and hot demand that fired each of her cylinders into rocket launch mode. Rocket sex? Oh yeah, he knew rocket sex.

And she felt liftoff.

She had no idea where she'd come up with the slow sex scenario, but she was dead wrong.

Someone groaned, whether it was her or him, it was loud enough that they pulled apart, locked gazes and went back for more, this time with Daniel lifting her against the car so he could press his hardness against her softness.

And soft she was. And wet, and open.

And needy.

Six months' worth of needy.

“Get me to a bed, Daniel. Now.”

He swooped her into his arms, and she heard another groan. “Am I too heavy?” But she didn't want to get down, didn't want to have to walk down the ramp.

And especially didn't want to get to the bottom of it where she'd have to decide between right and left. And right and wrong.

Turning right would mean going to his place and his bed.

Turning left would mean another lonely night in the
Boondoggle
's master cabin, thoughts whirling as fear built.

As for right and wrong: She knew it was wrong to sleep with a man she'd just met. But with Daniel it felt right in places she hadn't explored in too long.

In the end, she didn't have to walk the ramp because he said, “That wasn't my groan, it was Barkley growling.”

Sure enough, there he was, sitting patiently at the top of the ramp. His stubby tail swept the dirt, eyes bright, head cocked to one side. Tonight was unusual and he seemed to know it.

“He wants his routine back. Going out to the vet in the middle of his night has confused him. He's waiting for me to hit the sack, the way I usually do.”

“Usually? This is usual?”

“Not at all, Frankie, not at all. But I hope it continues long enough for all of us to get used to it.”