“Where’s the 545?”

“I left it in the beach parking lot. I’m still hoping for a dent or a scratch or something, but that stupid car must be protected by fairies or Gypsies. There’s nothing. Not a even a hint of body damage. I have to tell you, that’s really pissing me off.”

She shifted as she spoke and her long hair swayed with the movement. Too much heat and humidity had vanquished her attempts to straighten it and the loose curls jutted out in all directions. She wasn’t wearing makeup, her shirt had a stain on it and she’d dropped her sandals on the asphalt by his tire. She looked sexy as hell.

He stepped close, sliding between her bare thighs, and settled his hands on her hips. His crotch pressed against hers and it didn’t take more than a second or two for him to react to the contact. Her brown eyes crinkled with amusement.

“No one can ever accuse you of being subtle, Mac, can they?”

“Not my style,” he murmured, before slipping one hand under her mass of hair to cup her neck while he dropped his mouth to hers.

She put her arms around his neck as she kissed him back. They didn’t bother with gentle introductions, instead they eased right into deep, soul-stirring kisses that made every part of him hard.

She smelled of sun and sand and suntan lotion; she tasted of chocolate and wine. Their tongues circled and stroked and brushed and aroused. She raised her legs and wrapped them around his hips, holding him in place.

He pulled back and rubbed his thumb against her swollen mouth. “Liquor is illegal on the beach and at the park. I may have to run you in.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I can taste the wine.”

“Oh. All right. We smuggled a bottle in. So charge me.” She grinned, then bit his thumb. “Will there be handcuffs involved? You mentioned them before and now I have a very particular image I can’t seem to shake.”

She was teasing, but now he pictured it as well. Her at his mercy. Naked. Him doing everything in his power to make her moan, writhe and scream…while coming, of course.

“My house is about ten minutes from here,” he told her.

She rubbed her hands up and down his chest. “I actually know that, and while you’re tempting me, this is where I get to be the sensible one and point out you have an eight-year-old daughter at your place or mine. I’m not sure where Bev took her.”

“Only a minor problem.”

She tilted her head. “I’m not convinced I could get naked with my aunt in the house.”

He wasn’t sure, either.

Just then a car turned the corner. Jill dropped her legs and he stepped back just in time for Wilma to pull up alongside of him. She rolled down the passenger window. “We did good today. The judge would be proud.”

Mac mentally winced at the comment. Judge Strathern, Jill’s father, was pretty much the last person he wanted to think about right now. “Thanks.”

“See you in the morning.”

“Bye.”

He watched her drive down the street. When she’d turned again, he looked at Jill. She shook her head.

“Hard to get wild in this town,” she said as she jumped to the ground, then collected her sandals. “Okay, I’m ready for my ride home.”

“Sure.” He unlocked the car.

Jill studied him. “You’re thinking about my father, aren’t you?”

“He’s a good man.”

She muttered something that sounded very much like “I’m never going to have sex again, I just know it” as she walked around to the passenger side and slumped into the seat.

“I owe him,” Mac reminded her. He got into the car and put on his seat belt. “He saved my ass more than once.”

“I know, I know. When you were a kid, and just recently. It’s who he is and what he does. Do you really think he’s worried that you’re going to sleep with me?”

“He wouldn’t be happy.”

“He’s my father. Trust me, he doesn’t want to think about me being with anyone. It’s not about your penis—he pretty much hates them all.”

Mac chuckled. “That puts it in perspective.” He decided, for the sake of peace between them, to change the subject. “Emily had a good time today.”

“She did, and I’m glad. Tina’s kids were great. Her daughter, Ashley, introduced her to several girls her own age and they all had a blast together. Tina, my assistant who hates me, even thawed a little. I think it was seeing me in the company of a child who obviously likes me. If Emily thinks I’m okay, I can’t be all bad. At least that’s my theory.”

He navigated the quiet streets of the town. “I’m sure Tina doesn’t hate you.”

“Oh, right. She’s bubbling over with love.” Jill rested her head against the window and sighed. “Relationships are so complicated. Even the ones that aren’t all that personal. So are you missing your ex-wife much?”

He glanced at her and did his best not to smile. “That was subtle.”

“Hey, it’s late, I was out in the sun all day and I had wine. I can’t do subtle. So, do you miss her?”

“No. It’s over between us. She’s seeing some guy and I really don’t care.”

“Oh.” Jill straightened. “Thanks for sharing. Not that I was interested or anything.”

“Of course not.”

“I’m leaving in a few weeks, so what’s the point of getting involved?”

“You’re right.”

“Plus, we’re both dealing with bad marriages.” She stared out the windshield. “Why would we want to jump into something else? I know I’m not eager to trust a man again after what Lyle did. Why did your marriage break up? I can’t remember.”

He was fairly sure he hadn’t told her but didn’t mind giving her the information. “I disconnected. Carly and I got married because she got pregnant. We weren’t ever really in love, but we tried to make it work.”

“Right,” Jill said, as if she’d known it all along. “But you love Emily a lot. That’s obvious.”

“She’s my best girl.”

“So it’s not that you’re incapable of loving someone.”

He pulled up in front of his house and put the car in Park, then turned to look at her. “What exactly do you want to know?”

She gave him a bright smile. “Nothing at all. I’m making idle chitchat.”

“Sure you are.”

“Really. We’re just friends.”

He grinned. “Right. That’s why I’m hard, you’re wet and we both wish we could be alone for a couple of hours.”

“So we’re friends who want to have sex.”

“Exactly.”

CHAPTER NINE

JILL ARRIVED at her law office bright and early on the morning after the Fourth. She was only a little sunburned, which was great considering how long she’d been at the beach. The one truly perfect sunscreen she’d ever found was staying indoors and, as she hadn’t had a cabana to carry with her the previous day, she figured a slight burn was a victory.

She stuck her key into the lock and was stunned to find the door was open. Had she forgotten to lock it when she’d left? Had she…

The door swung open and she saw Tina sitting at her desk, making notations in files.

Jill glanced from her watch, which read 8:26 a.m., to the woman in question.

“Good morning,” she said as she entered, not sure how to ask what Tina was doing here. Tina rarely arrived before nine-thirty.

“Hi.” Tina smiled at her. “Thanks for bringing Emily by yesterday. She’s a great little kid. Ashley had so much fun with her that she keeps asking when we can get together again.”

Jill wanted to turn around and see who was standing behind her because that had to be the reason Tina was being nice to her.

“Emily had a good time, too,” she said instead. “So did I.”

The two women stared at each other while Jill expected to hear scary movie music start at any second.

Okay, Jill thought as she smiled brightly. Too weird for me. She walked into her office. Tina followed her.

“There was a message from Mr. Harrison wanting an update on his fence case.”

Jill nodded, but only because she was too shocked to speak. Tina was wearing a dress. Sure, it was a sleeve less summer sundress and she had on sandals and no stockings, but it was a real, live, honest-to-God dress.

Jill took the paper Tina offered. “I hate to have to call him back. He’s not going to like what I have to say. Any thing else?”

“Yes. A message was left just before I got in, from a Ms. Sullivan. She mentioned a law firm in Los Angeles and how they’d like to see you on Thursday.” Tina frowned. “Are you doing some work for them?”

Jill grabbed the message and stared at it, then grinned. “No. This is about a job interview. Wow. That was fast. My résumé hasn’t been out that long. Of course I’m pretty much what they want, which is great.” L.A., huh? She could do the drive in about three hours. “Did she give a time?”

Tina’s warm, friendly expression fell like a punctured balloon. Her eyes narrowed, her arms folded across her chest and she took a step back.

“You’re looking for a job?” she asked, sounding both insulted and incredulous. “You work here.”

Jill wanted to hold up her hands in a T to call a timeout. “This was always meant to be temporary. I thought you knew.”

“Judge Strathern said you were moving back to town when he phoned me. I thought it was permanent.”

Tina turned on her heel and stomped out of the office. Their common door slammed behind her.

Jill sank onto her seat. “What was up with that?” she asked aloud.

Could Tina actually be angry because she wasn’t staying in Los Lobos? But Tina didn’t like her. Okay, maybe having Emily around had made her assistant/secretary/receptionist feel slightly more friendly, but that wasn’t an actual relationship. What did Tina care if she moved on?

Was it about keeping her job? Jill tried to decide if she should offer to write the woman a recommendation, al though to be honest, she wasn’t sure what she would say.

Tina has a lively personality. Although she hates to follow orders and rarely works more than two or three hours in a row, she would be a delightful addition to any office situation.

Hmm, maybe not.

Determined not to let the other woman’s reaction spoil the glory of the moment, Jill called Ms. Sullivan and made an appointment for Thursday at eleven in the morning. She would take the 545 and see if the locals could ding up the car.

Next, she called Mr. Harrison.

“It’s Jill Strathern,” she said when the old man picked up the phone. “I’ve researched the matter in question.”

“It’s a fence, girly.”

She winced. “Yes, I know. If the construction had been more recent, we might have had a chance, but with the fence having been there over a hundred years, there’s very little we can do about getting it torn down. My suggestion is that I contact your neighbors and work out a fair market price for the land on their side of the fence. You had said your major concern was not leaving the problem to be dealt with after you were gone and this would solve that.”

She paused, waiting for Mr. Harrison to respond. There was only silence, followed by a click and then dial tone.

“Perfect,” she said into the empty room as she hung up the phone.

While her day was slowly sliding into the toilet, she might as well go ahead and flush the damn thing. She stood and walked to the door Tina had slammed.

When she opened it, she waited until Tina looked up and scowled at her.