Maddie tucked a beach towel inside her bag and shook her head. Hard to believe two months ago she’d almost died at Victor’s hands, and today she was packing for a day at the lake like nothing had ever happened. A knock sounded on the door, and Lucky jumped to attention. Maddie’s heart squeezed. Thank God, he and Kaitlyn had both fully recovered.
She opened the door. As usual, her body amped at the sight of Scott, shades perched atop his head, wearing a blue tank top that provided plenty of eye candy. A girl had to look.
Lucky whined, and Scott crouched down to hug him, dishing up a nice belly rub. “Hey, guy. You act like you never see me.”
“I just need to grab my beach bag and we can go.”
Scott glanced up and snorted as she turned away. “Hold on. What’s that on your shirt?”
A giggle caught in her throat. She’d forgotten which one she had on. Of course, she’d worn it on purpose. A black T-shirt with white writing. Archaeologists do it in the dirt. She shrugged. “Eh, it’s the only clean shirt I had.”
“You know I own a lie detector. I might have to hook you up to it.” He stood.
“As long as we hook up.”
With a chuckle, he pulled her into his arms, and whispered against her ear, “That can be arranged.” He nibbled her lobe, causing heat to pool between her legs. “But remember, I specialize in covert operations, so you’d better always shoot straight with me.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and smirked. “Oh, I’ve seen your under-the-covers action. And on the subject of shooting—”
“Smart-ass.” He covered her mouth with his in a searing kiss. When he eased back, she rested her head on his chest. Safe and secure in his embrace, she let out a long breath.
“I’m so glad all the craziness is over.”
“Me, too, babe. I still think about it. I almost lost you. God, if I’d been any later…”
“Shh.” She held a finger up to his lips. “It all worked out. Eric and Victor are in jail, and the finds we dug up from his seized resort were enough to get the museum built.”
“I hope you can get that curator job you’re shooting for.”
She sighed. “It’s a dream. For now, I’m happy to dig the resort property and work on my doctorate. I never thought I’d give up travel, but everything I want is…here.” She glanced up at him. “With you.”
He took her hand, brought it to his mouth, and kissed her fingers. “I love you.”
Her stomach fluttered. She’d never tire of hearing those words. “I love you, too. I worry, though. It’s been a while now. Do you miss the action?”
Scott huffed and shook his head.
“What?” Maddie asked.
“Nothing. Just ironic. The question. I’ll admit I wasn’t sure what to expect with the DEA and police working together in the school system, but I’m anything but bored. Teaching teens about drug abuse prevention is a far cry from dodging bullets in Mexico. I’m okay with that. I can help in other ways that don’t threaten my life…our life together.” He tightened his grip on her hand and said in a soft tone, “I feel like Justin would want me to help keep others from getting hooked.”
“I think so, too.”
“Ready for some good news?” His eyes lit up.
“What?”
“They gave me the thumbs up today to start the program for the recovering addicts.”
“That’s awesome.” She hugged him. He’d worked hard on setting that up. “You’ll be helping people on both ends now.”
“That’s the plan.” He gave her a quick squeeze. “Come on; let’s go catch some rays.”
She grabbed her bag and snapped a leash on Lucky.
After the short drive, Scott pulled into the Pebbles Beach lot along Oswego Lake. He handed her a bottle of water from the console. “It’s pretty hot today. You should drink this before we head out.”
She opened her door. “It’s not that bad. I’ll be fine. Let’s just bring it.”
“Nah, I don’t have a cooler. The bottle will just get warm and leak chemicals into the water. Might as well drink it while it’s cold.”
She really wasn’t thirsty, but he clearly didn’t want to waste the water. Maybe some quirk he’d picked up from his time in Mexico. Rather than bring that up, she took the bottle. “Okay.”
He popped the trunk and got out of the car. When he opened the door for Lucky, the dog bounded out, sniffed, and ran along the edge of the lot. Maddie drank the water as Scott pulled out a gym bag, her beach bag, and chairs. A gym bag? What a guy. “Do you want to put your stuff in with mine and just take one bag?”
“Eh, I’m good.” He shut the trunk. “Let’s go.”
They made their way to the sandy beach area at the edge of the lake. The sun reflected off the water as children splashed and played. A huge seagull crept up to an unattended blanket, snatched a bag of chips from it, and squawked. Oh boy, someone was going to be pissed when they came back from the water and found their food missing. Rookie mistake.
The Captain’s Inn restaurant behind the beach had a tiki bar with a guy singing Jimmy Buffett songs. Scott set up their chairs and towels. “I’m going to grab us a drink. Be right back.”
“Okay.”
Lucky raced to the water and barked, legs twitching in anticipation.
Maddie laughed. “I got it; I got it.” She pulled his favorite stick from her beach bag, jogged to the shoreline, and tossed it in. Lucky swam out, fetched it, and came back. He shook, and then raced again to the water. Several throws later, he dropped the stick in the sand and flopped onto one of the towels. Okay, well, that one would be his. He’d be out for a while. Maddie petted his wet fur, and her heart melted. This sweet dog had tried to protect her from that crazed Victor.
“How about a piña colada?” A frozen, creamy concoction appeared before her eyes.
Oh yeah. She turned around and planted a kiss on Scott’s icy, coconut-laced lips.
Taking a seat in the beach chair she asked, “Heard anything from Zach lately?”
“Yeah. He’s doing great at the police academy.”
“He deserves a break. Good thing you and Lee were able to get that pardon and seal his records. Nikki’s over the moon about sharing an apartment with him and going to cosmetology school. I think she was born to color people’s hair.”
“Don’t let her near yours. I like it just the way it is.” He reached across and tugged a curl. “Wild and unruly like you.”
“I thought you didn’t like that about me?”
He sighed. “You drive me crazy, but I love you. Things will settle down now.”
Settle down. That sounded nice. She eased back in the seat.
After she finished her drink, she shut her eyes and soaked up the sun. So warm and comforting. She must have drifted off because Scott nudged her elbow. “I brought you a cold water.”
“I’m fine. Thank you.”
He shrugged. “Here, Lucky.”
The dog jumped up and raced over to the collapsible bowl Scott trickled water into. Lucky slurped from the stream, licking the open bottle.
Maddie laughed. “He just laid claim to that bottle. It’s his now.” All this water. Now she had to pee. “Do you know where the restrooms are?”
“Yeah, over there.” Scott gestured to a building next to the tiki bar.
“Okay. You got the dog, right?”
Scott waved at Lucky, who had settled back down to sleep. “I think I can handle the beast.” He dug in the beach bag, “Do you want another drink? Lemme find my wallet.”
“No. I’m good.” Sheesh. The man must think she’d turn into a prune or something if she wasn’t hydrated every second.
She glanced over her shoulder on the way to the restroom. Scott still dug around in his gym bag, muscles flexing. A spike of heat blazed south. She needed to get back to that hot guy as fast as possible. Maybe take a cool dip in the lake.
Or not.
Her flip-flops kicked up sand as she returned to the beach. She paused and shaded her eyes. On his hands and knees, Scott dug, a sand bucket beside him. What was he doing?
Lucky raised his head and wagged his tail when she approached, then flopped back down and shut his eyes. Tired pup; he’d sleep a long time.
“Scott?”
He looked up at her, “Yeah?”
“Umm…what are you doing?”
“Building a sand castle. Wanna help?”
She crossed her arms and stared down at him. “Where did you get the bucket and shovel?”
“I brought it.” He went back to digging.
Okay, maybe she’d missed the memo, but they’d come out to chill and swim, and what the hell? “Knock yourself out. I spend my life digging. I think I’m good just relaxing here in the chair.”
“Sure. You probably don’t know how to build a castle anyway. You dig stuff up, not construct it.”
“Hey, that’s insulting.”
He glanced up. “Sorry. I just meant that this is sort of the opposite of what you do. No offense.”
“Seriously?” Irritation bit at her back, which was up now. “Fine. I’ll prove you wrong.”
He smirked as she stomped over and dropped to her knees.
“No, no, no.” He waved her away. “That’s too close. My castle is going to be big. You go over there.”
She drew her mouth into a determined line and scooted over to the spot. “Fine. And just for the record, my castle is so going to make yours look like child’s play.”
“Game on.” He handed her the shovel. “I’ll use my hands. I don’t need tools.”
Oh, now he was really pushing it. The sun glistened off his sleek muscles, and she couldn’t keep her eyes from tracing the outline of his oh-so-fine body.
“Better focus or you’ll lose.” The corners of his mouth twitched, and he dug with renewed vigor.
If he wanted a challenge, bring it on. She tossed the shovel to the side and buried her hands in the sand. Digging down a few inches, she stopped when she hit something hard. Probably a shell. The archaeologist in her leaped to all other kinds of conclusions. A bone, an artifact, a Clovis blade?
She used her fingers to clear the sand away and leaned closer to inspect. Not an artifact. A silver…something. She dug a path around and just below to push the object to the surface. A shiver of excitement passed through her. She extracted a small, sand-covered box.
After lifting it out, she dusted off the lid. What the heck? None of this made sense. “Scott, I found this…” She glanced up at him.
Bent on one knee, he reached out and took the box, holding her gaze.
Her pulse spiked, and the background blurred behind him. The sand, the sun, the noise of the kids playing on the beach. This couldn’t be happening. She swallowed hard.
He opened the lid and a diamond ring, encased in velvet, glittered in the sun. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and in a soft, deep voice, fraught with emotion, he said, “You told me once that you needed someone with a thick shell. Someone who could take a little fire. Someone who wasn’t so sensitive that you had to tiptoe around them and not be yourself. Someone that you could…be wild with, if you wanted to. I want to be that someone.”
She brought a hand to her mouth. He remembered. He’d heard her. And yes, he was the only man who fit the bill.
“I love you for all that you are, Maddie. I love your spunk and your fire, and God, you drive me crazy, but I can’t imagine a life without you. Will you marry me?”
“Oh, Scott…” She dragged her gaze from his face to the box in his hand. “Is this why you plied me with drinks, so I would leave you alone long enough to bury this ring?”
“Guilty. But sweating on one knee here, waiting for an answer.”
“Yes! God, yes!”
He slipped the ring on her finger, and she launched herself into his arms.
“I love you, Maddie.” He kissed her soundly and then dragged his mouth to her ear. “Always have, always will.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, overwhelmed by the love and his proposal. “Back at you.”
He eased away and traced a finger across her shirt. “You’re lucky there are women and children present, or I’d take you up on that slogan.”
Maddie raised an eyebrow. “What about the guys? They get to watch?”
Laughter rumbled in his chest. “You’re the worst.”
The Scott she’d fallen in love with two years ago was back. He’d faced his demons and come out on top. Teasing, witty, sexy as hell, and all hers.
Forever.
At last, her world was grounded.
THE END
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And don’t miss book three, LOVE ON THE LINE