A shiver of pleasure mixed with anticipatory butterflies left Tam breathless. “This is what you and Mercedes were concocting?”
“Unlike you, I know when to ask for help. Besides, I ask for her help and that means your cell phone won’t ring for the next forty-eight hours.”
Kip took one hand off the wheel to lace her fingers around the tie that held back her ponytail. She stripped it free and then shook her hair out around her shoulders. “You’ve also been promising me a night of lovemaking on the lake for months.”
Speechless, Tam watched Kip unfasten the top two buttons of her blouse, revealing an undergarment that made Tam’s mouth water.
How had she ever thought this woman straitlaced and humorless? She was grinning at Tam now, her eyes sparkling with mischief and delight.
“I take it I have your full attention?”
Tam nodded.
254
“And your full cooperation?” She turned into the Gas Works Marina lot.
“Indeed.”
“Excellent.” She idled at the dock manager’s office. “There’s a hamper with your name on it inside.”
Tam would have leapt out of the car but Kip undid another button. Then another.
She wasn’t sure how she made her legs and arms work, but she did manage to fetch the hamper. It was large, heavy and awkward and she wondered what all Kip and Mercedes had deemed necessary for their weekend.
Back in the car it took only one look at Kip, with her blouse open to reveal the delicious round curves of her breasts and her hair down around her shoulders, to make her feel faint.
“What happened to the Kip Barrett who never broke the rules?”
Both serious and flirtatious, Kip asked, “Is there a rule against this? I’ve seen swimsuits that cover less. And besides, do you want to live in a world where there’s a rule against me driving you crazy?”
“I see your point.”
Kip parked near the Emerald Petral’s docking and Tam found the will to gather the hamper and—as instructed—an overnight bag from the trunk.
Kip, however, didn’t immediately get out of the car. Tam gestured at her to roll down the window.
“Aren’t you joining me? This weekend won’t be nearly so fun without you.”
“Yes, I....”
It was delightful to watch Kip blush. It wasn’t always easy to tell, but there was a definite red tinge to her cheeks. “What?”
“Oh hell.” Kip hurriedly buttoned up her blouse. “I thought I could do it, but I can’t.”
“I adore you,” Tam said, comparing the vision of Kip in front of her, blushing at her own boldness, overcome with shy propriety, to the incisive, unflappable witness with nerves of steel 255
she’d been during the trial. “You are exactly my kind of femme fatale.”
Blouse tidied, she gave Tam a sheepish smile and got out of the car. “Some femme fatale I am. I mean—what if someone saw me—”
Delighted and laughing, Tam backed Kip up to the car and kissed her. Thoroughly.
“We’re never going to set sail at this rate,” Kip finally murmured.
“Sweetheart, I’ve been at sea since the moment I met you.”
Kip grinned. “Good. Let’s keep it that way.” She lifted one handle of the hamper Tam had abandoned.
Tam happily took the other. It was an easy load to manage together.
256
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