Read In the Line of Duty: First Responders, Book 2 for Free Online Page A

letting the water run off his shoulders and down his chest to where the waves rose and fell around his waist.
    He waded over to where she was, going deeper until the water reached his chest. Kendra’s eyes widened and he wondered what her skin felt like all slippery and wet.
    He was only a few feet away—close enough he could reach out and touch her—when she grinned, splashed him and dove under again.
    So that was how she wanted to play it. He waited, watched for when she was just about to surface, and then slipped beneath the water, using powerful strokes to push himself in her direction.
    When he surfaced she was right there, only inches away, her hair slick with sea water and droplets running down her face. Her lashes sparkled with moisture and she opened her lips in surprise. They were out over their heads, but Jake didn’t care. For a few seconds, he let the waves rock them toward each other. And then he did what he’d thought about doing since she’d stripped off her clothes on the beach. He slid his hand around her waist, pulled her against him and kissed her.
    Her lips tasted of some sort of fruity gloss mixed with salt, a delicious blend of the best things of summer. But what surprised him most was that her mouth opened beneath his. Her body might have been cold from the water, but the interior of her mouth was soft and warm, and he felt the vibration of a soft moan as he deepened the kiss.
    But the twining together of their legs and Jake’s arm around her waist made it difficult to keep treading water, and they started to slip beneath the rolling waves. Jake broke the contact and pedalled with his legs to stay afloat.
    “Oops,” Kendra said, surprising him with the easy response rather than the dressing down he’d expected. He grinned and was gratified when she smiled too. Oops indeed. They’d never gotten along before, but she wasn’t exactly acting like a woman who disapproved of what he did or who he was.
    She started swimming toward shore and he followed her, refreshed from the quick dip and ready to enjoy the sun. They came out of the gentle surf together, shaking the water from their hair. The sand was soft and wet beneath his toes. So different from the sand in the Middle East, he thought. Maybe in time he’d forget that too. He doubted it, but he could hope.
    But he wasn’t going to think about that and let it ruin today. He wondered if Kendra knew she was his first date since opening the pub nearly a year ago. He figured if he revealed that little tidbit of info, she’d head for the hills at breakneck speed.
     
    Kendra reached for her towel and hid behind it, briskly drying off her arms and rubbing her hair. She had to calm down. Had to stop freaking out about the fact that Jake had kissed her. And she’d kissed him back. What had she been thinking?
    She swallowed and forced herself to be casual about laying the towel back on the sand as Jake came up behind her. She could at least be honest with herself and admit she’d been curious. And Jake couldn’t be all bad, right? Maybe she didn’t approve of his business, but to his credit he’d never caused any direct trouble since his return, and he seemed to have some civic pride, giving back to the community.
    That or she could just be putting a fine shine on him to make herself feel better about this…attraction.
    “You hungry?”
    His voice was close to her shoulder and she shivered. “Sure. But I’d better put on some sunscreen first. I’ve already been in the water, and the last thing I need is a sunburn.”
    She reached inside her bag and took out a tube of cream while Jake got the cooler from beneath the shade of a rock. Doing her legs was no trouble, nor her arms. She smoothed some on the V of her collarbone and over her nose and then paused. She really should put some on her shoulders and top of her back. And the only way to do that was…
    “Need some help?”
    She looked up. He was watching her blandly, no innuendoes in his