LITMIR.BIZ

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the calendar for the fire department.”

      Ryder wiped his hands on a paper towel and passed the fruit tray to a waitress. Then he crossed his muscled arms and leaned back against the counter where he stored the glasses and flavorings. “Oh, I know one little Sugar Doll who’s going to get her pretty ass smacked. She told me the photographer was an ex-Ranger and kind of cute.” He snatched a bar rag and wiped circles in front of them both. “She had me worked up into quite a jealous lather, me being an ex-SEAL and her main squeeze.” He grinned. “Oh, she will so pay.” He winked at Graci-Ella. “God, I do love my Ivy Jo. How come you women have to get us all worked up? Hell, it took three times to get me to calm down enough to agree to it. Had she told me someone like you was the person taking the pictures, I’d have agreed right away.”

      “Maybe that’s why she fibbed a little. Look at what she got out of it.” Graci-Ella winked back. Boyd’s knee leaned against her thigh and her sex started pulsing.

      Ryder laughed. “Yeah, you got me there. So, what are you two having?”

      She knew a man’s blood could drop from his brain to his gonads, but she’d never experienced it herself, didn’t know it could happen to a women. So, she stared at the menu, trying to calm herself. Boyd ordered and she finally chose, too.

      While Ryder made their icy drinks from fresh fruit, she asked Boyd questions about Matt. Boyd’s face brightened; the man dearly loved his son. “Sometimes he acts like an old man. It’s the strangest thing, the wisdom this kid’s got.” He waved an open hand. “And I’m not just saying it because I’m his dad and I’m prejudiced or anything.” His gaze turned to her and he gave her a sheepish grin.

      “My grandma used to say a child who behaved or thought like that had an old soul and was destined for good things.” Graci-Ella suddenly missed the grandma who was always in her corner while her parents focused on Eli’s many activities.

      Sadness swept across Boyd’s face like a hand smoothing sand. “If I can keep him alive between the asthma and pneumonia. Which is why I have to win the custody battle. His health issues really bother me.”

      “Is Matt’s doctor going to be a witness at your hearing?” She sipped her lemon-lime drink.

      “Yes. His pediatrician has agreed. Matt is in a pattern. Two, maybe three, days after spending the weekend with his mother, he’s in the hospital with a severe asthma attack that’s progressed to pneumonia. It’s too hard on him.” He took a long drag of his blueberry pomegranate smoothie.

      This was a man who cared deeply. She wondered what it would be like to be loved by a man like him to such a deeply protective degree.

      “You asked me to consider if I’d date a man with a child. The answer is yes, if he’s like you.”

      He brought her hand to his lips and an arrow of need shot to all her female parts. “Dammit,” he muttered and looked at his beeper. “Gotta go. Fire.” He tossed some bills on the counter. Then cupped her face and kissed her forehead. “Call me at bedtime, Sweetness.” He ran out the door to his Mustang parked next to her SUV.

      Ryder handed drinks to another waitress and then propped his forearms on the counter in front of Graci-Ella. “Seeing Boyd with you did my heart good. I’ve been worried about him for a long time. Lord, how he needs a good woman.” He winked again. “Someone like you. I’m good at picking up vibes. That’s how I knew Ivy Jo was it for me as soon as I laid eyes on her. Boyd’s been through a lot. Scuttlebutt has it he caught his ex-wife in bed with two men. Nearly did him in. Now this custody hearing.” Ryder shook his head. “That boy of his is one of a kind. I love him to death. The only customer I have who marches up to me, shakes my hand and thanks me for making him such a good drink. I’m betting the Mattster, as I call him, would love you to pieces.”

      “Well, it’s a little early to be thinking on those terms.”

      Ryder laughed. “You just keep telling yourself that, you and your blue fingernail polish.”

      She leaned toward him. “Yeah, and your momma wears combat boots.”

      His smile widened. “Well now, we got us a girl who knows how to play the dozens. I’m liking you more and more. What position did you play?”

      She stood and smoothed her skirt. “Point guard. All American.”

      A low whistle followed her. “Boyd’s gonna have his hands full with you, ain’t he?”

      She glanced over her shoulder. “Poor man has no idea.”

       CHAPTER FIVE

      Boyd inserted his Bluetooth as soon as he started the ’stang and called the head of the marine rescue team. Wolf told him some kids had set fire to a dock. Two teenagers had fallen into the water while the blaze was moving from the dock to the board walk along the causeway.

      He asked Wolf to grab his equipment, so he could jump on the boat as soon as he got there. Then his mind drifted back to the hardware store. He had to admit after flirting and talking with Graci-Ella, he felt like a new man. He’d avoided the opposite sex like lima beans since the legal papers suing him for custody had arrived. Christ, the whole lawsuit had him tied up in knots for so long.

      Until her.

      Something about her stirred him up and soothed him at the same time. Thank God he’d called his lawyer this morning and pushed him for answers because staying away from Graci-Ella was going to be hard. The attraction was just too strong. Now, maybe he wouldn’t have to.

      As soon as he’d heard her heels clicking through the hardware store like a “come-get-me” tune, he’d been on the hunt like a wild, horny beast. When he’d set eyes on her jumping for that boxed fan, he had to put his hands on her—had to, as if laying claim to her was some invisible driving force.

      He bolted from his car as soon as he hit the dock. Quinn gave him the “you’re fuckin’ late glare” and Boyd shot him the finger. He jumped onboard and started putting on his uniform and boots.

      The captain sent Wolf’s team out to rescue the teens and assigned Ivy Jo to drive the fire truck Quinn always drove. Quinn grumbled about someone else operating what he considered his personal apparatus. “I told Ivy I didn’t want a scratch or a dent on my truck when she brought it back.”

      “Bet she liked that.” Boyd yanked on his gear and stored his street clothes in a cabinet under his seat.

      “Told me to kiss her lily white ass.” Quinn jerked the boat into gear and Boyd rode shotgun. Once they were on their way, Boyd lugged the fire hoses out of storage. Wolf and Barclay were in their scuba gear in the stern, hanging on while Quinn skimmed the boat across the gentle waves of the water; the stern end of the boat bouncing. In a matter of minutes, the smoke was visible.

      Evidently Wolf’s keen eyes saw something, and he ordered Quinn to take the boat dockside beside the fire hydrant. Then Wolf and Barclay flipped backward into the water and swam toward two teens thrashing around.

      Boyd hopped out of the boat and tied it to one of the piers away from the fire. He dragged the coupler end of the hose to the fire hydrant Jace had just opened and attached his hose to one of the openings. Once Jace turned on the hydrant, both he, Ivy Jo and Boyd aimed the force of water at the fire. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Wolf and Barclay unceremoniously throw two kids into the boat.

      The police on the scene arrested the underage drunken party-goers who had destroyed some property, in addition to setting the fire. Wolf, who was never one to mince words, claimed the kids all needed their asses kicked before and after they repaired what they had ruined.

      Then Wolf and Barclay went underwater again to investigate the pylons and see how far down the damage had gone. Boyd focused on the plants and palm trees to contain the width of the flames, in an effort to keep the condominiums safe. Ivy Jo and

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