Page 55 of Seal of Approval

“It only seems fair.” I grinned as I gave her a nudge.

She rolled her eyes.

My mind wandered to another bonfire night and Lily commenting about coffee in her own little devious way. “Has that got something to do with the coffee smell Lily was talking about?”

Jasmine blushed crimson. “No. I told her you smell better than coffee.”

It was my turn for my face to turn red.

“What shall we do for the rest of the day?” I snapped my head back to the front. There were lots of things I’d like to do with Jasmine—clothed, naked, or anything in between. But moving from pretending to real needed to come first. If that’s what she wanted.

“How about a boat trip to Seclusion Bay for a picnic and swim?”

“Sounds great.”

The kids were waiting at the door for us. This having to lock the door all the time was frustrating, but we needed to do it to keep safe.

“Go and get changed and we’ll walk you to the shop,” Jasmine said, unlocking the door.

“I’ll get some lunch packed.” I put Timmy down and went into the kitchen.

The kids were back in no time. Jasmine soon followed in a summer dress, her bikini straps poking out. My pulse quickened as I remembered the last time I’d seen her in swimwear—her short swim shorts and crop top accentuating her curves.

“I’ll finish off. Can you grab some towels after you get dressed, please?” she asked.

“Sure can.”

The kids watched me as if to hurry me along.

“The ice cream won’t run out if Ethan takes a few minutes,” she said.

I laughed. “I’ll be quick.”

Ten minutes later, after we’d dropped the kids off, we headed to the boat. “Do you want me to drive?” I asked.

“That would be nice.” There she went relinquishing power again. A sign of trust, just like Jack had said.

We stood next to each other, quiet except when Jasmine was giving directions. Heat emanated off her as her arm pressed against mine. And we were alone, together, on purpose. I tightened my hand on the steering wheel.

We rounded the point into a cove, and I sucked a breath in. Beautiful white sand formed a semi-circle. The clear water changed from a deep turquoise to aquamarine the closer it got to shore. I stopped the boat.

“Wow.”

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Jasmine smiled up at me with her full lips. Her warm brown eyes had me spellbound.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

“Shall we swim first?” she asked.

“Sure.” I dropped the anchor.

She turned toward the stern and lifted her dress off, revealing the remainder of her tanned legs. Her bikini wasn’t the one she normally wore—no shorts and crop top. The tropical print material was cut high, showing off her legs and shapely butt even more than her swim shorts had. More of her skin was revealed than I’d ever seen. It wasn’t as tanned as the rest of her smooth, glowing skin. If she turned around?—

I gulped. I shouldn’t be watching her every movement like I was an ogling male sea lion ready to prove my genetic value. I concentrated instead on taking my tank top off and following her to the stairs, looking anywhere but at her and her graceful movement. I wasn’t a sexed-up sea lion who couldn’t control my hormones.

Luckily, we weren’t at North Baker Beach, the nudist beach in San Francisco. I’d probably be told to leave because I was staring too much.

Jasmine jumped into the water and swam away. She turned and watched me, and every inch of my skin sparked to life. I didn’t shy away from her open gaze. I didn’t feel like I needed to hide. As I stepped onto the bottom step, I felt courage I’d never experienced before.

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