Page 108 of Rescued by the Single Dad

She didn’t deserve that.

This was all so new to him.

Dating. Sleeping with someone else. Introducing that person to his daughter. This was uncharted territory, and he was at the helm blind and with a broken rudder. None of his brothers had taken the plunge back into the dating world, so he couldn’t even go to them for advice.

Thankfully, Brooke didn’t seem to want or need to chat. They simply stood there out on the rocks, arms around each other, under the moonlight, staring out at the inky water.

He knew right then and there that he could do this every night for the rest of his life with this woman and never tire of it. Never tire of her.

He’d never had such a clear thought like that with Jacqueline. Never felt so sure or absolute about her or their life together. Maybe because in the back of his mind he knew the island—and possibly even him—weren’t what she truly wanted.

They stood there until the water touched the toes of their shoes, letting them know it wasn’t going to wait for them to move before it crawled up the rocks. The tide waited for nobody.

Lacing her fingers through his, they turned and headed back up the beach. He had the empty bottle of whiskey in his other hand.

They were nearly at the pub when laughter coming from at least three people made them both freeze.

Where were the people?

Three shadowy figures came traipsing down the beach from the other side, the distinct and pungent scent of cannabis preceding them.

Even though they called it “their beach,” it was all actually public land. The beach in front of the pub was public, and anybody could go on it at any time. Not many did, since the parking lot was owned by Clint and his brothers and you had to be a pub patron or cabin guest to park there. But there was side of the road parking down the way a quarter mile down the road, so people parked there.

“Aw shit, it’s closed,” said one male voice.

“I need nachos,” another guy said.

He could see the whites of Brooke’s eyes as she stared at Clint in panic. Her hands fished into the pockets of her hoodie frantically. “My mask! I must have dropped it on the beach.”

The three men grew closer. They laughed more. One of them had a chuckle that was similar to the hyuck sound that Goofy made.

Tightening his grip on her hand, he pulled her into the treeline so they could hide in the shadows. Then, just to make doubly sure the stoners didn’t see them, he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her mouth to his with a bit more force than he intended. But he was quickly learning that Brooke didn’t mind a bit of force. Benign erotic aggression. Some hair pulling, thigh biting, and pulling her hard against his body and claiming her mouth like it belonged to him.

Because he wanted more than anything for that to be true.

She returned the kiss in kind, welcoming his tongue and massaging it with her own.

“Get a room,” said one of the guys, which meant Brooke and Clint had been spotted.

“You think they’ll like make us nachos to-go or something?” asked another.

“I hear music. Maybe the kitchen is open. I know Burke, the head chef. He buys crabs from my dad.”

Ah, so at least one of them was Willy Reilly’s son, Cash. He wasn’t a bad kid, probably home from college and working on his dad’s boat for the summer. Trouble, however, did tend to follow Cash around more than it did others. He seemed to always have a cast on from breaking one bone or another after attempting a dangerous stunt.

Clint turned them so that he was blocking Brooke with his body and nobody would be able to see her face, even if they snuck up right behind them. He let the bottle drop to the small pebbles below and cupped both sides of her head, loving the way her pulse hammered against his little finger as it rested on her throat.

The stoners’ footsteps disappeared, as did their laughter. But Clint kept kissing her.

He never wanted to stop kissing her.

“I uh ...” a smile colored her voice, “I think we’re safe.”

“Not quite,” he murmured, kissing her still.

He felt her smile this time.

She responded and opened for him again.

---