He laughed. “Me too. Me fucking too.”
She grinned up at him.
Jericho smiled down at her and leaned in and lightly, ever so lightly, brushed his lips over her mouth. “You’re pretty amazing, Emily Allard.”
“You are too, Jericho Lozada,” she said, and pushed in for more kisses, her arms going around his neck. The jacket slid off her back and pooled onto the dock, but she didn’t care. The taste of Jericho, the feel of him, the scent of him, it enveloped her, and she was gloriously, deliriously happy. “So,” she breathed against his mouth when they parted. “You ever made love on a dock?”
~~ * * *~~
They did, in fact, make love on the dock. It was tricky because they left most of their clothing on in case of splinters. It ended up being a lot of mutual masturbation until Jericho shoved his pants down, pulled out a condom, and pushed Emily’s panties aside and thrust into her. Then, Jericho had to keep muffling Emily’s orgasmic shrieks with kisses, but they both managed to come until they were seeing stars – both literally and figuratively – and stagger back to his motorcycle an hour later.
Emily clung to Jericho, feeling lazy and wonderful, as he strapped the bike helmet under her chin. “I’d ask you to move in with me tonight, you know, but I feel like my house has been invaded by the Spooky Squad.” She made an unhappy face.
He cupped her chin. “It’s your house. You said you got it in the divorce, right? Make him leave. Unless you want me to make him leave.”
“No, I can handle it,” she said. “Unless you think it’s too bitchy of me to throw out my ex and all his employees when I’m the only bed and breakfast in town?”
“Oh, it’d be bitchy,” Jericho said with a laugh. “And it’d make me damn happy.”
Come to think of it, it’d make her pretty happy, too. “My sister’s dating a cop,” she told him. “A really big one. Think I should call in a favor?”
“What else are all those brownies you bake for?” He leaned in and kissed her. “I’ll support you whatever you want to do, you know. I’m here for you.”
Happy tears filled her eyes. That was all she’d ever wanted – support and understanding. “I know. And I appreciate it more than you can ever imagine.” She pulled out her cellphone and grimaced at the time. “I hope Luanne’s working tonight or she’s going to be super grumpy.”
“I guess it doesn’t have to be tonight,” Jericho said thoughtfully. “You could always kick them out in the morning.”
“Oh, it needs to be tonight,” she assured him. “Or else they’re going to film their stupid show. I just have a feeling.” With that horrible thought running through her head, she pulled up Luanne’s number and hit ‘call’.
Luanne answered on the first ring. “I can see the Spooky Squad vans in front of your house, and I’d like to say just one thing. If you’re calling me to tell me you’ve reconciled with That Man, as your sister, I love you and support you, but I’m not thrilled.”
Emily giggled. “Actually, I was wondering if Hank was busy.”
“Oh, he’s out playing patrol cop. It’s a quiet night. What’s up?”
“I seem to have a lot of uninvited guests at my house.”
Luanne made an excited squeal in the back of her throat. “Oh my God, can I please please please send him over to throw everyone out?”
“What are sisters for?”
~~ * * * ~~
Within an hour, Luanne had called Hank Sharp back from his patrol and sent him on to the Peppermint House, just in time for Emily and Jericho to pull up on Jericho’s motorcycle.
She waved at Hank as she pulled her helmet off.
When he approached, Hank gestured at her now-dark house. “You sure you want to do this? All the lights are off. They might be asleep.”
Emily looked at the Spooky Squad vans in her parking lot. “If I know my ex, they turned off the lights because they’re having a taping session against my wishes. The dark makes things more dramatic, you know.”
Hank adjusted the night stick on his belt. “All right. Want me to go in first?”
Emily shook her head and smiled at Jericho. “No, that’s my job.”
She went up the porch steps and pushed open her front door…and nearly tripped on a tangle of extension cords that crossed the threshold. Anger flared in Emily’s mind, but she forced it back. “Watch your step,” she said, familiar with this sort of thing. “Just like I thought, they’re filming and they have cords everywhere.”