Page 31 of Buck (Diver Downeast #2)

“Reyghan,” Bobbie squealed as she stepped into Buck’s rented cottage.

The little dog scrambled frantically across Buck’s slippery foyer floor, practically attacking her. For a little gal who’d only been around her actual owner once, she uncannily seemed to know Bobbie was someone special.

Join the crowd, Reyghan , Buck thought to himself. That woman was so deeply entrenched under his skin, he felt like lolling on the floor at her feet, too.

Cooper stood, several inches behind the happy scene, having approached a little more warily. But his tail was wagging to beat the band, confirming that he was also pleased to see Bobbie.

“Have you been a good girl for Buck,” Bobbie crooned to Reyghan, squatting down and scooping up the pup who she then hugged to her chest. “Ooh. I love your new collar.” She dropped a kiss on the dog’s furry head.

Yeah. Buck had bought one he thought Bobbie would like. It was made from white fabric and had pink bones imprinted on it. Cooper’s was the same brand, but black with white fire hydrants.

Reyghan responded to Bobbie’s inquiry with a lick to her chin; a motion that Buck was just getting used to. Reyghan clearly wanted to love on humans every chance she got, which was really sweet.

“She’s been amazing,” Buck told Bobbie. “Cooper, too. I think the two of them are taking their cues from each other. Now, when I let them out of the crate in the morning, Cooper follows Reyghan to the door and they both wait for me instead of using the indoors as their personal facilities.”

“Good babies,” Bobbie praised, bending and giving Cooper a belly rub when he splayed over onto his back at her feet.

She stood and met Buck’s eyes. “Oh, shit. Do you think they’ll have a problem being separated? The last thing I want to do is cause either of them any more trauma than they’ve already been exposed to.”

Buck laughed. “Hah. Not a chance. If you could see their antics, you’d know they’re damned adaptable.

They’ve already more than gotten over their water adventure, if they even remember it happened.

Point in case, they both wanted to join me in the shower this morning, so water isn’t going to be a problem.

Which means I doubt bouncing around from household to household will be, either.

If there’s love to be had, wherever they go, they’re going to be happy. ”

Buck liked the way Bobbie’s eyes glazed over a bit when he’d mentioned the shower. Was she picturing him naked and soaped up? Could she possibly know that he’d put hands on his fixated-on-Bobbie dick and jerked off to her this morning?

He felt his cock harden again as a blush moved up his neck.

Ah, hell no. Any rise in color or unexplained bulges would give Bobbie fodder for teasing, and that wasn’t how he wanted to present.

Buck willed himself to breathe deeply, stand up straight and think of…converting air consumption to a surface equivalent at say, a depth of sixty feet…

Whew. Penis down.

That had been a close one.

It seemed that Bobbie hadn’t noticed his, uh, little problem, though. She was busy…sniffing?

“Mmm.” She stuck her nose up in the air a second time. “Something smells really good.”

This, Buck could deal with. “Well, it’s not Spam, I’m sorry to say,” he chuckled. “But I do have pulled pork in the crockpot, just about ready to be sauced. I hope that’s agreeable, served on a bulky role with a side of slaw.” It was a family recipe.

Why was he suddenly nervous, rambling like a kid? This was a go-to meal of his, and he never screwed it up. Of course, he’d never fed a professional chef before, either.

“It sounds awesome,” Bobbie replied sincerely. “But, Buck. Just saying. You could have ordered in subs and I would have been over-the-moon.” She put Reyghan down and reached forward to place a warm, compelling hand on Buck’s chest. “Nobody ever feeds me.”

Buck couldn’t help himself. He grabbed her hand where it lay, then dipped down and sampled Bobbie’s lips that had turned up toward him.

She didn’t back off. If he had to say, she even, momentarily, increased the pressure.

When they pulled apart, she smiled broadly and so genuinely that his chest swelled with delight.

“What was that for?” Buck asked, needing confirmation that she was reacting with euphoria to that same, swift, down-to-the-toes connection that he’d felt.

“My smile?” she asked sassily.

“Yeah,” he fibbed.

She only missed one beat before…

“No onions.”

Buck laughed, then dipped down to kiss her briefly again. “Ah, well then. We can’t waste a good breath day, can we?”

Bobbie grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down for more.

And more …

It wasn’t until the dogs started whining that they came up for air.

“Umm, I think they need to go out,” Bobbie said, finding her voice first, but still staring at his lips like they held the answers to everything in the universe.

“Tough decision.” Buck somehow managed to put words together. “Hmm. Continue the way we were and clean up a mess, or take the pups out and miss out on filling myself up with more of this…appetizer?”

Bobbie sighed, but pushed him away. “I’ll be the grown-up here. We can’t derail any progress you’ve made with them in the potty department.”

He gave a reluctant nod of agreement.

She looked around. “Leashes?”

He pointed to a hall rack where they hung, the designs on them matching the dogs’ collars.

“Very cute,” Bobbie praised.

The wriggling pair got even more excited than they already were when Buck reached for the leads. It made him so proud to know they were well on their way to figuring out human cues, and how to be real dogs.

Clipping in, he and Bobbie exited his front door, and?—

“Hey. What’s Spencer doing here?” Buck stated dumbly. “I only left him a couple hours ago.”

Bobbie looked sheepish. “Uh, that would be my fault?”

Buck was confused. “Not following, Bobbie.”

She gave a long, protracted sigh. “Well, my brothers knew I was going to see you at some point today or tonight to pick up Reyghan, and they basically camped outside my job all day so they could follow me home, then probably here.”

“Why?”

“Ostensibly to make sure I didn’t spend more than a few minutes with you, because I kind of had to lie to them and tell them I wouldn’t.”

“Go on.” Buck waited for more, not liking this development at all, as both Reyghan and Cooper watered the grass on either side of the walkway.

“So, as I was leaving the work venue, I called Mason. He said he’d waylay Drew and Jeff on the way to my place so they couldn’t get eyes on my apartment and follow me here.

Something about making up a bogus traffic infraction.

But he was also a little concerned they’d have figured out where you live and that they might come here, first, so he sent Spencer to keep an eye out. ”

“Damn.” Buck rubbed the back of his neck.

“I suppose I should be happy my brothers have my six.” Buck snorted, shaking his head.

“But you know what this means. We have to invite Spencer in for food. Tabitha left earlier today for an overnight to Connecticut to check out a new to us, three-man sub for our business, and he’s been moping ever since. ”

Bobbie grinned. “That’s okay. I really can’t spend much time with you tonight, anyway.

I have to be up before dawn to make my sail to New Brunswick.

” She canted a head toward Spencer’s truck.

“Let’s go see if in order to get a free meal, he’ll give us better puppy-dog eyes than our four-legged friends. ”

Buck shook his head. “Nope. No way. Spencer is not known for his pleading gazes. He’s a lot more direct. If anything, it’s more likely he’ll just ask what’s for supper.”

“A bet, then?” Bobbie responded playfully.

“Okay. Sure.” Buck was amused. “What are the stakes?”

“Mmm… If he invites himself in without any cajoling, you get to be on top when we get finally together Wednesday night. If he gives us a pitiful stare, I’ll be the one in charge.”

Buck was momentarily struck dumb.

He’d figured—from the discussion they’d had a few days ago in his van—that they’d end up in bed when Bobbie got back from Canada, but hearing it said so concisely from her lips, and in detail, was erotic as hell.

Buck felt his cock swell for the second time in mere minutes, and he couldn’t very well adjust with his brother watching, because he’d never hear the end of it.

He concentrated, instead, on Bobbie’s offer as logistically as possible, as if he weren’t the one who was intimately vested in the outcome.

“ Hooyah . That’s my kind of bet,” Buck managed to choke out. “A true win/win situation.”

“I guess it is,” Bobbie agreed with a straight face. “Because either way, he gets to eat with us.”

“That wasn’t the win I was talking about,” Buck rasped.

“I know,” Bobbie snickered, hip checking him.

It took Buck a moment to recover.

“Okay. It’s a bet,” he concurred. “I’ll go lay a guilt trip on him for foisting his presence on us, and see what happens. I’m going to make him think he’s cockblocking, and let him know that shit’s off the table from here on out if he knows what’s good for him.”

“Cock-blocking, huh?” Bobbie leaned her head back and arched a brow at him. “I see. You thought you were going to get lucky tonight ?”

“Nope. A figure of speech.” Buck prevaricated, playing along with like friskiness. “I understand the term can be used quite interchangeably for things like cuddling and kissing.”

She threw back her head and laughed long and loud. “Nice try, Buck. But don’t worry. It’s okay. We’ve already determined that your cock will enter into the equation on Wednesday.”

Enter…

Oh, man.

But thank God it would finally be happening. Buck didn’t know how much longer he could walk around with a painful hard-on from all the fantasies he’d been spinning.

Bobbie turned, cheekily, as if knowing just what kind of pain he was in, and made her way toward Spencer’s vehicle.

Damn, the woman was fire. She sure knew how to shake not only that fine ass, but the foundation of all that existed, out from underneath him.

By the time Bobbie reached the truck, Buck had somehow managed to catch up.

He circumnavigated Bobbie, and the dogs who were excitedly trying to trip him, hiking himself up onto the running board to lean into Spencer’s open window.

He immediately received slobbery kisses from Duck.

The pup was semi-restrained with the same seatbelt contraption Buck had bought for both Cooper and Reyghan, but it didn’t deter the mutt from making his presence, wetly known.

Buck eventually managed to calm the black lab down, then addressed his brother.

“I heard that Mason stuck you on babysitting duty.”

Spencer shrugged. “No biggie. There’s nothing to go home to right now, anyway.”

There was some overt blinking from his brother, accompanied by a sorrowful dip of his chin.

“Hah!” Bobbie gloated triumphantly from behind Buck. “See? Puppy-dog eyes. I win.”

“Win?” Spencer questioned nosily, momentarily forgetting his act. “You want to fill me in on that?”

“Nope,” both Buck and Bobbie answered at the same time, shooting each other looks, then cracking up.

“Ah. Okay. I get it. It’s sex related,” Spencer stated knowledgably. “But guys. That’s downright cruel. Tabbi won’t be home until tomorrow.”

Buck gave a mocking huff. “Too bad, so sad. But not to worry, bro. We’ve got you covered. Not in the sex department,” he quickly clarified, “but with food. I made Mom’s pulled pork for supper. You interested?”

Spencer’s eyes lit up. “Hell, yeah.” His countenance fell. “But I’m supposed to be keeping an eye out for…bad guys,” he added regretfully.

“Not a problem,” Buck told him. “Food will be another thirty minutes, which means you can hang outside with Bobbie and our three beasts for a while, then I’ll set us up at the picnic table in the side yard.

We have a good view of the street from there, so if any unwanted Follsters show up, we’ll know immediately, and you can call Mase. Deal?” he finished.

“Deal,” Spencer agreed.

In the end, the evening hadn’t turned out badly.

First, they’d had no unwanted visitors. And second, Spencer was always good company, as well as in tune with the room. Which meant as soon as he’d finished eating, he wished them well and took off.

Opportunity became a palpable thing between Buck and Bobbie, but still…she was right. With her having to be up at the ass-crack of dawn, there wasn’t enough time for Buck to worship her body in all the ways he’d been imagining, so it was better that things wrap up with them making out on his couch.

Which went on long enough that the pair lost track of time.

“Can’t you cancel?” Buck wheedled, kissing Bobbie’s neck where he might have already left a slight, claiming mark on her soft skin.

“I wish,” Bobbie tilted her head to give him more room. “But this client isn’t someone to mess with. He’s large and in charge, if you know what I mean. Important, at least in his own mind. And don’t forget the paycheck. It’s pretty damned generous.”

“I have money?—”

She laid a finger across his lips. “No. You need that for your new business. Between you, Spencer, and Tabitha, I’m sure you’ve got things covered, but you never know when you might need more; when something’s going to come up to set you back.

And besides,” she grew serious, regarding him with gravity, “I need to make my own money so I can be the one in charge of my life and decisions.”

Buck regarded her with equal solemnity. “I would never take that away from you, Bobbie. Never.”

She laid a hand on his knee before getting up from the couch.

“I know you wouldn’t, Buck, but my brothers would. So we need to keep things status quo, doing what I’m doing with my set schedule so they remain in the dark that they’re under investigation.

“I promise we’ll talk about my future, and all the possible ways you’re going to rock my world, once we get them out of my life forever. How does that sound?”

“Like a plan,” Buck responded thoughtfully, following her to the door for a reluctant goodbye. “A very good plan.”