Hardman - Delilah Devlin Page 0,2

help him,” Preacher said, his hands on his hips.

They all watched as Dagger leaned over the side of Harper’s boat to retrieve the mooring line floating on the surface.

Sure enough, the skiff tipped, dumping Dagger into the water. Now, all three boats were floating away.

The sound of cursing came from the embankment, and they watched as a brunette who more than filled her jeans and T-shirt slid down the side, Lacey following her a second later. Lacey strode toward them, but her gaze was on the river and Dagger, who now had the mooring line in one hand and an arm draped over the edge of Harper’s little boat. He appeared to be losing the battle against the current as the boats rounded the bend.

“Think someone ought to help him?” Lacey asked.

Preacher shrugged. “Don’t look at me. I’m not a damn SEAL.”

All gazes landed on Hardman. He rolled his eyes, quickly stripped off his vest, his holster, and his sweatshirt, and then strode deeper into the water and swam, letting the current bring him closer to Dagger.

From the edge of the water, he heard Lacey’s, “Damn, did you see all that muscle?”

A feminine snort sounded. Had to be Marti, but he didn’t wait around to hear her response. He quickened his strokes, determined to prove that Navy trumped Army—at least in the water.

Minutes later, Hardman drove the lead boat, with all three tied together now, back to where everyone was gathered. Someone had retrieved Harper’s clothing, but his hands were restrained behind him so his girlfriend was helping him get his jeans on.

Both Marti and Lacey were watching, standing way too close to each other to be having a polite conversation. Harper kept throwing them dark glances as his girlfriend gripped his jeans and pulled them up his thighs. His cock was going to be a bit of a problem. It wasn’t a big one, but it did seem to enjoy the attention.

His girlfriend quickly tucked it inside, zipped his fly, then tapped him a little too firmly over the crotch. Harper grimaced.

When Marti turned his way, her expression was neutral, her lips crimped into a thin flat line. And she was shivering.

Hardman climbed out of the sneaker boat and strode to where he’d dropped his sweatshirt. “You should put this on,” he said, and tossed it toward her.

She caught it against her chest. From her expression, he knew she wanted to refuse, but her lips were blue with cold. She turned, dropped her vest to the ground, and without an ounce of modesty, peeled off her wet hoodie, seemingly not caring that she gave the crew a nice view of her smooth, trim back and scarlet bra strap.

“You went back and bought it,” Lacey said, staring at the bra. She glanced at Hardman. “She went shopping with me last week. Spent a lot of time looking at a pair of Ariat boots, but she rolled her eyes when I told her she ought to be buying sexy underwear. I showed her that scarlet set.”

“Good Lord,” Marti muttered and dropped Hardman’s shirt over her head. Although she was of medium height, the shirt fell to the middle of her thighs, and she spent a few moments rolling up the cuffs to expose her hands.

Hardman couldn’t help the twinge of arousal that stirred his cock. The thought of Marti’s skin touching something he’d worn intrigued him more than it should have. She was his partner. His trainer. She’d never looked at him with anything but a baleful eye or a blistering glare. She wasn’t like any of the women he’d ever dated. Wasn’t soft, didn’t smile, didn’t sway her hips—she was all business. All the time.

But right now, with her hair slicked back and her eyes rounded as she stared back at him…he could imagine stripping that shirt right off her frame to get a look at the front of that pretty, dark red bra and the feminine mounds they covered. Her breasts were small, barely rounded. Not that he minded. No, he didn’t mind one bit.

“Shayla, here, is gonna ride with me and Dagger,” Lacey said.

Preacher raised his chin toward Harper’s little boat. “Think you can climb in without falling face first in the water again?”

Harper frowned but shuffled toward the boat in his bare feet. His girlfriend gathered his shoes and shirt and handed them to Preacher, who threw them into the bottom of the boat then held the boat steady as Harper climbed in.

Marti and Hardman shared a