His Strings to Pull

A whirlwind affair…or a headlong plunge into the deep end of forever?

An
In the Line of Duty
Short Story

As lifeguard Jenny Anderson keeps one eye on the rambunctious kids at the community pool, she can’t help but keep the other one trained on the gorgeous, tattooed hottie peeling his shirt off near the lounge chairs. And she isn’t the only woman at the pool drooling.

Right about the time her gaze drops to check for a wedding ring—which, from bitter experience, she knows doesn’t mean squat—one of those kids plows into her from behind. Sending her in an ungraceful belly flop right into the deep end.

When the sleekly tanned lifeguard literally falls into his arms, her mouth opening and closing like a landed fish, Ving Duncan’s special forces training kicks in. It’s clear she needs air, and she needs it now.

The moment their lips collide, he wants her, all strings attached. By the time he finds out who she is—his comrade’s little sister—it’s too late. He’s hooked, and he’s already planning his next mission: to get her to say yes. To a date. Maybe to forever…

Warning: A whirlwind romance so hot and breathless, it could leave you needing a little mouth-to-mouth…

His Strings to Pull

Cathryn Fox

Dedication

To the team behind my series. Thank you all for helping me make these stories shine!

Chapter One

With a rescue tube tucked under her arm, lifeguard Jenny Andersen walked the length of the outdoor pool, keeping one eye on the kids splashing and playing in the shallow end and the other on the gorgeous man peeling his shirt off near the lounge chairs directly across from her. Two young girls ran around him, and with a playful look on his face, he twisted his towel and snapped them gently on their rear ends to shoo them away. As they squealed and jumped in the water, Jenny couldn’t help but smile at his antics, nor could she help but wonder if those rambunctious kids were his. Her glance strayed to his left hand, but past experiences had taught her that a ring-free finger meant little or nothing.

He moved to the deep end of the pool, each stride of his long, muscled legs purposeful and sexy. He stretched his arms over his shaved head, and his tanned, athletic body glistened invitingly in the early morning sun. Jenny noted the way all the women were watching, or rather, drooling, from the comfort of their lounge chairs.

Speaking of drooling…

Her glance slid up the length of him to broad shoulders covered in tattoos, before traveling downward again. Good God, his body was like a Plinko game, all hard ridges and muscles that guided her gaze down to the jackpot hidden beneath a pair of low hanging swimming trunks. She swallowed against her suddenly dry throat and damn near died when she looked back to his face to find him watching her. He gave her a playful, lopsided grin that further weakened her already wobbly knees, and then dove into the water, leaving her wondering what the hell it was about him that left her panting like a sheep dog in the sweltering heat of the summer.

Watching his long frame glide through the rippling waves, she once again wondered if he was taken. But thinking about his marital status had her thoughts going back to her last relationship. She gave a disgruntled shake of her head, hardly able to believe that her ex had had a wife and kids waiting for him at home. Looking back, all the signs had been there—they could never go back to his place, the phone calls he had to leave the room to take, the nights he said he was out of town on business and couldn’t call her—she’d just been too blinded by infatuation, too trusting, to see them for what they were.

Honestly, didn’t anyone believe in monogamy anymore? Were there no guys out there looking for the same thing as her? She wanted what her parents had before her dad died a few years ago—love, trust, respect. Was that so much to ask for?

Sadly, she was beginning to think so.

She watched the tattooed hottie surface in the shallow end. Like a fish drawn to a shiny lure, she walked the length of the pool toward him. The young girls he’d been snapping earlier jumped all over him, trying to drag him under the water. Jenny recognized the children he was with. Their townhouse was in walking distance of the community pool, and they came here often with their mother. Jenny had never seen them with this man before, however. Perhaps, like her brother, Garrett, he was a military man, and had recently returned home from overseas.

He picked one of the girls up and tossed her into the water. Jenny stopped abruptly, drawn to the fun-loving scene, but as her feet came to a sudden halt, something, or someone, crashed into her from behind. Before she even realized what was happening, the rescue tube flew out of her hand and she landed in the water with an undignified belly flop.

Her hands flailed, and as she gasped for air and worked to find her footing, a strong pair of arms lifted her from the water. She opened her mouth and closed it again, struggling to fill her deflated lungs. Not because she’d taken in water, but because the tattooed hottie was looking down at her with dark eyes she could so easily lose herself in.

She opened her mouth to tell him she was okay, but no sound came. She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her lust-filled brain as she struggled to take in air.

“Shit,” he said. The next thing she knew she was flat on her back on the flagstone walkway surrounding the pool, and Mr. Hottie’s lips were coming down fast.

Oh, God, his mouth tasted like cool mint and warm cinnamon all rolled into one. His lips moved over hers, and as air filled her lungs in a whoosh, she was sure she’d just drowned and gone to heaven. And oh, what a heaven it was…

As though moving on their own accord, her arms tangled around his neck, holding his mouth to hers as she reveled in his warmth, the sweet flavor of his kisses. She searched for his tongue, wanting a deeper, more thorough taste, but before she could find it, his body stiffened and he inched back.

He angled his head, and when eyes full of concern locked on hers, reality crashed over her like a cold wave. Oh hell. He was performing CPR, not kissing her.

“I…uh…” she managed to get out, then for good measure, she sucked in a breath and coughed to make it look like she
was
having a near-death experience, but the look on his face told her he was on to her.

He swiped his tongue over his lower lip, like he was savoring the taste of her, as he eyed her curiously. “Wait…you weren’t…were you…” he began, his body still hovering over hers, his mouth so close all she had to do was lift herself up an inch if she wanted to steal another kiss.

Which, of course, she did…

“Yes, I was drowning,” she said quickly. “But thanks to your quick thinking, I’m okay now.” When she saw the other lifeguard coming her way, she held her hand up to stop her, letting her know she was fine. She made a move to get up, but he leaned in, keeping her pinned with his hard body. Her mind took that moment to wander, wondering what it would be like to be sandwiched between this man—and a mattress—their bodies naked, entwined…

“Hey, lady, you okay?”

The sound of a kid’s voice put an abrupt end to her fantasy. She turned her head to see a boy around twelve hovering over her, and instantly recognized him as the big brother to the two young girls this man had been playing with earlier.

“I’m sorry.” The boy crinkled his nose apologetically. “I didn’t see you.”

“You’re not supposed to be running on the deck,” Jenny said firmly, surprised she could actually find her voice as the man’s weight continued to press down on her.

Mr. Hottie swung his head toward the boy. “We’ll discuss this later, when we get home,” he said, his expression stern yet affectionate at the same time.

They’d discuss it at home? Jenny’s heart sank. Damn, the kids
were
his, which meant he was likely married to the pretty woman who brought them here often.

She tried to move, shoving at his chest, but it was like trying to push a pickup with a toothpick. “If you’ll excuse me…” she began.

“Ving.”

“What?” she asked.

“It’s Ving,” he said. “Ving Duncan.”

“Okay, Ving Duncan.” She gave another hard shove, needing him off her body before he noticed the hardening of her nipples beneath her speedo. Cripes, the guy was married and the last thing she wanted to do was lust after someone’s husband again. “If you could just move.”

He jumped to his feet and pulled her up with him. Her body collided with his, and as his hardness meshed with her softness, it damn near sucked the oxygen from her lungs—again.

“And you are?” he asked.

“Grateful that you saved me. Thank you.” Working to tamp down the heat he stirred in her, she turned to the boy, and put on her best serious face. “You need to be careful. You could have really hurt someone.”

“I’m sorry,” he said again, hanging his head, and Jenny, having a soft spot for kids, ruffled his hair. She shot Ving an imploring look, and said, “Don’t be too hard on him. He seems like a nice kid, and I don’t think he meant it.”

“Maybe,” he responded. “But that doesn’t mean he’s not going to get the whipper snapper.” He reached for the nearest towel and began spinning it. The boy screeched and jumped into the water.

Jenny smiled and shook her head. Ving looked so tough and rugged, but underneath all that tattooed hardness it was easy to tell he was a softie at heart. “You’re a good dad.”

“I’m not—” Before he could finish his youngest girl came along and snapped him with her towel. He yelped and turned. “Hey,” he said, taking off after her as she shrieked and chuckled loudly.

“No running,” Jenny called out, and as they slowed to a fast walk, Ving tossed a sheepish smirk her way. Jenny wagged her finger. “Or you’ll all be getting
my
whipper snapper.”

Something that looked like intrigue moved over his face, and his grin turned playful when he turned back to her. He arched one brow and said, “When you put it that way, it makes me want to run all the more.”

Jenny laughed and waved him off, not about to go there with him. She turned her attention to the kids playing in the deep end, all the while trying to calm her overexcited body and forget she ever met Ving Duncan.

God, why were all the good ones married?

“What the hell is the matter with you?” Garrett Andersen asked as he shaded the late afternoon sun from his eyes.

Ving stood inside the gates of the old abandoned base where his comrades were training service dogs, and snatched a tennis ball off the ground. He squeezed it in his palm, then tossed it. The shaggy dog he’d picked up earlier at the shelter—and decided to take under his wing—ran after it as he turned his attention to his buddy, Garrett.

“What?” Ving asked.

“Don’t ‘what’ me. You’ve been walking around all afternoon with a stupid ass grin on your face.”

Ving feigned innocence, even though he knew Garrett was right. He couldn’t stop smiling since he left the pool earlier that morning. “I am?”

“Yeah, you are.” Garrett’s glance moved to Ving’s shaved head, then his gaze dropped to the tattoos decorating Ving’s shoulders. “Don’t you think this whole village idiot thing is kind of contradictory to the image you’re going for?” Garrett asked.

Ving laughed. “Why don’t you tell me what you really think?”

“Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”

When the dog came back, Ving took the ball from her mouth. “Good girl,” he said, and as he tossed it again, his mind went back to the hot lifeguard he’d met earlier that day. She was so sweet, the kind of girl he could bring home to his mother. Christ, where the hell had that thought come from? He’d only just met her, and even though he didn’t believe in love at first sight—lust maybe—he couldn’t get her out of his thoughts.

She was good with Andy after he’d knocked her into the pool, and he didn’t miss the way she kept smiling down at him when he was playing with Marley and Kate. Nor did he miss the way she was looking at him with those big sapphire-blue eyes he could drown in—eyes not at all unlike the ones glaring at him now.

“Ah, shit, it’s a girl, isn’t it?” Garrett asked.

“Yeah,” he said, tenting his fingers like he always did when in deep thought.

Just then Luke Phillips, former army security specialist, stepped up to them and patted Ving on the shoulder. He took one look at Ving’s face, furrowed his brows and said, “Okay, what’s her name?”

The dog came back and Ving bent forward to give her a pat on her head. “I don’t know. I thought I’d let the kids name her.”

“You know that’s not who I’m talking about,” Luke said.

Ving straightened and decided not to make this too easy on them. “Then who are you talking about?”

“The girl who’s got you all tied up in knots, that’s who.” Luke said. “Now stop fucking around and tell me who she is.”

“What makes you think a girl’s got me all tied up?”

“Because you can’t stop smiling and you’re walking around like a love-struck dumb ass,” Garrett explained.

“So spill,” Luke said. “Tell us her name.”

“I would if I could.”

“If you’re going to fall in love with a girl, don’t you think you should at least get her name first?” Luke asked.

“I might not know her name, but I kissed her.” He grinned and added, “Well, technically it wasn’t a kiss.”

Garrett laughed. “Then what was it, technically?”

Ving scrubbed a hand over his head and gave them a crooked smile. “More like I performed mouth-to-mouth.”

Luke scoffed, and shook his head. “Mouth-to-mouth?”

“I was at the pool with the kids and Andy bumped into the lifeguard,” Ving explained. “She fell into the water and I thought she was drowning. So I performed mouth-to-mouth. Except she started kissing me, and well, I don’t know, she was just so damn beautiful and nice, that I fell for her.” He snapped his fingers. “Just like that.” He looked skyward. “Oh, man, you should have seen her. Big blue eyes, long legs, the face of an angel. So sweet, so damn sweet. And funny too.”

Garrett narrowed his eyes and Ving didn’t miss the way his nostrils were flaring.

“What the hell is the matter with you?” Ving asked.

“What pool were you at?” Garrett growled.

“Glenmore Community Pool. Why?”

Luke took step back. “Oh shit. Sounds like he’s talking about Jenny.”

Ving turned to Luke. “You know her?”

“Yeah, I know her. So does Garrett.” With a nod, he gestured toward Garrett, like there was something funny about all this. “He knows her really well, don’t you, Garrett?”

Ah shit. That meant Jenny was Garrett’s girl. Ving’s heart sank because he and Garrett weren’t just comrades, they were friends, and had spent many nights surviving together overseas. Even if Ving owed the man a proper beating for putting a snake in his sleeping bag—damn he hated snakes—no way in hell would he ever come between Garrett and his girl. No matter how much of an angel she was.

“She’s your girl,” Ving said, nodding in understanding as he kicked a rock across the compound.

“No, she’s not my girl. She’s my sister.”

Ving’s heart soared. “No way!”

Garrett fisted his hands and said, “Way.”

“Sweet!”

Garrett widened his stance. “What’s so sweet about it?”

“Now I can ask her out.”

“Ving, come on, she’s my kid sister and you’re a…”

“I’m a what?”

Garrett scrubbed his chin and looked past Ving’s shoulders like he was in deep thought. “You’re a…”

When his words drifted off, Ving pressed, “What’s the problem? You never had any trouble telling me what you thought before.”