“Everything all right, Tory?” Bri said.

“Yes. Bri, this is Carter Wayne. Carter, Officer Bri Parker.”

Parker. The sheriff’s daughter? Carter extended her hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m an attorney here in town. Just getting moved in.”

“Hi,” Bri said, her attention on Tory. “Reese said you’d probably be here. She said she’d call from the base when she gets in if she can.”

Tory smiled. “Thanks.” She glanced at Carter. “My partner. Her Marine reserve unit was just called up.”

And there goes half my backup. Carter looked from Tory to Bri, who still regarded her suspiciously. “That’s tough.”

“Well, it was sudden,” Tory agreed. “We’re just getting adjusted.” She touched Bri’s cheek gently for a second. “I’ve got to get home and change. I’ll be at the clinic later. Reggie is at Kate’s.” She opened the car door and smiled at Carter. “It was nice meeting you. Welcome to Provincetown.”

“You too.” Carter met Bri’s steady stare and nodded. “Officer.”

Bri touched her cap and climbed back into her cruiser. Through the open window she said, “Have a nice day.”

Carter kept her smile in check as the cruiser backed out and sped away. Parker wasn’t a rookie, but not far from it. And with Reese Conlon out of the picture, she’d have big shoes to fill. Great. Nelson Parker is a desk jockey and Parker the Younger is hardly seasoned. And she looks like she has a temper. Terrific.

Carter clenched her jaw, becoming increasingly uneasy about the entire assignment. It just didn’t feel right. The target didn’t feel right. Well, actually, she did. Too right, and that was part of the problem. Because Rica wasn’t the first woman Carter had needed to get close to while undercover, but she was the first that it bothered her to lie to. And now her primary contact had just taken off for parts unknown. She took a deep breath and tried to dispel the feeling that something was off. She glanced up at the million-dollar houses sitting on the overlook facing the bay. Rica lived up there somewhere. She wasn’t certain which house was hers from this vantage point, but she caught a glimpse of movement out on one of the decks. She squinted in the sunlight but was barely able to make out the figure of a woman. Her heart kicked in her chest and her stomach tensed as she felt the heat of Rica’s mouth again.

“Get a grip, Carter. Jesus.” With a shake of her head, Carter looked away from the shadowy figure and started to run.

“Hello?” A sleepy voice said when the phone was answered.

Rica smiled. “Hi, Ang. What are you doing?”

“It’s six thirty in the morning, Rica. What do you think I’m doing? I’m sleeping.”

“Alone?”

“At the moment, yes. Three hours ago, I wasn’t sleeping. And I wasn’t alone.”

“Was he worth losing sleep over?”

A sound that was half purr, half moan came through the line. “Oh, yeah. Big broad shoulders, big strong thighs, big thick…”

“I get it,” Rica said, laughing. “Was this a regular or just a one-time side dish?”

“I don’t know. He’s got the potential to be a steady menu item.” Another lusty sigh, and then Angie said, sounding much more alert, “So what are you doing?”

“Remember those super high-powered binoculars you got me for bird watching when you knew I was moving here?”

“The ones you informed me you would never use because you never go bird watching?”

“Those would be the ones.”

“I remember.”

“Well, I’m using them to spy on people instead.”

“Really?” Angie said with interest. “Who?”

Rica leaned her elbows on the railing and held the powerful Zeiss binoculars to her eyes with one hand and the phone to her ear with the other.

“At the moment, I’m watching a very sexy woman run along the beach. Great shoulders, excellent thighs, and a nice tight…”

Angie’s laughter interrupted her.

“Well, she’s worth whatever you paid for these,” Rica murmured.

“Do you know this woman or are you just turning into some kind of peeping Thomasina?”

“I don’t actually know her.” Rica watched Carter disappear into the scrub at the far end of the parking lot where the bike trail started its course through the dunes. “But I can tell you that she’s a great kisser.”

“Whoa. Back up. You don’t know her, but you’ve kissed her?”

“I met her at my father’s house a few weeks ago, and I had…almost had…dinner with her last night.”

“Rica, you’re not making any sense. How can you almost have dinner? And since when do you date family friends?”

“We’re not dating,” Rica said, her attention still focused on the dune trail where she expected to see Carter reemerge. “I told you, we barely know each other.”

“But you’re watching her at six thirty in the morning through binoculars. What aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing. There’s nothing to tell.”

Was there? When Rica had first glimpsed the runner, she’d gotten the prickly sensation that she recognized the figure. Just out of curiosity, she’d found the binoculars she’d tossed into a kitchen drawer and taken a closer look. When she had seen it was Carter, she couldn’t look away. The little interlude on the beach with the very attractive kayaker still left her mildly…perturbed. She’d followed Carter on her trek down the beach, and then back up in the company of the woman carrying the kayak. And then the little conversation by the Jeep. Carter had leaned against the vehicle, all tight-bodied and windblown, looking spectacularly sexy.

Since Rica couldn’t tell anything from the body language and she couldn’t read lips, she was left to imagine the conversation. It was perfectly clear that Carter was being gallant, and what woman wouldn’t enjoy that kind of attention from someone as good-looking and charming as Carter? If they were anywhere else in the world, Rica might not have thought anything of it, but this was Provincetown and two women lingering together on a beach at sunrise most often spelled mutual attraction.

And what of it? She’d already made it very clear to Carter that she wasn’t interested in pursuing anything of a personal nature with her. Well, not anything beyond a pleasant interlude. Or two. Still, the image of the other woman smiling at Carter kept intruding on her thoughts.

“Rica?”

“Hmm? Sorry, what?”

“I said it sounds like this one has gotten under your skin.”

“Not at all,” Rica said with certainty.

“So what’s the story with the kiss?”

Rica sighed. “Oh, it was just one of those things. She was just testing the waters.”

“And did you invite her in for a dip?”

“No,” Rica said with a laugh. “I informed her that I might be interested in something casual. And the operative word was might.”

“How long has it been since you’ve had a serious relationship?”

Rica frowned. Angie might be her best friend, but Rica still didn’t like to be interrogated about her personal life. It had been hard enough as a teenager trying to have friends when they learned exactly what it was her father did for a living. She had been embarrassed by her friends’ curiosity and the need to offer explanations. As an adult, intimate relationships were even more problematic, and it was just so much simpler to avoid them. But she wasn’t thinking about a relationship. She was thinking about Carter in bed. “More to the point, how long has it been since I’ve had sex.”

“I take it she’s at least a good candidate in that department?”

“If the kiss is any indication of the rest of her skills, most definitely.”

“So? Why don’t you do something about it?”

“I don’t know,” Rica mused. “If I hadn’t first seen her at the house, maybe.”

“Well, you’re not in Boston now, so why don’t you just think of this as a little side trip. You can keep it separate from everything else.”

“That’s a nice fantasy, but you know it’s impossible.”

“I can’t remember the last time you mentioned a woman who even interested you. This one sounds like it’s more than that. Take a chance.”

Rica shook her head ruefully. Taking chances was exactly what she couldn’t afford to do. “Are you coming out to visit soon?”

“You’re changing the subject.”

“You noticed.”

Angie laughed. “As soon as I can. Call me with updates. I want to hear everything.”

“I’ll call you, but there won’t be any updates.”

When Rica hung up, she scanned the dunes with the binoculars again, but she saw no sign of Carter. Take a chance. When was the last time she’d done that? When was the last time she’d wanted to?

On impulse, she hurried inside.

Carter swiped at the sweat on her brow with her bare forearm and stared at the woman walking toward her on the side of the road. She slowed and tried not to appear as if she were short of breath.

“Is this just a lucky coincidence?” Carter asked.

Smiling, Rica shook her head. “Actually, no. I happened to notice you when I was standing out on my deck.”

Carter turned in a circle, frowning. “Where?”

Rica gestured to the hill behind them. “There.”

Carter whistled, even though she had known that’s where Rica lived. “Nice view.”

“At times.”

Grinning, Carter said, “I hope this morning was one of them.”

Rica did another of those slow sexy scans, starting at the top of Carter’s head, moving down over her sweat-stained T-shirt to the expanse of long, lean bare legs. “It had its memorable moments.”

“So are you heading to the beach?”

“No. I realized that I was a terrible guest last evening and I thought I’d make up for it by offering you coffee and something to eat this morning.”

Carter tried to ignore the jolt of anticipation that shot straight to her groin. This was the opportunity she’d been waiting for, and she couldn’t let her hormones cloud her judgment. Nevertheless, she indicated her T-shirt and shorts. “I’m not fit for company right now. Maybe…”

“You can shower while I make coffee. I’ve got old sweats that will fit you.”

Although the invitation might be a prelude to seduction, and a welcome one, Carter had the feeling that wasn’t what Rica was doing. Trying to tread carefully and not overplay her hand, she lifted her shoulder. “You sure?”

“Yes,” Rica said contemplatively, “I am.”

Carter squelched the sudden image she had of Rica joining her in the shower. She got her mind under control, but her body was way ahead of her. She’d have to make the shower a cold one.

“Okay. Great. Let’s go.”

Chapter Thirteen

“The bathroom is right down the hall.” Rica pointed to the guest bathroom. “I’ll start the coffee.”

“Thanks,” Carter said.

Still trying to figure out what was behind Rica’s invitation and, more importantly, exactly how she had come to be undressing in Rica’s bathroom, Carter shed her T-shirt and shorts and discarded them in a pile on the floor by the shower. Her skin was still tingling from Rica’s earlier appraisal when she reached in and turned on the water. She kept it just this side of warm.

When she lathered her hair, she caught a whiff of the scent she’d smelled the night before when she had kissed Rica. The memory of the taste of Rica’s lips sent tremors through her, and she struggled not to imagine Rica’s fingers skimming over her body in swirls of soap and lust. She didn’t do a very good job of banishing the fantasies.

The only thing the shower accomplished was sluicing off the sweat, because she was still just as hot as she had been when she stepped in. Her adrenaline was pumping as it always did when she was in the midst of an undercover case, and this time, she had the added boost of sexual excitement. She felt like a rocket ready to launch.

“Christ, you’d think you were the rookie. The Parker kid could probably do a better job of it.” Disgusted, Carter slicked her hair back with both hands and slid the glass shower door open. As she stepped out, the bathroom door opened and Rica slipped in.

Rica stared into Carter’s eyes, then deliberately dropped her gaze. Carter felt her nipples tighten. Even when her clit throbbed, Carter didn’t move a muscle. Wordlessly, Rica carefully placed a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt on the counter, turned, and walked out.

Sucking in a shaky breath, Carter leaned back against the shower door and closed her eyes. She’d just been naked and two feet away from a woman who had looked at her more than once with open appreciation. Today Rica’s gaze had held an invitation. Her assignment was to gain the woman’s trust, by any means possible, and she’d stood there and done nothing. What the hell was wrong with her?

Carter pulled on baggy sweatpants and a Boston Bruins T-shirt, slid on her running shoes, and made her way into the kitchen. Rica stood at the counter with her back to the room, assembling breakfast.