Terms of Surrender by Leslie Kelly

her yet again.
    She’d been just as passionate the last time as the first, the sparks just as electric, their joining just as fulfilling.
    One thing he knew without a doubt—last night, he’d had the best sex of his entire life.
    And he was not about to let her get away anytime soon.
    “So,” he asked as he steered the boat back into the slip at around 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, “when do you think you’ll hear about the job?”
    “Since they want to start the guest lectures within the next few weeks, I imagine it will be soon. Why? Hoping I’ll have a dead battery again?”
    He reached out and brushed her tangled hair back behind her ear, noting the lazy, satisfied look on her face. “It’s not gonna take car trouble to bring us together again, Mari.”
    She nibbled her bottom lip, as if unsure of his meaning. “You want to… get together again?”
    Laughing, seeing her uncertainty, he tugged her into his arms and kissed her. “Hell, yes, I want to…get together again.”
    “I mean, we don’t have to, it’s not like you made any promises. I went into this with my eyes wide-open.”
    Cocking a brow, he asked, “You saying you don’t want to?”
    “Oh, God, no!” She shook her head so hard her jaw audibly cracked.
    Glad to hear it, he kissed her again, hard, a little more possessively than before. She’d given him a scare. He hadn’t thought this had been an unimportant, one-time-only thing for her, but it was good to hear her confirm it.
    “Okay then. I have to make a quick trip down to Norfolk—I have to leave in a couple of hours, actually. But I’ll be back by Wednesday at the latest. I’ll call you then.”
    “Okay.”
    He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. “Do me a favor? Plug your phone number into my address book. I’m not going to take a chance on the wind stealing away a piece of paper with your number on it.”
    She did as he asked, then handed the phone back. Danny glanced at the screen, knowing he’d be dialing that number very soon. Hell, maybe even tonight. He was rapidly growing addicted to her and phone sex seemed like a good way to spend a night in a crappy bed at the Norfolk Naval Station.
    “I really should go,” she said. “I had to call my neighbor to ask her to check in on my cat last night, and I’d prefer to get home while she’s at church. Otherwise, she’ll definitely come snooping around and will notice if I come home looking like I’ve been well-and-truly done.”
    “Well and truly, huh?”
    She grinned. “ So well, so truly.”
    “Okay, you get going. I’ve got to batten her down.”
    “Do you want me to stay and help?”
    He waved a hand. “Nah, get on the road. You’ve got a hike. I’ll talk to you Wednesday. Thursday at the very latest. I promise.”
    Nodding, Mari brushed a kiss against his lips and whispered, “Thanks, Danny.”
    He grabbed her hips and kissed her more thoroughly. She was wobbling on her high heels when he finally let her go.
    “You’re welcome.”
    Smiling, she let him help her onto the dock, and walked to the parking lot. She’d left her car right beside his, and he watched her get in, lifting a hand as she drove away. He waited until her car had completely disappeared from view before he got back to work, stowing his gear, getting Jazzie Girl properly bedded down for the windy few days predicted.
    It took a while—possibly because everywhere he turned, he was confronted with another hot memory about something he’d done with Mari the night before. It was almost an hour later before he, too, was finally ready to head home to prepare for his trip down to Norfolk.
    He had just grabbed the keys and was climbing down to the dock when his phone rang. Tugging it from his pocket, he saw his youngest brother’s name, and was about to answer when his wet shoe slipped a little on the ladder. He didn’t fall, or even stumble, but when he grabbed for the rung, the phone slipped out of his hand.
    Danny lunged for the