“Me either, baby.” Burying his face in her hair, he held her tight, seeming to breathe her in.

“Now that we have that resolved, can we please do something about this office of yours?”

“If you insist.”

“I do.” Kara got up from his lap and tugged at his hand to bring him with her. Dropping to her knees in front of one of the open boxes, she started taking things out.

“Thanks for the help, babe.”

“Happy to do it.”

“Now, about those strippers…”

“Shut up, Dan, and get to work.”

Chief of Police Blaine Taylor paced from one end of Naughty & Nice to the other, full of barely contained rage as he waited for his wife to finish a customer transaction that she seemed to be dragging out. Or so it seemed to him. He could not believe what he’d just heard over coffee at the South Harbor Diner with Adam McCarthy and Joe Cantrell.

Strippers? Male strippers? Were they out of their goddamned minds?

The customer finally left the store, and Blaine pounced on Tiffany. “You want to tell me what the hell you’re thinking hiring male strippers to perform at Jenny’s party?”

“Hi, honey.” Wearing a cheerful smile, she came around the counter to hug and kiss him.

When she would’ve pulled back, he anchored her to him with an arm around her waist. He wanted to rage and scream and protest, but she was pregnant with his baby, and he’d never do anything to hurt or upset her. “Don’t try to use your considerable charms on me, Mrs. Taylor,” he growled. “Answer the question.”

“A, I did not hire strippers. Sydney is Jenny’s matron of honor, so you’ll need to take this up with her.” She batted her eyes at him. “I’m just an invited guest.”

“What’s B?”

She thought about that for a second. “No B. Just an A. I had nothing to do with it.”

“I don’t believe that for one second. In fact, I happen to believe this whole thing was your idea.”

“Why, Blaine, whatever are you inferring about your wife?”

“That she’s an operator of the highest order, and if anyone knows where to get male strippers, it’s the island’s sex-toy queen.”

“I’m offended by the implication.”

“But you’re not denying it, are you?”

She tightened her lips as she looked up at him, seeming to be deciding how much she should say. “Out of fear of self-incrimination, I’d like to plead the Fifth.”

Though he was seriously concerned about this harebrained plan of theirs, he couldn’t help but laugh at that. She was so damned cute and so damned sexy—never more so than she’d been since conceiving his baby.