Love at High Tide by Christi Barth

of his ham-fisted squeezes.”
    Coop shut his eyes for a moment. Resignation thinned his lips. “I’m not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I? Well, don’t do anything stupid. I mean,” he hastily corrected himself, “good luck.”
    Shaking her head till her ponytail whipped her cheeks harder than a jockey going down the stretch, Trina assured, “We’ll be careful, I swear.”
    “Wait. What? We?” One foot slid back under him. Coop landed hard on his hands and knees, planted nose to nose with Darcy. “You’re doing a ride-along?
    His stern attitude was a lot less thrilling when aimed right at Darcy. Coop didn’t lose all his sex appeal. But she noticed it a little bit less, what with the forbidding set to his jaw. “Safety in numbers, right?” How was the cliché so much less convincing now than when she’d spouted it at Trina?
    After giving her another one of those dead-calm stares, he eased back. Picked up the blond pageboy wig and dangled it from his hand. And even through her super-dark sunglasses, Darcy caught the naughty twinkle in his eyes. “If I let this drop, are you going to model these for us?”
    Trina snatched it back. “Was that a test or something? Don’t blow our covers before we even get a chance to use them. We’re trying to keep a low profile. The book’s very clear on that.”
    Brad sank to the sand, laughing. “A book? A book on what? How to single-handedly restart the Cold War? Cooper here told me all about your Russian mobster and/or pimp scenario. Why not take it a step further? What if he’s an undercover KGB agent?”
    It took every ounce of self-control Darcy could muster not to grin, even a little. These guys were fun. Maybe the teasing approach would stop Trina from going off half-cocked. Logic certainly hadn’t slowed her down at all. Then again, logic and Trina were like oil and water. Able to mix briefly, but they never remained combined for very long.
    With the back of her hand, Trina sent the paperback flying across the towel towards Brad. “This book makes an even dozen I’ve studied.” Her answer surprised Darcy. Sounded like Trina was taking this stab at investigation much more seriously than her previous approaches to employment. “It’s important to do research when starting a new career. I never jump in blindly.”
    “How often do you do it?”
    Another flip of her hand. “Oh, whenever the mood strikes. If something isn’t fun, I move on. Life’s too short not to have fun every day.”
    Right there, that was another huge reason why Darcy would stop complaining and follow Trina anywhere this week. Her indomitable, sunny spirit never failed to pick Darcy up.
    Brad’s mouth hung open a little. “Seriously? You just abandon careers on a whim?”
    “If I happen across something I think I’ll like better, sure.” Trina shrugged. She supported herself, paid all her bills. Didn’t even need a roommate to help with rent. In fact, Trina took great pride in her independence. So Darcy knew she’d never fully clued in as to why other people were so aghast at her tasting-menu approach to employment. “When I finally find my true calling, I’ll stick. But even then, I’ll have to be sure it doesn’t swallow me up. Fun and friends will still come first. A paycheck can’t compete with that.”
    “Are you hearing this?” he asked Coop, jerking his thumb toward Trina.
    “Yup.”
    Darcy mentally braced to defend her friend. She didn’t allow anyone to pester Trina about dancing to her own, unique drumbeat. A person’s life was their own to shape and mold. Did she worry about Trina not having a retirement fund? Absolutely. But could she tell that Trina was far happier on a daily basis than all the gray-faced, tenure-chasing professors at her colleges? Absolutely.
    A wide smile softened all the hard planes across Brad’s face. The dour, heavy-lidded gaze that had made Darcy think of a sullen teenager widened. “Trina, you are one of a