by Angi Morgan
Across the room, the door banged open. Heads—including his—turned toward the noise.
What the hell?
“Wade!” The woman who had haunted his dreams crossed the sixty feet, dodging drunks and other happy-hour patrons who had quickly returned to their conversations.
“You have got...” she began, too loudly, before nervously looking around and landing next to him at the bar. “You’ve got to stop your...your inquiries. Are you listening to me? I’m furious.”
No, he hadn’t been listening. Dressed in the smallest bright yellow dress—more like a piece of a dress that could still be respectful—he barely noticed anything else. The color set off her dark brown hair.
The bling around her neck drew his eyes straight to the diving-low plunge between her breasts. How the hell was she walking in those heels?
Shoot. How did the dress stay in place?
The woman who’d actually 100 percent saved his life licked her lips and drew a deep breath. Trying to ignore her, he looked down at the bar, stabbing the three lime slices with a plastic sword.
“Hey, Wade, hon?” Her erotic voice whispered close to his ear while her feathery touch on his hand shot all sorts of feelings through him.
Six weeks without a word.
And she was mad. At him?
Even though she’d been caught working with crooks last year, he’d never believed she was on the wrong side of the law. Something in their sparse conversations had forbidden him from thinking badly of her. Then six weeks ago he’d found out—like a kick to the head—she was working with the FBI or something. Nobody talked. Lots of secrets. Had he forgiven her for taking away a major case?
Probably not.
There was no mistake who she spoke to. She’d stopped so close her breath of air brushed his bare neck, encouraging him to act. But he wouldn’t. He didn’t have the right. Even if she had called him hon.
“I like you in a T-shirt. It shows off these strong arms. But this button-up looks great on you, too. It brings out the steel blue in your eyes.”
He could tell her he liked her dress. Or not.
Yeah, she squeezed his biceps. Yeah, she puckered her lips together like she waited for a kiss.
“No.”
“Are you sure?” She eased onto the stool next to him, her long legs reaching sideways under his. Damn, that yellow silky thing climbed up to her hip. “I haven’t even asked anything.”
Wait. Were they talking about a kiss or the favor he thought she was about to ask? He should consider himself lucky that the stools weren’t close enough for him to pull her onto his lap to find out. Lucky?
Therese twisted away from him to face the opening door and back again with a blank look. A big fella walked inside, propping the door open with his foot and calling to a buddy on the sidewalk. They both entered, finally shutting the door to keep the cooler air in and the blistering summer heat outside.
Everything about her demeanor changed. Where she’d been full of anger she was now soft. She closed her eyes, drawing a deep breath through her nose and making her breasts swell in the tight dress. Then she wet her lip gloss with the tip of her tongue. To stop his drool, he tipped the beer to his mouth, drinking her in with his eyes.
The fresh burst of lime made him lick his lips, or was he mirroring the seductress beside him? Then her dark red lips parted ever so slowly. Slower than necessary and very practiced. Hell, he could give in right then, doing whatever she asked, having no idea what it might be.
Instead he broke off his stare and looked around the intimate, off-the-beaten-path bar. Mostly regulars with the exception of the last two men. Every corner was shadowed and filled with secrets, but he didn’t butt his nose in. He knew the ins and outs. Knew what to expect. He’d been coming here since college and it didn’t hurt that no one broadcast that he was a Texas Ranger. He’d never had a need to show his badge. Not here.
“I know it’s been a while since I’ve called. Please don’t be annoyed with me.” She swiveled on the stool, reaching for his limes, daring him not to look down the low-cut dress she flashed under his chin.
“I’d have to care to be angry. Or annoyed,” he lied. He didn’t know the reason for her personality switch, but he’d play along.
“There’s just been a lot going on, hon—” She pouted.
Pouted? Therese Ortis didn’t seem the pouting kind.
What the hell was going on? She knew he’d been looking for her and seemed pretty doggone upset about it less than five minutes ago.
“So you aren’t angry, annoyed or even a little hurt, baby?” she smiled with a knowing smile, circling a deep red nail around the back of his hand.
Hon? Baby? What was she trying to pull? She reached out, taking his extra lime and swiping her tongue across it. She knew exactly how to make him nervous. But she was the one shaking like a leaf in a windstorm—the only thing that kept him from showing her just how angry he wasn’t.
Yeah, he was succumbing to the seductress line. What man wouldn’t? But it was the trembling that got him.
Her eyes darted in every direction, checking for trouble. The bartender walked to the other end of the room and she leaned in close.
“I need a big favor. I can explain everything if you give me a chance.”
Even though the intensity changed from flirtatious to urgent, he still answered, “I’m all out.”
Explain? Nice fantasy. Therese never explained. He poured more than a sip of beer down his throat. He tipped the bottle toward her, politely asking if she wanted something. She shook her head while he caught the bartender’s eye and ordered two more.
“I promise not to land you on desk duty again. What do you say?” she asked in a low, sensual voice he had fallen prey to a few times already.
Wade had wanted to connect with her for over a year. Why the hesitation? Desk duty. Uncertainty. Tired of being used. Downright irritation at being ignored.
“I say—” he grinned way too big “—that you haven’t mentioned anything I haven’t heard before.”
“I’m sure that can’t be true,” she still whispered.
“Considering I can recall all seven conversations we’ve ever had... Yeah, I’m pretty sure I can clearly remember every word that you’ve said.” And exactly what you haven’t.
“I really, really think you’re going to be interested in my favor, hon.”
“Nope.” He kept his voice low, matching hers.
He was done. Had nothing left. Finished. Kaput. Refused to get involved. Remember? And yet, completely curious.
“Is there anything I could do or say to change your mind?” She drew circles on his shoulder, dragging her long fingernail down his arm until she got to his hand.
She looked innocent. If he knew her better he might think she seemed desperate. But he didn’t know her better. She came to him when she needed something. Case or no case, he didn’t like being used.
And he hated giving in to her, to anybody.
Therese’s eyes darted to the mirror.
The two large men moved away from the opposite end of the bar and Therese stiffened. Obvious to him since she held his hand. Probably not obvious to the men who had eyes for no one else in the room. They looked like typical guys, with the exception of the bulges under their jackets. Jackets worn for the simple reason of hiding the weapons.
They were there for her—obviously.
“Wade,” she said way too loudly. “I’m so hungry.”
“What?”
She dropped a finger across his lips to stop his next question. Her eyes moved to the mirror. His hand gently tugged hers from his face back to the bar and slid a longneck bottle into it.
“I guess I need to hear about that favor after all.” He squeezed a lime slice and pushed it through the neck of the sweating bottle.
Chapter Two
> Normally, Therese wouldn’t have paid any attention to someone as good-looking as Texas Ranger Wade Hamilton. He was almost too good-looking.
Dark brown hair swooped back off his forehead. Dark blue eyes framed by masculine-shaped brows. And a sprinkle of chest hair. Just visible tonight with the open collar in his Texas-blue dress shirt. She’d seen the outline of that chest in a T-shirt a couple of times, too. Just like she’d admitted a few minutes ago.
Oh, yeah, she’d kept up with him. Back when she was in control. Right up to coming face-to-face with him at a crime scene six weeks ago.
She should have gone to him covertly and explained what she was doing. Wade would have left things alone then. When she’d told her handler her plan, he’d laughed and ordered her to stay clear of the ranger. Everyone had seen what they called “smoldering looks” from Wade. And they’d made it known they’d seen right through her attempt to act immune.
So she’d avoided the tall, handsome ranger and paid off the bars where he kept asking after her. But the damage was done. Wade had shown his badge one too many times. Rushdan was convinced she’d sold him out to the cops.
Of course she had. But he’d had no clue before Wade Hamilton kept asking everywhere for her.
The moment she’d seen Wade sitting on that very barstool last year she’d lost her breath. When he hadn’t recognized her cowering in the corner, she’d just watched. She hadn’t stopped thinking about him since that Friday night.
The very first time they’d met, he’d literally swept her off her feet while rescuing her teenage version. When he hadn’t recognized her as an adult, it had stung a little, but it was totally understandable. A lot had gone down that night. And wouldn’t you know it, now he was the only man she could trust to keep her alive.
Being alone would get her killed. Period.
If only she could wait or fill him in on why she needed him. Crossing her fingers that he’d be sitting on his barstool, she’d come here looking for him. Unlike how she’d avoided it every Friday night since she’d returned to Dallas. She’d been ordered not to speak to him or meet him under any circumstances.
Her last conversation with Rushdan had left her uncomfortable. He did the hinting thing, talking around her to only the men, asking why a certain Texas Ranger was asking all over Dallas for her. When she’d left the offices, the two thugs behind her had followed.
Okay, she felt desperate and her brain began to panic a little. Pretty sure those men had been sent to take her out. Three years of undercover work shot because she’d been ordered not to talk to the man beside her. Yeah, panic closed in, making the bar feel even smaller.
With one eye on the bar mirror, she watched Rushdan’s men loitering just inside the bar’s door. She pushed her nerves aside and daringly placed her palm on Wade’s thick-muscled thigh. He actually jumped a little. How sweet.
“This seat taken?” Rushdan’s head hit man knew it wasn’t. He knew she’d come in alone. And knew she didn’t carry a weapon. Or at least thought he knew.
Leaning away from Wade, she tried to give the man following her a brilliant, reassuring smile. “We’re on a date, sugar. Please don’t try to pick me up.”
Please go with it, Wade. Don’t yell at me for acting like we’re lovers. It is all your fault.
“As a matter of fact...we were about to leave.” Wade tipped the remains of his beer between perfectly handsome lips. “We’re meeting friends for dinner.”
“Then you’re not drinking that longneck?” Rushdan’s guy slanted his body, blocking her view of the entrance. He moved so close to her as he reached for the beer she hadn’t touched that she was afraid she’d slide off the stool trying to avoid him. Wade’s legs connected with her body, effectively catching her. Too bad there wasn’t more time to flirt. As nervous as he seemed, she could have had some fun.
“Go for it. The little lady’s afraid she’ll spoil her appetite.” Wade stood, dropping money on the bar before sliding his hands back onto her shoulders, his body next to her back, steadying her. “You can have our stools just as soon as we go.”
His gentle twang could melt her heart under different circumstances.
“We’ll never make our reservation, hon. Not if you do anything...to slow us down.” She licked her lips and knew they appeared sexy. She had much too much practice at flirting and yet it still made her uncomfortable.
Give her a 9mm and a target at fifty yards and she’d be completely at ease. She mentally demanded her nerves to settle. Otherwise she’d need a bucket to catch the sweat from her palms.
The dumb blonde routine—even if she was a brunette—had never been her dream assignment for undercover work. But she was stuck with it. Her carefully constructed identity called on her to be soft, vulnerable and not too smart. At least Rushdan Reval considered her soft.
Leaving the stool, she deliberately fell into the side of Reval’s man, letting her hands play across his flabby chest and lifting his weapon from his holster.
Rushdan’s second goon took a quick step toward them. She backed up quickly, passing the gun to Wade, who aimed straight at their assailants. The bartender jerked to a halt along with the rest of those in the bar.
“Uh-uh-uh.” She waved a finger at Rushdan’s hired help. “What will your friends say if they knew you lost your weapon? I won’t tell if you don’t.”
Wade jerked her back to his side.
Damn, he’s a rock. She dropped the thoughts about Wade’s body and planned their walk past Rushdan’s men. Wade acted like she’d been his for a decade—not two minutes. Maybe he was used to women throwing themselves at his feet, but she wasn’t used to being held.
She might play the part of easy...but she hadn’t had a real relationship since college. Undercover work had major pitfalls.
Her stomach did a double backflip when Wade’s hands darted a little lower on her waist than she’d intended. She didn’t change their direction. She needed to leave this bar and take him with her. How else could she explain her presence on lower Greenville and try to salvage three years of undercover work?
Lying to Rushdan about why Wade had been looking for her bought her time this afternoon. Time to find him. Granted, it had been spur of the moment and she’d been unable to contact her team for backup. But something—or someone—had made Rushdan suspicious. When the crime boss sent these guys to follow her, it was for one reason...elimination.
She began the longest walk of her career. Wade’s long fingers slid over her hip and back up around her waist, distracting her with their heat. Her hands flew to fan her face—half acting and half needing to cool her hot cheeks.
Wade pulled the door open, waiting for her to go through. She wanted one last look at the men chasing her and turned. The movement brought them closer, making her aware of Wade’s body, the complete maleness of him.
A sparkle in his eye caught her attention. The jerk. He’s laughing at me. Maybe she’d been flirting a little too much and couldn’t stop herself. It was as if the sensual woman in her—although scarcely unleashed—chose that very moment to take control.
She turned completely into Wade and the slinky thing the salesgirl called a dress rose higher along her thigh. His fingertips brushed the bare skin just below the hem. She froze.
Something happened.
The look in his eyes turned volcanic.
Somewhere in the back of her mind she was aware they stood just inside the doorway of a semi-crowded bar. Somewhere in her nonfunctioning gray matter she knew she’d only spoken a handful of sentences to this man. But somewhere in a part of her soul that had never been touched, a magnet flipped on and pulled her to this unselfish ranger.
When their lips connected, she forgot everything. She forgot the reason she was on lower Greenville. The reason she needed to leave. The reason she shouldn’t be standing there kissing her escape plan.
Soft, fir
m lips grabbed hers, gently sucking and pulling. She parted her own. What should have been a strange invasion felt...perfect. His wonderfully strong arms reached around her body, pulling her into his hard angles. This wasn’t kissing. It was more than fabulous. A simple lip-lock shouldn’t make her weak in the knees.
“Get a room,” someone in the bar shouted, followed by erupting laughter.
Wade’s dark blue eyes watched her face as he pulled slightly away, his breathing just as rapid as hers. “Yours or mine?” he whispered, but the entire room listened.
Then she remembered the necessity to leave. Could the kiss have convinced Rushdan’s men she’d really met her lover? Would sticking with him for a while save her life?
“Yours. Mine’s too far,” she heard herself say.
He didn’t let her pull away. He kept her safely tucked into his side as they let the door close and headed toward a parking lot. That in itself was unusual... She wasn’t used to someone else keeping her safe.
It had been a long time since she’d been nervous. What if they jumped them? Her Beretta was hidden in her car. The car several miles away. And now she’d involved an innocent man who had no idea what he’d just agreed to.
A slight laugh escaped. Innocent? The hunger in his eyes made her doubt her strong hero had ever been innocent.
Either way, she shouldn’t involve him. It was against orders. She’d get to his truck and find another way out of this mess. But as they got outside, she looked up just as he glanced down. If she’d wanted to be heroic, she’d made a fatal mistake.
It happened again.
Raw energy pulled her to his mouth for a second time. He plunged between her lips, molded his hands to her butt and brought her into his instant hardness.
Someone cleared their throat. The sound jerked Wade away from her mouth, but not from her body. He kept her close, whispering what he wanted...what they’d eventually do. Small tremors shook from her into him. He skimmed her ear with his teeth.
