“Why? You gonna frisk me?”
“I don’t think I have to,” he said with a sharpened edge to his voice. “I can tell you’re not carrying.”
“What gave it away, Deputy?” she said, flashing him a smile she hoped would thaw his icy reserve.
“I’ve got an eye for concealed weapons.”
“Then you obviously missed a couple suspicious lumps,” she said, drawing out her words in the sexiest whisper she could manage.
A muscle flexed along his strong, square jaw. “Do you want me to search you?”
“I wouldn’t want you to give me any special favors on account of who my daddy is.”
“Wouldn’t think of it,” he said silkily. “Wonder what the judge is going to say when we bring you in.”
Up to that point, Sarah had thought the two men were just having a little fun at her expense, but Chavez’s face didn’t show a flicker of what was really going through his mind. For the first time, she wondered if she wasn’t going to be able to talk her way out of this after all. “We don’t have to wake Daddy up for something so minor, do we, boys? Can’t we work something out?”
“What do you have in mind, kitten?” Deputy Ross murmured.
Her gaze swung from Chavez’s impassive face to Ross’s. His smile was appreciative, something she could work with. Maybe he’d be willing to convince his friend to let this incident slide right under the carpet.
“I don’t know, Deputy Ross. Neither of you have been in Honkytonk long. You don’t know how things really work in our little town.”
“And you want to help us out? Hear that, Joe? Sarah here is worried about us. Sounds mighty neighborly of you, Sarah.”
“Logan…” Deputy Chavez said, his deep voice rising in warning. “Go run her plates.”
“Sure. This is your bust.” His gaze flickered over Sarah’s chest, and a grin split his face.
Sarah narrowed her eyes at him until he sauntered back to his squad car.
Alone with Chavez, she took a deep breath, looking at him from beneath the brush of her eyelashes to see if his gaze followed the movement of her chest.
Nope, his gaze was locked on her face. Deciding that maybe she should give him a little cooperation before she completely pissed him off, she kicked down the stand and climbed off her bike, knowing she was giving him an eyeful of her moist pussy—which, again, really turned her on. “Look, I know this looks bad.”
“This looks like you’re racking up multiple misdemeanor counts, Miss Michelson.”
No hesitation. No clearing his throat because she’d shocked or pleased him. Damn, he was a tough nut to crack. “Honestly, it’s just a little harmless hell raising.”
The deputy shook his head, his expression turning downright grim. “Ever seen a person lay a bike down on pavement? Seen what road burn can do a person’s skin?”
Was he worried about her skin? She shook her head and stepped closer until only a few measly inches separated his Kevlar-cloaked chest and her beaded nipples.
“Ever seen what can happen when a head hits the pavement without a helmet?” he continued.
“It’s not against the law to ride without a helmet.”
“It is against the law to ride buck naked in public.”
She quirked one side of her mouth up. “But I’m not completely nude.”
His chest rose, swift and hard. “Cowboy boots and chaps don’t cover the important parts.”
Sarah let her gaze sweep his body in a slow once-over. She lifted one brow when she locked with his dark brown eyes. “So you did notice my ‘parts.’”
“I notice everything, Miss Michelson. This time you went too far.”
She cocked her head to the side. “How’d you know about this ahead of time anyway? You had time to get a roadblock up.”
“Do you think this is all about you?” he said evenly. “Maybe we were here stopping drunk drivers.”
“On this little horse trail of a road? Come on, who ratted me out?”
Deputy Chavez’s jaw flexed, but otherwise he didn’t betray any emotion. The man had to be made of stone. “A concerned citizen phoned in.”
She snorted. “Concerned—my ass. It was just someone who didn’t want to lose a bet. Don’t be a killjoy. Don’t you ever do something just because it’s fun?”
“Ma’am, pardon me for saying this, but your daddy should have spanked you more when you were a child.”
“Daddy would never raise a hand against me.”
“Well, he didn’t do you any favors.”
All this talk about spanking was getting her flustered. Her face grew warm; sweat beaded on her upper lip. She licked it away and tilted her head, widening her eyes to let him see a hint of worry. “Look, there’s no reason for us to get into a fuss. There must be something I can do to make this right.”
“You can. You can turn around and put your hands behind your back.”
Her breath huffed. “You can’t be serious.”
“As a heart attack.”
“No warrants on that bike, Joe!” Deputy Ross called out, approaching them again.
“Of course there’s not,” Sarah huffed. “It’s my goddamn bike.” Deputy Chavez’s expression tightened, and she knew her attitude wasn’t helping matters one bit, so she tried another tack, forcing her mouth into a tiny smile that never failed to make men melt. “Deputy, isn’t there some way for us to work a trade? Something you want that will make you forget all about this?”
His gaze narrowed, landing on her lips. “What do you have in mind?”
She bit her lip to make sure his attention stayed there. “If you go easy on me…I’ll be easy for you.”
Deputy Ross’s low, rumbling chuckle was encouraging.
“Let me get this straight,” Deputy Chavez said. “Are you offering me sexual favors in exchange for me forgetting about the ticket I’m getting ready to write?”
She eyed him with suspicion. “Not if it means you’re just gonna slap me with more charges.”
“Sarah, Sarah, Sarah…” Something in Ross’s softly stated words warned her she was pushing his buddy a little too far.
But she wasn’t the patient sort, and Deputy Chavez was a challenge she couldn’t back down from.
Why’d he have to be such a handsome man? If he’d been butt-ugly, she might have stood a chance at charming him. She’d like nothing better than to offer the deputy something he’d never have a hope of getting if he didn’t already have a face that could make any woman wet.
Darker than Deputy Ross, with tawny skin, black hair, dark, hooded eyes, and a large, muscular frame that could sink a woman’s body deep into a soft mattress when he covered her, she could barely withhold a deep, lustful sigh just looking at him.
Surely there was a way to cut through his starchy reserve.
Maybe she could try reasoning with him rather than seducing him. “Look, this doesn’t have to be a big deal. How about you just let me turn my bike around, and I’ll go on home? No harm, no foul.”
“It’s a little too late for that,” Chavez said.
Sarah’s hands fisted by her hips, and her chin tilted. “Please. I don’t want to end up on my daddy’s docket.”
“Should have thought about that before you decided to take a ride on the wild side.”
“You see there?” she said, again biting her lower lip to call his attention to everything he was passing up. “That’s the problem. It’s not like this was premeditated. I didn’t decide. I didn’t think about it ahead of time. Danny Dawg dared me and then had the gall to bet the bar I wouldn’t have the nerve….”
The slow shake of his head told her he wasn’t swayed by her lame-ass argument.
“Argh!” she growled and stomped her foot.
“Turn around. Give me your hands.”
Sarah rolled her eyes, pretending she wasn’t growing concerned. Her dad would have a cow if he knew she’d planned to ride naked past the Honkytonk bar because of a bet. However, she couldn’t think of
another argument, because her breaths were quickening with her panic. She jerked around and put her hands behind her.
“Logan, why don’t you move those barricades out of the way?”
Deputy Chavez clipped two manacles around her wrists but didn’t step away immediately. A long, pregnant moment stretched her nerves tight as the heat radiating from his body warmed her backside.
“You change your mind?” she asked, her voice shaking, all bravado draining away.
“I’m going to do you a favor,” he said quietly, his breath lifting the fine strands of her hair beside her ear.
“What kind of favor?” she whispered back, her heart starting to race because she sensed he was relenting…and because he stood so close his scent teased her senses. Coffee and musky man. Yum.
“I’m going to drive you back to your place and leave you with a warning.”
“That sounds more than fair,” she said softly.
“And you won’t give me any more trouble from here on out on my watch, you hear?”
“You mean forever?” she said, unable to suppress the disbelief in her tone. Didn’t he know he was asking the impossible?
“Yeah. As long as I’m here. No trouble.”
“I can try, but I can’t promise you a thing beyond tonight. Shit happens around me. I don’t plan on getting into trouble, but somehow I end up on a highway in my birthday suit and a pair of boots….”
“If you don’t stay out of trouble, you can count on the fact I’m gonna know about it.”
“You have people watching me?”
“You can bet on it.”
Sarah swallowed hard. “Because I’m a troublemaker?”
“Because I’m staking a claim.”
Goddamn, he did not just say that. Did he know he was waving a red flag right in front of her nose? “I’m not property. I won’t be staked.”
“Funny, I thought that was what you were asking me to do when you were trying to bargain with me.”
She swallowed again. Despite his arrogant claim, her body didn’t seem the least bit offended. Fact was, pleasure slid right down her inner thighs. “Deputy?” she whispered.
“Yes, Miss Michelson?” he said just as softly.
“I have a confession to make.”
“Confession’s good for the soul. So I hear.”
“Glad you think so….” She paused and wet her lips, this time because her mouth was dry. “I’m carrying.”
“You slide a weapon somewhere I can’t see?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Sarah…” A deep breath fluttered across her cheek. “I’m not playing games with you tonight. I’m on duty.”
“I won’t tell. I don’t think your friend will either.”
Footsteps crunched from the direction of the other squad car. “Man, you have to search her now,” Logan said. “She says she’s concealing a weapon. Um…I have to go gather up the flares.”
A low groan sounded behind her. “Little witch! Spread ’em,” he said, nudging apart her feet until her stance was wide. Cool air licked between her legs and carried the scent of the arousal gathering along the folds of her sex.
“Ah, God,” she said and bit her lips because his large, warm hands landed on her shoulders, and she thought she might just melt into a puddle.
He started at her neck, lifting her long hair, thumbs skimming beneath the thick fall, pressing deep enough she sighed and tilted back her head. Then his hands glided over her shoulders, down her left arm and then her right. Hands skimmed her back and slid around her waist to smooth upward and check beneath her breasts.
Her breath caught, and his hands paused, thumbs nudging the tender undersides.
“Nothing hidden here,” he murmured.
“Not curious about whether they’re real?”
His breath deepened, and his hands cupped her breasts, lifting them to deliver a squeeze. “No foreign objects there.”
Sarah smiled and then gasped as thumbs flicked her tightly beaded tips, but he didn’t linger. His hands slid to her sides again and then to her hips, sinking lower to cup her buttocks. When fingers glided between her legs and slid through the fluid smeared on her inner thighs, they slowed.
“Goddamn,” he breathed.
Her thighs quivered, but he was already moving downward, smoothing down her black leather chaps to her boots and then up her outer thighs. He stepped backward. “You lied. You don’t have any hidden weapons.”
“Maybe you didn’t check thoroughly enough,” she said, her breaths ragged.
“Think you need a cavity search?”
She glanced over her shoulder and wrinkled her nose. “That sounds unappetizing. I was thinking more along the line of a thorough…probing.”
His hands gripped the notches of her hips. “You don’t make the rules, Sarah. I’m not playing your game.”
She bit her tongue to keep from blurting out the fact she’d gotten him to let her off with a warning. And hadn’t the pat down been her idea, too?
His breath stirred her hair again. “Think it was just a coincidence that Danny Dawg dared you to ride naked tonight?”
She stiffened against him. “Why would he do it on purpose? And why would he do it for you?”
“Danny got pulled over for a broken taillight last night. And wouldn’t you know his license was expired?”
“Son of a bitch.”
“That’s me,” he said, his grip tightening and then falling away. “And don’t forget it. When I’m not wearing this badge, you can fight me all you like, but I know how hot you are right now.” He slipped his fingers between her legs from behind and held them against her folds.
Sarah wished her pussy wasn’t primed, but she couldn’t help the little contraction that sucked at his fingertips. “It was the ride. Don’t you know why girls like motorcycles?”
“It’s a sad substitute.” His fingers pulled away. “Wait for my call.”
“When hell freezes over, Deputy,” she bit out.
“Keep tellin’ yourself that, if it helps your pride.” He tugged the chain between her cuffs to shift her to the side and open the back door of the cruiser. “Now, slide on across that seat. I’ll take you home.”
Sarah bent and slid inside.
“Buddy, you need anything else?” Logan asked, closer than she’d known, her mind had been so filled with Deputy Chavez. “I got the bike off the road and hidden behind some bushes. She can come for it tomorrow.”
Chavez slammed her door. Logan Ross winked as he passed, and then the tight-faced deputy slid into the driver’s seat and pulled out onto the highway.
Sarah sat in stony silence. No way was she talking to the bastard. He’d set her up so he could do what? Get her attention to ask her on a date? How low was that?
While the cool air tightened her nipples, Sarah couldn’t help the flush of pleasure that swept her cheeks and chest at the thought of the deliberate planning that’d gone into tonight’s ingenious mousetrap.
He’d played her. Knew her hot buttons. He’d set the trap with sweet temptation and then baited her with a cool reserve that pricked her interest. How did he know her so well? Had he been watching her all along, talking to people she knew just to learn enough about her personality to strategize?
The thought was heady. Imagine what he’d be like once he got her into bed—not that she would give up the game so easily.
No, the next round would be hers.
2
“Not something you see every day,” Logan said, humor lacing the staticky voice.
Joe was tempted to flip his cell phone closed. They’d used the phones instead of the radio during the stop to keep it off the radar. The last thing he’d wanted was more “help” arriving.
Sarah had been intimidated enough, at least in the first few minutes. The woman had recovered quickly. He’d remember that next time. She didn’t have a lick of common sense, but she had guts.
“It’s not something you’ll see ever again,” Joe growled.
“You think taming that wildcat’s gonna be easy?”
“Of course not. The trick will be to stay one step ahead.”
“We caught her off guard this time. You can bet she won’t be as easy to trap the next time.”
“Ever think the lady might want to be caught?” Joe asked, remembering the excitement simmering in her baby blues.
“Because she was creaming for you?”
“She’s intrigued. Most of the boys around here think with their dicks.”
“And you proved her wrong? I saw where those fingers were sliding.”
“I didn’t give her everything she wanted.” But, damn, he’d wanted to. He’d been an inch from bending her over the hood of the cruiser.
“Did you ask her out?”
“Of course not. I told her to wait for my call.”
A snort sounded from the phone.
Joe grinned.
“Betcha ten she’s back at the Honkytonk tomorrow night,” Logan drawled.
“I’m counting on it.”
Soft chuckles filled the air. “How’d I do? Think she bought the good-cop, bad-cop act?”
“You were convincing. Imagine any woman thinking you’d be the easy one to manipulate.”
“Couldn’t have her turning those pretty blue eyes on me. Last thing she wants is a nice guy. You sure this is what you want? She’s got quite a rep—most of it bad.”
“She’s acting out. She’ll buck against anyone who tries to tie her down.”
“Buddy, maybe it’s not an act.”
“You forget,” Joe said slowly, raising his hand to his face and inhaling her pungent fragrance, “I had my fingers on her pulse. She’s ready for this. I just have to redirect her rebellion. She wants to fight, but she’s only fighting herself.”
“Let me know what I can do to help.”
“I will,” he said, gritting his teeth. Much as he wanted to keep the woman all to himself, he admitted he wasn’t the man to get her “softened” up. “Be there tomorrow night?”
“At the bar? Wouldn’t miss it. Better get back out on the north road. Later.”
Joe closed his phone and set it on the seat beside him and then found the speed-trap blind he’d use until midnight. He sat in his squad car, the AC blasting in his face, the windows rolled all the way down. The better to hear the whine of a powerful engine screaming down the highway.
Texas Men Page 8
