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ONE
AS DECKER MCCONNELL STRODE INTO THE LOUD BAR AT HALF past nine on a Saturday night, the woman’s picture burned a hole in the pocket of his black shirt In the past six hours, he’d stared at it a hundred tie twenty-nine Divorced Graduate of UCLA, suree in education Recent transplant from sleepy Moss Beach on the Florida coast to Louisiana Currently employed by the Lafayette Parish school systeht define the brunette whose dark eyes sparkled froe oval face, but that didn’t explain why just looking at her photo made him hard as hell
“You sure this Rachel woo, asked, propped up against the quiet corner of the bar on his left
“Unless she bails on her own birthday party, yep I’ve got to find her before this situation goes south ”
Decker sighed and surveyed the crowd through the club’s flashing lights People were getting their drink on and looking around for a nightly hookup Froather, Rachel was only here because the new neighbors and coworkers who had becoh the club was packed htly than meat behind cellophane, he hoped he’d spot her soon Every minute that slid by was another minute that bad shit could happen
And he wasn’t about to let it He was a protector by nature If the cops weren’t going to help, then he guessed it had become his job For whatever reason—boredoe to make sure she stayed safe
Rachel’s picture suggested that she possessed a shy, good-girl quality Not usually the kind of feravitated to Thatto blend into the wall He’d have to fish around for solued hile this clusterfuck he’d unwittingly stepped in As far as he was concerned, naked was the best way to keep her fro her big brother Everything he’d been able to dig up indicated that since becoain, she’d lived like a nun That was really fucking unfair to theoff a button-down shirt and “work-appropriate” skirt to reveal her soft curves, scantily clad in lingerie, made his cock stand up and salute
Get your utter and back on business
Decker hated that voice in his head The gutter ay more fun
“Are you sure about this?” Xander’s brother, Javier, asked beside him
He turned to the guy with a shrug “No, but I don’t knohatoptions are Believe me, if I hadn’t run into a colossal pile of shit this afternoon looking for a cold beer and an easy lay, I wouldn’t be here now, searching for a woman I’ve never met ”
“And you tried the police?” Xander asked
“Useless ” Decker rolled his eyes “How much evidence should I need to prove another man’s intent to commit a crime? The fuckers could at least look into it ”
But the lazy bastards of the Lafayette Police Department hadn’t listened to a word he’d said while LSU played football On the other hand, he probably shouldn’t send a starched uniform fresh out of the backwoods police academy to do a job the CIA had trained him once upon a time to do far better
“So you think this plan ork?” Javier asked
“You got a better one?” He shoved Rachel’s picture under the other man’s nose “Look at her She’s a school teacher She looks sweet, for fuck’s sake I can’t stand here with my thumb up my ass and let this nut job put a hole in her head ”
Studying the picture, Javier sipped his tonic water After a couple of years of supposedly being cozier with vodka than sanity, sobriety now suited hi that if she’s recently divorced, sheher for ulterior motives ”
“What e to London, we’ve learned how quickly our lovely bride can hand us our balls e’ve screwed up ” Xander s that you’d probably like to keep yours attached to your body ”
“Exactly ” Javier grinned
“I can’t tell her the truth,” Decker argued “Why would she believe a total stranger trying to convince her that sorand and the phone nuot is her picture and some basic information I could have pulled off the Internet None of that proves anything If she actually does believe me, I’d probably scare the hell out of her ” He tossed his hands up “This asshole gave o away by then Even if Rachel isn’t thrilled with my method, she’ll be alive ”
He peered deeper into the club, ignoring the coh to even be here, wearing skirts so short he could almost tell if the carpet matched the drapes Finally, the crowd parted, and he spotted his target near the wall, just as he’d predicted Rachel White wine in hand Long hair like a chocolate waterfall Pretty profile Thick lashes Button nose Full lips that would look perfect wrapped around his cock
Daet her naked What a shame that wasn’t his first priority with her, but he hoped he could find a way to make it a close second
She smiled as a tall, African-American woman beside her whispered in her ear Then suddenly, Rachel whipped her gaze around and asp Even through the se across the room, he could all but hear the sound Yeah, he felt the electric zing, too Up his spine and clear down to his toes, it engorged his cock so cood-awful sensible blouse she wore, tear away her panties, and fuck her breathless in the next thirty seconds Normally, he would, but this situation meant he had to use the head up north—at least a little And didn’t that just piss him off
How fucking ironic that he couldn’t pick her up just for the fun of it No, he had to get close to keep her alive Honestly, Decker didn’t like lying to her either The hell of it was he couldn’t think of another way to protect the woman he’d been hired to kill
• • •
RACHEL LINDEN FIXED her gaze across the roo between the two suits Her jaw dropped before she forcibly snapped it shut Holy cow! Between the alcohol and the press of bodies, she was overheated But he made her shiver
Military-short black hair capped off his angled face, covered by a healthy two days’ growth of beard His eyes remained hidden behind a pair of aviators that rested on top of chiseled cheekbones His black shirt nearly busted at the shoulder seaed The soft cotton clung to every valley and ridge of his pectorals and abdominals
He was a man with a capital M, the sort who ue The kind her mother had warned her about The type who’d starred in her fantasies And the one she wanted sliding against her skin-to-skin now Dark and bad, yesbut those big hands and ood
Just looking at hi Every inch of him was hard If she’d had a fantasy in the flesh, he’d be it
A tattoo—Asian writingfro his lips was soe And he was staring directly at her
The bottom fell out of her stomach Norrade social studies teacher, had asked her
out a feeeks ago He was polite and had kind brown eyes He’dThat was her speed This man in front of her
“He looks good enough to eat And to lick, slurp, suckDairl!” Shonda, one of the art teachers, murmured in her ear
If you’re going to dive into a , why not start with the juiciest one you can find?
She glanced at Shonda’s dark skin glea colored strobes “Is itat me?”