LITMIR.BIZ

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more investigating tonight.”

      Nervously, Emily fingered the loose ties to her bow. She considered retying it, but decided against drawing any further attention to the silly thing. Judd glanced down at her fingers, and his expression hardened. “Promise me you’ll stay in your castle, princess. We can talk more in the morning.”

      “Yes. I won’t go anywhere else tonight.” She tried to make her tone firm, but some of her fear came through in her next question. “How will I reach you tomorrow?”

      Judd stood silently watching her a minute longer. “You got a pen and paper anywhere around here?”

      Emily opened a drawer and pulled out a pad and pencil. Judd quickly scrawled several lines. “This is my number at the apartment, and this is the one at the bar. And just in case, here’s my address. Now, I mean it, Emily. Don’t make a move without me.”

      She tried not to look too greedy when she snatched the paper out of his hand. “I promise.”

      He hesitated another moment, then stepped outside, pulling the door shut behind him. Emily watched through the window as his truck drove away, wondering where he was going, but knowing she didn’t have the right to ask. Perhaps he had a lady friend waiting on him.

      Of course he does, Emily, she told herself. A man like him probably has dozens of women. But they’re not ladies. He wouldn’t want a lady.

      And for some reason, that thought sent a small, forbidden thrill curling through her insides.

      * * *

      Anger and frustration were not a good combination. Judd didn’t understand himself. Or more to the point, he didn’t understand his reaction to Emily.

      He’d been a hairbreadth away from kissing her. Not a sweet little peck. No, he’d wanted his tongue in her mouth, his lips covering hers, feeling her urgency. He’d wanted, dammit, to devour her completely.

      And she would have loved it, he could tell that much from her racing pulse and her soft, inviting eyes. She may play the proper little Miss Priss to perfection, but she had fire. Enough to burn him if he let her.

      It wasn’t the time and she wasn’t the person for him to be getting ideas about. But he’d taunted her without mercy, wanting to conquer her, to show her he was male to her female. To prove…what? That he could and would protect her? That he’d solve her problems so she could smile more? He didn’t know.

      He’d had women, of course, but none that meant anything beyond physical pleasure. None that he’d wanted to claim, to brand in the most primal, basic way. He didn’t know what it was, but Emily was simply different. And she affected him differently.

      That dress of hers…so feminine, so deceiving. He’d always heard other men joke about having a lady in the parlor and a wanton in the bedroom. The dress had looked innocent enough, but her eyes…

      He knew, even though he wasn’t happy knowing, that Emily fit the descriptive mix of lady and wanton to a tee. It was an explosive fantasy, the thought of having a woman who would unleash her passion for just one man, that no one would ever guess unless they were with her, covering her, inside her.

      Beneath her dress, he could make out the faint, delicate curve of her breasts, her narrow rib cage. She was so slight of build, but so feminine. She had the finest skin he’d ever seen, warm and smooth and pale. And loyalty. She must be damn loyal to this kid—whoever he was—to take such risks for him.

      Judd’s thighs clenched and his heart raced. He hadn’t been able to resist touching her, and she hadn’t protested when he did.

      She was too trusting for her own good. And he was too intuitive to be fooled by her prissy demeanor. Emily Cooper had more than her fair share of backbone, and that was almost as sexy as her eyes.

      Stopping at a corner drugstore and leaving the truck at the curb, Judd got out to use the lighted pay phone. He never used the phone in his apartment to contact headquarters, in case there were prying ears. To his disgust, his hands shook as he fished a quarter out of his jeans pocket. He made the call, and then waited.

      Lieutenant Howell picked up on the first ring. “Yeah?”

      “Sanders here.”

      “It’s about time. Where the hell have you been?”

      Judd closed his eyes, not relishing the chore ahead of him. This wasn’t going to be easy. He took a deep breath, then told his boss, “We have a little problem.”

      “I’m waiting.”

      “I met a lady tonight.”

      “Is that supposed to surprise me, Judd? Hell, you’re working as a male stripper. I imagine you meet a lot of broads every damn night.”

      “Not a broad,” Judd said, the edge in his tone evident. “A lady. And she was actively looking for Donner, though she hasn’t put a name to him yet. Seems she knows a kid who had a faulty automatic blow up in his face, and she’s pegged Donner as the seller.”

      There was a low whistle, then, “No kidding?”

      “The kid’s alive, but from what I understand, he’s in pretty bad shape. His parents have taken him out of the country.” Then, in a drier tone, Judd added, “They’re upper-league.”

      Judd expected the cursing, then the inevitable demand for details. The telling took all of three minutes, and during that time, Howell didn’t make a single sound. Judd tried to downplay his initial meeting with Emily and the fact she’d seen him perform, but there was no way to get around it completely. When Judd finished, he heard a rough rumble from Howell that could have been either a chuckle or a curse. “She could throw a wrench into the works.”

      Judd chose his words very carefully. “Maybe not. I’ve been thinking about it, and it might actually strengthen my case. Being a stripper in such a sleazy joint makes me look pretty unethical. And I’ve made it known I’d do just about anything, including stripping, to make a fast buck.”

      “But Donner hasn’t taken the bait yet.”

      “He will.” Judd was certain of that. Donner always used available locals. That was how he worked. “It will happen. But maybe, with a classy woman hanging around to make me look all the more unscrupulous, Donner will buy in a little quicker.”

      “You think he’ll figure the little lady is keeping you?”

      “What else would he think? We’re hardly the perfect couple. As long as she’s informed and close enough for me to keep an eye on her, she’ll be safe. And Donner will definitely get curious. Besides, I don’t have much choice. She made it real plain she’d investigate on her own if I didn’t see fit to help her. It’s a sure bet she’d tip Donner off and send him running.”

      Howell chuckled. “Sounds like you got everything nicely under control.”

      No. He didn’t have his libido under control, or his protective male instincts that had him wanting to look after her despite his obligations to the job and his loyalty to Max. “I can handle things, I think. It would have been better not to have a civilian involved, but my options are limited now.”

      “I could have her picked up for some trumped-up violation. That might buy you a little time to settle things without her around.”

      The thought of Emily being humiliated that way, being harassed—by anyone other than himself, was unthinkable. “No. I’ll keep an eye on her. Besides, she’s so clean, she squeaks. I doubt you’d find anything. And I already tried scaring her off, but she’s sticking to her guns.”

      “Determined, huh?”

      Judd snorted. “I almost think she wants Donner as bad as I do. She was taking pictures. Can you imagine? I took the film. I don’t think there’s anything important on it, but I don’t want to take any chances. Not with this case.” And not with her. “So I’ll let her hang around a while, and use the situation

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