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“Stop practicing your seduction techniques on me …”

Eric leaned in, doing his best to ignore Julie’s delicious scent, and waited until she looked at him.

“Have you considered that I am not a nice guy? That I’m actually the kind of man your mother warned you about?”

Julie’s eyelashes flickered as if the thought hadn’t occurred to her. “Not possible. You would never take advantage of a good girl like me.”

He stared into her eyes. Was she playing him? Or was she really that innocent?

She winked.

He wanted to growl. Give her a taste of the intense sexual need warring inside him. Instead, he pushed away from her cubicle and strode off. “Don’t test your luck with me or you will find out just what kind of man I really am.”

Her husky laugh followed him. “I’m looking forward to it …”

Dear Reader,

I have always enjoyed detective shows that combine mystery with romance and comedy. Give me a hero and heroine who must work closely together while trying to resist a powerful attraction and I will tune in every time! I want to watch the couple gradually fall in love and see how each mystery tests and strengthens their relationship. My only complaint is that many of these shows tease the viewers with red-hot scenarios but they don’t deliver the sizzle.

The lack of heat in some of my favorite detective shows was what inspired me to write this story. I wanted to watch a detective show that was fun, sexy and romantic. Something that offered the same experience as the Blaze novels I read. I started to wonder how I would give a detective story the Blaze treatment. The result is Suddenly Sexy.

Thanks for reading Julie and Eric’s story. Don’t forget to visit my website, susannacarr.com, for news, excerpts, contests and more.

Enjoy!

Susanna Carr

About the Author

SUSANNA CARR lives in the Pacific Northwest with her family. When she isn’t writing, Susanna enjoys reading romance and connecting with readers online. Visit her website at susannacarr.com.

Suddenly Sexy
Susanna Carr

www.millsandboon.co.uk

To Kathryn Lye and Jenny Bent, with thanks

1

BAD GIRLS HAD ALL THE FUN.

Julie Kent scowled with envy and slammed her book closed. She exhaled sharply as frustration swelled inside her until it felt as if it would burst through her skin. It was probably wrong that she wanted to be like the villainess in the Sex, Spies and Sapphires espionage series, even if the villainess was the main character. Sapphire was sexy, aggressive, kick-ass and daring. She was also a thief. Not to mention fictional.

Julie still wouldn’t mind being a bit more like Sapphire and a little less … Julie. She wanted to break the rules. Break a sweat. Take risks. Take on the world and a few men while she was at it. Sapphire managed to have sex with more men in this book than Julie had in her lifetime.

And this was just one book in a whole series. Julie sighed and dropped the paperback in her bottom desk drawer. She kicked the drawer shut and propped her chin on her hand. She wasn’t asking to have lots of sex with lots of guys. Treating beds as merry-go-rounds wasn’t for her, not that she had any opportunity to treat them as such. She just wanted lots of sex with one guy: Eric Ranger.

Julie turned her head and peered over her gray cubicle, staring at Eric’s closed office door. She bit her bottom lip as she recalled every inch of the man’s lean muscular build. Eric moved with a lethal grace that she found mesmerizing. She bet he could guide her through some of the steamy scenes she’d just read, and come up with a few imaginative positions that would give her maximum pleasure.

“Julie?”

Julie stifled a shriek and whirled around in her chair. Her friend Asia was leaning on the cubicle wall. She smiled knowingly as she drummed her perfectly manicured nails on the cubicle frame. How long had she been standing there?

“We need to work on your observation skills,” Asia teased.

“Sorry, I was daydreaming.” Julie felt the blush heating her cheeks.

“Yeah, I have a pretty good idea who was starring in that dream.” Asia slapped the cubicle with her hand. “One of these days you need to stop fantasizing and just go for it.”

Julie simply nodded. Her friend always gave her this kind of well-meaning advice, but she didn’t understand that they operated under different sets of rules. Asia was drop-dead gorgeous and had the confidence of an action hero. The two traits went hand in hand. The woman strutted through life, knowing she could get any man she wanted.

Julie, on the other hand, could strive for “pretty” on a good day. She was used to being overlooked by men, especially when she hung out with Asia. It was fine. Sometimes she liked to believe that the right guy would be instantly attracted to her without any work on her part, but who was she kidding? A man like Eric could be effortlessly sexy in jeans and a T-shirt, but a woman like herself needed all the help she could get.

“So, what brings you to my little cubicle?” Julie asked. She wasn’t even peripherally involved with Asia’s cases and their lunch break had just ended.

“The boss says Eric isn’t answering his phone or IM. I thought you might like to see if he’s in his office,” Asia said, wagging her eyebrows suggestively. “Everyone is supposed to meet in the conference room in ten minutes.”

“I’ll get him.” She was glad for any excuse to talk to Eric, and she appreciated her friend’s help.

“Unless you’re busy,” Asia said as she strolled away.

Julie rolled her eyes. “That’ll be the day.” She stood up and headed for Eric’s door. Busy. Right. She knew her hometown wasn’t the center for international espionage or criminal activity. Close to Seattle, Redmond was a quiet, suburban city known for Microsoft and which claimed to be the bicycle capital of the northwest. Julie had more of a chance to bump into a computer nerd or cyclist than a crook. Yet when she joined Gunthrie Security & Investigations, she had dreams of high-speed chases, death-defying maneuvers and breathtaking excitement as she saved the world while earning an edgy, cool nickname.

She got a nickname all right. Uniform Girl. From eight to four-thirty Monday to Friday she kept track of the uniforms for their security guards assigned all around the Seattle area.

So much for her crime-fighting career. Perry Gunthrie was a sweet old man who truly felt her job was important. And it probably was to Gunthrie S&I. Times were tough and the investigation cases were not plentiful. The security contracts were barely keeping them afloat.

But Eric Ranger was going to change all that. Julie had no doubt that he would succeed, even if he was only going to be around for a few more weeks until his medical leave was up. Eric didn’t talk a lot about his job, but Julie had learned that he worked for the Cultural Property, Art and Antiquities Program under the Immigration and Custom Enforcement agency. ICE. She loved that acronym. It sounded very James Bond to her. Eric’s job was to find stolen artwork and historical artifacts and return them to their rightful owners. Eric got injured while on an ICE assignment in Muscat, wherever that was. It sounded exotic and exciting to Julie. She would bet her paycheck that he’d gotten hurt from taking down a criminal mastermind.

Julie sighed. Some guys have all the fun.

Now he was helping Perry, his godfather, while on a leave of absence. When Julie had first heard that after meeting him, her tongue almost rolled out and landed on the floor. She couldn’t get her last boyfriend to give up a Saturday to help her move, but Eric dropped everything and flew across the country from D.C. to Seattle to help out a friend of the family. There had to be something wrong with this guy that she hadn’t figured out. However, if there were, she really didn’t want to know.

Doing a favor for Perry hadn’t been a vacation for Eric. For the past six weeks he had done everything he could to gain more clients. There had been lots of meetings with companies, lots of crunching numbers and lots of sleepless nights. Julie had never seen anyone work that hard. She had tried to show her support and unofficially looked after Eric behind the scenes. She didn’t think she was much help, and she didn’t get any tips on how to act like a special agent, either. But she still had a few more weeks to study Eric, inch by glorious inch, before he returned to Washington, D.C.

Julie paused in front of his small office and brushed her fingers through her straight brown hair. She lightly tapped on the door. “Eric?”

Nothing.

She knocked harder. “Eric? It’s Julie.” Hmm, he probably didn’t remember her name, but she refused to call herself Uniform Girl.

Still no answer. He probably wasn’t in his office. Eric might be out taking a million-mile jog or leaping tall buildings for a little cardio workout. She should try to emulate him if she wanted to be a kick-ass detective, but she could barely get through her aerobics class without wanting to die.

Julie tried the doorknob and it moved under her hand. She slowly opened the door and found the room dark. “Eric?”

She peered around the door and froze as her heart lurched. Eric Ranger was asleep, sprawled out on the tattered couch, wearing nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs.

Whoa. Julie’s mind started to shut down as she stared at his masculine beauty. Her heart started to race. She studied each slope and angle of his sculpted chest and flat abdomen. Eric was lean and muscular. She felt his power even though he lay sprawled on the couch.

The jagged scar on his side caught her gaze. It was long, deep and an angry red. As she watched him sleep, Julie realized there were quite a few marks scoring his golden skin. On his hands, his legs and the bottom of his feet. Some of them looked decades old. This was the body of a warrior. This was a man who had seen the rough and brutal side of life.

Julie gripped the doorknob and hesitated. She knew the polite thing to do would be to close the door and pound on it until he woke up. But she wanted to stare and memorize every line. No, that wasn’t quite true. She wanted to touch him. Stroke him. Curl up next to Eric and feel the power and strength of his body as she slowly woke him up.

But she would keep her hands to herself. Because she was too much of a good girl, damn it. She vaguely wondered what Sapphire would do in this situation.

Sapphire would probably tackle him. Okay, maybe not right away. First she would tie him down, tease and torment him until he begged for release. And then Sapphire would straddle Eric before licking every inch of him.

Julie swiped her tongue along her bottom lip as her mouth tingled with anticipation. Noooo … Julie pressed her tongue firmly against the roof of her mouth. Why was she even thinking about it? She’d never do that in a million years, no matter how much she wanted to.

She heard the squeaky metal of a chair from behind her. Julie looked over her shoulder and noticed the other employees were heading toward the conference room. She needed to stop hanging back and wake up Eric before someone came looking for both of them.

She took a deep breath and stepped into Eric’s tiny office, dodged a pile of clothes on the floor and firmly closed the door. Heat tingled along her skin, stung with awareness. She needed to control the excitement stirring deep in her belly.

Julie smoothed her hands against her turquoise blue wrap dress and nervously cleared her throat. She might not have the courage to sweep her tongue along Eric’s golden skin, but she could act like she saw practically naked hot guys every day.

Just not ones who were that ripped.

“Eric,” she said in a brisk I-am-so-not-looking-at-your-boxers tone. “You need to get up. The meeting is about to start.”

Nothing. He didn’t move.

“You know,” she said a little louder, “the meeting you’re supposed to lead. The one about our future at Gunthrie S and I.”

Still nothing.

She reached out and tentatively tapped his shoulder. Wow. The guy was muscular. His skin was warm and smooth. She reluctantly pulled her hand away. “Eric?”

He still didn’t move. Julie frowned. That couldn’t be good. Did he always sleep this soundly? Special agents were supposed to be light sleepers, ready to shoot and kill the moment they heard footsteps. Everyone who reads espionage novels knew that. If they didn’t get up, they were dead, drugged or in a coma until the next book came out.

She studied Eric’s sleeping form. He was motionless, his broad, sculpted chest barely moving with every breath. Hmm …

Julie leaned over him, her face just above his, and checked for signs of breathing. “Eric?” she whispered.

Her world suddenly spun. One minute she was standing and the next moment her feet were in the air. Julie cried out as her spine collided against the bristly carpet. Her arms, stretched above her head, were pinned down. Her breath hitched in her throat as a heavy weight descended on her ribs.

She blinked at the sight of Eric’s face inches away from hers. Her mouth went dry as she took it all in. His short blond hair was mussed and his dark blue eyes were still blurry with sleep. Whiskers shadowed his angular jaw and she itched to rub her cheek against his.

Eric squeezed his eyes shut, the lines in his face deepening. He opened his eyes again. “Julie?”

He knew her name, she thought dazedly. That was hopeful.

And he wasn’t moving away from her. Eric kept her pinned to the floor. His knee was deeply, intimately, wedged between her thighs as his big, muscular, not to mention naked chest crushed her breasts.

“How’d you do that?” she asked in a breathless squeak. And could she use that move to flip him into her bed?

Eric jumped to his feet in one fluid movement. He reached for her, his hands surprisingly gentle. Eric set her on her wobbly feet before she could take her next breath.

“I’m sorry,” he said. He pulled his hand away and rubbed the back of his neck. “I didn’t mean to do that. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. No harm done.” Except for knowing how it felt to be pressed against his rock-hard body. “I’m supposed to get you for the meeting in the conference room.”

“Damn.” He looked at his watch. It was a sophisticated timepiece that looked as complicated as the dashboard of a race car. “I’ll be right there.”

“Take your time,” Julie offered as she tugged her dress into place and hurriedly made her way to the door. She felt off balance, as if her world had been thrown off its axis.

“Julie?”

She turned around and kept her eyes firmly above his bare shoulders. It didn’t help. Her gaze wandered down to his snug boxer briefs and she started to blush. “Yeah?”

“I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Scare me?” She frowned. He thought one accidental tumble scared her? Seriously? What did he think she was made of? Julie thrust her chin out with injured pride. “Eric, the only one who seems freaked out is you.”

HE BLEW IT. ERIC GRITTED HIS teeth as the disappointment rolled through him. Six weeks of being a gentleman and he ruined it by one instinctive move. Tackling a woman and pinning her to the floor was not the way to her heart.

Eric hovered over the sink in the men’s restroom and sluiced ice-cold water over his face. He regretted falling asleep in the office instead of driving back to his hotel in Bellevue. He was alert now, but it was too late to fix anything. He glanced up and looked in the mirror. He saw the scars along with the weariness and the darkness in his eyes. He was not the knight in shining armor that Julie wanted.

He had spent most of his adult life as a government agent. He was honored to serve his country, although he spent most of his days outside its borders. He missed home, but he had a sense of pride over his accomplishments.

He could also speak three languages, assimilate in any major city and handle a gun and knife with the same ease as a knife and fork. So, why did he feel like a monster around Julie?

Because he was a monster. Eric speared his wet hands through his hair, allowing the water to drip down his head and neck. He had been wild and destructive as a child. His home life had been a battlefield and then a wasteland. When he left home, he had been trained to destroy and shoot to kill. Julie was the opposite. She was creative and saw the good in everyone. She liked her espionage novels and believed that good always won over evil.

Eric didn’t remember when he stopped believing in that fairy tale, but he didn’t want her to find out the truth. He may be bitter, but he found her sweetness addicting in a way he never understood before. If he got close to her, even touched her, he would taint her with the darkness of his world.

He wasn’t going to let that happen. He would do whatever it took to protect her sunny view of the world.

What was it about her that had gotten under his skin? There was something about Julie that made him want to linger around her. She was always smiling, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. She had endless energy and an insatiable curiosity.

But there was something about Julie that made him sweat. There was a natural sexiness about her, in the way she walked, in the way she laughed and the way she dressed. At the last casual Friday, Julie had worn a pink tank top, blue jeans and flip-flops. Eric had been so mesmerized that he had found it difficult to concentrate.

And he needed to concentrate right now. Eric wiped the water from his face and gripped the edge of the sink. Today he had to give some bad news to the company. He immediately conjured an image of Julie. She was going to be upset and there was nothing he could do to comfort her. It was just another mark against him.

Eric took a deep breath and straightened to his full height. He wasn’t one to procrastinate. He tugged at his shirt collar, checked his watch and headed for the conference room.

The moment he walked into the room, everyone at the table fell into silence.

There were only fifteen people who worked at Gunthrie S&I. Ten of them were only qualified to do the administration work for the security accounts. The remaining employees were licensed investigators.

Ace, a computer nerd who only wore jeans and gaming T-shirts, did computer forensic work. Martha did interviews and surveillance. A grandmotherly type, she often said that she was good at her job because she was practically invisible. Max was retired military and did most of the background checks.

All of these investigators learned on the job with Perry. The only employee who had any real experience was Asia. She had been a police officer and was Gunthrie’s top investigator.

Until Eric had shown up. Asia wasn’t pleased when he started taking over. Eric knew he had the skills Perry needed right now to keep Gunthrie S&I open for business. He coordinated missions, trained lower-level agents and knew how to represent his work to other organizations and companies.

While working with Perry over the past six weeks, Eric had been giving the older man a crash course in the cutting-edge techniques for conducting criminal investigations. In the past, the latest trends would have excited Perry, but now it made him feel overwhelmed and defeated. When Eric had suggested trying a different kind of investigation, it took a while to convince Perry to give it a try.

Eric saw his godfather sitting at the head of the table and gave him an encouraging smile. Eric automatically searched for Julie.

She was whispering furiously with her friend Asia. As Eric moved to the foot of the table, he considered how strange the friendship was between Asia and Julie. They were an unlikely pair. Asia was shrewd and abrasive while Julie was warm and friendly.

He reluctantly pulled his attention away and noticed the other employees watching him. Did they know everyone was in danger of losing their jobs? They were good people, though some were odder than the others. There were a few he wouldn’t trust with a car, let alone a gun. All of the employees seemed to emulate their detective idol, right down to the catchphrases. They made up for their lack of experience and technological know-how with hard work and enthusiasm.

“Okay, everyone,” Eric said. “I’m going to just open the meeting with some news. We no longer provide security services for Bellows and Groggins. Murphy and Associates won the bid.”

There was a beat of heavy silence. Eric paused to let the news sink in. His attention gravitated toward Julie. He frowned when it registered that she didn’t seem particularly worried. In fact, she looked at him as if he would come up with a perfectly good solution to keep the business afloat.

There was something about that look. It was as if she trusted his skills and strategies completely. As if she knew behind the scars and the fatigue, there was a hero inside him ready to save the day.

The way she was looking at him, he almost believed it, too.

He didn’t realize he’d allowed the pause to linger for too long. The employees started to all talk at once, their voices beginning to rise with panic and anger.

Eric raised his hands and motioned for them to quiet down. “But this gives us an opportunity to move in a new direction.”

He was determined to give the idea a good spin, but he didn’t know how the rest of the office would react. When he ran it by his godfather, Perry was surprised. The sad thing was that it didn’t shock Eric at all. He wondered if that was a sign. Was he jaded? Was he that world-weary and cynical?

“Investigations are a lucrative field and Perry has approved of it.” Eric didn’t feel the need to mention how much convincing it took to get Perry to sign off on the idea. “It will require a lot of man hours so everyone will be assigned cases.”

The tension in the room slowly disappeared. He had a feeling it would. Everyone at Gunthrie S&I wanted to be on a case. They longed to solve puzzles that didn’t come out of the crosswords or Sudoku section of the newspaper.

Eric saw Julie sit straight up in her chair. He should have known. Julie has been badgering Perry to let her on a case. Eric saw the thirst for adventure and excitement inside her. It was his job to keep that in control.

“What type of investigation?” Max asked, as he stroked his Magnum, P.I. mustache.

Eric paused as he tried to come up with the most professional description. “We are going to provide premarital screenings and decoy assignments.”

Max cast a glance at Martha, a Miss Marple look-alike who sat next to him. Max returned a steady gaze at Eric. “You mean we’re going to spy on cheating boyfriends?”

Eric gave a deep sigh. So much for trying to make it sound more important. “That’s one of way of explaining it.”

“And lead them into temptation?” Martha asked.

Eric winced. “Yeah.”

“We’ve never done that before,” Max said, his voice tinged with excitement. “Count me in.”

Everyone started talking. He heard someone claiming seniority while another insisted his dubious familiarity with nightclubs was necessary for the project.

“I’m proposing we do a trial run,” Eric said over the voices and waited for them to quiet down again. “First we will need to put together a surveillance team. Audio, visual …”

A couple of people eagerly put up their hands. Eric assigned them roles best suited for their strengths and weaknesses.

“We need a team to do background checks.” Several hands went up. “And we need a decoy,” Eric said as he wrote down the names of the volunteers.

“Decoy?” Martha frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

“We need a seductive woman who will put the moves on our target and see if he takes the bait.”

“Ooh!” Julie’s hand thrust up high. “Pick me!”

A cold chill swept through Eric. No, no, no. Not Julie. She was too innocent, too sweet. He didn’t want Julie as a decoy. It could get dangerous.

“She needs to seduce a man who is probably a bastard,” Eric said between clenched teeth.

Julie waved her hand wildly. “I can do that!”

“She needs to know self-defense,” Eric continued.

Julie propped up her waving arm with her other hand. “I took a course last month.”

“Eric,” Perry said with wry amusement, “I believe someone is volunteering to become a decoy.”

Eric met Julie’s gaze. Her eyes glowed and her cheeks were flushed. She radiated with enthusiasm. Julie looked incredibly beautiful and sexy.

He wanted to be the good guy. He wanted to give her everything her heart desired, but he couldn’t allow her to take on this assignment. She would discover how emotionally draining it was to pretend all the time and lie convincingly. She would start to see the dark underbelly of her world and she would begin to question why she wanted to save it in the first place.

He wasn’t going to be the one who destroyed her innocence. He wanted her to hold on to it just a little while longer.

Eric struggled to break eye contact and looked around the room. “Anyone else?”

2

JULIE FROWNED. WHAT WAS going on? He didn’t write down her name. How many decoys did they possibly need? And it wasn’t as if he had a vast pool of potential candidates.

“No, seriously, I can do it,” she insisted, waving her arm to capture his attention. “I can be the decoy.”

Eric didn’t look at her. “We’ll take that under consideration. Asia? What about you?”

Julie’s hand went down with a thump. Oh … Of course. Her face started to burn bright red as her stomach did a sickening, spiral dive.

What was she thinking? Asia was gorgeous and glamorous. There was a hint of a challenge and the promise of danger in her eyes that men found irresistible. Asia could lead any man to temptation. Julie couldn’t lead a man anywhere even if she had a detailed map.

Asia leaned back in her chair and toyed with a pen in her hands. “Sorry, I would make a horrible decoy, but I’d like to take lead on the trial run.”

“Eric will be in charge,” Perry kindly informed Asia. “But you would make a great decoy. I know you had practice on the force.”

“The focus on those stings was different. We weren’t targeting a specific person. Anyway,” she said with a shrug of her shoulder, “I don’t approach men—they approach me.”

Julie silently nodded in agreement. She had seen it countless times. She was sure Asia could approach men with success, but her friend never needed to practice.

“However,” Asia continued, “I think Julie would make a great decoy.”

“Thanks,” Julie said softly as she kept her head down and her gaze firmly on her clenched hands in her lap. She appreciated what her friend was trying to do, but it wasn’t any use. She wasn’t like Asia. She wasn’t even Asia-lite.

Eric exhaled sharply. “We can always hire out an independent contractor.”

Ouch. Julie squeezed her eyes closed. Could the humiliation get any worse?

Asia abruptly leaned forward in her chair. “That would be a waste when we have someone right here.”

Julie reached out and placed a restraining hand on her friend’s arm. “It’s okay, Asia,” she whispered. “Let it go.”

Asia reluctantly backed down and Julie felt her friend’s arm shake with the restrained aggression. Julie also found it difficult to stay in her seat for the remainder of the meeting. She knew people were giving her pitying looks, but that didn’t sting as much as Eric’s firm and swift rejection.

She hunched her shoulders, trying to appear smaller and invisible as the tears pricked the back of her eyes. Julie heard Eric’s voice as he outlined the strategy, but she wasn’t listening.

What exactly did Eric think she couldn’t do? Did he think she couldn’t seduce a man? Or was he unsure if she could be helpful in an investigation? Maybe it was both? Julie pressed her lips together as the pain ricocheted in her body.

Okay, so she wasn’t hot like Asia. This was not breaking news. She wasn’t mysterious or exotic, but she didn’t look like a zombie, either. All she needed was to take on a sexy alias and she could be the best decoy Eric had ever seen.

But maybe he thought it was impossible. The guy had seen and done it all while hunting down artifacts. He’d probably bedded gorgeous women across the globe and met his match with the best seductresses who hid important treasures. Julie couldn’t compare to that kind of competition.

Julie gave a start when her coworkers got up from their seats. She hadn’t noticed the meeting had ended and she watched the others leave the room, buzzing with enthusiasm about their assignments. She was envious, knowing she was probably going to be stuck with a desk job. There was nothing exciting about that, even if she got to work on the case. Why should she be thrilled at being a Bosley when she wanted to be a Charlie’s Angel?

She cautiously glanced in Eric’s direction and found him watching her. He held her gaze for a moment and she couldn’t look away. His blue eyes were stormy and intense. Eric seemed as if he was about to say something. She braced herself. She had no doubt it would be blunt and brutal.

Eric decided against it and set his mouth in a grim line. He walked out of the conference room without saying a word.

Julie sagged against her chair and took a deep breath.

“That could have gone better,” Asia muttered.

“Thanks for coming to my defense,” Julie said as she patted Asia’s arm. “But if you want the decoy assignment, you should go for it.”

Asia rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. That is why I quit the police force. They always wanted me to work for Vice and dress up as a hooker when I wanted to solve cases.”

It sounded as if they both couldn’t get the assignment they wanted because of the way they looked. Julie never thought of it that way. She always assumed her friend eventually got what she wanted, but maybe Asia’s appearance was a disadvantage as well as a benefit.

Asia gathered her pen and notebook. “So, what are you going to do now?”

Julie shrugged. “Before or after I crawl into a hole and lick my wounds?”

“Come on, Julie,” Asia said with a hint of exasperation in her voice. “There is no need to roll over and play dead at the first sign of opposition.”

Julie pointed at the open door. “He thinks I can’t be a seductive woman.” She hated how her voice hitched in her throat.

“He didn’t say that.”

“Then he thinks I can’t do detective work.” That hurt almost just as much.

“He didn’t say that, either.” Asia leaned her elbow on the back of her chair and gave her a hard, direct look. “In fact, he didn’t make any comment whatsoever. It’s up to you to face him and find out why he won’t let you be a decoy.”

“You’re right.” She obviously wasn’t going to be handed a plum assignment just because she asked for it. Life never worked that way. She needed to find out why Eric was against her and show how wrong he was about her abilities.

Asia rose from her seat and gestured to Julie. “So march into his office right now and find out.”

Julie nodded as she reluctantly got up from her seat. As much as she wanted the job, she wasn’t ready to find out exactly what Eric thought she lacked. The answer was going to be personal. Whatever it was, she didn’t think she could put on a brave face and take the criticism on the chin.

Asia crossed her arms and rested her hip on the conference table. “Yeah, go in like that and he’ll snowball you.”

“Sorry,” she said with a wry smile, “my confidence is a little shaken.”

But it was more than that. All of her wild and sexy fantasies about Eric died a quick death during the meeting. How many times had she fantasized that he was so overwhelmed with desire that he couldn’t control himself? Her daydreams of being a sexy siren to Eric were never going to come true. The reality was a bitter pill to swallow.

“Of course your confidence is shaken. It got knocked around a bit,” Asia said. “But you have to appear stronger and more daring than you feel.”

“I don’t think I can.” She was never a fake-it-until-you-make-it kind of person. She was more of a what-you-see-is-what-you-get girl.

“Fine,” Asia said. “Then accept Eric’s decision with no questions asked and stick to keeping track of uniforms.”

Julie shuddered. “Forget that. I want this assignment.”

“Good.” Asia pointed at the door. “Now go into Eric’s office with guns blazing and don’t take no for an answer.”

Guns blazing. Right. Because that was so how she approached life. “This is going to be a complete waste of time,” Julie muttered as she pushed her seat in.

“Show him that you can be just as fierce and tenacious as he is,” Asia said with a pump of her fist.

“So he can bodily lift me and toss me out of his office?”

Asia’s jaw tightened with annoyance. “If you want to be a decoy, you need to show that you can face any situation and not get rattled when everything goes wrong.”

She was absolutely correct. “The police force really lost out when you quit,” Julie said as she took a step toward the door.

“Damn right. Now stop stalling and move,” Asia ordered as she gave Julie a little push out of the conference room.

ERIC HEARD THE TREAD of her footsteps. They were soft but the stride was determined. He tilted his head back and groaned. He should have remembered that Julie Kent was as stubborn as she was sweet.

At least they could have it out privately. He didn’t like shutting her down in front of an audience, but Julie needed to realize that she wasn’t ready to be a decoy. Eric rose from behind his desk just as she knocked on his door.

“Come in, Julie.”

The door swung open and Julie peeked in. “How’d you know it was me?”

“Lucky guess.” He crossed his arms and braced his legs. He was prepared to battle it out with Julie. She needed to know that he was the boss and the expert. She needed to accept his final answer, but he’d show some mercy. The last thing he wanted to do was crush her spirit.

She quickly shut the door and stood in front of his desk. He thought she was a bit nervous, but Julie placed her hands on her hips and met his eyes with a steady stare. “I want to be the decoy.”

“Never going to happen.”

She blinked at his immediate answer. “Why?”

“Nothing against you, Julie, but you’re not the type.”

Julie arched one eyebrow. “Care to explain that?”

Eric knew he would have to choose his words very carefully. “You don’t have the experience or the edge.”

“I’ve been on the dating scene for a while,” she said tightly as she started to tap one foot. “I think I can handle myself quite well.”

“That’s not what I mean.” His gut clenched as he thought about the men Julie dated. They were probably all gentlemen who knew how to treat her like a princess. He wouldn’t be able to compete with that. Eric viciously pushed the thought aside. “I’m sure the guys you dated were no match for you, but we’re going after a different type.”

“No match for me? What are you trying to say? That I date a bunch of spineless computer geeks?”

He was making this worse. Eric decided to sidestep that question. “The decoy candidate needs to think fast when she’s trying to entrap a man.”

“And she can only do that when she has the proper training and experience?”

“That’s right.”

Julie tossed her hands in the air with frustration. “But how can I get experience if no one will let me on an assignment?”

“That’s not my problem.”

“What if you give me on-the-job training?” she asked, her eyes lighting up with enthusiasm. “You can teach me everything I need to know.”

Teach her how to seduce a man? Aw, hell, no. That idea had all the markings of a disaster. But it didn’t stop him from imagining just how he would tutor her in the art of seduction. He blinked away the image of him caressing her soft, bare skin. “Still not going to happen,” he said gruffly.

“I’ll do it for free,” she offered recklessly.

If he was any kind of businessman, he would consider that offer. Gunthrie S&I had serious money problems, and they could use all the discounts and freebies that came their way. But this was Julie. He wasn’t going to risk her neck to save a few bucks.

“If you want to be a part of the investigation, then you can help with coordinating tasks.”

“A desk job?” She groaned and made a face. “Come on, Eric. I’m at a desk all day. I want to get out in the field. I want some action.”

“The coordinator assignment is all I can offer you.” It was the only job where she wouldn’t be at risk. It was the only job where he wouldn’t have to worry about her. “You’re a rookie and you could compromise our cases.”

“That’s a bunch of bull.” Julie glared at him. “You’re talking about hiring independent contractors. It’s not like you can call a temp agency and ask them to send over decoys. What would their qualifications be?”

He should have seen this coming. He could lie and say they needed to know hand-to-hand combat, but he knew the truth would eventually come out. He might as well get it over with. “They have to be intelligent, seductive and, above all, cautious.”

Julie’s bottom jaw shifted to one side as if she was struggling to control her temper. “So, they have to be smart and sexy.”

There was an awkward beat. “And cautious,” Eric added.

“You don’t think I fit those requirements?” she asked in a soft, dangerous tone.

“Julie, a lot can go wrong,” he said as he rounded his desk and approached her. “Sometimes a guy can sense he’s being set up. A paranoid guy is unpredictable.”

“Answer the question, Eric.”

“You are far too innocent for that kind of work,” he said. “I’m not letting you in the field at all.”

“Innocent?” Julie said the word in a squawk. As if she were offended by the description.

“You see the good in everyone, which is a great trait,” he quickly assured her, “but it’s no good when you’re investigating.”

“I can read people pretty well,” she told him.

“What if he goes on the attack?” Eric asked.

“That’s unlikely. And, even if it did happen, I took self-defense training.”

He remembered her claim. “A one-day lesson?”

Julie’s eyes gleamed with anger. “No.”

“A weekend course?”

Her mouth tightened. “Maybe.”

Eric shook his head. “That’s not good enough.”

“Wanna bet?”

He had a feeling she was going to say that, and he acted swiftly. He grabbed her arm and twisted her around. With an economy of motions, he wrapped his arm around her neck and pinned her against him before she could squeak out a complaint.

“Hey, this isn’t fair.” Julie tugged at his arm, but he wasn’t going to let go. He knew he wasn’t hurting her, only making her uncomfortable. And maybe a little humble.

“How much are we betting?” he asked.

She wiggled against him as she tried to shove an elbow in his stomach and ribs. Her blows were feeble, but his good intentions were weakening by the way her ass rubbed against his groin.

Julie reached blindly for his face, possibly to claw at him, but it wasn’t going to work. “Are you attacking me or trying to get DNA samples for when the coroner inspects your dead, lifeless body?”

She grunted and went for his instep. She tried to stomp on his foot, but he moved the moment he felt her leg muscles bunch. Even if she had managed to get lucky, her ballet slippers wouldn’t have caused much damage.

“This isn’t proving anything,” she muttered as she made a wild swing for who only knew which part of his body. “You are trained to take a man down in a sleeper hold. Not many guys are around here.”

“You don’t know that.” He let her go abruptly.

Julie smoothed her hair and tugged at her dress before turning around. “The chances of a guy getting rough are slim.”

“What universe are you living in?” And what kind of guys did she hang around with? Probably computer geeks who only got rough in first-person-shooter video games.

“And even if my target did get rough,” Julie continued, “I wouldn’t be in some dark, deserted alley with him. You would also have audio and visuals on me.”

“That’s not enough security. There would be too much of a time lapse before we could get to you.”

Julie bunched her hands into fists at her sides and took a deep breath. “I want to be a decoy.”

“I said no.” She could keep saying it, and he would give her the same answer. “And knowing your aptitude for self-defense, my alternate answer is not in this lifetime.”

“Fine.” She turned and headed for the door. “I’ll just have a little chat with Perry.”

“No way.” Eric was there, flattening his hand against the door so she couldn’t open it.

“He won’t say no,” Julie informed him as she tugged at the doorknob.

That was what he was worried about. Perry had a soft spot where Julie was concerned. “He’s not in charge of this. I am.”

Julie hesitated, as if she were trying to come up with a new tactic. She let go of the doorknob and slowly, almost reluctantly, turned around.

When she tilted up her face, her lips were just inches away from his. A tremor swept through his body as his mouth went dry. He was very tempted to brush his mouth against hers. Taste her sweetness and feel her soften against him.

“Tell me the real reason why you won’t let me be a decoy. Do you think I’m smart and sexy?” she said in a low tone. She looked him in the eye and then her gaze skittered away.

This was dangerous territory. “I think you’re reckless,” he answered gruffly. He’d seen how she would jump into a project with unrestrained enthusiasm.

Her eyes gleamed with determination. “I can be cautious.”

Eric rolled his eyes.

“And I can do sexy.”

Just the way her voice got rough was sexy as hell. His body tightened with anticipation. “But you can’t seduce a man.” He wasn’t going to let her seduce a stranger. Not on his watch.

“Yes, I can.”

Eric shook his head. “And you’re not the type who could seduce a man you’re not interested in. You’re too honest.”

Julie thrust out her chin and narrowed her eyes. Why was she taking offense over that statement? “I can seduce anyone when I set my mind to it.”

Eric lifted his hands as if he were surrendering. “I’ll take your word for it, but you still don’t get the job.”

She pressed a finger against his chest. “I could seduce you if I wanted to.”

The room suddenly went quiet. Eric’s muscles locked as the blood roared through his veins. He wanted to take that as an invitation, but he knew Julie didn’t mean it that way. He swallowed roughly. “Do you want to?”

The tension arced and shimmered between them. It coiled around them, drawing tighter and tighter until he thought it would spring wildly.

Julie dropped her hand and the tension shattered. She took a step away and winced when she bumped against the door. “For a chance to become a decoy?” she asked in a high voice. “Sure.”

Eric took a deep breath as the heavy disappointment pulled at him. Of course she wouldn’t go after a guy like him, unless it was to prove something. “You plan to seduce me to show you can be a decoy?”

She crossed her arms protectively in front of her. “I think that should give me enough qualification.”

What was that supposed to mean? Eric studied her expression, but he couldn’t get a good read. Did she think he was a hard catch, or did she think he was some kind of man-whore? He didn’t think he wanted to know. “But I know what you would be up to,” he pointed out.

She gave an arrogant shrug. “That will make my seduction of you all the more successful.”

Eric could see that Julie was giving this proposal serious consideration. This was bad. This was real bad. He was torn with wanting her to give it her best shot and wanting to get out of target range. “Forget it,” he said angrily. “This is ridiculous.”

“My seducing you is ridiculous?” She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. “That’s it. I’m taking the challenge. If I can seduce you, I get to be the decoy. Deal?”

“No way.” He’d rather make a deal with the devil.

Julie gave him a knowing smile as her eyes shone with defiance. “Because you think I could be successful.”

He tried to scoff at her statement, but he wasn’t sure if he’d pulled it off. He had to get her out of this mindset. For both their sakes.

“I have known women who have been trained in the erotic arts,” he said through gritted teeth. “They are experts at seducing a man and they never got close with me.”

“So, I’m not in their league, and you think you have nothing to worry about. Then why are you stalling?” she taunted. “Do we have a deal or not?”

She wasn’t going to quit, not even when he hired a few independent contractors. He had to call her bluff. She might make a clumsy move and he would restrain himself long enough to gently rebuff her. He could do this, knowing the other option was allowing her to walk into the jaws of danger.

“If it will get you to shut up about this, then sure.” Eric gripped her outstretched hand, and gave it a firm, quick shake. “It’s a deal.”