Red-Hot & Reckless

He pushed his door open and paused. Before he could question the wisdom of his actions, he walked across the hall and knocked on the door to Room 108, his gaze steadily on the peephole.

Silence.

Alex cocked a half grin. He knew she was there. Sensed it with every molecule.

He raised his hand to knock again, then heard the lock mechanism turn. And instantly found out exactly what it was like to encounter those coal-black eyes up close and personal.

Nicole Bennett swung the door open all the way, then leaned against the jamb and crossed her arms.

Alex felt like someone had just given him a sucker punch to the gut. There emanated such a sizzling current about her that he was distantly surprised he wasn’t suffering electrocution.

“You wanted something?” she asked, looking at him as intently as he was looking at her.

Alex’s grin grew. Oh, but she was slick. Very slick. You wouldn’t suspect that she was aware he was tailing her. But he knew. Knew by the way he hadn’t heard her step to the door—she must have been standing on the other side of it watching for him. And since he knew she’d already seen him on the street, well, he had plenty of evidence that proved she wasn’t that dumb.

He allowed his gaze to drop to the deep vee of her black leather vest. She had a knockout figure. Not that you could tell by the loose leather coat she’d worn up until a few weeks ago when the warm weather had forbidden it. He appreciated the subtle muscle tone of her arms, and the way her breasts pressed together, offering up a virtual buffet of sweet flesh that made his mouth water.

“Yes,” he said, raising his gaze back to her face to find her cheeks touched with the slightest color.

“Hi, I’m Alex.” He waited for her to offer an introduction of herself, but wasn’t surprised when she didn’t. “I’m across the hall.” He tried looking into her room, as if he hadn’t been in it two minutes after she had left that morning. “Did housekeeping bring you towels? Because I—”

She stepped from the door to the tiny bathroom to her right and grabbed a dingy gray, threadbare towel. She handed it to him.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” She closed the door, then slid the lock home.

Alex stood for long moments grinning at his feet. There hadn’t been the sound of her moving away from the door, which meant that she was probably looking at him again from the peephole. He decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to give a little salute as he crossed back to the other side of the hall.

Interesting. He let himself into his room. She had not only come back to the hotel, but didn’t seem fazed in the least by the knowledge that he was tailing her. Or she wasn’t entirely certain and was trying to force his hand. Either way, he gave her a lot of credit. Never in his career had he met a woman so sure of herself.

And so totally hot.

Maybe this wasn’t over yet.

2

ALEX.

Mmm…

Nicole stood on the fringes of the party, her short, sleek socialite blond wig in place—nothing too flashy or too trendy—her black dress clingy yet elegant. Her second favorite quote after Bette Davis’s memorable words were “Lead me not into temptation; I can find the way myself,” written by author Rita Mae Brown. And if Alex was anything, he was one hundred percent pure temptation. And like it or not, she was definitely leading herself into it…and to him.

She twisted her lips and scanned the gathering of a hundred and fifty people looking for anyone that might appear out of place. A little voice told her that the instant she’d made her tail, she should have been in a taxi straight to the airport. Forget the boardinghouse. Forget the job. Forget everything but losing Alex. She accepted a champagne flute from a passing waiter with a small, close-lipped smile, then watched him move on, unwittingly comparing him to the man who was occupying far too much of her thoughts.

Alex.

At over six feet, he was tall enough to put him squarely in the danger category when it came to her and her attraction to tall men. His hair was nearly as dark as hers, brown and silky and enticingly touchable. His eyes were an opaque green and seemed to crackle with a knowing, a sexual energy that made her mouth water just looking at him. But it was his lips—full and captivating—that made her nipples tighten and her thighs vibrate.

Okay, so he was attractive. To the point of distraction. Which was exactly the reason she should never have gone back to the hotel. Especially since his very essence seemed to scream “cop.” Hadn’t she had enough problems in her love life lately without adding a sex god of a cop to the mix?

She wrinkled her nose and lifted her glass to toast an elderly gentleman eyeing her favorably from across the room. A good six hours had passed since she’d first spotted Alex, then watched him unlock the door across the hall. Of course, she’d had no idea he would turn and look right at her through the peephole, then be even bolder yet by knocking on her door and asking about housekeeping when he hadn’t even walked fully into his room first. But at least her suspicions had been confirmed.

She pretended to sip the sparkling wine. Definitely Dom Perignon. The Theismans of the Baltimore Theismans, the multimillion-dollar hosts of tonight’s little soiree, knew how to throw a party. Nothing but the best, especially for the first-year wedding anniversary of the mismatched couple standing near the fireplace mantel. Nicole slightly craned her neck, judging Mrs. Theisman to be closer to twenty than she was thirty, and Mr. Theisman, head of Theisman Telecommunications, pushing closer to seventy. She idly wondered what place number this particular trophy wife held. Two? No. More than likely three. Or possibly even four.

Nicole politely nodded at a woman who came to stand near her.

“Lovely couple, aren’t they?” the guest commented.

Nicole hiked a brow. “Lovely” wasn’t a word she’d use to describe the twosome. Revolting hit closer to home. “Aren’t they just?” she said before discreetly moving away.

She shifted her weight from one expensive pump to the other. Who was she to criticize? If she judged the men she dated more on character than looks, maybe she wouldn’t run into the problems she did. Perhaps if she expanded her criteria beyond tall, gorgeous and built like a linebacker, she wouldn’t have to worry about waking up one morning and finding the guy had come across her stolen Tiffany jewelry and called the cops on her.

A waitress drifted by her from the opposite direction. Nicole squinted at her neck where the top of a black tattoo peeked from her starched white shirt. If her calculations were correct, the thieves were going to strike tonight, taking full advantage of the hubbub created by the party, when the house’s security system would be on low alert and it would be easy for the thieves to move among the guests. They would also probably fall back on the tried and true method of posing as temporary catering staff in order to do it. Not difficult considering the young Mrs. Theisman had chosen a new caterer with a transient, unbonded staff instead of going with the long-established company her peers used. No doubt attempting to make her mark as a stylish hostess. Instead she’d set herself up as an easy target.

Nicole’s gaze went to the sweeping staircase to her left. She’d gotten wind of the heist the day before Sebastian had elected himself her latest ex. She didn’t know the details, or who was in on it, but once word started circulating in her circles about easily fenced merchandise, the theft was as good as done. Since then, she’d had three days to do her homework. She knew there were three safes in the eight-bedroom Theisman mansion. One in the downstairs study. One in the master bathroom. And another cleverly hidden beneath the oriental carpet under a double bed in the third guest room.

She guessed that would be the hiding place of the over two hundred thousand in insured uncut rubies Mr. Theisman had bought as an anniversary gift for his trophy wife.

The question was whether the thieves had hit the safe yet.

She glanced at her slender faux-diamond watch, then accidentally spilled a bit of champagne on the front of her dress. Excusing herself from the small group of guests that conversed around her, she headed for the back of the house and the kitchen, rather than seeking out the bathroom just off the foyer. Within minutes she had her shoes in her hand and was slinking up the back stairwell, easily navigating the frenzied catering staff in the kitchen, and surmising that at least one of the original servers was missing. Her observation was immediately confirmed by the woman sweating over an oven when she asked if anyone had seen a man named Mike.

Nicole reached the second floor, thankful for vain wealthy homeowners who didn’t like to see the help unless they had to. She had access to every room upstairs without the risk of being seen. Dim, recessed lighting illuminated the long, curving hall bearing gold-framed prints of Baltimore. Worlds away from the water-stained dingy corridors of the Commodore Hotel. But somehow Nicole always felt safer in those dingy places. More…real, somehow. Less exposed. Although she’d long ago learned to blend in with any crowd, it took less effort to disappear into the background of the less privileged. The people who knew what it meant to struggle. They weren’t struggling to make a towering mortgage or work a sauna into their monthly budget. No, they were struggling for survival. And rarely looked beyond the few inches in front of them because they hoped somewhere there lay their salvation, the answer to all their problems.

Alex intruded on her thoughts again. He’d find it difficult to blend in anywhere. Aside from his considerable height and striking good looks, there was something…different about him, something Nicole couldn’t put her finger on. Something that bothered her on a fundamental level and had nothing to do with his likely being a cop. Something that made her want to return to the hotel that night instead of getting on the twelve o’clock train back to New York.

With the rubies, she thought, forcefully reminding herself of the reason she was there.

She ducked into the guest room across the hall from the one that held the third safe and pushed the door closed until it was just slightly ajar.

How long had it been since her mind had been on anything but the task at hand? If she had been considering which law enforcement agency Alex worked for, that would be one thing. Wondering what it would be like to run her tongue along the fine, freshly shaven line of his strong jaw was quite another.

A shadow.

Nicole reached for her purse with her left hand and took out the small-caliber pistol there. The only time that the saying “size doesn’t matter” applied was in the world of guns. As long as the wielder knew what she was doing, a peashooter was more than enough firepower to stop a stampede of bison. She thumbed the safety and watched a figure in a waiter’s uniform exit the master bedroom at the end of the hall, then move in her direction. She made a face. Either he was greedy and had gone after what trinkets the main safe held, or he hadn’t figured out that the rubies were most likely in the third safe. Which made him either wet behind the ears or a moron. Or a dangerous combination of both. While she could easily explain away her presence in the guest room—that very notably didn’t hold a safe—by saying she’d felt light-headed and needed to lie down for a moment, a man wearing a waiter’s uniform sneaking into the guest bedroom that did hold a safe was another matter altogether.

“And, lucky contestant, would you like to see the prize you’ll be playing for?” she murmured to herself. “Roddy, show him what he could win tonight….”

And that prize was what she fully planned to take away from him the instant he had the little beauties in hand and had successfully made his escape.

The thief glanced in her direction. Nicole moved back a couple of inches to keep from being seen.

And found her backside flush against something very hard, very warm and very definitely male.

“Oh!” She gasped, feeling every panic alarm go off all at once.

“MMM. THE CONTESTANT’S very lucky, indeed,” Alex murmured against Nicole’s ear.

The scent of cinnamon candy, subtle yet distinctive, teased his nose, while certain strategic areas teased other parts of his anatomy.

Damn, but she smelled good. Clean, spicy and overwhelmingly sexy. Alex couldn’t resist resting his chin against the hair curving against the side of Nicole’s neck as he steadied her with his hands on her hips.

“Seems we keep bumping into each other,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. The touch of nerves humming just below the surface made it sound like a purr. He idly wondered if she might be part cat. Such feline characteristics would be an advantage in her chosen profession. One had to be light on her feet to be successful in this business. And, of course, it didn’t hurt to have an extra life or two in case you lost one along the way.

He skimmed his fingers down her bare arm, feeling her shiver against him as he eased the small, customized pistol she held from her warm fingers. He looked at it. “Cute.”

He heard her swallow. “Effective.”

He chuckled quietly, keeping in mind that the other thief they were watching thought he was alone on the second floor. “Only if you draw a bead on your opponent before he draws one on you.”

“Mmm. Yes, that does help.”

Was it possible she’d sensed his identity straight off? Or was it the sound of his voice that had given him away? Either way, he was pretty sure she knew who he was.

He also noticed that she was regaining her composure with each second that passed. He slid the palm-size gun into his tux jacket. She wriggled to free herself from the grasp of his other hand.

“Shh.” He tightened his hold on her hip, then pressed his mouth against her ear. “Hold still or we’ll miss the show.”

Alex watched over her shoulder as the thief entered the third guest bedroom and closed the door after himself.

For long moments he stood still, listening to Nicole’s uneven breathing, taking in her unique scent, and wondering where in the hell she’d gotten the blond wig. It had taken him a full minute to realize that it was her after her transformation. She’d disappeared into a restaurant bathroom then emerged a short time later looking like she did now, her usual attire presumably tucked into her black tote. A tote she’d cleverly hidden in the bushes of a neighboring house before joining the Theisman party.

“The show appears to be over,” she murmured.

Alex slowly blinked, realizing he had yet to release her. And that she had yet to make another move to free herself. “Depends on which show you’re referring to.”

He glanced down at the pale expanse of shoulder left bare by her black dress. The moonlight streaming in through the window kissed her skin, making it glow dimly while the rest was cloaked in shadow.

“How long do you give him?” he asked, drawing the back of his index finger up her arm. She didn’t shiver this time, but she did shift, moving until her hot little bottom pressed more insistently against the front of his slacks. He sensed the move was far from accidental.

“If he’s good, five minutes.”

“And if he’s not?”

“Enough time to hang himself.”

Alex grinned. “Of course it helps when the lady of the manor gives you the combination to the safe.”

Nicole stepped away then faced him, staring at him in the dark.

“Ah, didn’t figure that one out, huh?” Alex tried to ignore the way his body missed her heat. “I caught our friend having a little chat with the very young Mrs. Theisman out back.”

“Maybe she was complaining about the paté.”

He dropped his gaze to the vee of her bodice, then down farther to where the hem hugged her legs. With those gorgeous gams he wondered why she always hid them under all that black leather. “If she was, then she was giving him a mouth-to-mouth taste of it.”

“Hmm. Interesting.”

“No. Predictable.”

“I didn’t see it.”

“Now that is interesting,” he commented.

Nicole seemed to consider the shoes she still held in one hand.

“So when were you planning on snatching the loot?”

He caught a glimmer of humor in her eyes. “Snatch the loot?”

“Grab the goods. Steal the stash. Rob the robber?”

She tucked a strand of the platinum-blond wig behind her ear. “New York. Queens. Robbery/homicide.”

He grimaced as she stepped a short way away.

“Excuse me?” he asked.

She held his gaze. “That’s where you’re from, right? Queens?”

Oh, she was good. Almost too good. And downright dangerous. As well as provocatively sexy, which made her even more dangerous. He’d do well to remember that.

She twisted her lips. “What I can’t get is what you’re doing here.”

Alex crossed his arms, as much to keep from touching her as in a defensive maneuver. “Astoria. Insurance investigator.”

“Mmm. Maybe now. But you used to be a cop, right?”

“Detective.”

“That’s what I thought.” She turned back toward the door to look out the crack. “And Astoria is Queens.”

Alex’s gaze dropped to her pert bottom and the way it jutted out just slightly as she inclined to look into the hall. He stifled a groan. A stubbornly clever woman with a killer body. He felt the weight of the pistol in his pocket. She was also a felon that he should be arresting.

“Are you here to guard the Theismans’ insured property?” she asked in that husky whisper that felt like the caress of a woman’s fingers.

“No, I’m watching you.”

She turned from the door again to look at him.

He couldn’t resist a grin. “Surprised you.”

“Yes…you could say that.”

“I just did.”

He caught her smile before she reached down and began putting her shoes back on one by one.

“Where are you going?”

“Leaving.”

“Going to position yourself to ambush the thief?”

She gently shook her head. “No, I think I’ll call this one a bust and go home.”

“Not because of me, I hope.”

She smiled.

“And here I thought you’d stick around at least long enough to find out what I’m really doing here.”

A creak of a door.

They both swung to watch the thief exit the guest room across the hall. He clutched a black velvet bag in his hand. But rather than making a run for it, his attention was on another door. Namely the one Alex and Nicole stood behind.

Alex eyed the woman standing in front of him. He hadn’t known how much he had been hoping for just such an opportunity until he hauled one very wily, supremely sexy Nicole Bennett into his arms. She stared up at him in naked shock. Then he slowly lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her, absently thinking that she tasted like cinnamon candy, too.

3

SO…TALL. SO…HARD. SO…HOT.

And far too slow.

Nicole kept her eyelids cracked open, watching Alex’s finely honed features as he launched a mock attack on her mouth. Only there was nothing mock about her instant reaction to it. She heard the door creak farther open behind her, but immediately forgot about it as Alex moved his hand up the outside of her leg then slid his fingertips under the hem of her skirt. She dipped her tongue into his mouth just as he found out that she had absolutely nothing on underneath the classy shift. She drank in his expression of first shock, then pure wicked pleasure. Ah. Just her type. The kind of guy capable of compensating for any surprise thrown his way. That assessment was quickly confirmed when he traced the line of her clean-shaven pubis.

Nicole’s knees buckled at the rush of instant and overpowering heat caused by his intimate touch. All the while, his mouth continued to slowly explore hers.

Too slowly.

Deciding to ratchet things up a notch, she tunneled her fingers wildly through his hair then pushed her mouth almost painfully against his, swirling her tongue against his teeth like a starving woman. She was rewarded with a small groan…and the feel of his hand circling around to her bare bottom where he clutched her roughly to his growing hardness.

Mmm. The long, thick ridge she felt under his trousers felt…promising. She wiggled her hips to get a better sense, then smiled as she recklessly kissed him. Very promising, indeed.

Things escalated very quickly. One moment Nicole was trying to speed things up, the next she was dizzy from the quick pace. She forgot about the house, the jewels, the thief that could still be watching them. She tunneled her fingers into the front of Alex’s slacks, desperately needing to touch the silken length of him. The only thing she knew was the accumulating need to go as far as she dared with this man—a man with the power to put her behind bars, yet who set her on fire with a simple, well-placed touch.

Alex caught her fingers just as she touched his hard heat, then broke free from their spiraling kiss.

“I…think he’s gone,” he said raggedly, his breathing irregular, his hair gorgeously tousled from where she’d restlessly played with and tugged on it.

“Who?” she whispered, blinking as her gaze traveled from his hair to his eyes then his decidedly decadent mouth.

“Who, indeed,” he said, his eyes darkening.

Nicole gasped when he shoved her against the opposite wall, then followed, sandwiching her between the wall and his heat. A picture frame tipped back and forth and a chair toppled over as Alex kicked it out of the way, then sweet heaven descended as he picked her up and wrapped her legs around his hips, pressing his hard arousal against her soft, exposed flesh.

Nicole had always gotten a rush out of stealing. And she couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t love sex. But when the two of them crashed together, it nearly sent her plummeting right over the edge. She couldn’t seem to get enough of Alex fast enough. She pulled at his tie, shoved his suit coat down over his arms, then dove for his belt buckle and the zipper beyond. She heard the ripping of material. Namely that of the strap of her dress where Alex was trying to gain access to her breasts. She smiled at him through their kiss.

“Sorry,” he rasped.

Nicole ripped open his shirt, sending buttons ricocheting around the room. “Not a problem.”

She took in the wide, hard planes of his chest. No donut-induced middle about this ex-cop. He was a pure, undiluted hottie with a chest that could make a grown woman cry. She pressed her palms flat against his nipples, then dragged her fingers down over his taut, rippled flesh. Damn. She hadn’t seen a guy this hot since she’d dated the captain of the football team back in high school. Maybe she’d been going after the wrong guys. Maybe the jocks were where it was at.

She gave a soft laugh at the twisted thought even as she wriggled her hips to get the room she needed to free his erection. She finally held his long, hard length in her fingers. Impressive. Very impressive, indeed. She’d heard of extralarge condoms being available, but had never actually had the cause to buy one.

Speaking of condoms…

Alex fastened his mouth over her right breast, chasing the air from her lungs and causing her to throw her head back against the wall and groan. God, but he had a great mouth. Tiny tendrils of fire licked along her nerve endings, ending in a throbbing pool of molten electricity right between her thighs.

“Rubber,” she said breathlessly. “Give me a rubber.”

Alex froze.

Just froze.

His mouth still rested against her breast.

His erection still pulsed against her too hot flesh.

But he wasn’t moving anymore.

And Nicole didn’t want to know the reason why.

He finally pulled back enough to look into her face. She didn’t have to ask. The answer was right there in his tortured expression.

Nicole felt the tremendous urge to hit him.