“I’m Rachel.”

Slowly, he released her, and she was almost disappointed when he did. “So, Rachel the birthday girl, can I buy you a drink?”

She shook her head. “I’ve already had two. That’s my limit. I still have to drive home.”

“How about a dance?”

As if the cosmos knew exactly what Decker had planned, the twangy singer suddenly took a break and the deejay played something slow and sexy—the kind of music that made people want to drop their clothes and get horizontal.

“I’m not much of a dancer,” she demurred.

Because if she pressed up against him and swayed to the music, she might get ideas about taking him for a test drive, at least for the night.

Wasn’t that half the point of coming here?

She’d allowed Shonda and a few of the others to drag her to this dive to not only celebrate her big two-nine, but to see if, maybe, she could find a hot guy to spend the night with. She hadn’t been touched since well before her divorce, and she wanted to be kissed, experience some serious skin-on-skin contact, then cuddle afterward. Decker didn’t necessarily look like he specialized in cuddling, but he seemed more than capable of making her scream. A definite bonus since giving orgasms had never been Owen’s strong suit.

“Good thing for you I am, then. C’mon . . . One little dance won’t hurt. It’s either that or I give you more bad pick-up lines until you agree.”

“You have more?”

“Oh yeah!” He grinned. “Can I have your picture so I can show Santa what I want for Christmas?”

“That’s months away.”

“Good point. I don’t want to wait that long.” He thought for a moment, then grinned again. “Are you a parking ticket? Because you’ve got ‘fine’ written all over you.”

“Oh my—Where do you find this stuff?”

“Thank the great people at Google.”

“You looked that up on purpose?”

“Yep. I’m sure my mom would be super proud.”

She slapped her hand to her forehead. When was the last time she’d laughed this much around a man? Never. Owen possessed zero sense of humor. Decker was totally different—and a welcome change.

Swallowing back her usual caution, Rachel nodded at him. “One dance.”

“Great!” He grabbed her hand and tugged her onto the floor.

As he dragged her past her friends, she turned to see Shonda give her a thumbs-up, her neon pink nail polish glowing in the dim lighting. Beside her, the office aide, Alicia, laughed at something a guy at the next table said. Every man talked to Alicia. Blond and stacked and sweet as the day was long, it was a miracle that she was still single at the ripe age of twenty-four. Rachel was sure that some smart guy would come along soon and rectify that.

“Ah ah, eyes here, birthday girl.” Decker gave a little tug on her arm, and she fell right against him. He settled his arms loosely around her waist, his big hands laying claim to the small of her back. His fingers dipped a little bit lower. His blue eyes flared with wicked heat. “Now I’ve got you where I want you. But I might have a problem.”

She gave him a wary frown. “What’s that?”

“I hope you know CPR because you take my breath away.”

A laugh spilled out before she could stop it. She gave his shoulder a playful hit. “Stop. Tell me something about you, other than your affinity for looking up crazy things on Google. Where are you from? What do you do?”

“I’m from all over. Military brat who eventually went into the military, too. I’ve been out a few years. Then I did some work for Uncle Sam. Now I work for S.I. Industries in security.”

The military fit. Working for the government? She doubted very much he’d pushed pencils for the IRS, but she didn’t pry. Security made sense, too. With his ridiculously bulging shoulders and air of strength, he looked more than capable of being a protector.

“S.I. Industries?” she asked. “Was that Javier and Xander Santiago you were talking to?”

Since moving to Lafayette over the summer, she’d read their names and seen their pictures repeatedly in the local rag. The brothers were only slightly better known for their prestigious, growing company and the jobs it was bringing to the area as they were for the rumors they shared a wife.

“Yes. I’ve worked for Xander for a few years. Until he got married, I did nothing but bail him out of scrapes. Now I devote my spare time to whatever makes mischief.” He winked. “How about you?”

“I’m a school teacher. Fifth grade English.”

Decker gave her a long, slow smile. “I got a whole bunch of naughty teacher fantasies.”

“I’ve got,” she corrected automatically.

“You, too?” He pretended to misunderstand. “Awesome! You know, if you were my homework, I’d be doing you on my desk.”

“You did not just say that,” she scolded.

“I totally did.” He flashed her a grin. “Google really is helpful. I have more.”

“Stop, please.” Rachel laughed. “I’m raising the white flag.”

“Not yet. I have one more you need to hear.” Decker curled his arms more tightly around her.

The breath of air between them disappeared as he fitted her against his body. Rachel gasped. He was hard all over. Her palms slid up his biceps and over his shoulders, both like rocks. His chest was like a hot slab of concrete. The ridges of his abdomen led her to believe there’d be at least a six-pack under there. But lower . . . He bent his knees a fraction and notched his erection against the vulnerable V between her legs. And oh, all that thickness and length couldn’t be him, could it?

“Yes?” she moaned as he rolled his hips against her and hit one really pleasurable spot that . . . wow.

“That’s a nice dress you’re wearing,” he murmured in her ear, then brushed his lips up the side of her neck until she trembled and closed her eyes.

“It’s a skirt and blouse.”

“Whatever. It would look better on the floor next to my bed.”

Rachel’s breath caught. He was propositioning her. Guys like him never found her attractive. They usually liked Alicia. On the one hand, her libido definitely wanted to say yes. She found everything about him made her heart rev. Her common sense might be hesitating, but every cell in her body clamored for her to rub against him and grab whatever pleasure he was willing to give her. But the more cautious part of her just wouldn’t be shushed.

“How do I know you’re not a crazed killer?”

He cocked his head. “You have any Taliban or drug cartel affiliations?”

“Um . . .” Rachel reared back a bit in his arms. “No. I can safely say that I don’t.”

“Then we’ll have no problems. The only thing I want to massacre is your desire to say no.”

Decker might have phrased it like a joke, but he looked dead serious. Was she actually considering this? Was she really thinking of going home with a man she’d met ten minutes ago and opening her body to him?

Well, sunshine, if you want sex with a hot guy, it’s not like Magnolia Elementary school is a hotbed of gorgeous, single men. You’re going to have to step out on a limb.

Ugh, she hated that little devil on her shoulder, always urging her to do something she probably shouldn’t.

Rachel opened her mouth to politely decline when the voice blared in her ear again.

Think about this. Who talked you into marrying the poster child for bedroom boredom, even knowing he was way more versed in physics than pleasure?

The voice had a really good point. Besides, he worked for a good company and had friends who were upstanding financial pillars of the community now. How bad could he be?

She peered up at Decker, curling her arms just a bit tighter around his neck. “Do you know anything about physics?”

He raised a dark brow. “Would that turn you on?”

“No.” Not at all.

“Then you’ll be happy to know I failed eleventh grade science.”

“Thrilled.” She sent him her most dazzling smile.

“Is that a yes?” Decker pulled her closer, his face going straight into the crook of her neck, his whiskers awakening her skin with gentle abrasion.

How would it feel if he dragged his face up her body? Between her thighs? He drew his lips to the soft skin of her ear. Rachel caught her breath.

He nipped, tugged on her sensitive lobe. “Please say that’s a yes. You’re so fucking beautiful, you made me forget my next pick-up line.”

She shivered at the rough whisper in her ear. The musky scent of his male flesh surrounded her completely. Hard, demanding, unyielding . . . he made her blood rush and parts of her surprisingly damp. What if she said yes?

“I want to be in charge,” she breathed out, then nodded, finding her voice again. “Of everything. I want to say where and when and how.”

He pulled back enough to cup her face. Surprise glowed in his deep blue eyes. “Is that how you usually roll, beautiful?”

With a nervous shake of her head, she forced herself to meet his gaze head on—and not think about the fact that his lips hovered just above her own. “No. But I need that now. I want to tell you what I want.”

A grin creased his face, and he relaxed. “You should always be able to tell a man what you want. If his little ego is offended, he doesn’t have much of one in the first place. And I can guarantee you, his mind isn’t the only thing about him that’s small.”

Rachel laughed, but he wasn’t wrong. Every suggestion she’d ever made in the bedroom, no matter how gentle, Owen had taken as criticism. He’d always gotten stiff—and she didn’t mean his, um . . . member, which hadn’t been at all big.

“I don’t want any surprises. I don’t want to feel out of control.” She’d spent so much time turning herself inside out, trying to please Owen, only to constantly fall short. She’d never known when she was going to encounter a bad mood, the cold shoulder, or a completely unsatisfying quickie. He hadn’t seemed to care how any of that made her feel, and she refused to repeat that experience.

“All right. If that’s the way you want it, I’m game. You lead the way, and I’ll follow.”

She sighed with relief. “My place. Now.”

Even saying the words made a little shiver curl up her spine. His answering grin suggested lots of screaming fun in her future. What could go wrong?

• • •

DECKER HAD TO work to hold in his surprise. If she enjoyed being in charge in the bedroom, he’d change his name to Bugs Bunny. But he’d deal with that when they hit the sheets. As soon as he’d absolved her of the notion that she had an ounce of Dominant blood in her veins, he’d send her into an orgasm-induced stupor. Then he’d get to work. But he didn’t think he could focus on business for long before he took care of pleasure because her curves were killing his concentration.

His first order of business, unrelated to partaking of her sweetness he couldn’t wait to corrupt, would be to take a quick trek through her e-mails, Facebook, and texts. He’d look for anything that might give him some clue about who would want her dead and why, see how they fit with the asshole who’d sat next to him at the bar earlier today. Frankly, his money was on the ex-husband. Nothing like divorce to make someone want a fatal bullet full of revenge. No idea what Rachel had done to “deserve” it, and he didn’t care. He wasn’t letting the scumbag who’d solicited him to commit murder succeed.

He grinned at her. “Your place, huh? Let’s go.”

“I’ve got to grab my purse.” She turned away and took his hand, leading him back to her table. “I must be out of my mind.” He heard her mutter to herself.

Nice to know that she didn’t make a habit of picking up guys in bars, but it didn’t matter. He had a stash of condoms and a mission to accomplish. Rachel’s personal life otherwise was none of his business.

As they reached the table, he noticed that most of her party had left in the past few minutes. Or hooked up with others and dispersed. But the tall woman with the chocolate skin was staring at her phone with wide eyes.

“I’ve got to go!” She grabbed her coat and looked at Rachel anxiously. “My little brother has been in a car accident. The ambulance is rushing him to the hospital.”

Shock hit Rachel’s face. “Go!”

“Alicia . . .”

“I’ll take her home.”

The woman’s dark eyes slid over Rachel holding his hand. “You’re busy . . .”

“You’re having an emergency. I can pause for ten minutes to take Alicia home. Go!”

The statuesque woman nodded, then hugged Rachel. “Thanks.”

“Do you need me at the hospital?”

The woman hesitated, but looked like she wanted to say yes. “I’ll call you.”