LEVELED THE GUN and aimed at his target, the black silhouette of a human body hanging about one hundred feet in front of him. The weight of the .45 was reassuring in his hand. This was his favorite gun, and he tried to get to the range to shoot at least once a week, keeping his skills honed.
While some manufacturers were advocating virtual shooting ranges now, EJ liked to know he could handle the real thing, and smiled when he pulled the trigger, feeling the kick against his palms. The shot was a little off, but not bad. He tried again, relishing the power and the control that target shooting offered him. Like sex, shooting a gun wasn’t something he ever wanted to do virtually. He preferred the real thing.
Bracing his legs, straightening his back, he started to pull the trigger when the tiny alarm from his PDA went off, reminding him that he had to get ready for his date.
A flash of Charlotte’s features, the memory of the soft texture of her hair in his hand distracted him, making his next shot even farther off the mark.
Unacceptable. And definitely not healthy in his line of work.
But as his traitorous thoughts brought him back to the kiss, he set the gun down on the shelf in front of him, shaking his head and taking a moment to regroup. He’d been pushing the thoughts aside all day, refusing to accept what had happened as more than part of the job, setting up the sting to catch Charlotte Gerard in the act, but his gut was telling him an entirely different story.
Or was it just rampant lust? Normally he would trust his instincts. He knew their evidence suggested that Charlotte was the guilty party, but his instincts were compelling him to think more about kissing her again than arresting her. Though snapping handcuffs around those delicate wrists presented some definite possibilities….
Blood traveled straight to his groin at the thought, and he took a deep breath, looking from side to side, making sure he was alone. It was embarrassing, how much he wanted her. Anyone would think he hadn’t been laid in a while, which wasn’t the problem at all.But Charlotte had packed a punch to his libido, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it.
She was a stranger—a prime suspect—and it had been all he could do not to peel away that cute little sundress and ravish every inch of her curvy flesh. He’d done some deeper digging after she left, hoping to find something that would condemn her and cool his lust, but there was nothing.
He wanted to see where she lived. How she lived. That was the next priority. If she liked furniture she couldn’t afford, or if he found anything that would give him a sense of her having more money than she should, he would get his answers.
He rarely went to the Isle. It was just too uptight for his usual tastes. But Charlotte had seemed thrilled. She obviously had a yen for the finer things. But she’d been reluctant to let him come pick her up. It didn’t add up—what was she hiding?
She wouldn’t have the same success when it came to taking her home. Not only would the detective in him not be thwarted, but the gentleman in him would not accept leaving a woman at her doorstep alone late at night. And, if he was blunt, the man in him wanted to taste her again. For all the women he’d seen over the last few years, he couldn’t recall such sharp anticipation of kissing his date good-night.
His thoughts whirled in confusion. He reminded himself she wasn’t a date; she wasn’t a potential lover. She was, potentially, a criminal. He had to remember that; he had no idea what lay beneath the surface of these thefts, and losing sight of that could cost him his life. Computer crime was usually fought on both fronts—behind a screen and behind a gun. He had to be prepared for that, no matter how much his dick insisted otherwise when it came to Charlotte.
With that sobering thought, he picked up his gun again, clearing his mind and taking a breath before snapping off five more shots in a
While some manufacturers were advocating virtual shooting ranges now, EJ liked to know he could handle the real thing, and smiled when he pulled the trigger, feeling the kick against his palms. The shot was a little off, but not bad. He tried again, relishing the power and the control that target shooting offered him. Like sex, shooting a gun wasn’t something he ever wanted to do virtually. He preferred the real thing.
Bracing his legs, straightening his back, he started to pull the trigger when the tiny alarm from his PDA went off, reminding him that he had to get ready for his date.
A flash of Charlotte’s features, the memory of the soft texture of her hair in his hand distracted him, making his next shot even farther off the mark.
Unacceptable. And definitely not healthy in his line of work.
But as his traitorous thoughts brought him back to the kiss, he set the gun down on the shelf in front of him, shaking his head and taking a moment to regroup. He’d been pushing the thoughts aside all day, refusing to accept what had happened as more than part of the job, setting up the sting to catch Charlotte Gerard in the act, but his gut was telling him an entirely different story.
Or was it just rampant lust? Normally he would trust his instincts. He knew their evidence suggested that Charlotte was the guilty party, but his instincts were compelling him to think more about kissing her again than arresting her. Though snapping handcuffs around those delicate wrists presented some definite possibilities….
Blood traveled straight to his groin at the thought, and he took a deep breath, looking from side to side, making sure he was alone. It was embarrassing, how much he wanted her. Anyone would think he hadn’t been laid in a while, which wasn’t the problem at all.But Charlotte had packed a punch to his libido, and he wasn’t sure what to do about it.
She was a stranger—a prime suspect—and it had been all he could do not to peel away that cute little sundress and ravish every inch of her curvy flesh. He’d done some deeper digging after she left, hoping to find something that would condemn her and cool his lust, but there was nothing.
He wanted to see where she lived. How she lived. That was the next priority. If she liked furniture she couldn’t afford, or if he found anything that would give him a sense of her having more money than she should, he would get his answers.
He rarely went to the Isle. It was just too uptight for his usual tastes. But Charlotte had seemed thrilled. She obviously had a yen for the finer things. But she’d been reluctant to let him come pick her up. It didn’t add up—what was she hiding?
She wouldn’t have the same success when it came to taking her home. Not only would the detective in him not be thwarted, but the gentleman in him would not accept leaving a woman at her doorstep alone late at night. And, if he was blunt, the man in him wanted to taste her again. For all the women he’d seen over the last few years, he couldn’t recall such sharp anticipation of kissing his date good-night.
His thoughts whirled in confusion. He reminded himself she wasn’t a date; she wasn’t a potential lover. She was, potentially, a criminal. He had to remember that; he had no idea what lay beneath the surface of these thefts, and losing sight of that could cost him his life. Computer crime was usually fought on both fronts—behind a screen and behind a gun. He had to be prepared for that, no matter how much his dick insisted otherwise when it came to Charlotte.
With that sobering thought, he picked up his gun again, clearing his mind and taking a breath before snapping off five more shots in a
Similar Books
