In Hot Pursuit by Joanne Rock Page A

finger down her shoulder to her elbow “—tangled in your sheets until dawn.”
    Lexi didn’t know when her eyes had drifted shut, but she found herself fantasizing about that simple touch winding its way down her belly, or maybe her thighs.
    The imagined caress turned into a very real one as Josh brought his fingertip to rest in the middle of her cheek. He skimmed it along her jaw and down her neck. Slowly.
    â€œSo, what do you say?”
    She pried open her eyelids, needing to look at him when she made this decision. If she kept her eyes closed, she would agree to anything. Everything.
    â€œI don’t know.” Her voice was breathy, hungry. “It seems a little…”
    â€œRisky?”
    Yes. But not in the way he thought. Lexi trusted this dangerous-looking police detective to protect her tonight. What she didn’t trust was her ability to forget about him in the morning. And becoming attached to this man was a definite risk.
    Still, Lexi didn’t want to spend another night sleeping with Muffin, as much as she adored her miniature poodle.
    She couldn’t let this perfect opportunity slip away, not when she wanted it so badly.
    â€œWe’ve already established that I don’t have a problem with taking risks.”
    Josh nodded slowly, thoughtfully. “Yes, but we’ve also established you can play it safe and conservative when the situation calls for it.”
    Damn it, how could a night with this guy ever be impersonal? He already knew more about her than a city full of her devoted readers.
    She pointed one finger into the muscular wall of his chest, needing to take charge of this situation before it got out of control.
    â€œWell, this is not one of those times, hot stuff.”
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    J OSH COULD TELL by the wicked gleam in Lexi’s eyes that the dynamo he’d met at the bar was back to play.
    â€œYou’re ready to take a risk, then?” His sense of fairness wanted her to spell it out for him. Despite the dangerous reputation he’d gained in his years on the police force, he wasn’t the kind of guy who couldburn up the sheets with a stranger without knowing the stranger in question was one hundred percent into the game.
    â€œThe bedroom is that way, tiger.” She gripped his tie in her fist and backed him up a step.
    Green lights flashed in front of his eyes.
    â€œWith pleasure.” He allowed her to back him right into a closed door.
    He reached for the knob to let them in, but Lexi was too close, too hot, too fierce.
    â€œWith pleasure…is that a promise?” She plastered herself against him—thighs, hips, breasts—and snaked her arms around his shoulders.
    She smelled like a hothouse—feminine and exotic, but she was no delicate flower. Despite her petite size, Lexi possessed surprising strength. Her slender muscles were toned and defined, as if she’d logged more than a few hours at the gym. And she held him against the door with the force of a rookie cop with something to prove.
    â€œLady, I’d make it a blood oath if you want me to.” He shifted his weight underneath her, situating one thigh between hers.
    Her thighs hugged him, invited him to dare even more.
    She shook her head, dislodging a few more long locks of hair. “I believe you.”
    He lifted his fingers to the mass of black hair and tunneled through the soft strands in a mad search for pins. He found a single smooth stick piercing the center of the knot and pulled it free.
    A riot of silky black waves tumbled down to hershoulders and spilled over her back and breasts, down to her waist. The scent of her shampoo wafted through the air.
    â€œWow.” He wanted to wrap himself in that hair, wrap her in that hair. Run his fingers over every last glossy curl.
    She blew a stray strand out of one eye, pursing her lips in a pucker that nearly sent him over the edge.
    â€œIt’s a little outdated, but I hate getting it