wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
Holly flushed and looked down at her muffin but a little smile lifted the corner of her full mouth.
'I knew it.' Emily crowed. 'Of course, he'd been watching you for awhile, so I really wasn't surprised when he came in here this morning looking like he'd just been rode hard and put away wet.' She patted Holly's arm and took a corner off her muffin. 'I knew you had it in you. So happy for you. He's a really sweet guy. Big tipper, but then you probably already know that.' Emily winked and snorted at her own little double entendre.
Holly didn't laugh, she went a bit pale. 'What? Watching me? Here?'
'Yeah. He's a regular. Most afternoons around 3 or 4 he'll show up and sit in the back. I kind of thought he was waiting for something, the way he watched the door. Then I noticed that you usually show up around the same time, looking for your muffin fix.' She pointed at the maple nut confection. 'He used to come in with his partner late at night, but not lately. Too bad. He really filled out that uniform. Man, I love cops. You are so lucky.'
Suddenly, Holly was grinning from ear to ear. She stood up and planted an unexpected smacking kiss on Emily's cheek. 'Oh. You have no idea how lucky I am.' She drew a twenty dollar bill out of her wallet and placed it on the table next to the muffin, not even waiting for change as she began backing away from the table towards the door. 'I have to go make a phone call. Thanks for everything, Em. Enjoy your concert tonight, okay?'
Shaking her head in puzzlement, Emily watched her friend practically run out of the coffee shop. Now, what was that all about? she thought to herself. Of course, if she had a stud-muffin like Constable Delgado burning up her sheets, she wouldn't be wasting time hanging around a coffee shop either.
Two nights later…
Holly slowly made her way down the dim hallway of the unfamiliar apartment. Using the wall to guide her she carefully counted until she was standing in front of the third door on the left. Smoothing her hands down her body, she pulled tight on the belt of the dark trench-coat she was wearing over her completely nude body.
She hesitated befo re reaching for the doorknob. What had seemed brilliant this afternoon seemed downright stupid right now. Especially considering she had no i dea what her dream man's reaction would be when she showed up in his b edroom. What if he was horrified? Or thought she was unhinged? Ju s t because he'd been watching her for months didn't mean he wanted a n ything more from her than one night of mind-blowing sex. And perhaps t hat was a pity thing. Or possibly a guilt thing. He had promised to protect h er. Maybe he thought providing orgasms fell under his bodyguard dutie s?
No, that was rid i culous. There was something between them. She knew it. If she was wrong about this then at least she had tried to do something daring and bold for a change. And calling him on the phone had just seemed lame considering they'd already been about as intimate as humanly possible.
Biting her lip, s he pushed on the door and was relieved when it didn't squeak. It sw u ng open smoothly and she carefully stepped into the dark room, trying not to trip in her 5-inch heels. It was even darker inside, but she could make out the shape of a massive bed in the middle of the room. S he could also see that the bed was occupied by a very large, dark for m lying among st the pale sheets.
Approaching the be d, she was just reaching into her pocket for the hand-cuffs she'd bo u ght that afternoon, when a flurry of movement on the bed caught her a t tention. Startled, she started to back away, but it was too late. A dark hand reached out for her and effortlessly pulled her onto the be d.
Once again, she w as lying on her back with a huge, unyielding weight on top of her. This t ime, however, there was a sudden and blinding light from the lamp n e xt to the bed and then she was looking up into the handsome but shocked face of Dante Delgado, stalker, former police officer, and dream m an.
'Holly,' he e xclaimed. 'What the hell are you doing here?' He quickly remove d his bulk from where he was sprawled on top of her and helped her sit u p on the side of the bed. Leaning back against the headboard, he rubbed his eyes and took a good look at her. 'And Christ, w h at are you wearing?' His eyes travelled down to where her trench-co a t had parted to reveal most of her legs.
Holly tugged on th e trench-coat until the sides covered most of her thighs, but her concentration wasn't really on preserving her modesty. She was too busy taking her own visual invent o ry of his incredible body. Boy, had she been stupid to we a r a scarf over her eyes for t heir last meeting. What a waste!
H is body was pure m asculine perfection. The light blue sheet was pooled in his lap but h e was completely naked from the waist up. His smooth olive skin was sl i ghtly tanned, like he'd been working outside recently, and there w as a slight smattering of hair between his defined pectoral muscles. Fro m the broad, sloping shoulders to his sinewy forearms, he looked lik e he'd been crafted from marble. It was all she could do not to reac h out and run her hand down his six-pack and see where his tan ended.
H is body seemed positive l y huge, which is part of the reason she hadn't really believed he w a s her dream man. In his uniform he had looked fit, trim and compact. Without his clothes he looked and felt like Superman or maybe Tarzan judging by the wi ld appearance of his dark hair.
'Surprise,' s he said weakly, pulling the hand-cuffs out of her pocket. This was n ot going as planned. She'd really hoped that he would just jump her and they'd live happily ever after. Instead he looked confused and m ore than a little cautious.
'I don't under s tand. How did you get in here?'
'When I finally f igured out who you were, I called Miss Bright and told her I needed t o see you. She didn't go for it at first, but eventually I convinc e d her, and she called your brother. He was more than happy to help m e out. I told him coming here tonight was part of a practical joke.'
'That doesn ’ t surprise me. He's always more than willing to give me a hard ti m e.'
Oh dear, that di d n't sound very positive. 'Are you upset that I'm here? I'm n ot a crazy stalker or anything. If that's what you're thinking. ”
'That's not wh a t I was thinking at all.' He gave her a h alf smile and touched her hair. 'I'm just a bit overwhelmed. I think I was dreaming about you. A bout the other night in your apartment. An d then you we re here.' He tugged on the belt of her trench-coat. 'Looking like every man's fantasy. What do y ou have on under there anyway?'
She removed the tail of her belt from his hand. 'That's part of the surprise. But you can unwr a p me later. First things first.'
Dante eyed the fuz z y pink shackles doubtfully. 'And what are you planning to do with t h ose?'
'Well,' she s aid, moving closer to him. 'You helped me out a lot the other nig h t, and I thought I'd return the favor. You said you'd like that, remember?' She dangled the cuffs in front of his eyes for a mome n t and then took his closest hand in hers and lifted it until it was pressed aga i nst the headboard. Then she gently wrapped one ring around his powerf u l wrist and clicked it into place.
He grinned, watc h ing her with interest and not a little heat. 'Umm… Holly? Where are you going to attach that? I don't have any bars.'
Holly frowned in d i sappointment. His headboard was a monstrous slab of carved wood cover e d in dark blue suede. Not exactly ideal for the activities she had in mind. 'It doesn't matter, we can just pretend. Just keep your hands here,' she said, reaching across him, she pushed his othe r hand against the headboard. 'And I'll do the rest. Okay?'
He nodded his asse n t with a lopsided grin and shook his hands like they were helplessly sh a ckled to the headboard.
Holly tried to rem a in appropriately serious, but it was a losing battle. He looked a b i t ridiculous with one fuzzy, pink cuff dangling from his thick wrist. Only he could simultaneously look both silly and absolutely sexy as hel l. There was something so erotic about seeing him powerless like this. Now that she had decided to embrace her sexuality she could admit that s he liked having him at her mercy. Even if it was under false preten c e s.
Unsure where to be g in, Holly touched his cheek, gently tracing the long scar along his cheekbone. 'Does this hurt?' She asked.
'Not anymore.'
She shook her head and leaned forward to press her lips against the wound. 'Did you get this w hen you went after that man? The suspect?'
He closed his eyes for a moment. 'You know about that then?'
She nodded.
He sighed. 'I r ealize this makes me look like a violent asshole. But I want you to k n ow that I've never hit a woman. Would never do that. Ever. I' m not like that.' His dark eyes burne d with intensity as he looked do wn at
