Chapter One

It had taken four months, calling in every favor ever owed
her, a case of expensive Scotch and a date with a
disgustingly slimy private investigator who had made the
mistake of thinking “date” meant “sex”. A knee to the groin
had cured him of that belief. In the end, Dana Birch had
gotten her man.

Now, as she rode the elevator up to Garth Duncan’s penthouse
condo, she smiled at the paperwork in her hand. Paperwork
that demanded he come talk to the good people at the Dallas
Police Department. Paperwork that said Garth was going to
have a very bad day. She, on the other hand, couldn’t be
happier.

“Rat bastard, weasel dog,” she murmured as she stepped off
the elevator and headed to his front door. “You thought you
were so smart. You thought you could do whatever you wanted
and get away with it. You thought you could hurt my
friends.”

If life were perfect, he would resist accompanying her and
she could threaten him with her gun. Maybe even accidentally
shoot him. If only he were the type of guy to cower in the
face of authority, not to mention consequences. In her
fantasies, he would tremble and beg. While it wasn’t as good
as watching him bleed, it would be a close second.
Unfortunately Garth was more the type to have a $1000 an
hour attorney who lived to sue police departments. Not that
his high-powered attorney would be much help today.

“You are so mine, Garth,” she said, then knocked.

In the minute or so it took him to answer, she savored the
victory. She’d worked hard to nail Garth and it had been
worth every long hour of digging, following up clues and
waiting for a lucky break. It was his own fault, she thought
cheerfully. He’d messed with people she cared about. No one
did that without having to face her.

The front door opened. She smiled as she saw Garth was
half-concealed behind the door. Maybe he was afraid, she
thought with a flicker of contempt.

She held out the papers. “Good morning. We’re going to take
a little ride downtown.”

“Are we?” he asked as he opened the door wider, so she could
see all of him. “Am I allowed to get dressed first?”

An unexpected twist, Dana thought grimly as she took in the
towel draped around his neck, covering his chest, and the
one around his waist. He was dripping, obviously just out of
the shower. His dark hair stood in little spikes, his
expression was far more amused than worried.

“At least you know I’m not armed,” he said, his voice thick
with humor.

“I wouldn’t be afraid if you were.”

“That’s because you don’t know what I’m capable of, Deputy
Birch. So which is it? Are you prepared to parade me naked
through the streets of Dallas or will I be putting on
clothes?”

He sounded confident, as if he knew she wouldn’t take him in
a towel, which was true. Damn him. She liked situations
where she was in charge.

“You can get dressed,” she said grudgingly. “I’ll need to be
in the room, though, to make sure you don’t try to escape.”

He actually gave her a little wink. “Of course you will.
That’s as good an excuse as any.”

Irritation coursed through her. Instinctively she rested her
right hand on her sidearm. “You wish,” she snapped. “Let me
assure you I have no interested in seeing your bony
backside. Or any other part of you.”

One corner of his mouth turned up. “You can watch, Dana. I
don’t mind.”

He was playing with her, trying to mess with her mind. She
focused on the reason she was here.

“Joke all you want,” she told him. “You’re going to jail.”

“If only wishing made it so.”

“You’re not getting out of this,” she snapped. “I have the
proof I need.”

“No, you don’t.” His voice was low and deceptively soft. “If
you had what you needed, you’d be arresting me, not bringing
me in for questioning. Admit it, Dana. You’re not even close
to charging me with anything. This is a fishing expedition.”

While she knew in her head that reacting with violence only
weakened her position and proved he was right, she really,
really wanted to hit him.

“I’m officially bored,” she said, dropping her arm to her
side. “Let’s get this over with.”

“The part where you watch me naked?”

She stepped into his condo and rolled her eyes. “Yeah.
Lucky, lucky me. Have you been featured ‘Arrogance Monthly’
yet?”

“I’ve been on the cover.”

He shut the door, then led the way through the large
penthouse.

The main room was huge—she was guessing she could fit her
apartment and five others just like it in the space. There
were floor-to-ceiling windows with a view of most of Dallas.
Not that she cared about that sort of thing.

She returned her attention to the man in front of her, then
frowned as sunlight caught his back, illuminating the scars
criss-crossing his skin.

A few of them were thin lines, but most were thick and
raised, as if the skin had been cut over and over again. Her
stomach clenched slightly, not that she allowed her
expression to change.

She knew the basic facts about Garth Duncan. He was
rich—scary rich, with dozens of companies and money flowing
like water. He’d started in the oil business and while down
in South America, no doubt raping and pillaging a pristine
part of the world, he’d been captured and held prisoner by
some angry locals. They’d kept him and a co-worker
blind-folded in the jungle for a month, torturing them both
daily.

Her gaze dropped to his long, muscled legs. She could see
faint scars there, too, but these had come from a surgeon.
Both of Garth’s legs had been broken during his captivity.
His friend had carried him to safety.

If only Garth had died back then, Dana thought, but without
a whole lot of energy. He wouldn’t be hurting her friends.
But he hadn’t died. He’d flourished.

She followed a few steps behind as he entered a massive
bedroom, then continued into a bathroom the size of a
grocery store. That led into one of those fancy closets done
in dark wood. All the clothes—men’s clothes—were perfectly
organized by color. Shoes were lined up on racks.

She leaned against the doorway, never taking her eyes from
him. “Any time.”

His dark gaze locked with hers. He seemed to be enjoying
himself, which pissed her off. But once the investigation
began, his attitude would change. She was bringing him in.
For now, that was enough.

His smile returned. He pulled the towel off his shoulders
and let it fall to the floor. “If you don’t have to be
anywhere in the next couple of hours, we could take
advantage of my lack of clothes.”

“Hours? Oh, please. You’d be lucky to last six minutes. Quit
playing, Garth. I have a full day ahead of me. Despite what
you think, the world doesn’t revolve around you.”

“Yes, Deputy Birch.”

He dropped the towel at his waist.