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loosened, expanded, and desire took over. When she draped her arms around his neck, the last of her inhibitions slipped away. Amy leaned forward and kissed him, just a soft melding of lips. It was against the rules to kiss a client during a lap dance and yet she did it again, another soft brush of lips that only made her want more.
Every muscle in his body felt rigid beneath her and yet the only thing that moved was the hot mouth gliding over hers, the lips that began to take instead of leisurely accept. She opened her mouth and his tongue slid inside, and the next thing she knew, his arms were around her, crushing her against him, the kiss blazing hot, deep and erotic.
His hand found her breast and the heat of his palm engulfed the fullness. She couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. A little whimpering sound came from her throat, and in some deep part of her mind, sanity began to return. Johnnie kissed her again, long and hard, and fear hit her. God in heaven, what was she doing?
Trembling all over, Amy broke the kiss. Her heart was pounding with a combination of desire and embarrassment. She had never behaved so insanely. And she had never wanted anything more than Johnnie Riggs.
For an instant their eyes locked, his hot and dark, hers wild and frightened. Then the oddest thing happened. Johnnie came out of the chair with her still in his arms and set her back on her feet.
At the same instant, the music ended, the silence in the room a second splash of cold water hitting her squarely in the face.
“Oh, my God,” she said, backing away from him. “Oh, my God.” She turned, started to run for the door. Johnnie caught her wrist, turning her toward him before she could escape.
“Easy, honey. Just take it easy.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t…I don’t know what happened.”
“It’s all right,” he soothed as if she were a frightened child. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
“I’m sorry,” she said again because she had broken the rules and she didn’t understand how it had happened. He led her back over to the chair he had been sitting in only moments before and urged her down in the seat.
“We need to talk,” he said, “but this isn’t the place. What time do you get off work?”
She started shaking her head.
“Listen to me, Angel. We’ll go out and have some coffee. I promise we won’t do more than talk, all right?”
Her nerves settled a little. This is the opportunity you’ve been wanting, she reminded herself. The chance to tell him about her sister and see if he would be willing to work out some sort of arrangement to help her. “I have to go back to work,” she said lamely.
“When does your shift end?”
“I’m…I’m on the early shift tonight. I get off at eleven.”
He nodded. “Good. That’s good. I’ll be waiting in the parking lot when you come outside.”
She just stared at him. Johnnie caught her chin and tipped it up, forcing her to look at him. She felt like crying and didn’t know why.
“Just coffee. I give you my word.”
Her throat ached. She had no idea why she believed him, but she did. He was a Ranger, wasn’t he? Surely Rangers didn’t lie. “All right.”
He bent and kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you at eleven.” He didn’t say more, just left her there and quietly slipped outside the room.
Babs hurried in after him. Amy was still sitting in the chair. “Jesus, what happened? You look shell-shocked.”
Amy blinked to keep from crying. “I don’t know what happened. I completely lost control.”
“He didn’t…Riggs didn’t…”
“He was a gentleman. I was the one. I still can’t believe it. God, I’m so embarrassed.”
Babs started to smile. “Sounds like it went exactly the way we planned. When are you seeing him again?”
Amy glanced up. “What?”
“You’re seeing him again, right?”
Amy nodded numbly. “Tonight. After my shift. We’re going for coffee. He gave me his word we’d just talk.”
Babs seemed to approve. “Smooth, not too pushy. I think I like this guy.”
“I don’t know what it is, Babs, but there’s something about him.”
Her friend just smiled. “Honey, you can say that again.”
Johnnie slid behind the wheel of the Mustang, tipped his head back against the headrest and just sat there.
“Jesus.” He couldn’t quite catch his breath. He was still so hard he hurt and at the same time he felt completely drained. Watching Angel Fontaine was like waging a war with himself, a war he’d barely won.
He’d almost lost it tonight, but as hot as he’d been and still was, as hot as Angel had been—and man, the lady was on fire—something just wasn’t right. He had to know what it was and he was determined to find out.
He believed she would show up tonight. Angel was even more baffled about what had happened in there than he was. Whoever she was—and he was sure Angel wasn’t her name—she wasn’t used to the kind of desire that had hit them both tonight.
The kind that struck like lightning, turned into a blazing inferno and flat-out sucked you dry. In another minute, he’d have had her on the floor and been inside her. He still didn’t know how he had managed to hang on to that last shred of control.
Maybe it was his Ranger training. Maybe it was seeing the fear in her pretty blue eyes when she had realized how close they both were to losing complete control.
He raked a hand through his short, dark hair. He couldn’t figure her out and that was part of the attraction.
Later tonight, he was going to find out what was going on with Angel Fontaine.
Four
At the end of her shift, Amy changed into a pair of skinny jeans, tucked in a red print shirt, fastened a silver belt around her waist and slid her feet into a pair of red, open-toed high heels. At five foot one, she was shorter than nearly everyone. High heels gave her a psychological boost as well as a physical one and she almost always wore them.
She glanced in the mirror. She had washed her face and removed her stage makeup. She ran a brush through her hair and fluffed her bangs, fastened a small gold hoop in each ear, then applied a little blush, mascara and pale pink lipstick. Nothing too heavy. She wasn’t Angel now and she didn’t want to be.
Amy thought of her performance in the private lap dance room and felt a rush of embarrassment. What in the world had possessed her? During her few relationships, she had never been the aggressor during sex and basically preferred it that way. But tonight… Tonight something insane had come over her. She’d felt bold, empowered. She had practically attacked John Riggs right there in his chair.
Closing her eyes to block out the image, she reached for her small red leather purse and slung the strap over her shoulder. She couldn’t imagine what Riggs must think of her or how she could possibly explain. At the apartment door, she paused. Maybe she should wait, talk to him after a cooling-off period. It would certainly be easier to face him.
On the other hand, maybe this was the perfect opportunity. With a sigh, she pulled open the door. The man was taking her out for coffee, nothing more. He had given her his word and she believed him. This was the chance she needed.
Maybe.
She hadn’t thought past the part about trying to hire him. She would just have to play it by ear.
Babs met her as she crossed