"Hey there, beautiful."

She glanced over her shoulder at the stranger sidling up behind her on the next barstool. Unusually handsome, he had a nice smile but bad timing. Keeping her focus on her objective-the man she practically stalked everywhere in the city, she ignored the guy.

"Are you here alone?" he asked.

Jenova took a deep breath. It wasn't easy being a spy for the government. The level of complexity to close this particular case was especially difficult. Details too obscure and a man hard to trail. Having to deal with a man hitting on her was too much.

"Yes, and it's by choice," she growled.

She resisted the urge to swing around and knock him off his seat when he touched her.

"That's a lonely preference." His finger slithered downward, following the path of her spine.

Jenova shivered involuntarily.

"Exactly." She kept her attention on the man across the room. The government bureau she worked for assigned Enrique Damri to her as a suspect in white slavery linked to the modeling industry. She didn't believe it possible until she studied the file on the missing women last seen by Damri's Modeling Agency.

"I can change that," the sultry masculine voice announced.

Jenova spun to face the man pestering her. "I'd like to be alone. Now would you mind going away?"

She couldn't blow her cover as a photographer. The job had been tricky to secure. As an amateur picture taker, she didn't have any verifiable credentials. However, what the Bureau made up, worked.

"No one likes to be alone."

"Is that so?" She stared into his hypnotizing brown eyes, finding it hard to look away.

"Name's Derex. What's yours?" Somehow, his fingers managed to stay connected to her-along her side where he stroked lightly, almost tickling her into laughing.

"None of your business." She forced herself to look back at Damri.

He was on the move.

"Come on, sweetness."

"Go away." She leaned to the side to see past him.

The slow glide of his touch left a warm tingling path up her arm. She reached to push him away, to stop the exciting sensation from distracting her from her job. Instead, she slipped her hand behind his head, grasped a fistful of his soft, dark hair, and pulled him forward.

Damri had been eyeing her since she came into the club. Derex gave her the perfect reason for being alone up until that point. Damri would have to view her as just someone who had been waiting for her date if she gave him a good show to believe that theory. Pressing her mouth to Derex's made a perfect arrangement for the circumstances.

She kept her gaze aimed over Derex's shoulder, toward her objective. Damri finally sat, showing interest in another woman sitting alone. Jenova relaxed and let her concentration stray to the man taking command of her mouth.

Derex deepened the kiss and she melted into the heat of his lips stirring over hers. His tongue probed for entry, thrusting against her resolve to stop. Instinct demanded she back out of the arms surrounding her. She tried pushing at his shoulder, but he held tighter with his passion more than his strength. And what lovely power he governed in those thick biceps. Taut muscles that didn't show beneath his sleeves, flexed and rolled along her outer arms as he continued claiming her. His lips lay siege, persuading her to focus on a monetary foray into her fantasy world.

Jenova went willingly.

She envisioned Derex's succulent lips quivering over her nether region, probing her ache and pulling at her throbbing center. Between the nibbling and tongue flicking over her lips, he displayed the skills needed to give her a glorious orgasm.

His moan broke her out of the delusion and she made an effort to gasp for air and regain strength to break free. She pushed against his sides and took one deep breath to chase away the light-headedness she experienced. His diligence overpowered her feeble attempt, and she lost the battle. Dreaming of a man wasn't quite like having one, rock hard and willing within her clutches. She clung to him, letting him whisk her mind and body into paradise.

His tongue plunged inside her mouth and circled hers. Like his traveling hands, the caressing moves sparked tingling sensations that ran amok through her. She wanted to forget work and enjoy it. Unfortunately, her glimpse at Damri showed her he was walking out the door of the nightclub.

"I think that was enough of an introduction, don't you?" She shoved Derex back and hopped off the stool.

"Brief, but I suppose it'll suffice…for now." He followed her.

Jenova crossed the room and pulled the exit door open. She peered outside, searching for Damri or a hint of the man who had tailed her to the club.

No one.

"Damn," she grumbled.

"What's wrong?" Derex remained a fixture behind her.

"I'm late." She increased her pace, and then spotted Damri across the street.

"Then I'll give you a lift."

Damri stared in her direction. She needed to appear occupied. Derex became her handy prop again and she seized the front of his crisp linen shirt. The barstool had placed her at eye level with him and she discovered he towered over her more than she had suspected.

"Kiss me," she instructed.

A quirky, triumphant smile turned the corners of Derex's mouth upward. She thought he might question her indecisive ways and met with an almost too eager compliance.

His warm hand cupped the side of her face and his other arm circled her back. Gentle with his guidance, he pulled her mouth to his. He saw to fitting every part of her against his firm torso. Once she was close, he brushed her lips lightly.

"How's that?" He lifted his head.

"You did better in the club," she mumbled the complaint.