by Karen Anders
“That doesn’t sound good. Did you contact the navy about any stolen weapons?”
“I’m working the case.”
He put his hands up in surrender. “Got it. None of my business. So, what does this story have to do with my brother?”
“I went to the spot where the perp said he boosted the gun and I ran a check on a car I found in the area.”
“I still don’t see what this has to do with David.”
“Does your brother own a red 1967 Mustang convertible?”
“Yeah.”
“It was found in the same location as where the perp said the alleged truck was parked.” With a cop’s eyes, she watched A.J.’s reaction. If she expected to see something incriminating cross his face, she was disappointed. His face remained impassive.
“There could be any number of reasons why my brother’s car was parked there.”
She nodded slightly. “Agreed. I told you that I only wanted to question him. Does it alarm you that he’s not home?”
A.J. shifted his stance and rubbed the back of his neck. “No,” he said slowly. “David’s very social and has a lot of friends. He’s been known to spend a weekend or two with them.”
“You have no idea where he could have gone?”
“No, but I’ll contact my parents and see if they know where he is.”
“What were you doing in his apartment?”
“I just got back from a mission and wanted to see if he’d like to get some dinner.”
“What? No hot dates or big reunions on a Friday night?” she asked dryly.
A.J. cocked his hip, slipping one of his big hands into the pocket of his jeans. He peered at her from beneath his thick, dark lashes. “Do I detect a note of sympathy, Detective?”
“Nice try. That pleading, adorable, little-boy look is really good. Do women usually swoon about now?”
He laughed and stepped closer. “Where did you get all that beautiful red hair?”
The abrupt change in the discussion caught her totally off guard. Most men weren’t able to do it. He’d done it twice in less than two hours. Sienna took a deep breath, knowing she should step back, but he smelled so good, and his voice was so seductive. When he reached out and captured one of her locks, she found that she couldn’t quite swallow.
“So, spitfire. Where did you get this red, red hair?” He fingered the lock, the back of his knuckles grazing her cheekbone. His warm touch sent a buzzing sensation through her whole body.
Oh, no. It was rare, extremely rare. But there it was. A.J. Camacho was one of those men. The kind she couldn’t resist. The air crackled, her breathing increased and she was sure her eyes were dilated. He turned her on just by taking up space. “I’ll tell you if you tell me where you got your blue, blue eyes.”
“My mom.”
“Got my hair from the same place.”
“My mom?”
He was cute, too. God help her. This time she was the one to laugh.
He leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Swooning yet?”
She was, but she wouldn’t let him know it. “I’d prefer it if you addressed me as Detective Parker.”
“Well, look at that, I outrank you.”
“Too bad. I’m not in the military, remember?”
“Right.” He stepped back. “So, where are we headed next?”
Sienna looked down at her watch and gasped. “I was supposed to be somewhere ten minutes ago.” Adrenaline shot into her system at the disruption of her well thought out timetable. Late wasn’t in her vocabulary. “I’ve got to go.” She brushed past him, but he grabbed her arm and twisted her around.
He swung her a little too firmly and she came up hard against a very solid chest. For a moment she just blinked up at him. My God, the man was built.
“Whoa, there. You are quite a bundle of energy.” He smiled at her with that bad-boy grin again. “I hate to bring this up, but my car is still at David’s place and I have no ride. Since you’re the one who dragged me over here…”
Sienna stepped away from him and eased her arm out of his grasp. “You’re the one who assaulted an officer and caused me to be late. Take a cab. I’m meeting my friends at Enrique’s. Buckner’s apartment is in the wrong direction.”
He shrugged those impossibly broad shoulders. “Enrique’s is a great club. I can grab a cold one until you’re finished.”
“You’re doing this to irritate me, aren’t you?”
“You really are a detective,” he said, a grin spreading across his face.
“Look, I have to swing by my apartment to change, and I would drop you at David’s now, but that’s across town.” She could barely stand the fact that she was going to be late. She had to minimize where she could.
“These friends sound important to you.”
“They are. We met last year on a case. I never miss my girls’ night out.” She bit her lip and came up with a final decision. “I could drop you by David’s afterward, if that’s okay with you,” she suggested grudgingly.
“Thanks.”
“I have to make a phone call. Wait out by the entrance.”
“Sure.” He walked away and Sienna couldn’t help but notice how nicely the jeans he wore fit to his backside.
As Sienna called Lana Dempsey’s cell phone, she watched with appraising eyes as A. J. Camacho walked down the hall, past the bullpen and its rows of desks. He stopped at the front desk to converse amicably with the sergeant on duty as he waited for Sienna. Lana answered on the second ring, but Sienna couldn’t take her eyes away from A.J. She quickly explained her lateness and told Lana she’d be there shortly.
SEALs were in hideously good shape, Sienna thought as she grabbed her purse from her desk. She’d bet a quarter would bounce off his butt. Sienna’s eyes again strayed to that part of his anatomy, finely displayed as he leaned into the counter.
Sienna consciously unclenched her jaw, feeling a slight headache at her temples.
It wouldn’t be any hardship rolling around on the mattress with him, Sienna thought. As she came up to him, she moved her eyes slowly up his body to the devastating dark intensity of his profile, her stomach flipping over as he smiled at something the desk sergeant said. With that disarming smile still on his face, he looked at her and Sienna sucked in her breath. Her whole body ignited and began to burn—again.
Some people have all the damn luck and she sure as hell wasn’t one of them.
A dangerous man, A. J. Camacho. A deadly combination of looks, brains and courage. A risk if she ever saw one and Sienna wasn’t into risk taking.
Yet, a deep, dark part of her could see herself engaging in a wild, passionate fling with him.
But, that was all.
This type of man was a lethal threat to her sanity and her perfectly structured life.
2
A.J. HAD TO ADMIT that the redhead was fine, with her dark green fiery eyes framed by pretty, sherry eyelashes, a soft, no-nonsense mouth, and a don’t-mess-with-me attitude. He really liked her attitude. His father would have called her a tough broad.
A.J. would call her off-limits, except she looked like the type of woman who wouldn’t care if he did. A woman who was this tough about her professional life would be as tough about her personal life, too. She wouldn’t be looking for a temporary maverick. This kind of woman would be looking for permanence. It was something he sensed. Sienna Parker liked to call the shots and resented being out of the loop or out of control. He didn’t have a problem with strong women.
He liked the way she moved—graceful, intense energy sizzling around her. Her tall, sexy body was curved in all the right places and that smooth cameo face framed by the tousled strands of red hair made him want to do something really stupid.
Even with her tough attitude the lady still looked like a lady. The tailored slacks and jacket in a soft dove gray with tiny purple pinstripes was a far cry from masculine. Nor did she try to hide that she was a woman, for she’d complemented the suit with a soft lilac
blouse and a tiny silver heart around her creamy throat. Her flaming red hair, although tamed and cut shoulder-length was in a sexy style that looked like she belonged on the pages of Vogue. Pretty loops with etched flowers adorned her ears.
The result was a neatness that shouted she was a professional, but still had the one-two punch of blazing sex.
Her personality was evident even now. She drove the speed limit and didn’t run yellow. A cop to the core.
“What does A.J. stand for?” She stayed focused on the road with a single-minded intensity that he liked. Her eyes were always moving, checking out everyone and everything. Just as he said, she was a bundle of energy.
“Alejandro Jesus. My mother had a brother that died fighting for freedom and so she thought that I would be the perfect one to be his namesake.” The light up ahead of them turned yellow and Sienna shifted slightly to apply the brake.
“Why did she think that?” She looked at him, her eyes very dark in the dim interior of the car. The bottom half of her face was illuminated by the light from a street lamp. Her mouth was full, red and looked enticing.
“I was the first child in my family to be born in America. The first one to be born free.” He got a catch in his chest every time he said it out loud. The light turned green and she continued on her way.
“Ah.” The look she gave him was knowing and all assessing.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Explains why you’re in the navy. You want to protect that freedom.”
For some strange reason her instant understanding of who he was made him hunger for more contact with her, reminding him of his loneliness of late. Too many missions and not enough time spent with people, especially women. “Pegged me in one, Sergeant. So what’s your story?”
“What do you mean?”
Her tone was evasive and his honed senses wondered what she might want to conceal. “Why a cop?”
“I like the structure and the discipline.”
“The desk sergeant said you were one of the youngest detectives on the force.”
“I am. Were you checking up on me? Doubting my abilities?”
“I didn’t have to say a word. I think he has a fatherly fondness for you. The guy got his back up.”
Sienna shrugged. “What did you do to get his back up?”
“It might have been the simple question I asked.”
“What was the question?”
“I asked him if you were attached.”
“You did?” She stopped a little too hard at the stop sign. Another traffic rule she took completely at face value. No rolling stops for this woman.
“What did he say?” She turned large green eyes to him.
“He said no and that I shouldn’t get any bright ideas in that area if my intentions weren’t honorable.”
“What did you say?”
“I asked him if he was your father.”
“So, are your intentions honorable?”
His eyes traveled from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. “No.”
“Thanks for the warning.”
“You’re pretty cool under fire.”
“I have the feeling you are, too.”
“Steady as a rock.”
“So nothing can shake you?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“On the circumstances.” She had squared him up pretty good. SEAL training was the toughest around and it had prepared him well for combat. He’d always maintained his cool under fire. A SEAL once told him that some guys get that way. They see everything clearly and know exactly what to do. The guy had called him a born leader.
It didn’t take long after she parked her car in the underground garage to get up the elevator to her apartment. She poured him a glass of iced tea and disappeared into her room. A.J. looked out her window admiring her sweet view of the bay.
He loved the water and, in fact, his nickname during Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training or BUD/S had been Shamu. The water was like another world to him, quiet, shielding and familiar. During his training, he had won the record for holding his breath the longest underwater.
But when he heard Sienna come out of her bedroom and he turned, the fact that he could hold his breath the longest kept him from passing out. She was bending over slightly to slip on a strappy gold sandal. His eyes went up her exquisite body, all five feet seven inches of her. The tight, sleeveless jade green microdress fit her like a second skin, the hem of the dress hitting her at the top of her well-toned, mouthwatering thighs. He wondered about what he couldn’t see. What kind of streamlined underwear could be so seamless? His mouth went dry at the thought. Her hair blazed on top of her head where she’d pinned it up, but it was a gorgeous haphazard free fall and tumbled in untidy tendrils to her nape, her throat and around her delicate face.
She looked voluptuous and wild and sexual and she looked—ah, man, she looked…
Off-limits, he thought, finally taking a deep breath to feed his oxygen-starved brain. Yet it wasn’t his brain that was paying attention to Sienna Parker.
She looked up then, after checking the tiny buckle on the sandal, her face perplexed. “What’s wrong?”
“Remember when I said that I don’t shake easily?”
Her face scrunched up and then cleared. “Right, depends on the circumstances.”
“This is one of those circumstances.”
She walked gracefully up to him on those heels. “What are you talking about?”
He realized that he was babbling.
He picked up her hand and very gently kissed her palm. “I’m shaking.”
HER PALM STILL TINGLED from his mouth, a full, sensual mouth that had captured all of Sienna’s attention. She was angry with herself for letting his incredible charm seduce her, but the man oozed sex appeal. Any woman would be affected, so it must be okay to be a little dazzled.
Except she didn’t want to be dazzled. Hadn’t she promised herself that she wouldn’t cross over the bridge from San Diego to Coronado to club? The navy men were either intense warriors or arrogant jerks. She wanted safe and comfortable men who stayed home on the weekends.
Besides, traveling from port to port didn’t interest her. Oh no, that was not for her. She liked San Diego, a city she knew. She liked being a cop and it was another reason to stay away from navy types. She couldn’t build a career if she was constantly moving.
They entered the glass elevator that would take them on a scenic ride to the top of the high-rise where the club was located.
When Sienna walked into the club, the music was pumping and people were on the dance floor gyrating to the beat. Both Lana Dempsey and Kate Quinn were already sitting at their usual table. Sienna could feel their eyes following them the moment they entered the club even though she was across the room in the bar area. She left A.J. with a quick goodbye. Sienna sat down heavily.
“I can see why you were late. Yowza! Who’s Mr. Yummy?” Lana asked, taking a sip of her drink. Lana had delicate cheekbones and a full mouth. Her long, dark hair and a smile that lit up a room gave her an ethereal, fragile quality, but Sienna knew Lana was tough. She was one of the few women firefighters that San Diego employed. Not only could she carry one hundred pounds on her shoulders down ten flights of stairs, she was a certified EMT, had her diving license, and possessed so many other certifications Sienna had lost track of them.
“Just a guy I happened to mistakenly think was a burglar. I arrested him.” Great, now she’d have to talk about him when she was supposed to be relaxing. Lana was a pit bull when she got her perfect white teeth into something.
“Wow. Nice eye candy.” Lana popped a pretzel in her mouth, without removing her gaze from A.J.
“Lana, stop staring. He’s a navy tough guy with a brother I’ve got to question. He needs a ride back to where I picked him up.”
“He’s navy? Have you seen him in his whites? A guy is so sexy in uniform. You should see Sean when he puts on his bl
ues,” Lana said, searching through the snack mix in the bowl on the table until she found another pretzel, then she dropped it into her mouth. Every other word out of Lana’s mouth was about Sean O’Neill. Sienna wished she would just admit she wanted to date the guy and get on with it.
Sienna gave Lana a withering look. “No. I just met him today.”
Lana smiled and lobbed a pretzel at Sienna. “So, consider it your lucky day. How long has it been, Sienna?”
“Too long,” Sienna exhaled heavily. “But, I promised myself no navy guys.”
“Why not? It’s wham-bam-thank-you-sir.” Lana snickered. “It’s no big deal. He’s hot!”
“A SEAL is too adventurous for my taste.”
“And six feet two inches of hard-packed muscle, devastating Latino looks and great eyes. Sounds like a terrible hardship.”
“He does fit the profile for a hot fling, but I have so much work to do.”
“For Pete’s sake, Sienna, take a freakin’ chance. It’s not like you have to marry the guy. Stop doing everything by the book and break some rules.”
“Look who’s talking. Lana, you know all about dangerous, forbidden relationships. You’ve been drooling over that co-worker of yours since I met you and you’ve done nothing about him.” The words were coming out of her mouth before she had a chance to engage her brain. She would never bait her friend this way, but Lana’s dare to go after A.J. made Sienna nervous and oversensitive. Sienna couldn’t help but lash out. There were so many emotions just beneath her skin, emotions she had no intention of acknowledging.
It didn’t help that A.J. scared her to death way deep down inside. He had easily gotten beyond the first barrier she put up against men like him. And she was petrified to let him have a crack at any of her other barriers, to open herself up to the kind of hurt he was sure to bring her. Two people could not be more different than they were. He was adventurous and she was as conservative as they came.
“Are you challenging me to go after Sean?” Lana said, raising her brows and effectively breaking into Sienna’s thoughts.
Oh, no…Sienna knew that look. “No, Lana…” Sienna said.