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took a deep breath. The night he‟d spent with her, it had been easy to

pretend she had no other lover. They‟d been alone, her house quiet. No

phone ringing, no customers nearby, no psychos leaving menacing “gifts”

in her car. Just the two of them, and hours upon hours of pleasure. God,

he‟d been so damn gullible.

She nodded. “Why does it matter if Remy and the boys were there?”

The short answer was that it shouldn‟t.

“If you should be worried about anything,” she went on, “it‟s your hotel

room. At nearly four in the morning, Homer has likely given your room away

to one of those tourists come around for the arts festival that starts

tomorrow.”

He frowned. After everything that had happened tonight, she was

worried about him? “I guaranteed that room with a credit card.”

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Shayla Black

A Mona Lisa smile played at the corner of her mouth. That quickly, she

made his dick hard again. Damn, how did the woman do it?

“Doesn‟t mean a damn thing to him. I‟m sure when you didn‟t show up

after the club closed, he figured your room was fair game. But if you don‟t

believe me, call him.” She punched a few buttons on the phone and

handed it to him.

“You have the motel owner on speed dial?” He could think of only one

reason why, and it horrified him. Did she turn tricks?

Hell, he was going to throw up.

“Out-of-town customers often need to sleep off their alcohol. Homer

usually helps me out.”

Luc liked her explanation much better. But still, he wondered. Didn‟t a

lot of strippers earn extra cash on the side?

As the phone rang in his ear, Luc turned to Alyssa. Her face was

golden under the streetlights shining through the windows as he raced

down the quaint redbrick street, toward a neighborhood of older, still

elegant homes. Odd that he remembered exactly how to find her house,

despite the fact he‟d been here just once. The image of the little craftsman

with the Zen interior was burned into his brain.

Homer answered a moment later, muttering his words. Clearly, he‟d

been asleep and sounded none too happy about being awakened.

“This is Luc Traverson calling to advise that I‟ll arrive in a few minutes

to check in. You still have my room?”

The man on the other end cleared his throat. “Well, when you didn‟t

show, I thought . . .”

Luc waited, his temper rising again, for the motel‟s owner to finish that

thought. “Thought what? You‟d give my room away?”

“I waited until two thirty. You said you‟d be here before midnight. Some

road-weary folks came in with little ones and—”

“Do you have another room?” He closed his eyes and pressed the

phone to his ear.

“Booked up. First time in a while, but this festival always brings ‟em in.

Some great zydeco bands playin‟ this year.”

Luc resisted the urge to count to ten. “And tomorrow night?”

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Shayla Black

“Don‟t have a free room until Tuesday. Got a couple of those lousy

chain hotels a few miles down the road . . .” Homer said with obvious

distaste. “Bet they‟re booked up, too. ‟Sides, I wouldn‟t let my dog sleep

there. They don‟t clean nothin‟. ”

His head was going to explode. Luc was accustomed to traveling to

cosmopolitan cities. He stayed at Hotel de Crillon when he traveled to

Paris, the Dorchester in London, the Peninsula in Tokyo, the Beverly

Wilshire in Los Angeles. The fact he‟d been stiffed on a room at Homer‟s

Cajun Haven at four in the morning crawled on his last nerve.

He hit the end button on the conversation. Instead of giving in to his

urge to throw the phone, he stiffly handed it back to Alyssa.

“You were right.”

“Thought I‟d save you the drive out there, since I know Homer too

well.”

And since he was, no doubt, another man who had seen Alyssa

naked, Homer knew her awfully well, too.

Luc sighed. He had to stop caring who‟d seen her bare. He‟d want to

rip the heads off most of the male population of this town for the next week

if he didn‟t get himself under control. He‟d fucked her for one night. What

she‟d done before—or after—was none of his affair.

So why did it bug the hell out of him? And where was he going to sleep

tonight?

“I have an extra room at my place,” Alyssa offered quietly. “It‟s clean

and quiet and—”

“I couldn‟t impose.” Because if he did, he‟d get inside her again.

Last time he‟d spent the night in her body, he‟d been insatiable. For six

hours. Nothing had been too searing, too depraved, too intimate. She‟d

wrenched the sort of desire from him that burned him, shamed and elated

him at once. He‟d taken everything she offered, then more—then come

back again. He‟d fucked her in every way a man could, repeatedly.

Bareback. Something he hadn‟t done in more than a decade, except with

Kimber.

And the memories of that incredible night with Alyssa were fraying his

self-control.

“No imposition. I have the room; you need a bed.”

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Shayla Black

She laid a soft hand over his as it gripped the gearshift. Her touch

seized him clear down to his balls, igniting his blood.

“Besides,” she murmured. “Maybe . . . you‟re right. If what happened

tonight isn‟t a prank, then I‟d feel better not to be alone. Do you mind?”

Yes. Very much
. But he‟d be every kind of a bastard if he said no.

He sent her a tight smile. “It will be my pleasure.”

HE was lying through his teeth. Then again, so was she. She‟d paid

Homer very handsomely to give Luc‟s room away and she doubted that,

despite the prank, anyone would try to hurt her tonight.

As Luc‟s SUV whipped down Lafayette‟s dark streets, exhaustion

should have been weighing on her. Instead, she was filled with anticipation.

She was finally going to be alone with the man she most wanted, in her

house, where he‟d made mad love to her before. Too bad Luc wasn‟t

happy about it.

He was a puzzle. The lust in his eyes was unmistakable. Hell, every

time he looked her way he damn near burned her. But his contempt wasn‟t

hard to piece together. So his anger that someone else thought she was a

whore intrigued her.

“If it‟s not a prank, who would stab such a note to the seat of your

car?”

Sadly, the list was long. “Luc, let‟s wait and see what Remy comes

back with.”

“No.” He flashed her an impatient stare. “If whoever did this drops by

while you‟re sleeping, I‟d like to have some idea who I‟ll be dealing with.”

“Don‟t worry too much. If I thought I was in serious jeopardy, I‟d call

Tyler. Or Jack Cole. He and your cousin are the best, and he‟s an old

friend. Because of him, the house has a top-of-the-line security system.”

Luc ground his jaw. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel. “I

said I‟d keep you safe tonight and I will. Answer the question.”

He wasn‟t letting this go, and that gave Alyssa hope. Maybe he cared,

at least a bit. Even if it was against his good sense and his will.

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Shayla Black

“First, just about any jealous wife or girlfriend who doesn‟t like the

amount of time her man spends in my club. That‟s common.”

“Knives aren‟t usually a woman‟s style.”

No. She‟d had her tires deflated, her house egged, more ugly notes

than she could count. Scorned women usually annoyed and rarely

disturbed.

“What about past lovers?” He pinned her with a burning stare. “Current

ones?”

She closed her eyes. Naturally, he‟d assume there were many of both.

She‟d been down this road; it shouldn‟t hurt. But damn, it did. “The night

you spent with me, I told you there hadn‟t been anyone in two years.

There‟s been no one since you.”

Luc shook his head, looking as though a hundred different thoughts

blazed through it. “Alyssa, you could be in danger. I need you to be

completely honest.”

Jerking around in her seat, she faced him, trying to keep a lid on her

temper. “I have been honest. Just because you don‟t believe me doesn‟t

make me a liar.”

“C‟mon,” he growled. “Not a customer who wanted just a bit more after

seeing your gorgeous breasts naked? Not a contractor who did you a favor

and wanted something in return?”

Anger seized her, gripping her chest in a steely fist. “I don‟t roll that

way.”

He hesitated. “So you didn‟t agree to fuck me three months ago so

you‟d have a guest chef this week?”

No, I was willing to say anything because I wanted you so badly . . .

and hoped you’d want me back.
And not for anything would she wear her

heart on her sleeve now. He‟d left her before dawn and pawned her off with

flowers. Now he‟d all but intimated she was a whore.

But if there was one thing she knew, it was men. He felt
something
for

her. Her mission was to make it more.

“You were different.”

“Of course.” He snorted as he stopped at a red light.

Alyssa had had enough of his shit. She grabbed his chin and turned

him to face her. “Maybe I was simply stupid enough to believe all your

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Shayla Black

Southern gentleman charm and wanted to know what it was like to have

sex with someone who didn‟t see me as a prostitute. Silly me. You were

definitely more hard-core than anyone I‟ve had, way more than your whitebread exterior suggests.

You roll out that sort of red carpet for every

woman?”

He tore away from her grip and clutched the steering wheel even

tighter. He exhaled harshly, clearly trying to restrain his temper. So his

behavior that night was a sore spot? Maybe he hadn‟t wanted to want her

and was mortified that he had. And still did.

“I asked you about lovers. I‟ll take you at your word that you hadn‟t had

one in two years prior to me.”

“But you don‟t believe me.”

“What about current lovers? Tyler?”

None of his fucking business. As far as she was concerned, this

conversation was in the toilet. Logic told her to retire her stupid happilyever-fantasies about Luc. He hadn‟t made love to her with such fervor

because he felt the pull between them. He‟d done it because she‟d been

his first real walk on the wild side and being bad flipped his switch. They

probably should just have sex and not bother with emotions.

But her heart didn‟t want to give up.

“Tyler would never try to kill me. Whoever did this tonight isn‟t

someone who‟s been in my bed. It‟s someone who‟s pissed at me.”

He sent her a considering shrug, then took off as the light turned

green. “Like who?”

“The kid who barged through the crowd tonight to kiss me. Peter. I

don‟t even know his last name. He started coming around about six months

ago. Real regular. Daddy is rich, and he drops a lot of money at the club.

Seems to think that entitles him to special perks.”

“You‟ve advised him otherwise?” Even Luc‟s voice was dangerously

tense.

“Absolutely. Tyler has made it perfectly clear as well. We‟ve kicked him

out, let him know his advances aren‟t welcome. But nothing fazes this kid.”

Luc gripped the steering wheel even tighter. “He ever call you a

whore?”

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Shayla Black

Alyssa shook her head. “He‟s usually real graphic about what he

wants—nasty, dirty shit—but has never resorted to name calling. That‟s

Councilman Primpton‟s speed.”

“A city councilman? An elected official calling you a whore?”

How naïve was Luc? “Of course. His voting base is very conservative,

so if he shut Sexy Sirens down, he‟d be their hero. Even some middle-ofthe-road folks would be thrilled to see me go. That‟s been Primpton‟s

mission since he got elected eighteen months ago. The attempts started

small, but with his reelection coming up, he‟s been applying more

pressure.”

“How?”

“Protesting in front of the club, scathing editorials in the local paper

about the den of sin in the city‟s backyard and the „trash‟ who runs it.

Recently, he collaborated with a reporter to wear a wire and solicit me for

sex.” She snorted. “I can shove a lot of four-letter words into „no.‟ ”

Finally, they pulled up in front of her house. She hopped out and

motioned for him to wait in the car. Juggling her keys, she unlocked the