Emily Anne looked at the garment on the hanger set on a hook by the changing rooms. Even she could see the longing in Lucy's gaze as she eyed the robe.

Sumptuous and beautiful, the sheer, full-length black lace robe evoked images of candlelight and wine, soft music and softer caresses and heated, hushed whispers.

"I'm going to have to pa.s.s on it. It's heavenly, but I can't. Not this time. With the ma.s.sage studio still in its infancy I'm on a pretty tight budget." She turned her attention back to the mirror. "But this? This I have to have. It's perfect for what I have planned."

Emily Anne asked, "You're a ma.s.sage therapist?"

Lucy nodded as she headed back toward the changing room. "Yes, and newly self-employed. I own A Divine Retreat, in Divine." She glanced at her watch. "Wow, I didn't realize the time."

It was on the tip of Emily's tongue to mention her friend Chloe who owned The l.u.s.ty Glow Day Spa but she didn't want to make Lucy any later than she already was. Maybe another time.

Emily Anne didn't like to gossip so she never asked Summer why she thought Lucy might have frowned at her at the mention of l.u.s.ty-or why Lucy needed to be concerned about how her men would react to the leather ensemble.

Teresa continued to help Lucy while Summer folded the items Emily Anne had chosen.

The owner of Discretion proved her talent when she led Emily Anne right over to the dress she'd been eyeing. "If you're thinking of the best wrapping for that basque and plan to wear the shoes you described, I have this in pewter. I think with red accents to match the soles of those shoes, you'd look stunning. And it has some very cool features your men will enjoy, too."

Emily Anne was partial to the turquoise because she liked the color, but she bowed to Summer's expertise and tried on the pewter-and knew the dress was hers. When Summer showed her the very discreet ties inside the dress and demonstrated how easily it could be opened all the way down the front, Emily Anne knew she'd come to the right place and the right friend for help.

She hadn't spent anything much on herself in several months, so she justified the decision to get it. Besides, what woman embarking on a new intimate relationship wouldn't want to "gild the lily" just a little?

"Now if you'll come over here." Summer led her to a corner of the shop, and an antique gla.s.s-fronted display case that displayed a variety of different s.e.x toys. Removing a sectioned tray that contained b.u.t.t plugs in numerous sizes, Summer gestured to them and said, "Pick out the ones that most closely resemble the size of your men and I'll get you what you need."

Emily Anne looked at all the different sizes and just shook her head in wonder. She'd known, of course, that Mel and Connor were larger than Billy J had been. She just hadn't imagined that there could be men even larger still. Her gaze zeroed in on one plug because she could tell that it was the size she needed and pointed to it.

"May I hold it?"

"Of course." Summer handed it over.

Emily Anne's hand recognized the size. "This is it."

"Good." Summer then selected three more plugs, in graduated sizes. "And for the lube?"

"I'm going with the plain. I'd laugh too much if I got the flavored."

"You can work your way up to it," Summer said.

Emily Anne giggled. "I'll get some of that my next time I'm here. But not the banana."

Summer smiled and seemed confident when she said, "Next time you come by, you might surprise yourself."

Emily Anne walked over to the sales counter and got out her credit card. She might indeed surprise herself next time. But for right now, she'd focus on surprising her men.

One week later, Mel and Connor received a phone call, and the break in the case they'd been waiting for.

"Kemp and I are in agreement. We think this is your man."

The voice of Ace Webster, via the speaker on their land line, echoed in the office of Richardson and Talbot Investigations. Connor had pulled his chair up to Mel's desk and had been taking notes.

"Okay, the next step is to prove that he's Ralph Baxter-but that's only the next step. I want to do more than that," Mel said.

"You want to uncover evidence that will give you just cause to get the law involved," Ace said. "You want a legal search warrant."

"Yes, I do. As things stand at the moment, even if we know that man is Ralph Baxter, that isn't enough. He's beyond the statute of limitations for the fraud and misdirection of funds charges," Mel said.

"And we don't have any kind of evidence that we can take to a judge," Connor said, "that would be considered as sufficient grounds for that search warrant. We believe that he killed the public defender, Neil Jackson. But all we have are our suspicions."

"Sounds like you'll be conducting a bit of surveillance, then," Kemp said.

"We will. We'll drive past the property in the daytime, and then see if we can find a way to get closer so we can have eyes and ears on him at night. You say the property in question has a fence with a gate?"

"Not all that uncommon in these parts," Ace said. "A lot of private properties are protected in that way."

Mel knew that for fact. Anyone driving out and about in rural Central Texas would discover many, varied kinds of fences and gates. Some were plain and simple, some ornate, but all were designed to keep nosy people out.

Fortunately, he and Connor were pretty good at not being kept out of anywhere they wanted to be for very long.

"You can see the house from the road if you're in front of it or a few feet in either direction beyond the driveway, no problem," Ace said. "The property has several small outbuildings on it. Near as we can tell, they've all been erected post-acquisition, as there were none listed on the last deed transaction filed with the county."

"Okay, good. We'll head on over your way, say on Tuesday, and have a look, and then meet with you and discuss what happens next."

"Sounds like a plan," Ace said. "Give me a call when you get into town. In the meantime, I'll make a few discreet inquiries of people I know in Divine, see if anyone has stories about the man they can share with us."

"That would be helpful. Also, if he has some sort of routine-we might be able to plot when he's most likely to be away from home."

"It would also be helpful," Connor said, "if I could get a couple of pictures of him. Plus, if we know he's in town, we might be able to plant some surveillance equipment."

"That's what I was thinking," Ace said. "We'll see you next Tuesday."

The call disconnected and Mel and Connor looked at each other for a long moment.

"I might be able to get a satellite image of the property," Connor said. And then he snorted. "You know, I knew he'd taken an alias...but really...Smith?"

"Well at least he picked Bruce Smith and not John Smith," Mel said.

"You have a point." Connor shook his head. "It sounds like Ace and Kemp are both intent on seeing this thing through with us. That's a bonus."

"It does, and it is." Mel sat back. "They're as incensed as we are that Baxter stole from two orphaned kids. Frankly, I'm glad for their help. Four heads are better than two-and they know the area better than we do."

"Yeah. They'll have better luck canva.s.sing the town to see if anyone knows the man than we could ever hope to have." Connor went back to his desk and got to work.

After several minutes he looked up. "Okay, I've got his property up on Everywhere Earth."

Mel went over and stood beside Connor as they looked at the image on screen.

"Four outbuildings. What do you think they're for?" Mel asked.

"Maybe he wanted to give the impression he was running some sort of hobby farm? You have to figure he'd want to give the appearance of making a living. Just to keep the curious at bay."

"We'll know better when we get our first glimpse of it. What's the landscape like there?"

Connor fiddled with the program and changed the view they had. "The FM road isn't flat...looks like it's rolling, but then it is hill country. But I don't know if there's enough natural cover to park close by without being seen from the house, or not." He looked up at Mel. "You could drop me off and I could conduct a quick recon mission."

"As soon as we determine if he's invested in a security system, or not. And if so, what kind."

"You know, of all the adjustments I've had to make, switching to the private sector, that's been the stickiest."

"Doing things by the book?"

"Yeah." Connor ran his hand through his hair. "You were a cop, so that comes more naturally to you. I'm still of the mindset of doing whatever's necessary to get the job done." He seemed to look over the picture he had on his computer screen. "But in this case, I'm going to make d.a.m.n sure I cross all my t's and dot all my i's. Because when we get the goods on this b.a.s.t.a.r.d, I want it clean. I don't want him to be able to cry about his f.u.c.king rights being violated and getting away scot-free. He's been free long enough."

"He has at that." Mel clapped Connor on the shoulder and headed back to his desk. He had some calls to return to other clients, and he wanted to finish drawing up a security plan for one of their new clients, an investment firm.

"This guy is a joke."

Mel knew Connor was referring to Ralph Baxter-aka Bruce Smith.

"I found him at the second Internet gaming site I hit, using his alias. Give me a little more time and I'll have his computer."

Mel chuckled. "What happened to 'by the book'?"

Connor grinned. "We'll be officially by the book, but unofficially, and if all else fails, I figure we can play the b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Scare him into a confession-just like we hinted we would to Jake. Only really do it up nice, if you know what I mean."

"That's underhanded and sneaky," Mel said. "I like it."

"I thought you might."

They worked in companionable silence for another half an hour. Mel got up to make a fresh pot of coffee. They had another two hours and then they'd head home-back to l.u.s.ty, and their woman. It was Friday, and she was working until closing, but they planned to pick her up and pamper her once they got her back to their place.

"Tomorrow is the monthly dance at the community center," Connor said. "Which means we finally get to see what else Emily Anne bought on her trip to Discretion last week."

"I think she's enjoyed teasing us with the contents of that pretty little shopping bag," Mel said. It no longer surprised him that Connor would be thinking about Emily Anne at the same time he was. "I really like the look in her eyes when she does that. As if she's having more fun than she's ever had in her life."

"I noticed." Connor met his gaze for just a moment. "I'm going to have a problem being civil when we meet her family."

"You're not alone, there, my friend. Maybe we'll just ignore them completely and focus on her. Let them see that we're completely and absolutely smitten with her."

"Now that's a plan I can get behind."

Chapter 13.

Emily Anne felt a new wiggle in her walk as she entered the house ahead of Mel and Connor Sat.u.r.day night. Despite what she'd believed, she had been able to dance a little in her killer shoes. She grinned. Of course it helped that for each time she got up to dance one-and a couple of times both-of the men had held her close as if the music dictated a slow, s.e.xy two-step-whether or not it really did.

She couldn't remember when she'd had more fun at a community center dance. But she knew, as she heard that outside door close behind her, that the best part of the evening was yet to come.

Pun definitely intended.

"Angel eyes, I've been driving myself nuts all night trying to imagine just what kind of sin you're wearing underneath that s.e.xy new dress of yours."

Emily Anne had enjoyed the look of surprise on Connor's face when he'd splayed his hand on her back the first time they'd danced. He could obviously feel something different under her dress. Mel had noticed, too, and man, had it ever been fun just giving them coy smiles in response to their questions.

The basque had proven as comfortable to wear as it had been enticing for her lovers-and the men hadn't even seen it yet.

I am definitely going back to Discretion.

"You've been teasing us all night, precious," Mel said. "And now it's time to pay the piper."

She looked over her shoulder and sent them both what she hoped was a come-and-get-me smile. They'd both put on dress pants and open-neck white shirts for the evening out. She could see glimpses of their chest hair, and the sight had been keeping her pump primed all night. She wondered what they'd look like, all done up formal in tuxes. She nearly chuckled. Probably not nearly as good as they did wearing nothing but their predatory grins.

"I promise all will be revealed, as soon as we get upstairs." She'd never felt as self-confident as a woman as she did right then.

I'm almost confident enough to try on that leather ensemble Lucy Carter modeled and then bought at Discretion.

"So we finally get to see what all was in that fancy bag you brought back from Discretion?"

"Well, not everything. I do have to save some surprises for another day. But you'll see what I'm wearing under my dress, as well as something else that I got-something special I bought for all three of us." Despite the fact that the next day was Sunday and usually a day Emily Anne worked, she'd arranged to have it off, so she could sleep in-and because she was going to ask her men to use the first b.u.t.t plug tonight. She didn't know how this was going to turn out, and thought that if things didn't go well, then having a day to pamper herself would be a good backup plan.

Summer had given her some very matter-of-fact directions on how to use the toys herself. But the more she thought about it, the more she knew that she wanted Mel and Connor to do the honors. She figured, first off, they'd know how to use them correctly. Second, she considered their using the plugs a "rehearsal" of sorts for when they finally made love with her a.n.a.lly.

Not so much a rehearsal for them as for herself, and her ability to give them the level of trust she knew they would need from her.

She was nervous, but more and more she wanted to have both Mel and Connor inside her at the same time. Her need was beginning to eclipse her fear. All she really had to do was remind herself that these men were in a whole other league from Billy J. They would never do anything to harm her, physically.

At least they wouldn't mean to.

Connor met her gaze. His sobered and he nodded slowly. "It's probably best if you drop that dress while you're standing close to the bed."

"It will guarantee you that your back will land on something comfortable when we nail you," Mel said.

"When you 'nail' me?" The term wasn't one she'd expect to hear from Mel. Both men looked so serious that she had to smile.

"You've been throwing little cherry bombs into our fires all night long, precious. One more and I don't think either one of us will be able to control our need for you."

That was by far one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to her. She licked her lips, and then turned away from them. She focused on putting one foot in front of the other as she climbed the stairs to the second story.

Emily Anne had been the last one to come downstairs when they'd gotten ready to go out earlier tonight. She'd asked for and received privacy to dress so she could keep them guessing all night as to what she had on. So she'd been able to set out the lube and the b.u.t.t plug before they'd left for the dance. She'd left the two items on the table beside the bed discreetly wrapped in a towel.

She stepped into the master bedroom and kept walking until she reached the foot of the bed. She turned slowly so that she faced the men.