"With me." He pulled her down with him, locking her in close.

"Yes." She hugged him carefully, kissed his chest. Sleepily, she asked, "Big wedding or small?"

"Whatever you want."

She yawned. "Tomorrow we can tell Rowdy and Dash about our plans to marry." She snuggled closer. "And of course we'll tell Reese."

It pleased him that Rowdy and Pepper now trusted Reese.

"Maybe, if Reese wants, we could even invite Alice to the wedding. I don't really have any female friends, but I liked her. And I think she's more than earned the chance to celebrate with us."

"A terrific idea." Alice could probably use a few friends. He started to ask Pepper more about her, but he heard her breathing even into sleep.

Logan smiled. His arm was badly swollen and hurt like a son of a bitch, there was chaos at the station as the disloyal cops were exposed, and he'd soon gain a headstrong, overprotective brother-in-law used to living on the edge.

And still, he felt like the luckiest man alive. For the sake of justice, he'd run the risk, and despite the odds, he'd ended up with love.

He ended up with Pepper.

As long as he had her, he had it all.

HINDERED BY INDECISION, Reese stood

outside Alice's apartment door, his hand raised to knock while he warred with himself.

Damn it, his apartment was off-limits.

They had the body out, but the blood, general destruction and bullet holes remained. Until the department finished their reports, he didn't want to disturb anything. Exhaustion left him weaving on his feet. He was starting to see double, but he wasn't sure- The door opened and there stood Alice, Cash beside her.

The dog leaped forward to greet him with his usual enthusiasm and maybe something more, something like worry and relief. Reese stroked his back. "Too much confusion, buddy? For me, too."

Wearing a vintage-looking nightgown under a loosely fastened robe, her feet bare and her hair rumpled, Alice watched him.

Best to just spit it out and take it from there. He opened his mouth.

Alice said, "You can't go to your apartment."

His mouth closed. He scrutinized her and puzzled over her uncanny ability to see things a timid woman should never notice. "No."

"You need to get some sleep."

"Yes."

Her mouth screwed up, her gaze dropped down his body, then shot back to his face. She cleared her throat. "Why do you have an erection?"

A direct attack? Huh. Interesting...and somehow exciting. "Hell if I know."

God, this was awkward. "But you don't have to worry about that." Stupid. How could she not worry? She had all kinds of secretive shit going on, and here he was, dead on his feet while his Johnson wanted to stand at attention.

He'd been fighting a boner ever since pulling up to the apartment with the realization that he'd probably have to impose on Alice for a place to crash, at least for a couple of days.

She rubbed at one eye but came to a quick decision. Handing Cash's leash to him, she said, "Let him out while I make up the couch for you."

"I won't be in your way?"

"I made the guest room into my office, so for the most part, you'll be undisturbed."

"I was worried about you being disturbed." He was so tired, he could sleep through a train wreck.

Her face colored a pretty pink, intriguing him further.

The blush lifted his exhaustion, encouraged his libido, and made it near impossible to get his physical reactions under control.

She glanced at his lap again, then quickly away. "Take Cash out, then you can sleep. And afterward...I suppose we have to talk."

Reese smiled at her. "I can hardly wait." He started to go but thought better of it and caught the door before she could shut it. "You aren't just waiting for me to walk off so you can lock me out?"

For the longest time she stared at his feet. Finally, she lifted her chin.

"Truthfully, Detective, I'd as soon not spend the day alone anyway."

Was it memories that wrought that confession? "Then I'm glad I'm here."

She pulled her robe tighter around her, nodded and whispered, "Odd as it seems...so am I." Gently, she closed the door in his face. He listened for the sound of a lock clicking into place but heard nothing.

"Great," Reese said to the dog as he led him down the steps and out the front door. "Isn't it just like a woman to get in a parting shot guaranteed to keep a guy stirred up?" Cash made a noise that, to Reese and his tired brain, sounded like agreement. "We're going to have our hands full dealing with that one."

But damn if he wasn't already looking forward to it.

Don't miss Reese's story, BARE IT

ALL,.

coming soon from Lori Foster and Harlequin HQN!

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CHAPTER ONE.

ARIZONA STORM SAT quietly on the overstuffed chair, her chin resting on her drawn-up knees, her fingers laced together around her shins.

Waiting.

In the quiet, shadowed room, she breathed in the unique aroma of aftershave and gun oil, and the headier scent of warm male. On the back of the chair behind her he'd tossed his jeans and a rumpled T-shirt. Close at hand on the nightstand, he'd placed his freshly cleaned gun and his deadly switchblade.

His discarded boxers lay on the floor.

He fascinated her.

After breaking into his house, she'd removed her sneakers and put them next to his boots by the front door. The air- conditioning, set on high, left her toes cold, but he'd covered himself with no more than a thin sheet.

Again and again, her gaze tracked over him, from one big foot sticking out over the side of the bed, up and over his flat, solid abs covered by the snowy- white sheet, to his chest-not covered by anything except enticing body hair.

With one arm behind his head, his underarm and the dark tuft of hair there were visible. Seeing that almost made him look vulnerable-except that, despite his relaxed pose, the positioning of his long arm made a thick biceps bulge.

At nearly six and a half feet tall, solidly built and finely sculpted, Spencer Lark was one of the biggest, strongest, most impressive men she'd ever met.

And she knew some really prime specimens.

His long lashes shadowed his high cheekbones, but that didn't detract from the bruising beneath one eye. A recent fight? She smiled while picturing it, sure that Spencer had come out ahead. His skill at fighting intrigued her even more than his big bod.

Amazing, but even his slightly crooked nose held her rapt. When and how had he broken it?

She inhaled a deep breath and let it out in a quiet sigh that, given the silence in his home and Spencer's acute instincts, disturbed his slumber.

Arizona admitted to herself that maybe she'd wanted to wake him. After all, she'd been watching him-and waiting-for a while now.

His head turned on the pillow, his legs shifted.

Holding herself perfectly still, she waited to see if he'd awaken, what he'd do, what he'd say. She didn't know him all that well, and yet...she did.

Sort of.

They'd met nearly a month ago while they were both on a sting. Immediately, they'd butted heads, and he'd infuriated her by interfering with her life.

But worse, he'd robbed her of the revenge she desperately craved.

Sure, he had his own need for revenge, so she understood his motives.

She didn't forgive him. Not yet, anyway.

But she did understand.

At least, she thought she did. Once they talked it over, then she'd decide for sure.

He made a soft, gravelly sound as he stretched that long, strong body. His chin tucked in. Muscles flexed.

The sheet tented.

Eyes widening, Arizona stared, not really alarmed, but no longer so at ease, either. She had a very dark history with aroused men, so she doubted she'd ever be unaffected by them. But she didn't let it get in her way, not when she wanted something, not when she had a goal in mind.

She knew she should have taken Spencer's gun, at the very least moved it out of his reach. But instead she'd found him in the bed, and before she'd even thought it through, she'd taken the empty seat and settled in to study him while he slept.

Since that fateful day when her destiny had been stolen from her, she'd seen him only a handful of times. She'd tried to stay away. She'd tried to forget about him.

She hadn't been successful.

Stretching, he brought his hand out from behind his head, around to rub over his hair, across his face, down his chest.

As he gave a sleepy, growling groan, that hand disappeared under the sheet.

Arizona's lips parted, and her heartbeat tripped up. She cleared her throat. "Spence?"

Freezing, without moving any other body part, he opened his eyes and met her gaze.

She frowned at him.

He didn't look super-startled, and he said nothing. He just stared at her.

With his hand still under there.

"Yeah..." Semi-satisfied with his frozen reaction, she nodded at his lap.

"You weren't going for a little tug, were you? Because as your spectator, I'd just as soon not see it."

He brought his hand out and put it back behind his head, still silent, still watching her. Almost...relaxed.

His gaze was so dark, so compelling, she felt like squirming, damn it. "I mean, I guess I could wait in the other room if it's really necessary. That is, if you don't take too long."