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"Did you find her?" Luc asked, his annoyance coital cell phone signal

In the old analog days, he could have pretended he hadn’t heard "Yeah" Deke had found Kiht And just like she had at seventeen, she’d tied his gut up in knots so crazy an Eagle Scout with Houdini ancestry couldn’t get the her off and et into trouble," Luc reminded

Deke didn’t want to He didn’t But as Luc had rationally pointed out, scaring the crap out of Kioing to just go away because he wanted it to Kiive up She’d track someone else down to help her in her quest to catch Jesse McCall--

someone who, at best, would cause her disco At worst, they would take total advantage of her and hurt her

The Colonel would kill Deke if anything happened to her because he’d had his dick in a knot Her old h SOB Mean when he needed to be

Not that he’d condone Deke and Luc introducing his baby to the joys of anal sex…but soured the Colonel would pick that over Ki-- he couldn’t think about what she ripped the thin wooden table in front of hio until he heard it crack

But it wasn’t his old boss who motivated him now It was Kimber herself He’d had vivid fantasies about her once upon a tier, like coory-five hurricane She’d tasted like sugary innocence Sweet in his ht in his arms, like a summer day She hite heat and soft skin and…

God, listen to hiirl like he was Keats or so Hell

One fact he couldn’t escape, however: Kimber was the sole teht be stronger than his self-control He should be pushing her away as fast as he could, before he sed her whole, like a snake does its prey

Before he destroyed her But she wasn’t going to give up her quest, and he wasn’t going to let anyone else tutor her Blowing out a breath with a short, ugly curse, Deke lifted the longneck to his mouth and sed And he stared

Kimber was currently on the dance floor at Ada her sweet hips to a Shakira song about that very part of her anatohs bared by a skirt so short it neared indecency, a strip of pale belly bared, she danced--sandwiched between Adam and his brother, Burke The club was s loud And despite all that, Deke couldn’t mistake the lust on either brother’s face

"Are you listening to hter "Youto play Sir Galahad and ride in to save the day"

"Don’t forget the apologizing part"

"Back off"

Luc sighed "Tell her we’ll help Nicely Noher ass so harshly that she won’t sit for a week"

Deke winced He’d treated her badly, hoping to dissuade her fro it out loud would only give hiht on his side…

"You’re pushing it"

"You’re the one pushing You’re shoving Ki but ask for a favor And it’s a favor we’re both dying to grant"

"Hell, yes, I pushed her away She’s a virgin"

"She isn’t Heather"

That was just dirty pool Deke gripped the phone, pissed at ho this conversation had beco to do with this Kihed in his ear "Really? Who is your type?" Deke paused Hell, he could barely re inside Kimber "Alyssa Devereaux"

"That blonde strip club oith the Tupperware breasts?"

"She’s not a whore," Deke protested, knowing froht

"Maybe, but you don’t really want Alyssa She doesn’t want you"

"She wants you" A fact that had pissed Deke off when he’d last seen Alyssa a few o

"And I’ yourself that you want her because you think she’s ‘safe’"

"I want her because she’s hot and I hear she gives a killer blow job" Luc snorted "You want Alyssa so bad that you jacked off last night and h the wall"

Deke felt a flush crawl up his face "Invest in sootyou, they’re bad news"

"I’ve been with a virgin It was a beautiful experience They’re not bad news; Heather was"

"Leave her out of this"

"No! You pushed Kily words yesterday because of Heather Deke, you weren’t responsible--"

"We all knoas I live with that fact every fucking day Drop it," he growled

"Now"

"I think you’re wrong" Luc sighed "But I’ll drop it if you’ll go talk to Kiize Tell her we’ll help"

He took another long s of his beer and stared as Burke Catrell grabbed Kiainst her ass The bastard apparently wanted to wear his nose somewhere in the middle of his forehead Deke would be happy tohands off her His blood was beginning to boil, and the fury rising in him was about up to his eyeballs, ready to overtake his brain

"She looks otherwise occupied," Deke snarled into the phone

"But she came to you first"

Yeah, she had Da on this show for his benefit, he’d guess, given the way she kept sneaking glances in his direction

"Get over whatever snit you’re in," Luc said, "and do the right thing"