Stonewall brought the car to a stop. “Well, here we are.”
He watched as Joy looked out the window before glancing back at him. “A private jet?”
He smiled. “Yes, and no, it’s not mine. It’s belongs to Dakota Navarro. He loaned it to me.”
She lifted a brow. “Loaned it to you.”
“Yes, he loaned me the plane and the pilot.”
“Why?”
Stonewall unsnapped his seat belt and smiled at her. “Because he’s aware of how I’ve been looking forward to finally taking you out on a real date. Dak’s also aware that jet-setting around the world protecting him is one of the reasons I couldn’t do so. He figured the least he could do was help our romance along.”
“Our romance?”
“Yes.” There was no need to tell her that romance hadn’t been the word Dak used. The international playboy and businessman considered each date with a woman as a conquest of the most sexual kind.
“And just where is this jet supposed to be taking us?”
“Martha’s Vineyard. I’ve made reservations for dinner.” Anticipating her next question, he added, “And I promise to have you home before midnight.”
DINNER FOR TWO? On Martha’s Vineyard? And they would fly there on a private jet owned by Dakota Navarro?
Although Joy had never met the man, she’d heard about him. Who hadn’t? And she was well aware Stonewall had been working as Navarro’s bodyguard. But still...
She switched her gaze from Stonewall to the sleek jet. On their first official date, he planned to whisk her away on a private jet from Charlottesville to Massachusetts?
She glanced at Stonewall only to find him staring at her with the same intensity he’d looked at her with from across the room the night they’d met. The desire in his eyes was easy to read. It said, I want you.
Drawing in a deep breath, she broke eye contact with him to look out the window again, to make sure the jet was really there. When she glanced back at Stonewall, the deep desire that had been in his eyes just moments ago had been replaced with something else. Amusement. However, there was that seriousness she could always detect, even when she figured he was working hard to keep it hidden.
“I don’t know what to say,” she said against the lump in her throat. And honestly, she didn’t. She had been excited that after six months he’d finally arrived at her house to take her somewhere, even if the destination had been to their mutual friends’ wedding.
“You can start off by saying that you’ll fly away with me. Quasar was quick to remind me today that kidnapping is a federal offense. Jail time is something I don’t want to do again.”
Joy swallowed tightly. There it was. Anyone who knew her would find it surprising. That someone who was as straightlaced and by-the-book when it came to upholding the law as she, would even consider dating an ex-con.
But she was a believer in second chances. Stonewall had served his time, and since his release over eight years ago, he’d become a model citizen. She didn’t know his story, but she hoped he would eventually trust her enough to tell her.
Joy was convinced that, considering everything about him, there had to be a reason she was so attracted to him. At least a reason other than the obvious. And the obvious was that the man was so drop-dead gorgeous, he could take a woman’s breath away, literally. She might be a cop, but around him her hormones boldly reminded her she was also a woman.
And Stonewall Courson had the ability to make her want to be all woman whenever she wasn’t busy arresting criminals. That was one of the reasons for this short, sexy, lacy dress she was wearing. She’d seen it in the store months ago and had imagined it on her when she would be with him. That had been months before she’d received an invitation to Striker and Margo’s wedding.
“So, do I kidnap you or do you come willingly?” he asked, breaking into her reverie.
She smiled over at him. “I’ll come willingly, Mr. Courson.”
The smile that curved his lips from corner to corner was sexy as hell, just like the rest of him. In his black tux he looked scrumptiously delicious. It had been hard to keep her eyes off him during the ceremony, and more than once she’d checked out his broad shoulders, commanding biceps, muscled arms and firm thighs.
“Give me a minute so I can check with the pilot, and then we’ll be on our way. And like I said, I’ll have you home before midnight.”
He opened the door and got out, and she watched him walk away. He moved with long strides and a swagger that she doubted he realized he possessed. And because of the way his slacks fit him, she could see the thick muscles in his thighs with every step he took. Like always, whenever she ogled him her wild, needed-to-be-censored imagination would kick in. When he entered the building and closed the door behind him, she drew in a deep breath. Be still my hormones.
It had turned out to be a beautiful day in June, the perfect day for a wedding. The sun was shining brightly through the windshield, nearly blinding her. She decided to close her eyes for a moment, and when she did, memories of the night six months ago when she and Stonewall met floated through her mind...
* * *
JOY GLANCED AT her watch. Less than five more minutes and she would be free to leave the charity ball. When an informant had gotten word to Police Chief Harkins that an organized pickpocket ring would be working the unsuspecting crowd here tonight, several law enforcement officers were enlisted to work undercover. She was one of them.
Already three individuals had been arrested without incident and without anyone in attendance knowing they’d been targeted. All in a day’s work, which for her would be coming to an end in three minutes and two seconds she concluded, glancing at her watch again.
Unlike some of her fellow detectives, she hadn’t griped about being chosen to come here tonight. She supported Chief Harkins’s belief that every member of the police force should be flexible, regardless of whether they were uniformed officers or detectives sitting behind a cushy desk. When you were needed, you stepped up. Plus, working an undercover gig that actually required wearing something other than her dark slacks and plain button-up shirt? She’d enjoyed getting dressed up for tonight’s event. She’d even called her neighbor, Cherish Greenleaf, to help do something with her hair. She hadn’t expected Cherish to take the scissors and whack it off, though. But then, Joy had to grudgingly agree that the shorter style looked good on her.
When she had arrived tonight, several of her fellow male officers had blinked more than once to make sure it was her. Even her former partner, Darrin Chadwick, had told her she looked good, and had even gone so far as to ask her out on a date. Seriously, Darrin Chadwick? The man who’d been a thorn in her side since she’d arrived in Charlottesville for work almost two years ago? He’d thrown a hissy fit at having a woman for a partner and more than once had tried making things hard for her. She’d survived all Darrin’s BS and felt she was an even better cop because of it. Rumor had it that Chadwick had applied for a lieutenant position in Ohio. Personally, she hoped he got it. She would do the good-riddance dance all over the precinct if he did.
She glanced at her watch again. Less than a minute to go. She might as well grab another one of those delicious treats off the snack table on her way out the door. One thing about doing a gig like this—you definitely wouldn’t leave hungry.