“Wanna bet?”
He had a feeling she was going to say that, and he acted swiftly. He grabbed her arm and twisted her around. With an economy of motions, he wrapped his arm around her neck and pinned her against him before she could squeak out a complaint.
“Hey, this isn’t fair.” Julie tugged at his arm, but he wasn’t going to let go. He knew he wasn’t hurting her, only making her uncomfortable. And maybe a little humble.
“How much are we betting?” he asked.
She wiggled against him as she tried to shove an elbow in his stomach and ribs. Her blows were feeble, but his good intentions were weakening by the way her ass rubbed against his groin.
Julie reached blindly for his face, possibly to claw at him, but it wasn’t going to work. “Are you attacking me or trying to get DNA samples for when the coroner inspects your dead, lifeless body?”
She grunted and went for his instep. She tried to stomp on his foot, but he moved the moment he felt her leg muscles bunch. Even if she had managed to get lucky, her ballet slippers wouldn’t have caused much damage.
“This isn’t proving anything,” she muttered as she made a wild swing for who only knew which part of his body. “You are trained to take a man down in a sleeper hold. Not many guys are around here.”
“You don’t know that.” He let her go abruptly.
Julie smoothed her hair and tugged at her dress before turning around. “The chances of a guy getting rough are slim.”
“What universe are you living in?” And what kind of guys did she hang around with? Probably computer geeks who only got rough in first-person-shooter video games.
“And even if my target did get rough,” Julie continued, “I wouldn’t be in some dark, deserted alley with him. You would also have audio and visuals on me.”
“That’s not enough security. There would be too much of a time lapse before we could get to you.”
Julie bunched her hands into fists at her sides and took a deep breath. “I want to be a decoy.”
“I said no.” She could keep saying it, and he would give her the same answer. “And knowing your aptitude for self-defense, my alternate answer is not in this lifetime.”
“Fine.” She turned and headed for the door. “I’ll just have a little chat with Perry.”
“No way.” Eric was there, flattening his hand against the door so she couldn’t open it.
“He won’t say no,” Julie informed him as she tugged at the doorknob.
That was what he was worried about. Perry had a soft spot where Julie was concerned. “He’s not in charge of this. I am.”
Julie hesitated, as if she were trying to come up with a new tactic. She let go of the doorknob and slowly, almost reluctantly, turned around.
When she tilted up her face, her lips were just inches away from his. A tremor swept through his body as his mouth went dry. He was very tempted to brush his mouth against hers. Taste her sweetness and feel her soften against him.
“Tell me the real reason why you won’t let me be a decoy. Do you think I’m smart and sexy?” she said in a low tone. She looked him in the eye and then her gaze skittered away.
This was dangerous territory. “I think you’re reckless,” he answered gruffly. He’d seen how she would jump into a project with unrestrained enthusiasm.
Her eyes gleamed with determination. “I can be cautious.”
Eric rolled his eyes.
“And I can do sexy.”
Just the way her voice got rough was sexy as hell. His body tightened with anticipation. “But you can’t seduce a man.” He wasn’t going to let her seduce a stranger. Not on his watch.
“Yes, I can.”
Eric shook his head. “And you’re not the type who could seduce a man you’re not interested in. You’re too honest.”
Julie thrust out her chin and narrowed her eyes. Why was she taking offense over that statement? “I can seduce anyone when I set my mind to it.”
Eric lifted his hands as if he were surrendering. “I’ll take your word for it, but you still don’t get the job.”
She pressed a finger against his chest. “I could seduce you if I wanted to.”
The room suddenly went quiet. Eric’s muscles locked as the blood roared through his veins. He wanted to take that as an invitation, but he knew Julie didn’t mean it that way. He swallowed roughly. “Do you want to?”
The tension arced and shimmered between them. It coiled around them, drawing tighter and tighter until he thought it would spring wildly.
Julie dropped her hand and the tension shattered. She took a step away and winced when she bumped against the door. “For a chance to become a decoy?” she asked in a high voice. “Sure.”
Eric took a deep breath as the heavy disappointment pulled at him. Of course she wouldn’t go after a guy like him, unless it was to prove something. “You plan to seduce me to show you can be a decoy?”
She crossed her arms protectively in front of her. “I think that should give me enough qualification.”
What was that supposed to mean? Eric studied her expression, but he couldn’t get a good read. Did she think he was a hard catch, or did she think he was some kind of man-whore? He didn’t think he wanted to know. “But I know what you would be up to,” he pointed out.
She gave an arrogant shrug. “That will make my seduction of you all the more successful.”
Eric could see that Julie was giving this proposal serious consideration. This was bad. This was real bad. He was torn with wanting her to give it her best shot and wanting to get out of target range. “Forget it,” he said angrily. “This is ridiculous.”
“My seducing you is ridiculous?” She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. “That’s it. I’m taking the challenge. If I can seduce you, I get to be the decoy. Deal?”
“No way.” He’d rather make a deal with the devil.
Julie gave him a knowing smile as her eyes shone with defiance. “Because you think I could be successful.”
He tried to scoff at her statement, but he wasn’t sure if he’d pulled it off. He had to get her out of this mindset. For both their sakes.
“I have known women who have been trained in the erotic arts,” he said through gritted teeth. “They are experts at seducing a man and they never got close with me.”
“So, I’m not in their league, and you think you have nothing to worry about. Then why are you stalling?” she taunted. “Do we have a deal or not?”
She wasn’t going to quit, not even when he hired a few independent contractors. He had to call her bluff. She might make a clumsy move and he would restrain himself long enough to gently rebuff her. He could do this, knowing the other option was allowing her to walk into the jaws of danger.
“If it will get you to shut up about this, then sure.” Eric gripped her outstretched hand, and gave it a firm, quick shake. “It’s a deal.”
3
“HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?” Asia asked an hour later as they stood in the women’s restroom.
Julie rubbed her forehead with the tips of her fingers, warding off a headache. “I’m beginning to think I have.”
“It’s an unwritten rule.” Asia continued to pace the floor of the small