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An Excerpt From: CARTER’S CUFFS
Copyright © LACEY ALEXANDER, 2007
All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing,
Inc.
“Hey, Sparks. Lookin’ good
tonight.”
Erin Sparks glanced up from the parking lot toward a
second-floor balcony to find her sexy-as-sin neighbor, Carter Brooks,
giving her a wink. He leaned forward in his patio chair,
his arms resting on the railing, his chin perched lazily atop loose fists.
Her pussy spasmed slightly.
Was it because he looked so damn good sitting there with
his dark, messy hair and cutoffs, that naughty twinkle in his eye?
Or because of the way she looked right now?
She wore a tiny black skirt that barely covered her ass,
a tight red halter top that hugged what it didn’t reveal of her breasts,
and red stripper heels. Her dark hair, which she usually wore straight,
fell in voluminous waves around her face and over her shoulders. Her eyes
were done smoky with thick eyeliner and mascara, and she’d painted her lips
the same color as her top and shoes. She’d just been transferred to the
vice squad a month ago and given that she was used to wearing a simple
beige police uniform, it was hard not to feel how she was dressed
right now.
“I’m on my way to work,” she explained, holding in her
smile. She had no intention of flirting with Carter,
no matter how either one of them looked.
“Damn. If this is how lady cops dress for work, I might
have to start breaking some laws.”
His slow, teasing grin melted all through her, and her
own snuck out—against her will. “This isn’t our usual look, you know.”
“It should be,” he told her. “You’d have the bad guys
chasing you.”
“Well, tonight, hopefully they will. Not chase me,” she
added, a little nervous around him. “But…you know.” They’d discussed her
new assignment before—working north of the Vegas Strip, hanging outside a
seedy old-time bar while her partner Danny sat nearby in an unmarked car.
Two other plainclothes cops would be nearby, too, all waiting to move in
for a bust.
“Proposition you,” Carter replied.
She nodded, and for some reason her breasts tingled just
hearing Carter use the word proposition and knowing they were
talking about sex.
“I’m still confused by this,” he said then, his
expression less teasing and more puzzled. “There are naked chicks parading
around on stages all over this town, and signs on every
cab and billboard offering female company—but the Vegas P.D. is on a
mission to stamp out prostitution?”
She only shrugged. She saw the weirdness in that, too.
People came to Las Vegas
seeking forbidden pleasures they couldn’t get at home, and the city catered
to their fantasies—in every way but one. In the state of Nevada, prostitution
was legal, but in Las Vegas city limits, no. “I don’t make the
laws,” she pointed out.
Carter laughed quietly as he gave her another unguarded
once-over. “No, you just walk around making it impossible for guys to obey
them.”
Another twinge in her panties told her it was time to
go. Besides, she didn’t need to let the rest of their neighbors in the
condo complex see her parading around looking like, well…like a whore. Even if the way Carter looked at her right now
made her feel ready and willing to do her pretend job with him, instead of
her real one. She reached for her car door and ignored the urge to give him
another smile.
“What if I propositioned you, Sparks?”
She turned back toward him, raising her eyebrows. “With
money? Afraid I’d have to haul your ass to jail.” Despite herself, she
grinned. She liked him. It was hard not to flirt, even if it was in
her best interests to hold back.
“I wasn’t planning on offering you money.”
She lowered her chin. “What then?”
He grinned, easy and confident. “Just me, babe. Just
me.”
She threw her head back in a trill of laughter,
pretending her panties weren’t becoming more soaked by the second, then finally opened the car door. It was well past time
to leave—before she climbed up onto that balcony and attacked him. “See you
later, Carter.”
“Have a good night, Erin.
And hey, go easy on the bad guys. You gotta
feel sorry for ’em, ’cause you’re extremely
hard to resist, honey.”
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