“Are too,” Beth said. She made a humph sound. “Fine.” Her lips thinned. “Keep the fun stuff to yourself.” She reached out and pulled a strand of Jessica’s hair through her fingers. “It’s gotten longer. The last time I saw you it was barely to your shoulders, and now it’s well past them.”

Guilt tightened Jessica’s gut as she turned to her sister. It also opened up the door for Jessica to say what was on her mind. “I’m sorry. I know I’ve been far too withdrawn from you and mom. I buried myself in my work after the divorce but that’s behind me. I’m going to change that. I promise.”

Beth laced her fingers through Jessica’s. “Both mom and I knew you just needed time. All we want is for you to be happy.” She narrowed her eyes on Jessica. “Are you happy?”

“I’m getting there,” Jessica said, surprised at how much she meant her words.

Before her sister could respond, the doorbell rang. “Great,” Beth said, a frustrated sound following the word. “Mom and the baby are sleeping. Who would be visiting now?”

Jessica glanced at her watch and shot an amused look at Beth. “It’s eight o’clock. Not late by most people’s standards.”

Beth pushed to her feet and shook a finger at Jessica. “Wait until you have babies. Eight will feel like midnight. I’ll be right back.”

As the screen door slammed shut, Jessica laughed out loud. Beth hadn’t changed. Always melodramatic. Always in crisis. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d missed her until now.

Until this weekend, she hadn’t realized how much of everything she’d missed. Her mind raced back to the motel. To the awakening of the woman inside. The one she intended to keep alive and well.

Jessica was just about to go check on the visitor when Beth cleared her throat from behind. “Jessica,” she said. “You have a visitor.”

Jessica’s brows dipped. No one would visit her here. She’d barely kept in contact with her family, let alone anyone else. “What?” She rotated around in the swing to see the doorway. “Who?”

And then her jaw dropped because she could see exactly who herself. It was him. Her sexy stranger. Her lover for a night. And though she saw him there, in the doorway, looming above her sister by several inches, it didn’t seem real. Her stranger couldn’t be here, in her sister’s home. She blinked.

No.

It wasn’t possible.

With her back to the stranger, Beth proceeded to form the silent word “wow” meant for Jessica’s eyes only. God, what must her sister be thinking? Crap. What had he told her?

Her gaze lifted to his, to her fantasy man, who’d suddenly invaded her real world, and the impact stole her breath away. Those eyes…those dark, sultry eyes of his packed a powerful punch of pure heat. They seduced with a mere look, wordlessly promising pleasure.

And they demanded she remember.

Memories flooded her mind. Of naked bodies entwined. Of boldly telling this man what she wanted and needed. Even demanding it.

How long she sat there, unmoving, body getting all warm and wet, with the vivid play of intimate moments, she didn’t know. It was him, the stranger no longer a secret, who broke the silence.

“I told you I might be in town today. Didn’t you warn your sister I might drop by?”

His voice was both familiar and thick with the soft, silky accent she’d found such a turn-on. Still did, it appeared, because she felt the distinct ache of pleasure between her thighs.

Jessica swallowed, unable to think what to say. She didn’t understand how he was here or what he was saying. “I…I guess I didn’t.”

Beth made a tsk sound. “Now I know what your secret was.” She winked at Jessica. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

Her sister’s words shook Jessica back into action. She scrambled to her feet, backing up against the wooden railing of the patio. Beth disappeared, and he stepped out onto the porch and under the one dim light above the door.

His long raven hair was pulled back at his neck, a tie holding it in place, his square jaw dusted with dark stubble. His black jeans and matching, snug t-shirt, along with boots, completed the renegade look.

The one that screamed sex and fantasies.

Only this wasn’t a fantasy. He was real. And getting closer. Suddenly, he was moving, and in two long strides he stood beside the railing, and she rotated to face him. So close she could smell his spicy male scent. The same enticing scent she’d awakened wearing like a second skin just hours before.

But no matter how familiar her body might find this man, he was indeed a stranger. One who shouldn’t know how to find her. “Why are you here?” she demanded, straightening her spine. “No. How? How are you here?”

A hint of a smile lifted one corner of his sensual mouth. “Hello mi Hermosa.” A pause and a nod. “Jessica.”

She should be scared. Damn it, she was no fool. She didn’t really know this man. So why was her stomach fluttering with excitement and nerves instead of fear?

“How do you know me?” she asked.

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a wallet, flipping it open and exposing a badge. DEA. She knew it at sight. Quickly, Jessica found his name, trying to determine if it was familiar. “Dominic Montez,” she said, reading it out loud, but not placing it. She narrowed her eyes on him, searching his masculine features, trying to think of a time they’d met. “Did we know each other before…um…?”

He leaned closer. “Before we made love all night?” he asked, in a husky whisper.

Her nipples tightened at the words, and she felt the ache of undeniable lust between her thighs. She let out a breath and eased backward, afraid she was going to lose all rational thought. Normally, as an attorney who knew the courtroom well, she handled herself with grace. With this man instinct took over. Right now, getting naked and repeating last night sounded far too good.

She needed answers and she knew it. “Did we know each other before?” she asked again, leaning her palm on the railing to her right for stability.

He mimicked her action, resting his elbow on the wooden ledge to his left. The position put him closer to eye-level with her.

“Not before last night, mi Hermosa.” He spoke the words precisely, emphasizing the familiar endearment he’d spoken so many times as he’d made love to her, his eyes holding hers as if he wanted her to see the truth in them. “I took the liberty of taking one of your business cards.”

The idea of him going through her purse bothered her, yet, if he hadn’t he wouldn’t be here now. She was confused. The feeling made her snap. “You went into my purse?” Her voice held accusation.

His nod came slowly. “That’s right, and I used my contacts to find out where you were tonight. I wanted to see you again.” He pushed off the railing, his expression suddenly indiscernible, his mood darker. The barely there smile, gone. “You can report me if you like. I won’t deny my actions.”

There was no apology in his voice. In fact, his words felt like a dare. She searched his eyes, his face. An almost overwhelming urge to reach out and touch him overcame her. Like an urge to reassure. To comfort. An urge she didn’t let herself act upon.

“Dominic,” she said, trying to offer in that word what she hadn’t been willing to in touch.

And just like that, he closed the distance between them. He reached out to do what she had resisted, to touch. Anticipation sent a shiver racing down her spine. But just as the reward, the desired feel of his skin against hers, was to come, he pulled back, his hand dropping to his side.

Her body ached for him. For the contact that never came.

“I broke the rules to find you,” he said in a low voice. “I wanted to see you that much. But make no mistake, Jessica Montgomery. This isn’t the only time I’ve broken the rules nor will it be the last. I’m no angel.”

At that moment, all she wanted to do was kiss him. To taste that spicy maleness so unique to him. But she sensed the importance of his words. He was looking for something from her. Perhaps she held back because she wanted something from him too.

But what? She didn’t know. Only that a line was drawn in the sand and it somehow, someway, had to be crossed. And she wanted to do it now, not later. To tear down the barriers.

She didn’t even know this man, but what she’d shared with him had felt far more exposing and intimate than anything she’d ever experienced with her ex. Everything inside her wanted to trust him.

“These rules you break,” she asked, forcing herself to be cautious, to act as she normally would. “Are they for the right reasons?”

One second. Two. “Is there a right reason to break the rules?” he asked.

There had been a time when she would have said no. Not anymore. Right and wrong weren’t always black and white. She’d learned that after years of seeing criminals walk free on technical issues.

Besides, how could she convict Dominic for finding her when being found felt so…exciting? “Breaking the rules brought you here,” Jessica said, not willing to say more, implying her meaning rather than speaking it out loud.

He didn’t so much as move a hair, but the air crackled with the impact of her words. With his reaction. “Which means what?”

“I’m not sure,” she said, and that was as truthful as it got. She was as scared as she was pleased to see him. “I’m…surprised.”

“I needed to know,” he said in a low voice.

“Know?” she asked, her stomach fluttering with nerves, anxious for his response.

“If what I felt back in that room was real.”

He barely finished speaking the words when he reached out and brushed her cheek with his fingertips, and she felt it clear to her toes. Every inch of her body went warm and then turned hot. His palm settled on her face, and she found herself leaning into the touch, her lashes fluttering.