Tyler had been keeping an eye on Jules the entire evening, watching as she laughed and joked with her friends. Never before had a woman made his insides go to mush like this one did, and he’d had more than his fair share of them.

In fact, he prided himself on being the last free and single man standing in the Armstrong family, and up until today he’d never wasted a thought about changing. Hadn’t even begun to fathom how his brothers could have fallen so hard and fast for just one woman when there were plenty around. Warm and willing to join his bed for a night or two.

It rankled that Jules had turned him down flat. Not in a rude or unfriendly way, but firm. Despite the clear signs of appreciation he’d seen in her eyes. He was no fool and if that woman wasn’t aroused by his presence, he’d eat a broomstick. So why did she deny them both the pleasure they could find in each other’s arms?

Tyler was a patient, determined man and since she’d already stolen his breath after just spending a minute in her presence, he decided to get down to the essence of things – of her. Strange as it sounded, he wanted her. And her alone.

He shook his head at his own thoughts, a sliver of understanding hitting him that this might be the lightning bolt his brothers had talked about.

The one.

“It hits you between the eyes, a dart going straight through your heart and that very moment you know you want to spend the rest of your life with this woman,” Preston, his oldest brother had said.

A commotion across the bar pulled him from his thoughts and he squinted through the hazy air, his eyes rising as he realized Jules was in a not so pleasant exchange of words with a bunch of douche bags.

He glanced over to the pool table where he’d last spotted her friends, but none of them made a move to help her. “Some friends you are,” he muttered and pushed himself to his feet. He couldn’t sit there and watch those fools give her shit.

“Get out of my way,” Jules threatened the man blocking her path with a voice sharp as a sword.

“Now, there’s no need to be so unfriendly. How about you kiss me first, and we take it from there?”

Tyler rushed across the bar to reach her, but the gawking crowd blocked him. He elbowed his way through and heard her saying, “I don’t think so. Now, step out of my way! This is my last warning.”

“You threatening me, babe? I’ll come and get my kiss,” he laughed dirty and took one step toward Jules.

Tyler struggled desperately through the thickening crowd of onlookers to reach her when it happened.

The man put an arm around her shoulder and she jerked up her elbow, connecting it with his mouth. He gave a sharp hiss, followed by a curse. “Bloody bitch!” His hand automatically flew to his mouth, where blood streamed out. Using her attacker’s moment of pain, she slipped out of his embrace, bumping into another man.

“A wildcat. Fine with me,” her attacker said, trying to grab her again. Tyler almost went berserk at the sight. He’d arrived within three steps from her, but froze in place at the spectacle that now unfolded.

“Look, I don’t want problems, so I’m asking you nicely to back off,” Jules said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. But the man was like a dog with a bone. He adjusted his crotch while leering at her.

“Now we’re talking baby. So, here’s my plan: I’ll buy you a drink and then I fuck out your brains. What do you say?”

“I say no. No thanks.” She turned to leave the tumult, but his friend stepped into her way.

“Not so fast. First you’ll pay for that knock to my friend’s lip.”

“Look,” she raised her hands, “I just want to go home. It would be better for everyone if you stepped aside. Nobody will get hurt and you can continue praying to the gods of alcohol.”

The eyes of the man lit up with rage, but she saw his punch coming and ducked away, followed by a nice uppercut to his chin. Tyler wanted to applaud when the drunk dropped like a felled tree.

Jules stepped across him, shaking her head and said, “I don’t like being insulted by drunks, don’t bother to get up to say goodbye.”

“Nice punch,” someone from the crowd called to her, but Jules didn’t seem to hear.

Holy Shit. I love that woman. Tyler couldn’t help but be thoroughly impressed at her fighting talents. Looks like she didn’t need my help after all.

“We’ve got this. My mom used to make me take out the trash. Looks like that’ll come in handy now,” a mid-twenties guy with broad shoulders said with a chuckle. He grabbed the drunk and hauled him toward the exit.

“Have a good night,” Jules said in a sarcastic tone, lips pursed and stepped aside to let them pass. “I need a drink,” she murmured, fatigue showing in her beautiful eyes.

Tyler knew it was probably not the perfect time to approach her, but the magic spell she held over him wouldn’t let him do anything but follow her to the bar as if in a hypnotic trance.

“Vodka. And make it a double.”

“You want me to call the cops?” the bartender asked, pouring her glass.

She seemed to think about it for a moment, but then shook her head, “No thanks, Mitch. They’ll make us stay up all night to do paperwork and I’m really not in the mood for this.”

“Your call, Jules,” the bartender said, “but if those thugs come here ever again to cause trouble…”

When the bartender slid a shot glass her way, she tipped it back in one swallow, slammed the glass down on the bar top and shook her head when he offered to pour her another.

How much sexier could that woman get? A powerful hum spread through Tyler’s body, warming his heart and heating other parts of his anatomy. He sidled up to her, leaning his hip against the bar top. “Nice moves you’ve got there. I wouldn’t want to get on your bad side.”

She glanced up at him, those pale blue eyes ruining him. For a moment he saw them twinkle, before she shook her head and turned her attention to her scraped knuckles. The bartender slid her a wet cloth and she dabbed at the traces of blood on the cracked skin.

Tyler reached for her hand, but she evaded him. “I’ve got this. Why are you here?”

“Because you must be the hottest woman I’ve ever met.” Tyler grinned at her when she fidgeted on the barstool and signaled the bartender over. “Let me buy you another shot.”

Jules shook her head. “I’ve really had enough of men hitting on me for the night.”

“Please. I promise I’ll be a Boy Scout. No hitting, just friendly talk. Relax and enjoy.” He reverted to his last trump card and hit her with the puppy-glance he’d perfected over the years with his stubborn-as-a-mule sister Vivian and even his mother.

Jules looked him up and down, slowing her eyes when she reached his groin, making Tyler painfully aware of the blood rushing into this unruly part of his body. Given the smirk that threatened to break across her face, she noticed exactly what affect her perusal was having on him.

When she reached his eyes once more, she swallowed and nodded once. “Fine, but you’ll drink with me.”

“Would be an honor.”

“Don’t wish for things you can’t handle,” Jules grinned. “Mitch, a dozen shots for Tyler and me.”

A dozen? What kind of freaking maniac was she? Although, if he was being honest with himself, that twist turned him on like hell. If she didn’t stop doing one unexpected, incredibly sexy thing after another, he’d explode in front of her.

Jules headed for an empty high top and slid onto a stool, patting the one next to hers for him to take. “Second thoughts?”

“Never.”

Mitch put a tray with half a dozen shot glasses in front of them and smirked when she shot him a glance. “I ran out of Vodka.”

Tyler didn’t believe him for one second but he was actually glad for the lie. Jules grabbed the farthest glass and raised a brow at him when he failed to follow suit quickly enough.

He took the shot glass closest to himself and held her gaze as they both lifted them to their lips and tossed the liquid back. Tyler barely noticed the burn as the vodka slid down his throat, watching Jules occupying all of his attention in that moment. She swallowed, her Adam’s apple bobbing as she handled the fiery liquid with ease.

After downing the second of his three shots Tyler found himself staring at the glass, trying to decide which of the two was real. He placed a hand on her forearm, stalling her attempt to down number three. “Whoa! Slow down there, sweetheart.”

Jules shook her head, winked at him and brushed his hand off. “That’s not the way this game is played. Drink up or vacate that stool.”

Tyler had never backed down from a good challenge in his entire life, and despite knowing better he picked up drink number three, matching her pace in tossing the liquid back, sending a short prayer of thanks to Mitch who’d refused to give them a dozen shots.

“You okay?” That sounded an awful lot like Gunner’s voice. He’d forgotten his friend was here as well. But Tyler didn’t look, because he kept his eyes trained on Jules who grabbed the last shot. Thank God, it’s done. Tyler felt the vodka burning down his throat all the way into his stomach and he suddenly feared for his stomach lining. It was a good think he’d eaten two steaks before coming to the bar.

“Let’s go, before you do anything stupid.” Gunner insisted with a glance on the empty glasses.

“Wait…” Tyler said, completely satisfied with himself.

Jules slammed the shot glass back onto the table top, rum side down, wiped her mouth with her hand, and then she grabbed his shoulders and crashed her lips over his.

And this was no ordinary kiss.

She nudged his lips open, and Tyler eagerly complied, wrapping his arms around her back, pulling her soft body flush against him, while his tongue received hers, dancing, exploring, enjoying. She tasted like oranges and vodka, soft and burning, her fire consuming him, reawakening his body, his shaft springing to life and straining against the confinement of his khakis.

Their lips moved against one another, teeth biting, grazing, tongues surging and retreating. He lost himself in the kiss, in the sensations flooding his body, learning the taste and shape of her mouth, sucking on her tongue and hearing her moan in pleasure as he deepened the kiss.

Forgotten was Gunner, wanting to bring him back to base, forgotten dozens of onlookers who’d followed their shot-downing competition with cheers, forgotten everything but the passionate woman in his arms. With the few brain cells still working he filed the kiss under out-of-this-world and decided that whatever it took, he’d convince her that he was the one for her.

Just when he thought he’d finally died and gone to heaven, Jules pulled away from him, regaling him with a smile so sweet it tightened every fiber in his body. “Jules…”

“Sleep well, Tyler” she murmured and slid off the stool before he could comprehend what was happening.

He stared after her, as she left the bar, leaning on one of her friends for support. A stab of jealousy crushed him, as he tried to come to grips with her behavior. She’d just knocked his socks off with a kiss so carnal he had almost come in his pants like a randy school boy. And then she pulled back and walked out on him?

To say he was baffled would be the understatement of the century.