I’d spent weeks watching her, wondering if it were possible that she was the one I was looking for. When I finally worked up the nerve to ask her out, I’d left the small bakery shaking with anticipation. If she were the one I’d been tracking, then the shaking made sense. If she wasn’t and my emotions were starting to get in the way of work, we would have problems. The late-night date I’d planned was just for her. She seemed like the type of woman who liked jazz. I sure as hell wasn’t driving back into the city for my sake.

I held open her car door and let my eyes travel down the skin-tight dress that she was wearing. No underwear outlined her perfectly toned ass, making my cock jerk. When she was safely inside, I walked around the back of the car. I was taking my time getting back into the driver’s seat and praying that the boner she’d created would go down some.

“You look amazing,” I said honestly as I climbed in.

A red flush reached her cheek, bringing back the hard-on in my pants. I shifted uncomfortably and looked away from her, focusing on the road as we pulled away from the storefront. An awkward silence started to settle between us, and I knew if I wanted a second date, I would need to say something. I couldn’t really come out and ask her if she was Collins’s ex. She would run in an instant. Plus, if she wasn’t the woman I was hunting, I’d ruin any chance I had of getting lucky later. It had been too long to run the risk.

“Thank you. You look nice too,” she muttered. “So, you like jazz? You don’t seem like the type.”

“I’m not,” I blurted out. “I thought you would like it though.”

She smiled. “That was very thoughtful of you. I don’t really care what we do though. I’m just excited you asked me out.”

I raised an eyebrow. She was honest. That was rare in my line of work. “Really? So you don’t have your heart set on jazz tonight?”

She shook her head. “Nope. I do know a little dive bar on the edge of town. The beer is warm but the food is good.”

“Sounds perfect,” I said.

I hoped that the bar wasn’t too low-class. I was no snob, but the last thing I wanted was to run into someone who knew me for who I really was. It was just on the edge of town, like she’d said. Instantly, I was at ease. Her idea of a dive bar was more like a small mom and pop restaurant. I saw no motorcycles parked outside, and I let out a sigh of relief. She looked at me with a questioning gaze and I quickly thought of an excuse.

“I was worried it would be a biker bar or something,” I said. I winced at my words. What the hell was my problem? I couldn’t seem to lie to her and it was going to get me in some serious trouble.

Her face paled. “A biker bar?”

I cleared my throat and smiled at her. “In that dress, I’d be fighting men off you left and right. That’s no way to spend a first date.”

“Oh!” she said, her warm laughter filling the car. “Well, you don’t have to worry about that. I don’t go to bars like that.”

“Yeah? You don’t like bikers?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t like getting hit on. It always makes me feel uneasy.”

“Well, I hit on you, and you didn’t seem to mind.”

“You’re different,” she whispered softly. “I liked it when you hit on me and when you asked me out.”

“I’m glad. I didn’t want to find a new coffee shop,” I said with a playful wink.

“We can’t have that. So, what do you do in the city?”

I had to think fast. Too much honesty could get us both killed. “I mostly just run numbers. It’s really more of a desk job, but here recently, I’ve been out in the field a little more.”

“That’s vague,” she muttered.

“I’m sorry.” I frowned. “It’s just a boring job. I work in imports and exports. All sorts of stuff, whatever comes in from overseas.”

“Nothing illegal, I hope?”

“Do I look like the criminal type?”

She shook her head. “No. But they come in all shapes and sizes.”

“What about you? Have you owned the bakery long?”

She shrugged. “Some days, it feels like I’ve been there forever. Other days, it’s new and fascinating all over again.”

“And you gave me crap about being vague.”

Rosa laughed. “I’m not sure . . . a few years now? It took some time to get the money together. Before that, I just kind of flitted from one job to the next.”

A few years, I mused. She fit the timeline perfectly, but I struggled to think that the sweet girl sitting next to me could ever be tangled up with Collins and his men. “What about before that? Are you from the area?”

“I’ve lived here since I was born,” she said softly.

Something about the tone of her voice hinted at sadness. I liked to think that I was pretty good at reading people, and she just didn’t fit the mafia type. Still, I never would have thought my own sister would get tangled up with mafia men, but she did, and now she was gone. The woman I was hunting would know about Shannon, and I needed answers. Until I was sure one way or the other, I would just have to keep digging.

“This is it,” she said, her mood seeming to lighten as the small diner came into view. “I hope you like it. It’s really a great place. Very low-key.”

“If you like it, then I’m sure I’ll love it. You seem to have great taste,” I said, laying on the charm.

She rolled her eyes. “You sure do know how to lay it on thick, don’t you?”

Winking, I parked the car and jogged to get the passenger door before she could open it. We’d parked around the side of the small restaurant where the light barely touched. She stepped out and leaned against the car for a second. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she didn’t want to eat, at least not the cuisine that the elderly couple I’d seen in the window would be serving. My job was simple. I was just supposed to get to know her—with no physical contact—but when she bit her lip, my morals flew out the window.

Stepping closer to her, I placed a hand on either side of her, pinning her between myself and the car. Her chest was heaving up and down, making her breasts quiver. I could have watched her there in the dim light all night without touching her, just taking in her rare beauty. Her raven hair hung loose around her face, accentuating her perfectly plump lips and emerald eyes. Every Irish bone in my body was set on fire as I watched her wiggle under my steady gaze.

“You really are something—do you know that?”

She nodded. “I don’t feel much like eating anymore.”

I stepped closer. Our bodies pressed together as my lips brushed against hers. Her breath caught in her chest as my cock pressed against her warm body. The thin fabric of her dress did little to hide her desire for me. As her nipples grew hard and poked through the material, I groaned in pleasure. She trailed her fingers up my arms until they cradled my face. When she pulled my lips down into a crushing kiss, I lost all control I had over the situation.

Time seemed to slip away, and I forgot that we were still standing in a dimly-lit parking lot. I pulled her body against my own, thumbing her hips and sliding my hands down her ass. As I suspected, she was wearing nothing under the thin sheath. I slid my hands back around to the front of her dress, letting one brave hand slide between us and trail up the inside of her thigh.

If I didn’t stop soon, I knew that I would take her right there in the parking lot as our tongues intertwined and darted between our mouths. She bit my lower lip as I pulled away and nibbled playfully on her earlobe. Her nails dug into my arms as I tried to keep myself under control. Every sigh of pleasure that slipped past her lips sent me into another frenzy of desire.

“Let’s get out of here,” I said in a heavy voice. “I don’t care where we go. I just want to get you alone.”

She nodded breathlessly. “Let’s go to my place. I need you.”

With those final words, I knew that I was hers to control. I would do anything to keep her wrapped in my arms.