Jule Reigh and the Jim Stone Affair by Lani Aames Page A

was certain Jim Stone was behind the heist,
but they had nothing with which to arrest him. Jule had been
assigned to follow the alleged thief and call in backup if she
found any leads, no matter how slim.
    Aside from the visit to the museum, Jim Stone
had done nothing remarkable all afternoon—except look sexy as
hell—and the Pink Ecstasy had fueled her fantasies to keep her from
getting bored. Weighing in at 69.69 carats, it was purported to
bring complete sexual satisfaction to its owner and partner.
    Jule sighed. Over the course of the
afternoon, she had fallen in deep lust with Stone, and almost
wished him luck with getting away with it. In possession of the
Pink Ecstasy, he and his sexual partner would, according to the
legend, experience the most sexual and sensual of delights ever
imagined. Part of her wanted to be his partner, at least for one
night.
    She envisioned herself wearing nothing but
the Pink Ecstasy draped around her neck, the heart-shaped stone
nestled between her breasts, and lying in the center of a
heart-shaped bed. Stone, wearing nothing but a brooding, sensual
smile, would touch her everywhere, starting with her feet and
kissing his way up the insides of her thighs, lapping at her…
    Jule shook her head, snapping out of her
little daydream. The mental images turned her on, but she was
afraid she’d become distracted. She was an Interpol agent,
dedicated to helping catch the bad guy, not wishing him luck and
fantasizing about being in his bed…no matter how devastatingly
attractive he was.
    Snapping a few more shots, she wondered how
long Stone would linger over his coffee. He’d met with another man
for a late dinner. She’d taken pics of the other man as well, in
case he was Stone’s fence for selling the diamond necklace. Nothing
had passed between them by the time the other man left, and Stone
remained behind, sipping his coffee and lost in thought. She
wondered if he might be using the quiet time to work out the
details of his next heist.
    At that moment, a group of departing diners
passed through, obscuring her view of Stone. As they strolled by,
they took their time and chatted amongst themselves about how good
their meals had been. When the last of them trailed out of her line
of sight, she looked to Stone’s table again, but he was gone!
    Her heart thudded rapidly as she glanced all
over the restaurant, hoping to catch sight of him. He hadn’t had
time to pay his check and leave. Maybe he’d gone to the restroom.
She started to take a step toward the front so she could watch the
restroom doors and the exit, when something hard and pointed
pressed into the small of her back. She froze.
    “Why are you following me?” a luscious male
voice asked near her ear.
    “I don’t know what you mean,” she replied
evenly, trying not to panic.
    He reached around her and snatched the cell
phone from her hand. Scrolling through the photos she’d taken of
him all afternoon, he laughed softly. “You have a lot of pictures
of someone you haven’t been tailing.”
    Jule’s heart sank to the pit of her stomach.
She had become too distracted. She was supposed to send a copy of
each photo back to headquarters as soon as she took it and delete
the original just in case something like this happened. If she had
followed protocol, she might have been able to talk her way out of
this predicament because there wouldn’t be any evidence for her to
explain away.
    The only way to get out of it was to admit
what she’d done. She turned to face him with her eyes half-closed
and teasingly raked the tip of her tongue over her lips. Slowly,
she placed her hand on his chest and trailed her fingers along the
buttons on his shirt. Before she reached his belt buckle, she
stopped.
    “I like the way you look,” she drawled,
playing the vamp and hoping her performance was convincing.
    “Do you always follow men you like?” he
rasped, his voice turning hoarser as the protrusion in the front of
his trousers grew