After collecting a few hugs—an especially warm one from the nurse-amateur—Hayley left the dressing room in an exhilarated daze.

Anxious to share her triumph with Kari and Evelyn, she hadn’t stopped to change out of her costume, just thrown a light summer raincoat over it.

She’d never really believed she could do it, but the old thrill of performance had carried her through. Along with the audience’s approval, not to mention her fantasy about dancing for Ry.

Donna had said each guy in the audience wanted to believe the woman onstage was dancing for him, seducing him, wanting to make love to him. By envisioning Ry, Hayley must have conveyed that message.

Hah! She couldn’t wait to see him tomorrow. And Tom and Ravi, too. They’d been skeptical, and she’d proved them wrong.

Humming “What a Feeling,” she stepped from the backstage area into the main room of the club, where the audience was dispersing. Where were Kari and Evelyn?

When she’d been dancing, she’d seen them, but they hadn’t been at that same table when she’d stood onstage accepting her winner’s contract. Maybe they were in the restroom.

As she made her way through the thinning crowd, a few audience members offered hearty—and in a couple cases semi-drunken—congratulations.

She gave polite thanks, and kept moving toward the back of the room. The man who’d reminded her a bit of Ry was still there, alone at his small, dimly lit table.

Smiling to herself, she wondered how Ry would react if he knew she’d cast him as a fantasy lover to inspire her performance.

Wait. Was she seeing things? She peered more closely at the black-haired man who lounged in his chair, staring toward her from behind wire-rim glasses. Hair combed back in an unflattering style, a suit jacket folded across his lap, a long-sleeved white shirt and a tie. Not the sexy PI she knew, but…

Damn, it was him.

Turned out the PI had a disguise for every occasion. Even for coming to a strip club to ogle her.

Oh, God. He’d seen her naked. Seen her dance, while she’d imagined his heated gaze, his hands on her body, his lust for her.

Embarrassment flooded through her. Quickly followed, thank heavens, by a surge of anger. Anger was easier to deal with.

She closed the distance between them. Hands on her hips, fighting the attraction she always felt when she saw him, she glared down. “How dare you come here.”

He shrugged nonchalantly, but, now she was right in front of him, she saw that the blaze of his blue eyes was anything but casual. Was that the heat of arousal? And what lay under that oh-so-casually draped jacket on his lap?

Had she turned Ry on with her performance?

The thought sent another rush of heat through her, recharging every cell that had been so aware, so aroused, when she was dancing. Her breath caught, her nipples tightened, and the crotch of her thong dampened.

A sense of female power emboldened her. “You didn’t think I could do it.” She waved the contract. “What do you think of me now?”

His jaw tightened. “Penny, as a member of the audience, I enjoyed your show.”

Damn, she’d forgotten they were both undercover. She wasn’t supposed to know him. With a big smile, she said brightly, “I’m so glad you enjoyed it, sir. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must find my friends and head home.”

Under his breath, he said, “I’m your ride.”

What had happened to the female PIs?

Thoughts of anyone other than Ry vanished as he stood. When he reached his full six-foot-three he was, thanks to her stripper shoes, only a few inches taller than she.

Ry was the kind of guy who, when he carried a jacket, hooked it on a finger and dangled it over his shoulder. Yet tonight he held the suit jacket folded in front of him. Hiding an erection?

The thought robbed her of breath. Ry Montana’s cock. What did it look like?

Of course she’d checked out his package in those well-worn jeans he favored. She knew he was hung, but she wanted to know the details. Naked, up close and personal.

“I’ll go first,” he muttered. “You hang back. Say hi to the bartender, tell her you’re looking forward to working here.”

She’d never imagined that her fantasies about Ry would be anything other than crazy imaginings, but now…She was turned on. Maybe he was, too. In a few minutes, they’d be alone in his car.

Moisture seeped past her thong to dampen the insides of her thighs. Her mouth, though, was dry when she whispered, “All right.” At first she’d been furious that he’d come tonight, but now the night was full of sexy possibilities.

“Exit the club by the front door, turn left, go down half a block. I’m driving a black Jeep.” He raised his voice. “Congratulations again on winning, Penny. You deserved it.”

When he walked away, she forced herself not to watch. She was undercover, she had to play her role. Even if her body ached and trembled with lust.

She strolled over to the bar where the bartender, a pretty redhead in her midthirties, said, “Hey, you were awesome. Way to go, Penny.” She held out her hand. “I’m Gloria. Used to be a dancer myself.”

“Good to meet you. I’m looking forward to working here, though I’m a little nervous.”

“You’ll do great if you dance the way you did tonight. Tomorrow the manager’ll fill you in on the rules. Our customers are pretty good, but just remember, you don’t have to take shit from anyone. The bouncers will look out for you. All our VIP booths have cameras.”

Donna had told her about the screened VIP booths where dancers took customers for “private shows.” Definitely not sex, she’d said, but one-on-one, totally naked, dances.

Anxiously, Hayley said, “My contract doesn’t require me to do private dances, does it?”

“No, that’s up to you. But that’s where the real money is.”

It was one thing to create and deliver a performance onstage. No way was Hayley doing a nude lap dance for a strange man. “Thanks for the advice. See you tomorrow.”

Heart racing at the thought of being alone with Ry, she left the club. Quickly she found the Jeep and slid into the passenger side.

He had taken off his glasses and tie, undone his shirt cuffs and rolled the sleeves up his tanned forearms, and run his fingers through his hair enough to mess it up. He looked more like his usual sexy self. Except for the suit jacket that rested on his lap.

Oh yes, he definitely had an erection.

“What happened to Kari and Evelyn?” she asked.

“Sent them home.”

Because he wanted to be alone with her. Feeling smug, she asked innocently, “Why?”

“Kari was tired.” His voice came out in a growl.

She pressed her lips together to keep from grinning. Pregnant or not, Kari, from what Hayley had seen over the last six months, was as tough as Ry. “Oh, that’s too bad.”

He started the engine and pulled out of the parking spot. “Where to?”

“I have an apartment in Lonsdale near the Sea Bus.” Normally she took the ocean bus to and from downtown.

He headed toward Georgia Street, which would take them into Stanley Park and over the Lions Gate Bridge.

Once they reached her place, she could ask him in. Might she actually have sex with Ry? She’d thought he was out of her league, but tonight anything could happen.

“You did good, Hayley.” He glanced over and his gaze lingered before he stared back at the road. “How did it feel, up onstage? You looked like you were enjoying it. Or was that just part of the act?”

Remembering, she shivered. “It was scary at first. The idea of all those people watching me while I…”

“Stripped.” The word rasped out. “And yet you did it.”

His vaguely accusing tone made her stick out her jaw. “As a performance. An undercover job where my costume and, uh, nudity were my disguise. Besides, I’ve gone to avant garde dance, even theatre, where the performers were nude.”

“But were they dancing to arouse?”

“Did I do that?” Her voice was little more than a whisper. “Arouse?”

“Hell, woman, you know you did. You must’ve given every guy in the place a hard-on.”

Her heart was pounding so hard she could barely breathe. “Including you?”

“Hell, yeah!” He jerked the Jeep around a corner, driving too fast and narrowly missing another car.

His rough confirmation made her bold enough to admit, “It aroused me, too.”

“Shit, Hayley. Oh hell, I can’t drive and talk about this.”

They were at the entrance to Stanley Park, in the lane that led toward the Lions Gate Bridge. He shifted lanes quickly, to take the one that fed into the oceanfront drive circling the perimeter of the park. His profile looked grim and he had a tight grip on the steering wheel.

Her heart beat even faster and sexual tension knotted her muscles, throbbed in her pussy.

He turned the Jeep into a parking spot above the seawall walk. There was only one other parked car, and no people in sight. He slammed the headlights off and flicked off the ignition.

Then he turned to her. “You looked turned on when you were dancing. That was real?”

She took a deep breath, let it out, and confessed.

“I imagined one man watching me while I stripped for him. Imagined my moves arousing him. The thought of that, of his hungry eyes on me, was a turn-on.”

Ry grabbed the jacket off his lap and tossed it in the back. “I’m still aroused. How about you?”

She stared at the fly of his suit pants. Oh, yes! It was all she could do not to whimper at the sight of the massive erection thrusting against the fabric. Her pussy throbbed and she squeezed her thighs together. “Yes. I am.”

“Mutual arousal.” His voice grated. “Want to do something about it?”

In her wild imaginings, there’d been, if not necessarily romance, at least a little finesse. More than You scratch my itch and I’ll scratch yours.

But damn, this was Ry, the man she’d fantasized about since she met him. Tonight she’d been naked onstage, naked in front of him, and she was hornier than she’d ever believed possible. Pretty words and gentle kisses weren’t what her body needed.

She’d wanted excitement, and this was It.

“Yes.” As the word sighed out of her, his lips were there, inhaling it and devouring her mouth with a hot, hungry kiss.

She moaned, closed her eyes, blindly grabbed his head. Gripped him as she kissed back.

Hayley had never been a woman who’d get swept away by a kiss. A part of her had always remained analytical. Aware of mingled breath, teeth knocking. Kisses that were too wet, too bland, or too acrobatic.

But Ry’s kiss banished thought. It was a total, in-the-moment experience. Passion and bliss, relief and hunger. Sensation that flooded through her body, igniting every pleasure center.

Especially the one between her legs, where she was damp and throbbing.

She and Ry were opposites in so many ways. How could it be that their mouths had been designed for each other?

Their hunger met and matched. Onstage, she’d imagined herself to be a sex goddess in his eyes, and now he made her feel like one. A goddess who drove him wild with need.

Their bodies twisted awkwardly toward each other on the front seat, craving more. His fingers fumbled with the top button of her raincoat.

And car lights strobed through the Jeep, making them jerk apart.

“Damn!” he said. “We can’t do this here.”

“My apartment?”

“Too far away. I need you now.”

Need. He needed her, the way she did him.

“We’ll find a place,” he said roughly. “Get out.”

Too aroused to ask questions, she opened the Jeep door. By the time her shaky legs had found solid ground, he’d come around the vehicle.

She stared at him in the light of a nearly full summer moon. Oh God, he was handsome, black hair in disarray, gaze intent and burning. “Ry,” she sighed.

Then, because she was exactly the right height in her high heels, she took a step toward him until her body was flush against his.

Groaning, he pulled her into a tight embrace. Even through their clothes, she could feel his steely erection. She whimpered, squirmed against him, longing to get rid of all the clothes and feel him thrust deep inside her.

She reached down, hiked up her raincoat and short skirt, and pressed her crotch against the front of his pants. Oh God, yes! He felt so good. Exactly what she needed.

A shudder went through him and he pumped his hips.

She wanted to wrap her legs around him, climb him like a stripper pole, rub her clit against him. Just a couple times, that was all it would take, she was so close to the edge.

He grabbed her bum, pulled her tight, thrust against her.

Oh yes, yes. “More,” she whispered, grinding against him.

“Shit, Hayley.” Voice harsh, he shoved her away. Gone was the devil-may-care guy who was always quick with a quip or ironic comment. Lust had reduced Ry to primal male.

And she loved it. Except, she wanted an orgasm right now.

“Car coming,” Ry said raggedly.

Damn, she’d again forgotten where they were.

They stared hungrily into each other’s eyes as the car drove by. Then he grabbed his jacket from the back seat of the Jeep, gripped her hand and tugged her across the road toward a grassy stretch of park bordered by bushes and tall trees.

Sex outside? A night of firsts.

It was probably illegal. But that only added to the excitement.

When they reached the lawn, her heels punched holes in the grass, slowing her and making her stumble. Impatiently she bent to undo the ankle straps and pull off the shoes.

Oh, bliss, as her sore feet sank into cool, soft grass. And bliss, again, as she regained her natural posture and stride, hurrying hand in hand with Ry across the lawn.

They found a narrow path through the bushes, and followed it to a smaller grassy area. Semisecluded. Probably no one would be walking through the park in the middle of the night.

Probably.

Ry tossed his suit jacket down, then bent to spread it.

“It’ll get grass stains,” she protested automatically.

He straightened. “I don’t give a fuck about grass stains.”

Come to think of it, nor did she. She unbuttoned her light raincoat and tossed it down too.

“Jesus,” he groaned, “you’re still wearing your costume. Way to make a sex fantasy come true.”

“That makes two of us,” she murmured under her breath. Then, more loudly, channeling the female power she’d discovered tonight, she said, “Want me to strip for you?”

“Hell, yes. But, I can’t take it.” He reached for the shoulders of her abbreviated jacket.

She hadn’t done up the buttons and it slid off easily. As soon as her hands were free of the sleeves, she reached for her skirt zipper, but he beat her to it. The skirt slipped down her legs.

She arched her back and held her head high. Pulse throbbing in her throat, arousal humming in her pussy, she faced him.

Naked in the moonlight but for her lacy black bra and thong.