Chapter Four

Stone Black Hawk.

Jasira groaned. He’d been first and foremost in her mind for the past few days. I can’t help it. The man is a walking ad for sex appeal. Plain and simple. Tall, powerful, muscular. Coal black hair that hung past his shoulders. His skin a beautiful bronzed tan.

“The man is just what dreams are made of.”

There had been something magnetic about him. When he leaned in the car, it had taken such restraint not to lean over and kiss him on those firm, bow-shaped lips.

“It doesn’t make sense. Guys don’t do this to me.” And none ever had. Not until him.

With a frustrated sigh, Jasira climbed to her feet and began restocking the pamphlets. A few moments before closing, she was in the back room straightening up when she heard the chime.

“Man, I was really hoping on getting out of here on time.”

Putting down the items in her hand, she headed through the door and stopped dead in her tracks. Standing before the wall display of Navy information, thumbing through a flyer was none other than her sheriff. Jasira drank him in. Another pair of skintight blue jeans and cowboy boots. His green shirt hugged powerful biceps and a chiseled torso. His hair fell loose about his face and he held his cowboy hat in one hand.

Well they got the name right. Dude looks like he’s carved out of granite.

She licked her lips and strode toward him. “Looking to enlist?” Jasira questioned teasingly.

He lifted his head and their eyes met. Stone had intensely dark brown eyes. So dark they almost appeared black. A lazy and most definitely sexy grin filled his masculine features.

“I don’t know. I’m older than most recruits. Think they’d take me?”

I would! Bound and determined not to actually verbalize that thought, Jasira merely smiled. She focused on his hands. Large and strong with long fingers and clean, square nails. Finally her curiosity got the best of her.

“What are you doing here?”

He replaced the pamphlet and strode toward her. She gulped. He moves so fluidly. Like the wind.

“I came to see you,” he uttered on a low thread of promise.

Her knees trembled at the silken vow. His voice nothing short of lethal on her senses. I could get used to him calling me by my full name. Oh, so used to it.

“Why, may I ask?” A close crack of thunder made her jump. Stone never flinched. With a deep breath she continued. “Change your mind about the ticket?” Looking past Stone’s large body, Jasira watched the sky open up.

“Why have you come?” he questioned, pulling her attention from the deluge outside and back to him.

She frowned. “I’m sorry? This is my office; you came here.”

Stone stepped closer and she found herself engulfed by a scent that sent tremors along her spinal cord. I never knew a man could smell so good. It was a culmination of rugged masculinity and raw power. She had no idea that was a smell which could be bottled, and it may not, but it was Stone’s scent. He murmured something which she couldn’t understand and reached for her face only to stop before he actually completed the touch.

“Have dinner with me?” he asked. Jasira narrowed her eyes slightly, and he cocked his head to the side. “Supper? The evening meal?” He continued to stare at her as he talked. “Are you dating someone, involved, or married?”

He gazed at her with such intensity, Jasira wanted to shift. “I have to go change, but I could meet you somewhere. Not dating, married, or otherwise involved.”

Stone flashed a grin that melted her insides. “Wonderful. Want to meet at seven at the place just up from here?”

“The steakhouse?”

“Yes. Unless you would prefer somewhere else.”

My bed. “No, that’s fine. I just have to close up here then I’ll be there by seven.” Her belly flipped at the prospect of spending the evening with this handsome man.

Stone smiled and it stopped her heart. He had a dimple in his right cheek, which only succeeded to make him even sexier. “Wonderful,” he said. “I’ll see you then.”

His gaze held hers for a few highly charged moments. Spinning his hat in his hand, he plunked it down upon his head, turned, and walked out, disappearing in the darkness and rain.

“What a man,” Jasira muttered softly as she began closing up for the night.

Not long after and she was home showering. Later when she stood before her closet, Jasira’s heart began beating out of control. Sitting at the foot of her platform bed, she took several deep breaths.

“Get a grip, Jasira, it’s just a meal.”

However, as she slid into her outfit, Jasira wasn’t positive about that. Right off the bat, she’d felt something she couldn’t explain with this man. Tugging on her black back-laced boots, she sighed. There’s no need to figure everything out right now. But man, what a nice distraction for my last year here.

Jasira drove carefully through the rain and arrived about five minutes early. She strode from the parking lot to the door under the protection of her umbrella and, just as it had in the office, her breath caught when her gaze landed upon Stone leaning against the wall, dry under the awning. As she approached, he pushed lazily away and a slow, sensual smile spread across his face, giving birth to a colony of butterflies in her belly.

“Hey,” she said shyly, stopping beside him and closing her umbrella.

His gaze heated exponentially as he took in her attire. Despite the wet and cold of the night, Jasira felt warmth unfurl in her belly and flow throughout her body.

“Wow,” he muttered.

In that second, Jasira knew she’d picked the right outfit. The tight sheath dress, black with hints of rose in it accentuated every curve she possessed. The long boots helped her legs. Stone took her umbrella and opened the door for her. Jasira fought the urge to nuzzle against him and allow his scent to embed into everything. She shivered at the electricity skating along her spine when his hand settled upon the small of her back. His thumb moved slowly back and forth, sending small pulses through her.

Once they were seated in their booth, she stared at her dinner companion. The urge to reach over the table, sink her hands into his thick hair, and kiss him washed over her. She shifted in the booth only to still when he arched a brow and held her gaze.

“Tell me about you,” he commanded in a low tone.

“What do you want to know?”

The smoldering heat flared up again in his eyes before he controlled it. “Tell me what scared you that day.”

Okay, not what I expected. Jasira worried her lower lip as they placed their order. The second the waitress left he turned his piercing gaze upon her. Noise from the restaurant filtered around them, but silence lay heavy between them as they stared across the booth at one another. Jasira honestly was hesitant to tell him. She hadn’t accepted what she’d seen herself. That event played over and over in her ever since it happened.

“Tell me,” he said again, after a considerable stretch of easy silence, and taking a drink of his soda.

“If I do, you’re gonna skip the ticket and just have me committed.”

She held her tongue while their food was delivered. Staring at her steak, Jasira took a deep breath then looked up. Stone must have been waiting for her, for his dark gaze had fixed upon her. Jasira could feel the pain she had felt Saturday. Not as intense but enough to rattle her.