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Caldwell’s pants, he had no choice but to get this job done as quickly, thoroughly, and professionally as possible.

Chapter Three
    R eggie perched on the couch and pretended to read a magazine as she waited for Gabe to finish his inspection. Her leg jiggled nervously as she anxiously watched for him down the hall.
    “You never told me you gave him a fake name. That’s so dirty and un-Reggie-like,” Natalie whispered, settled on the couch next to her and wearing an expression that screamed, “Dish, girlfriend!”
    “Can we talk about this later?” As Natalie knew very well, her one-night stand had been rather dirty and un-Reggie-like.
    But Craig’s dumping her a week before their trip to a beautiful Hawaiian resort had left her bruised. And when an astoundingly gorgeous hunk of male flesh had approached her, of all people, she hadn’t been able to quell the urge to be someone else. Someone seductive. Someone who had wild one-night stands with big, dark, dangerous-looking men and left them in the morning without saying good-bye.
    Even though the last thing she’d wanted to do was leave. But that was what you did with a one-night stand, right? At least that was what she’d thought at the time.
    But that hadn’t kept her from second-guessing herself a million and one times in the past several months. What if she’d left her phone number? Her e-mail? Her real name, for starters?
    Eighteen months ago, she’d told herself anonymity was the best course of action. Besides, it wasn’t like Gabe had indicated any desire to take it beyond one night of lust-filled fun. And with Simply Delicious about to start production, it wasn’t like she’d had time to start a long-distance romance.
    She’d accepted their encounter for what it was, a meaningless vacation fling with a gorgeous, dangerous-looking stranger.
    Who would ever believe he’d show up a year and a half later in her living room?
    Her face was so hot with embarrassment she could fry an egg on her forehead.
    This was just her luck. The one time she’d done something crazy and out of character, it came back to haunt her in the form of a six-foot-three, impossibly hot bodyguard who, judging from his standoffishness, clearly had no interest in renewing their acquaintance.
    Natalie didn’t give up. “But he’s the one, right? The guy you told me about?”
    “Yes,” Reggie hissed, kicking herself for giving Natalie even the sketchiest of details about her vacation fling. Trust Natalie, who could be flakier than phyllo dough about most details, to have a mind like a steel trap when it came to anything concerning a hot guy. She heard heavy footsteps coming down the hall. “Now, will you shut up?”
    Natalie shot off the couch and offered her seat to Gabe, who refused in favor of the leather club chair positioned a good five feet away.
    Talk about an ego boost.
    Natalie moved behind his chair and raked his wide shoulders with an exaggerated leer. “He’s so hot,” she mouthed.
    No kidding. Tall, at least a few inches over six feet, and brawny, he exuded the same barely restrained physical power she’d noticed the first time she saw him, across the restaurant at the Grand Wailea.
    And his face, which had haunted her for over a year. Not pretty at all, and not boyishly good-looking like Craig either. His face was strong, with a square jaw, high, slashing cheekbones, and dark, deep-set eyes.
    The only concessions to softness were his hair, which she remembered sliding like silk against her skin, and his mouth. His lower lip was lush, fuller than the top, which curved into an almost cupid’s bow shape. His chin negated its potential femininity, jutting out in a sharp, squared-off edge.
    Just remembering the firm, tender touch of those lips on her made her so hot she feared smoke might billow out of her waistband.
    She resisted the urge to fan herself and stretched her lips into a friendly smile. “So what can we do about my admirer?”
    Gabe ran a big,