The Officer Says "I Do" Read Free

his pocket.
    “Comped room?”
    He gave her a strange look. “Yeah. How’d you know?”
    “Isn’t that how it always works?” she said vaguely. Of course she knew. She was an employee. A one-night stand didn’t require she share her life story.
    Tim pulled his hand back out of his pocket, the room key still in his hand. Long, tan fingers flipped the card over, rubbed the smooth glossy finish, traced the edges of the plastic. Those fingers—and the not-so-PG images they were creating in her mind—could do some serious damage to her self-control. What little she had.
    “Do you believe in following signs?”
    Skye’s breath caught in her chest. “Yeah. I do.” Talk about a big, neon marquee.
    Tim nodded silently, still staring at the room key. Was he going to ask her up? That’s where this was all heading anyway, right? A night of pleasure before he went back to wherever he came from.
    Not that she did that often. Rarely, actually. Skye was more of a relationship person. But she was also a woman, and between boyfriends she never felt like there was much wrong with enjoying herself.
    But Tim called to her senses like no other man had before. And walking away without even seeing if one night was an option would have been almost painful.
    “Ever realize that you’ve been watching life instead of living it?” He looked at her, but his eyes weren’t seeing her. Skye would have guessed waving a hand in front of his face wouldn’t have fazed him. It was like he mentally left the building.
    “Kind of a philosophical question for the first meeting, don’t you think?” she teased, hoping for a reaction.
    He gave her a grin and she relaxed. “You’re right. Screw being philosophical.” Before she had a chance to say anything in response, he grabbed her wrist and tugged her around a corner. In the shadow of a potted palm tree, he gently nudged her back against a wall. “Just need to see,” he murmured and then his lips were on hers.
    The bright casino lights, the buzz of voices, the clanging of bells and wailing of sirens all faded to nothing, as if they’d stepped in a bubble built for two.
    Skye wasn’t one to lie to herself. She could play the outraged damsel, she could act the indignant uptight woman. But since she was neither, and because it was exactly what she wanted, she only wound her arms around Tim’s neck to bring him closer. To encourage.
    Not that he needed the encouragement. The man was taking what he wanted whether she agreed or not. His tongue licked the seam of her lips and dove in without waiting for her to catch up.
    He tasted like whiskey, and he felt like velvet. Large hands circled her waist and pulled her against him. The outline of his erection was hot against her hip, and she felt powerful. One palm coasted up her ribs until he cupped her breast, then thumbed her nipple through the thin material of her tank top. The other lifted the hem of her shirt up. Just enough to have her gasping, wondering how far he would go. But he only let his thumb rub the skin of her lower stomach. Nothing more.
    All smooth and sensual, the kiss wasn’t meant to make her knees weak. No, it was meant to strengthen her enough to handle what followed. This wasn’t the main course. It was the appetizer.
    Thank you. Thank you, Fate, for bringing me this fine specimen.
    He murmured something in her ear, but she couldn’t hear it.
    “What?” she asked. Oh God, was that her voice? It sounded so thin, so vague.
    “I said marry me,” he said and bit her earlobe.
    Marry? Did he just ask—no, tell—her to marry him?
    What the hell, Fate?
    “Um…” She tried to form a complete sentence, but her mind was slipping into some hazy alternate universe. A universe where, apparently, the thought of a forever commitment with a complete stranger wasn’t enough to send her screaming into the night.
    “I have never felt this pull before. And tonight is about living. And we’re in Vegas.” He took a good nip on her