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strip. One guy was a complete stranger.
    Unfortunately the other wasn’t.
    Could this day blow any worse? Delaney stared into a pair of hazel bedroom eyes as unchanging and implacable as the man who owned them. Her ex-fiancé’s familiar, perfect face was as heartbreakingly handsome as she remembered.
    Her heart stuttered into double-time. “Detective Zachary Walker. Last I heard, you’d transferred to Phoenix PD.”
     “The weather sucked.” Zack shrugged. “No rain. Once a Duck, always a Duck. What in hell is going on here?”
    “Vanessa is breaking her engagement to Chad.”
    “Looks like that’s not the only thing you two are breaking.” Zack wore confident cop authority as easily as his tailored black slacks and white shirt. “Put down the bat, Delaney.”
    Delaney took a step back. “I can handle this. It isn’t your problem.”
    He subtly shifted, his lithe body all police business. “Unfortunately, it is…as of seventeen minutes ago, when dispatch got a 9-1-1 from a Chad Dumont saying he’d been threatened with a weapon and fears for his safety.”
    “Why did they send an undercover vice unit?”
    “We were the closest unit and I recognized Van’s address, so we responded.” He indicated the striking Asian man dressed in tan slacks and a brown shirt. “This is my new partner, Detective Jason Kim. Jason, meet Delaney Morgan and Vanessa Clare.”
    Detective Kim nodded a greeting as he moved closer to Vanessa.
    Van tried to fend him off. “I was so upset, I wasn’t thinking straight. This is not Lanie’s fault.”
    Zack extended his palm to Delaney. “I’m not asking this time.” Coiled awareness hummed beneath his deceptively relaxed posture. “Drop the bat.”
    Aware he was fully capable of taking it from her, she hesitated. Submitting to Zack stung.
    “Let it go, sweetheart. Don’t make me get physical with you.”
    Getting physical with Detective Walker was extremely detrimental to her peace of mind. Delaney forced her stiff fingers open, and the baseball bat clattered to the pavement. “I’m not your sweetheart. I’m not your anything anymore.”
    Zack kicked the bat out of reach, martial-arts honed movements graceful. His features went hard, his gaze impassive. She knew that expression. Cop face. “I need both of you to turn around and plant your hands on the car.”
    “Not Delaney,” Vanessa sputtered. “She didn’t do anything, Zack. It was only me. She was trying to talk me out of it.”
    “Turn around, ladies.” Zack’s quiet tone was unyielding. “Put your hands flat on the hood.”
    As Vanessa complied, Detective Kim stepped behind her friend. “How much alcohol have you consumed this morning, ma’am?”
    “Don’t answer him,” Delaney said. “Right to remain silent.” Fighting rising temper, she spun and slapped her palms onto the cool metal. “So, all the pimps and meth dealers on vacation in the third precinct today?”
    Zack moved behind Delaney. His smooth baritone slid into her ear. “I have to pat you down. We do this by the book.”
    “Oh, yeah, I know. You’re all about the rules.”
    “Without rules, chaos reigns supreme.” He inserted a knee between hers, slowly spreading her feet until she was supporting her weight on her arms.
    Hands she knew far too well settled on her shoulders and Delaney willed her nerves and her voice to steady. “Where exactly do you think we’re packing weapons? If I had an Uzi stashed up this skirt, I’d have bigger problems than you.”
    He sighed. “Let’s just get this over with.” His palms cruised beneath her coat, down her sides and the warmth of his agile fingers radiated through her sweater. Though his touch stayed impersonal, every muscle in her body stiffened. “Easy, Lanie.” He’d always—if a bit reluctantly—respected her boundaries. “I won’t hurt you.”
    She clenched her fists. “Too late.”
    Zack grazed taut hands over her hips, then huffed out barely disguised relief. “Okay,