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He’d cost her everything, including her self-esteem. “It was my fault. I was an Interpol agent and I didn’t see that my partner, the man I was sleeping with, was working for the enemy, was using my work to help out his real boss.”

And now that she was a year away from the fact, she could see how he’d distracted her. He’d used her own need-to-please nature against her.

Sandra sighed and put a hand on her arm. “No. That’s where you’re wrong. It wasn’t your fault. You got used. You went into a relationship with all the right intentions. He was an asshole.Don’t let him ruin the rest of your life. We’re going to a beautiful tropical island soon. Think about finding some pleasure in it.”

“I’m working. I’m there to find a corporate spy, not a shag.”

“I don’t see why you can’t do both. As far as I can tell everyone else on the team has. It’s kind of a thing they do,” Sandra said, pulling her phone out of her pocket. “And I’ve seen some of the guys and ladies on staff. They are hot. You should consider it. I know I’m going to. I’ve got my eye on one of the bartenders. All of twenty-four. I can teach that boy something. But first, I’ve got a date.”

Sandra hopped off her barstool.

It was easy to see her friend was making the most of her time now that her daughter and granddaughter were happily ensconced in their new home in Wyoming. Sandra had spent years protecting them after she’d lost her oldest child to a killer. She deserved every moment of pleasure she could get. Sandra had done everything right.

But she herself hadn’t, had she? That was why she no longer trusted herself to do anything that wasn’t on a rigid schedule. She made decisions based on a matrix she studied over and over to ensure she wasn’t stepping out of line again.

She stopped. “I really am punishing myself, aren’t I?”

Sandra slapped her on the shoulder. “Yes. You totally are punishing yourself, and that means the asshole wins. You know how he loses? If you have wicked-hot revenge sex. Not hate sex. Hate sex is something you would do with him, and then he gets to have an orgasm. No. you need revenge sex. Find someone hot and do him or her hard. Do that person until your eyes roll to the back of your head and you can’t remember your name anymore. That kind of banging. Hey, there are actually a couple of really hot guys on the Dallas team. There’s this guy named Boomer. Gorgeous. Not a brain in his head, but I would bet his dick works just fine. Buy him dinner and…well, he would probablyfollow you around for life. He really likes food. There are others. Michael. Hey, he’s very sexy, and he’s the son of our client for this mission.”

She was not going there. “I do not shag where I eat. No. No one from McKay-Taggart, and definitely no one connected to Malone Oil. But I might think about the rest of it. Tell me about your man?”

Sandra’s eyes went wide and she started to back up. “Not mine. I’m only playing with him for the night. They’ve got these apps now. Another great thing the young people have made. I can find a guy with a couple of swipes.”

She shook her head. “Absolutely not. Online dating makes me…very ill.”

“Not really dating. All right, my friend, I have to head out. I’m flying to the resort tomorrow afternoon with Hutch. We’re getting out there early to set stuff up for our Agency contact. Vomit. I’ll see you out there in a week. It’s going to be fun to get some sun.” Sandra slung her messenger bag over her shoulder. “Hey, you know there are a couple of single dudes here. Nothing wrong with dragging some tail out of a bar.”

The waitress walking by had a sudden coughing fit.

Sandra had made it to the entrance and gave her a salute. “Use condoms.”

How had Roni ever survived her teen years with Sandra as her mum? She waved as Sandra went off to find her fun for the evening.

“Your friend is funny.” The bartender was shaking her head.

Despite the fact that the bar was attached to one of the more exclusive hotels in Dallas, it had a down-home feel. Oh, the drinks were expensive, but she didn’t feel as out of place as she had in the lobby bar.

“She’s very amusing.” She also might be right. Was she letting Roger win? She’d been invited to dinner with Taggart andhis group tonight. They were at a restaurant owned by Tag’s little brother, and she would have met the whole team. Yet she’d told him she was getting in late and needed to rest. It was eight p.m. here, but it was two a.m. in London.

What she hadn’t told him was she’d been preparing for the time difference for a solid week. She’d gradually adjusted her sleep time so she wouldn’t feel the jet lag so keenly. She wasn’t sleepy. She was perfectly awake and wondering if she would lie in bed like Sandra had guessed she would. She wasn’t quite as bad as that. She would read an extra chapter from time to time.

She would lose herself in a sexy book because she refused to trust herself to find anything good in real life.

“If you were looking for someone to spend some time with, there’s the single most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen in my life sitting behind you,” the bartender said. “I would keep him for myself, but I don’t swing that way. I was actually thinking about getting your friend’s number, but then she intimidated me with the strap-on talk.”

Sandra intimidated a lot of people. A lot. “I think I’ll have this glass and then go upstairs.”

The bartender shrugged. “All right, but that one is something special, and he has been checking you out.”

Well, now she had to look. Didn’t she? It wouldn’t change anything. She would still do exactly what she’d planned. She would finish her second glass of wine, though she wasn’t anywhere close to even being mellow, pay her tab, and go to her room where she would read the latest Kristen Ashley book until it was time to turn out the lights and go to bed.

This bloke wouldn’t change a thing.

She turned her barstool slightly to the left, back to the tables that lined the window facing the street. There were several groups at the tables, but her eyes laser focused in on one. She’d briefly wondered if she’d be able to tell which man the bartenderhad been talking about. There were lots in here, and Texas men weren’t exactly unattractive as a group. They tended to be quite masculine and lovely.

Oh, this was so much more.

Raven dark hair and a jaw carved from granite. Piercing eyes and broad shoulders, but beyond that there was an air of authority around the man. He would be the boss in whatever room he walked into, but he wouldn’t force it. He wouldn’t yell and bludgeon his way through. No. He would be quiet, and everyone would fall in line. Everyone would do his bidding, hoping the king smiled their way.