Chapter One

The soft sound of buzzing woke up Jim Alden from a deep sleep. He turned over in his bed, blinked over his shoulder at the cell phone vibrating on the bedside table.

What the hell? It’s two o’clock in the goddamn morning.

He stretched out one heavily-muscled arm, picked up the phone. When he saw who was calling, he sat straight up in bed, wide awake and already angry.

“Kat?” His voice was full of fury. “Where the fuck are you, girl?”

There was a pause at the other end. Jim heard loud music in the background.

“Don’t you dare hang up on me, Kat.”

“Ummm. Is that J. Alden?”

Jim’s heart stopped, then started up again at double-time. It was a man’s voice.

“Yeah. Who the fuck’s this? And why do you have Kat’s phone?”

“I’m Jax Hamill. I own Dangerous Curves… the bar out on I-36.”

“Yeah, OK. I know it.”

“Your friend is here, and she’s not in great shape, man. Can you come and get her?”

“What’s going on?” Jim got to his feet now, and yanked his dresser drawer open to find a t-shirt. “Why’s she out there?”

“I honestly don’t know. She’s been here for four days now, and she’s been on her own the whole time, just drinking and passing out in one of the back rooms that she’s rented, then getting up and drinking some more. I was just heading out for the night, but I didn’t feel right leaving her here. She seems to be pretty upset about something.”

“Dammit.” Jim pulled on his jeans. “Have you called anybody else?”

“No. Her phone book’s in alphabetical order by last name, and you came up first. Is there somebody else I should be calling instead?”

“No. No, it’s fine. I’m on my way.” Jim glanced at the clock. “Gimme fifteen minutes. I’ll be right there.”

“Sure thing. I’ll stay until you arrive.”

“Thanks, man. I’ll see you soon.”

Jim got dressed at warp speed, then hurried out to his pickup. He slammed the door and gunned the engine, before suddenly remembering that people were probably sleeping at this hour. He took a deep, calming breath, tried to slow down his thundering heartbeat. It wasn’t an easy thing to do, since he had the overwhelming urge to strangle Kat. He also wanted to kiss her until her knees gave out under her.

Katherine Lawrence was the only woman who had this effect on him, and he didn’t like it. Not that she was always off getting drunk and passing out in biker bars; no, this was something totally new. But she was a fucking riddle wrapped in a mystery dipped in a bottle of hair dye.

She’d just up and disappeared four days earlier, and nobody had heard from her for about three days before that. According to her boss, Kat had taken some time off from her job at the hair salon and according to her closest friends, they’d had no idea. Calls to her phone went straight to voice mail, and no calls had been returned. Jim had dropped by her place two days before and spoken to her neighbor. The woman said she hadn’t seen Kat for days.

Most worrying, when Jim had called his friend Dallas Foreman and told him about Kat seeming to just vanish off the face of the planet, Dallas hadn’t been even remotely surprised. Jim knew that Dallas had investigated Kat when his security firm had been protecting Olivia Jameson from a stalker, so Dallas had undoubtedly found some dirt on Kat. Jim was itching to know what the other man knew – but Foreman was nothing if not strictly moral and ethically professional, so Jim was certain he’d never spill any details.

Well, Dallas won’t… but Kat sure as hell will.

Jim drove out of Denver proper, headed to the bar on the side of the highway. Dangerous Curves was one hell of a scary choice for a woman out drinking on her own, and he hoped that the boys there had behaved themselves.

Jim liked Curves just fine – hot women looking for nothing but a good time were most definitely his speed – and since his friends hated the place, he’d just go on his own, and look for some woman to pick up. But Jim was big and mean enough to handle himself if trouble started… and at Curves, it usually did. Kat was less than half his size, and although she had one hell of a smart mouth and a death glare, not many men at Curves would be intimidated by that.

Fuck, Kat. What’s going on with you, baby?

He made it to the bar in less than ten minutes, and crossed the parking lot in seconds. Jim hauled the heavy door open and was assaulted by the smell of alcohol and the sound of music even before setting foot in the place. Several women gave him a once-over but he ignored them. He was well aware of the effect that his face and body had on the average female, and now was not anything like the time to enjoy that.

He spotted a large, dark-haired man sitting at the bar, and they made eye contact. Jim recognized him from some of his past visits to Curves, and from the look on the guy’s face, Jim was no perfect stranger to him either. The man stood up and Jim approached him.

“Jax?” he said.

“Yeah.” The guy extended a massive hand and Jim shook it. “I didn’t get your name over the phone, man.”

“Jim.”

“You been here before, right?”

“Once or twice.”

“Thought so. Anyway, thanks for coming. I just didn’t know what else to do.”

“No, it’s OK. I’m glad you did.” Jim looked around. “Where is she?”