Holly tapped her fingers against the small, wooden table and looked around for any familiar faces, but there weren't any tall, broad-shouldered men anywhere to be seen. Reluctantly, she admitted to herself that she was torn. As much as she was a little distressed at the thought of a stranger still being in possession of her keys, at least it left the door open for him to make another appearance at her apartment tonight.

Is that what she wanted? A continuation of the fantasy? Could they just meet in the dark and live out whatever twisted desire that occurred to her? The idea had some merit. After living so many years without understanding the appeal of physical passion, she was not prepared to give it up now. Just one night had reformed her views entirely. She wanted more exquisite sex, and for her that seemed to begin and end with him.

Or did she want something else? More perhaps? But a relationship with a male prostitute? She really didn't think she was ready for that. And despite her modest career success she really couldn't afford to pay him ten thousand dollars a night. This had been a one time extravagance for her, and besides she was fairly certain that Delta of Venus Inc., did not offer repeat performances.

Of course, she could probably go to Miss Bright and say that her Scene Facilitator hadn't met most of her requirements and demand a repeat performance. That part was true, at least. She had requested a large, dominant man to invade her home in the middle of the night and force her to have sex with him. That's not exactly what she received. He hadn't really forced her to do anything at all. And she'd also requested that she be shackled throughout the entire scenario, which had not happened. And he had not taken her roughly from behind either. All in all, very few of her requirements were met.

Not that she was complaining. He'd given her exactly what she needed and so much more. But Miss Bright didn't need to know that. Holly could plead dissatisfaction and have another evening of complete and utter bliss with her dream man if she desired.

Waiting for Emily, she grinned to herself at this idea. As much as she might fantasize about black-mailing her dream man into a repeat performance, she would never actually do such a thing. Exploiting him like that would be the equivalent to forcing him and she wasn’t capable of being so ruthless. Besides, he'd already proven that he was incapable of fulfilling her fantasy. He wasn't the type of guy who could degrade women, even if they wanted it that way. She couldn't very well demand that he try the same thing again. Especially considering she had no interest in that particular scenario ever again. She was over it.

And who was to say that Miss Bright would send the same man anyway? The thought of being with someone else held zero appeal for Holly. She wanted one guy and one guy only. Even if she wasn't absolutely sure who he was.

Looking up, she saw that Emily was finally headed in her direction. And the tall red-head was dangling Holly's keys from the tip of one pale finger.

Holly tried not to let her disappointment show as Emily dropped the keys in front of her and set a frothy Frappucino and muffin beside them. Holly thanked her friend and took a sip from her drink to stall as she gathered her emotions. It was over then. He wasn't going to be coming back tonight or any night. And he hadn't put the keys back in the padded envelope she'd provided, so now her friend knew exactly what her dream man had been picking up. This was not good. The interrogation would now be unavoidable.

"Holly!" Emily said in a hoarse stage whisper as she sat down. "Why didn't you tell me you were having a booty call? Damn, girl. It's about time. And that guy! Whew, he was something else." She fanned herself with her apron like she was in the middle of a heat wave.

Holly gave her friend an admonishing look. "He was just testing my alarm system for me. I was at my mom's last night and he needed to get in there to take a look at it." Holly said lamely.

Emily's grin widened. "He came in at 11:30 last night to pick up that mysterious package and then dropped the keys off at 5:30 this morning wearing the same exact clothing, except his shirt was on backward."

Holly just shrugged.

"He looked like his hair had been attacked with a rake and you're trying to tell me that he was testing your alarm all night long? I think he was testing something else all night long. Am I right?"

Holly went on the defensive. "What were you doing here this morning anyway? I thought you were working the afternoon shift."

"Had to switch. Concert tonight. I'll be leaving in about 20 minutes to get ready, so spill it. Who is he? And did you finally have the big 'O?' Cause Mr. Tall, Dark and Dangerous looked like he was packing some serious heat." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Holly flushed and looked down at her muffin but a little smile lifted the corner of her full mouth.

"I knew it." Emily crowed. "Of course, he'd been watching you for awhile, so I really wasn't surprised when he came in here this morning looking like he'd just been rode hard and put away wet." She patted Holly's arm and took a corner off her muffin. "I knew you had it in you. So happy for you. He's a really sweet guy. Big tipper, but then you probably already know that." Emily winked and snorted at her own little double entendre.

Holly didn't laugh, she went a bit pale. "What? Watching me? Here?"

"Yeah. He's a regular. Most afternoons around 3 or 4 he'll show up and sit in the back. I kind of thought he was waiting for something, the way he watched the door. Then I noticed that you usually show up around the same time, looking for your muffin fix." She pointed at the maple nut confection. "He used to come in with his partner late at night, but not lately. Too bad. He really filled out that uniform. Man, I love cops. You are so lucky."

Suddenly, Holly was grinning from ear to ear. She stood up and planted an unexpected smacking kiss on Emily's cheek. "Oh. You have no idea how lucky I am." She drew a twenty dollar bill out of her wallet and placed it on the table next to the muffin, not even waiting for change as she began backing away from the table towards the door. "I have to go make a phone call. Thanks for everything, Em. Enjoy your concert tonight, okay?"

Shaking her head in puzzlement, Emily watched her friend practically run out of the coffee shop. Now, what was that all about? she thought to herself. Of course, if she had a stud-muffin like Constable Delgado burning up her sheets, she wouldn't be wasting time hanging around a coffee shop either.

Two nights later…

Holly slowly made her way down the dim hallway of the unfamiliar apartment. Using the wall to guide her she carefully counted until she was standing in front of the third door on the left. Smoothing her hands down her body, she pulled tight on the belt of the dark trench-coat she was wearing over her completely nude body.

She hesitated befo re reaching for the doorknob. What had seemed brilliant this afternoon seemed downright stupid right now. Especially considering she had no i dea what her dream man's reaction would be when she showed up in his b edroom. What if he was horrified? Or thought she was unhinged? Ju s t because he'd been watching her for months didn't mean he wanted a n ything more from her than one night of mind-blowing sex. And perhaps t hat was a pity thing. Or possibly a guilt thing. He had promised to protect h er. Maybe he thought providing orgasms fell under his bodyguard dutie s?

No, that was rid i culous. There was something between them. She knew it. If she was wrong about this then at least she had tried to do something daring and bold for a change. And calling him on the phone had just seemed lame considering they'd already been about as intimate as humanly possible.