ONE

DALLAS, TEXAS

TO SAY JESSIE MATTHEW’S PULSE WAS JACKED WAS AN understatement. The Wild Riders were all assembled downstairs in General Grange Lee’s office. An assignment was forthcoming, and Jessie was excited. No matter how much convincing it took, she was going to be in on this one. She was, after all, one of the guys. Even if she was female.

Her friend and Mac’s girlfriend Lily was a Wild Rider now, and she’d been given assignments. Just because Lily was older and a former cop and private investigator didn’t mean squat. So what if Jessie was only twenty-three and didn’t have beaucoup years of formal training? She had street experience, and that was way more useful in the jobs they did. Besides, the Wild Riders had trained her. Former thieves, hard-core bikers and now government agents, the Wild Riders were the best at what they did—undercover work. And Grange had trained her. She’d been in training one way or another for this since she was fifteen years old. She was ready.

Jessie slid into one of the chairs at the front of the room. The rest of the guys straggled in, some looking haggard and tired. She’d heard bikes roar in late into the night. Since she lived at Wild Riders’ headquarters, along with General Lee, being called in for assignment would be easy for her. Mac used to live here, too, until he hooked up with Lily. Now the two of them shared an apartment in Dallas so they could have some privacy. Totally understandable. Most of the guys lived elsewhere and only came in when there was an assignment, like now. Typically, they dragged themselves in at the last possible minute, too, which meant wee hours of the morning. She grinned at all the yawns.

“Okay,” Grange said, dressed as usual in his military camos and combat boots, his gray hair buzz cut was typical military style. “Grab some coffee and wake the hell up. We’ve got several jobs to work on, so you’ve got five minutes to infuse caffeine, and I want you sharp.”

Excitement coupled with nervousness had woken Jessie before dawn. Giving up on going back to sleep, she’d showered, dressed, and had breakfast. Now she eagerly awaited an assignment, certain this time she wouldn’t be left out. Grange had promised the “next time” would be her turn. This was the next time, dammit. She wasn’t going to let him forget.

“Do you think he’ll put you on a mission this time?”

Lily slid into the chair next to her, cupping a steaming mug of coffee between her hands.

“He’d better.”

“He did promise the last time he doled out assignments,” Mac said, taking a seat on Lily’s other side.

The two of them were perfect together. Jessie’s heart squeezed each time she saw them. They were so obviously in love it was adorable to see them interact. And since they cared so much about each other, Grange never assigned them to the same case. He said it would affect their judgment. He was probably right. Too much emotion could wreck an assignment. Too bad. But work was work. Fun was for after work.

Not that Jessie knew about either.

“All right.” Grange stood and started talking. There was a lot going on, and he started splitting up teams. Mac, AJ, and Pax were heading to Las Vegas. Lily would be working with Rick in D.C.

“Vegas?” Lily asked, turning to Mac.

Mac just grinned.

“You suck,” Lily mumbled. “Don’t spend the rent money gambling.”

“Want me to hold his wallet for him?” AJ asked.

“Bite me,” Mac replied.

Pax snorted. “I’ll keep good watch over your boy, Lily. Don’t worry.”

“I don’t trust any of you,” she said, then grinned. It was obvious she cared about them all.

Just like Jessie did. These guys were her family.

“Diaz and Spence, you’re on assignment in Arkansas,” Grange said. “There’s a biker gang suspected of selling arms to a dangerous survivalist group up there. And we aren’t talking your run-of-the-mill type of survivalists who avoid government interference and want to be left alone. These are extremists. Dangerous. The kind that could easily start a war if they had the weaponry to do it with.”

“Oh, great,” Spence said.

Diaz stood and grabbed the packet Grange handed him. “Who’s the gang?”

“The Devil’s Skulls, led by Crush Daniels.”

Jessie’s ears perked up at the name. “I know him.”

Grange frowned. “You know Crush Daniels?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ve heard of him,” Spence said. “And the Skulls. Rough group of bikers.”

She shrugged. “They seemed nice enough.”

Diaz leaned back in his chair and scowled at her. “How the hell did you get mixed up with them?”

“I was out riding in Louisiana several months back before I got my new bike. You know how the old one kept cutting out on me? It died by the side of the road. They came by, helped me get it started again, asked me if I wanted to ride into the nearest town with them. So I did. I spent some time with him and his gang, riding around.”

“Jesus,” Diaz mumbled. “You were alone.”

She kept her gaze on Diaz. “Well, yeah. But it’s not like I just rode with one person. And there are other women in his group. We all had fun.”

Diaz ran his fingers through his thick, dark hair. Jessie swallowed, watching the movement and clasping her hands together.

“Are you out of your mind, Jess? How many times have we told you to ride with someone?”

“I’m not a child, Diaz. I can take care of myself. And there wasn’t more than twenty miles between towns on that ride anyway.”

“On a beat-up, piece of shit bike. You know better.”

Her ire rising by the second, Jessie tapped her foot. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve grown up in the past few years. I’m an adult now. I don’t have a curfew. I can ride when I want and where I want. It gives me something to do while I’m waiting for an assignment.” She finished off the last sentence by slanting a look at Grange.

Grange cleared his throat. “Yes, about that . . .”

“You promised.”

He inhaled, sighed. “I did, didn’t I?”

“If Jessie knows this Crush Daniels, she’d be a perfect addition to Diaz and Spencer’s assignment,” Lily said.

“No.”

Jessie glared at Diaz. “Why the hell not?”

“You’re not ready,” Diaz said.

She cast a pleading look toward Spence, who shrugged. “I think Jessie’s more than capable and has been for a while.”

“You did promise,” AJ said to the general. “We all heard it during the last round of assignments.”

“I agree,” Lily said. “Give her a chance, Grange.”

“Maybe you want to hear about the assignment first before you jump on it,” Grange said to her.

“Fine. Hit me.” Though she didn’t care if she had to climb a flagpole na**d in front of a million people. She wanted the case.

“The Devil’s Skulls hold their annual initiation for new members every year right after the bike rally in Fayetteville.”

“What kind of initiation?” Diaz asked.

“From what we understand, it can be anything from fighting their current members—both for the male and female initiates—to public acts of sex.”

“Yippie ki yay,” Spence said with a wink.

“You get all the fun assignments,” Rick grumbled.

“Trade you,” Pax said.

Diaz snorted. “That leaves Jessie out.”

“It does not,” she protested. “I can handle initiation.” It was no worse than the life she’d led before she came to the Wild Riders.

“No.” Diaz shook his head, crossed his arms. “This is a bad idea, Grange. She’s just a kid.”

She’d like to brain him upside the head with her boot. Or lift her shirt and flash her boobs at him. Geez, was he blind? “I am not a child. I wish you’d quit treating me like one. All of you.”

Grange raised his hand. “Okay, let me think. Jessie, you have a point. I did promise you an assignment, but I do think this one has the potential to be dangerous. I don’t like the idea of you initiating with Crush’s gang, considering what could happen. However, you are an adult now and capable of making that decision for yourself.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “Thank you.”

“Is this what you want, knowing what you might be facing? Because once you’re in, you’re in. You can’t back out.”

“I understand, Grange. I’ve been trained. By you. I know what I might have to do. I can handle it.”

“Okay. You’re on the case. Since you said Crush already knows you that will give us an ‘in’ with them. And you’ll have Diaz and Spence to protect you. But do not—I repeat, do not—go off by yourself or do anything without them, do you understand?”

She nodded, excitement drilling through her veins. “I got it.”

“That’s it, then. You all need to get together with your teams and read your assignments, then get packed and on the road first thing in the morning,” Grange said, effectively dismissing them.

Jessie resisted jumping up and down. But holy cow, she had an assignment!

Cases in hand, everyone began piling out of the office. Once the room was empty, Diaz grabbed Jessie’s arm. She paused, tilting her head back at him. She felt the tension in his coiled fingers, though they were warm and held her loosely.

“Rethink this.”

She shook her head. “I know what I’m doing.”

“Right. Like you did when you went riding with Crush Daniels and the Devil’s Skulls?”

“He was nice to me. There was no problem.”

“Hell, yeah, he was nice to you. He has a thing for you, that’s why he was nice.”

“A thing? What kind of thing?”

“He wanted you.”

Wow, was Diaz off base. “He did not.”

“See, that’s your problem, Jess. You’re naïve.”

“I’m not naïve. And you’re cynical.”

“No, I’m realistic, and my eyes are always open while yours are in the clouds. You know what Crush wanted from you, don’t you?”

“You weren’t even there. He and his gang were friendly. They helped me out. I rode with them for the day and then I took off. Nobody hit on me.”

“Uh huh. I’ll bet.”

She pulled her arm away from his grasp and leaned against the table. “Okay, Diaz. You tell me what you think Crush wanted.”

“Isn’t it obvious? He wanted in your pants.”

She rolled her eyes. “Not every guy is a lecherous pervert.”

“Honey, trust me. If a guy has a dick, he’s going to want in your pants. Wake up, Jess. Before you end up in trouble that you can’t get out of.”

Diaz turned and walked away. Jessie watched his broad back and jeans-clad ass leave the room, pondering what he’d said.

He gave her so little credit. She’d been around grown men since she was a child, knew what some wanted. She could tell the good ones from the bad ones within seconds, knew instantly when to be wary. She’d felt no danger signals from Crush Daniels. Yeah, he was a rough biker and led a tough gang, but she’d been a fellow biker in distress and he’d helped her out. End of story.

Diaz? Now he was something entirely different, and so was her reaction to him. She couldn’t breathe around Diaz. He made her uncomfortable. Not in a bad way, but in a God-that-man-is-gorgeous-and-makes-my-panties-wet kind of way. From the time her hormones had burst onto the scene at the age of sixteen, they’d zeroed in on Diaz and hadn’t deviated since.

And in all these years Diaz had never once even noticed she was female. When Mac had brought her in, Diaz had at worst ignored her completely, at best treated her like a little kid. It had remained that way for the past eight years. Or at least she’d thought so, until today. But his comments and the way he looked at her made her wonder if her secret lust wasn’t quite as one-sided as she’d always thought it had been.

How long had he been noticing her? Was he even aware of it? Because he wasn’t doing the typical little sister protecting thing like the other guys did. No, this was different.

Interesting. And a little off balancing. Being given an assignment was exciting enough. Assigned a case with Diaz? Bonus.

He’d always avoided her. Now he wouldn’t be able to.

Not only was she finally going to be working a case—and a fascinating case at that—but this was her chance to get to know the man who had fueled her fantasies for a number of years.

DIAZ DELGADO THREW THE PACKET DOWN ON THE TABLE IN THE library, muttering curses under his breath.

Jessie. What the hell was Grange thinking letting her tag along on this case? He jammed his hand through his hair, trying to fight the annoyance coursing through his veins. Maybe an hour or so with the punching bag in the gym would help release some of the fire fueling his anger. He needed an outlet for the rage he could barely contain right now.

If it was up to him, Jessie would have been sent to college far away from the dangers the Wild Riders represented. She had no business being a part of their life. From the moment Mac had brought her in—a scared young teen trying to act tough—Diaz had known this wasn’t the kind of life for her. Oh, she talked the talk and walked the walk, but there was a hint of vulnerability about her—a sweet innocence that Diaz had wanted to lock in a closet and protect.

Shit. He didn’t want her to go to Arkansas with Spencer and him. And that was the bottom line.