A hot breeze toyed with a strand of hair lying across her breast, but Sarah Michelson wasn’t about to flick it away now. She was already in deep shit and wondering whether she should pour on the syrup and sweet talk the two officers striding her way.

She’d been driving without her headlight, following the pale gray thread of road she’d driven since she’d graduated to adulthood, until she hit the winding canyon and had to flip it on. A quick drive-by of the bar, and she would have proven she was still Paraiso’s reigning bad girl.

Then she’d seen the glint of metal at the side of the road and throttled down.

Damn, who would have thought she’d run into a speed trap on little ole Amman Road?

“Ma’am, I’ll need to see your license and registration.”

Sarah squinted against the spotlight aimed at her from the squad car parked beside the sawhorse barrier and shot a glare at the deputy who’d halted beside her. That glare was signature “Sarah” and would have had most men backing up half a dozen paces. To his credit, Deputy Joe Chavez didn’t flinch, but neither did he crack a smile.

So, that was the way he wanted to play it. She could pretend there wasn’t a thing unusual about this particular traffic stop, too. “Officer, I seem to have misplaced it,” she said, dropping her voice to a sultry purr.

“Forgot a few other things as well,” the other deputy, Logan Ross, drawled, coming close enough she could make out his features in the bright light.

What were they—a tag team?

Two police cruisers, blue lights strobing, and a barricade with orange lights seemed overkill for a simple traffic stop. Of course, she’d probably given them fodder for sly jokes at the stationhouse for months with this stunt.

While she might pretend nonchalance, a hint of where this was going would do a lot to quell her rising anxiety. But so far, they were letting her sweat. Where Deputy Chavez’s face didn’t betray an ounce of humor, Ross’s lips were pressed together in a tight line as though he fought a smile.

Time to bait the trap.

“I was in a hurry when I left the house,” she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder just to make sure Deputy Ross got an eyeful of what her hair had covered.

“Ma’am, you’ll need to step away from the bike,” Deputy Chavez broke in.

If Ross’s slow perusal was a balm to her pride, Chavez’s stony expression was the pinprick slowly deflating her confidence…which kind of turned her on.

However, if she moved off the bike he’d see the wet spot on the leather—and how embarrassing would that be?

“Whenever you’re ready…” he growled. “Refusing isn’t an option.”

She lifted her chin. “Why? You gonna frisk me?”

“I don’t think I have to,” he said with a sharpened edge to his voice. “I can tell you’re not carrying.”

“What gave it away, Deputy?” she said, flashing him a smile she hoped would thaw his icy reserve.

“I’ve got an eye for concealed weapons.”

“Then you obviously missed a couple of suspicious lumps,” she said, drawing out her words in the sexiest whisper she could manage.

A muscle flexed along the edge of his strong, square jaw. “Ma’am, do you want me to search you?”

“I wouldn’t want you to give me any special favors on account of who my daddy is.”

“Wouldn’t think of it,” he said silkily. “Wonder what the judge is gonna say when we bring you in.”

Up to that point, Sarah had thought the two men were just having a little fun at her expense, but Chavez’s face didn’t show a flicker of what was really going through his mind. For the first time, she wondered if she wasn’t going to be able to talk her way out of this after all. “We don’t have to wake Daddy up for something so minor, do we, boys? Can’t we work something out?”

“What do you have in mind, kitten?” Deputy Ross murmured.

Her gaze swung from Chavez’s impassive face to Ross’s. His smile was appreciative, something she could work with. Maybe he’d be willing to convince his friend to let this incident slide right under the carpet. “I don’t know, Deputy Ross. Neither of you have been in Paraiso long. You don’t know how things really work in our little town.”

His lips twitched. “And you want to help us out? Hear that, Joe? Sarah, here, is worried about us. Sounds mighty neighborly of you, Sarah.”

“Logan…” Deputy Chavez said, his deep voice rising in warning. “Go run her plates.”

“Sure. This is your bust.” His gaze flickered over Sarah’s chest, and a grin split his face.

Sarah narrowed her eyes at him until he sauntered back to his squad car.

Alone with Chavez, she took a deep breath, looking at him from beneath the brush of her eyelashes to see if his gaze followed the movement of her chest.

Nope, his gaze was locked on her face. Deciding that maybe she should give him a little cooperation before she completely pissed him off, she kicked down the stand and climbed off her bike, knowing she was giving him an eyeful of her moist pussy—which, again, really turned her on. “Look, I know this looks bad…”

“This looks like you’re racking up multiple misdemeanor counts, Miss Michelson.”

No hesitation. No clearing his throat because she’d shocked or pleased him. Damn, he was a tough nut to crack. “Honestly, it’s just a little harmless hell-raising.”

The deputy shook his head, his expression turning downright grim. “Ever seen a person lay a bike down on pavement? Have you seen what road burn can do a person’s skin?”

Was he worried about her skin? She shook her head and stepped closer until only a few measly inches separated his Kevlar-cloaked chest and her beaded nipples.

“Ever seen what can happen when a head hits the pavement without a helmet,” he continued.

“It’s not against the law to ride without a helmet.”

“It is against the law to ride buck-naked in public.”

She quirked one side of her mouth up. “But I’m not completely nude.”

His chest rose, swift and hard. “Cowboy boots and chaps don’t cover the important parts.”

Sarah let her gaze sweep his body in a slow onceover. She lifted one brow when she locked with his dark brown gaze. “So, you did notice my ‘parts’.”

“I notice everything, Miss Michelson. This time, you went too far.”

Frustrated that her usual tactics weren’t making a dent in his resolve, she huffed a breath. “How’d you know about this ahead of time, anyway? You had time to set up a roadblock.”

“Do you think this is all about you? Maybe we were here stoppin’ drunk drivers.”

She placed a hand on her bare hip. “On this little horse trail of a road? Come on, who ratted me out?”

“A concerned citizen.”

She snorted. “Don’t be a killjoy. Don’t you ever do something just because it’s fun?”

“Ma’am, pardon me for saying this, but your daddy should have spanked you more when you were a child.”

“Daddy would never raise a hand against me.”

“Well, he didn’t do you any favors.”

All this talk about spanking was getting her flustered. Her face grew warm and sweat beaded on her upper lip. She licked it away and tilted her head, widening her eyes to let him see a hint of worry. “Look, there’s no reason for us to get into a fuss. There must be something I can do to make this right.”

“You can. You can turn around and put your hands behind your back.”

She let out another huffed breath. “You can’t be serious.”

“As a heart attack, ma’am.”

“No warrants on that bike, Joe,” Deputy Ross called out, approaching them again.

“Of course, there aren’t. It’s my goddamn bike.” Deputy Chavez’s expression tightened and she knew her attitude wasn’t helping matters one bit, so she tried another tack, forcing her mouth into a tiny smile that never failed to make men melt. “Deputy, isn’t there some way for us to work a trade? Something you want that will make you forget all about this?”

His gaze narrowed, landing on her lips. “What do you have in mind?”

She bit her lip to make sure his attention stayed there. “If you go easy on me…I’ll be easy for you.”