Free Uncommon Passion by Anne Calhoun Page B

the one who shepherded her friends to a Jeep Cherokee and got
    behind the wheel was sober. Until Linc Sawyer bought the bar two years ago, No Limits had had a
    reputation for sex acts both inside and outside, and a higher-than-average number of DUI arrests and
    accidents for people leaving the premises. GPD logged more calls to No Limits than any other bar in the
    county. But Linc had fired the manager and all the bartenders, implemented strong policies about cutting off
    drunks, hired bigger bouncers, and added off-duty cops for consequence while improving the sound
    system and marketing the hell out of the place. As a result, the city’s hottest nightclub had the fewest
    number of incidents related to alcohol while gaining a reputation as the place to go for a hot hookup.
    Most nights the work was five hours of boring punctuated by the occasional ninety seconds of action.
    Stand outside and use the uniform to discourage fights, drunk driving, and parking lot hookups. Steve
    relieved the tedium with a Facebook addiction. Ben scanned the line, then the parking lot, keeping his
    behavior-detection skills sharp.
    A familiar blonde, tall, slender, and dressed in a halter top and tight black skirt, detached herself from a
    pack of similarly dressed friends, ducked under the rope with considerable grace for a woman in heels and
    a microskirt, and had a short conversation with the bouncer. He nodded, then when she headed across the
    parking lot for them, gave Ben and Steve one raised eyebrow. Ben didn’t need special training to determine
    her intent. Every cop on the force knew Juliette, or a woman like her.
    “Incoming,” Steve said under his breath. “Say yes this time.”
    Ben didn’t move a muscle, just watched her walk, tugging down her skirt as she moved. Legs to her
    ears, and as the Gulf breeze caught the silky fabric of her halter, flashing hints of perky curves. With her
    lifted palm turned outward she brushed her hair away from her cheek, the gesture simultaneously feminine,
    vulnerable, and flirtatious.
    He couldn’t imagine Rachel doing anything that calculatingly female. Then again, he’d completely
    misjudged her. Twice.
    “Hi,” Juliette said when she drew near, stretching the single syllable out.
    “Hi,” Steve said in response, checking her out from heels to hair.
    “I heard about the gas station,” she said to Ben, then looked back at the pack of girlfriends she’d
    brought to the bar. “My hero. After we close this place down we should party.”
    “Sounds great,” Steve said.
    Ben’s phone vibrated against his thigh. He pulled it from the side pocket of his cargo pants, saw the text
    disappearing into the background.
    You alive?
    His brother, asking a question he already knew the answer to, but Ben keyed in an answer anyway. Sam
    knew Ben was alive the same way Ben knew Sam was. While the connection wasn’t as tight as it was in
    high school, he still knew when Sam burned himself with the welding tool, or when he had a close call with
    a semi on the highway. Sam was the first person to call after the gas station incident, hours before it made
    the news. He knew. He just knew.
    Yes.
    “Maybe,” Ben said.
    The corners of Juliette’s gleaming red lips lifted. “The SWAT team guys party, Ben. You’re not going to
    get in trouble for staying out late.”
    He gave her an A for persistence, but there was the text from Sam, and then there was Rachel. He
    shrugged and turned back to the parking lot.
    “I’ll be there,” Steve said again.
    Juliette turned to Steve. “Bring a friend,” she said, with a sidelong glance at Ben. “One who likes to
    party.”
    “No problem,” Steve said.
    “Come on, Juliette!” Her friends, now standing in front of the door, waved her over.
    “I’ll catch you later,” she said, then ran, in those heels, to the door and disappeared into the wall of
    noise inside the bar.
    “Why the hell not?” Steve asked.
    “How many guys in the department has she