Suddenly Sexy Read Online Free

looked. Julie never thought of it that way. She always assumed her friend eventually got what she wanted, but maybe Asia’s appearance was a disadvantage as well as a benefit.
    Asia gathered her pen and notebook. “So, what are you going to do now?”
    Julie shrugged. “Before or after I crawl into a hole and lick my wounds?”
    “Come on, Julie,” Asia said with a hint of exasperation in her voice. “There is no need to roll over and play dead at the first sign of opposition.”
    Julie pointed at the open door. “He thinks I can’t be a seductive woman.” She hated how her voice hitched in her throat.
    “He didn’t say that.”
    “Then he thinks I can’t do detective work.” That hurt almost just as much.
    “He didn’t say that, either.” Asia leaned her elbow on the back of her chair and gave her a hard, direct look. “In fact, he didn’t make any comment whatsoever. It’s up to you to face him and find out why he won’t let you be a decoy.”
    “You’re right.” She obviously wasn’t going to be handed a plum assignment just because she asked for it. Life never worked that way. She needed to find out why Eric was against her and show how wrong he was about her abilities.
    Asia rose from her seat and gestured to Julie. “So march into his office right now and find out.”
    Julie nodded as she reluctantly got up from her seat. As much as she wanted the job, she wasn’t ready to find out exactly what Eric thought she lacked. The answer was going to be personal. Whatever it was, she didn’t think she could put on a brave face and take the criticism on the chin.
    Asia crossed her arms and rested her hip on the conference table. “Yeah, go in like that and he’ll snowball you.”
    “Sorry,” she said with a wry smile, “my confidence is a little shaken.”
    But it was more than that. All of her wild and sexy fantasies about Eric died a quick death during the meeting. How many times had she fantasized that he was so overwhelmed with desire that he couldn’t control himself? Her daydreams of being a sexy siren to Eric were never going to come true. The reality was a bitter pill to swallow.
    “Of course your confidence is shaken. It got knocked around a bit,” Asia said. “But you have to appear stronger and more daring than you feel.”
    “I don’t think I can.” She was never a fake-it-until-you-make-it kind of person. She was more of a what-you-see-is-what-you-get girl.
    “Fine,” Asia said. “Then accept Eric’s decision with no questions asked and stick to keeping track of uniforms.”
    Julie shuddered. “Forget that. I want this assignment.”
    “Good.” Asia pointed at the door. “Now go into Eric’s
office with guns blazing and don’t take no for an answer.”
    Guns blazing. Right. Because that was so how she approached life. “This is going to be a complete waste of time,” Julie muttered as she pushed her seat in.
    “Show him that you can be just as fierce and tenacious as he is,” Asia said with a pump of her fist.
    “So he can bodily lift me and toss me out of his office?”
    Asia’s jaw tightened with annoyance. “If you want to be a decoy, you need to show that you can face any situation and not get rattled when everything goes wrong.”
    She was absolutely correct. “The police force really lost out when you quit,” Julie said as she took a step toward the door.
    “Damn right. Now stop stalling and move,” Asia ordered as she gave Julie a little push out of the conference room.
    * * *
    E RIC HEARD THE TREAD of her footsteps. They were soft but the stride was determined. He tilted his head back and groaned. He should have remembered that Julie Kent was as stubborn as she was sweet.
    At least they could have it out privately. He didn’t like shutting her down in front of an audience, but Julie needed to realize that she wasn’t ready to be a decoy. Eric rose from behind his desk just as she knocked on his door.
    “Come in, Julie.”
    The door swung open and