For all his mixed emotions about this attraction, Damian knew he had no choice but to follow his cardinal rule: There'd be no screwing around with Micki no matter how much he desired her, and the best way to keep that vow was to distance himself.

"Lacie's is a strip club," he said to Micki. "And I can't see you hanging out at a place like that." He figured she'd blush and make a quick getaway.

Instead she stepped around Roper and faced Damian head-on, treating him to a shocking sight he hadn't noticed before. Micki wasn't Micki, at least not in appearance. Instead of her buttoned-up shirt and dark pants, she was dressed in a bright pink strapless sundress, exposing bronzed skin and sexy thin tan lines that made a man want to devour her. Starting at her shoulders, he imagined licking her soft flesh, heading downward until he discovered just where those tan lines led. With a groan, Damian shifted to accommodate the growing ache in his pants.

"Are you saying I don't belong in that club?" Indignant, Micki perched her hands on her hips, thrusting her breasts out "That I can't compete with the other women there? Is that what's making you laugh at the thought of my going to a strip club?" she asked.

He blinked, sensing there was a wealth of information in that statement. Obviously he'd touched a nerve. Knowing women as he did, he also realized anything he said now could get him into trouble.

In this case, trouble was a good thing if it kept her away from him. "Micki, I'm sure you can hold your own anywhere you go," he said in a deliberately placating tone he often used to tick off his sisters.

"Even among naked women?" Micki blushed red, but to her credit she didn't run away.

He figured he had the alcohol to thank for her lack of inhibition and muttered a curse. Meanwhile his teammates looked on in amusement at their exchange.

"Hey, if you can handle yourself with these guys, you can handle yourself anywhere," he said as if he didn't believe his own words.

"Because I'm one of them? Good old Micki, one of the guys," she spat, the disdain in her voice clear.

Now, where had that come from? He hardly viewed her as one of the team, but he wasn't about to alter the impression she believed he had of her when it suited his purpose of creating distance.

"If you say so," he muttered instead.

She nailed him with a vicious glare. "Come on, let's get going," she said to the rest of the men.

Damian shot Roper a warning look. Do not take her to a strip club.

Before Roper or Damian could react, the rest of the guys seemed to take her up on her suggestion and, with Micki in tow, headed toward the exit

"Oh hell." He started after them, pulling Carter aside on his way.

He and the rookie had an obvious hate-thing going, but as the captain, Damian had done his best only to pick on the kid for real mistakes, and there'd been plenty.

Now Damian needed Carter's help. As long as Carole was on his arm, Micki wouldn't listen to a word Damian had to say. He needed to rid himself of Carole and he had to do it fast because he didn't trust anyone else to watch out for a drunken Micki except himself.

"How 'bout a peace gesture," Damian offered the rookie.

Carter shrugged. "Sorry, man but I don't really give a crap whether or not we get along." His cocky demeanor and smirk told Damian he meant what he said.

Okay, so he wasn't going to do this the easy way. "Well I'm going to do you a favor despite your sorry-ass attitude. Instead of the strip club, how about you take my date out?"

"You serious?" The young kid's eyes narrowed in thought, probably at the idea of Carole's huge, surgery-induced breasts.

"Deadly serious."

The difference between Carole and Micki beyond the obvious was that Carole knew the score. Yeah, she'd be pissed at Damian for pawning her of on Carter, but she'd get over it. It wasn't like they were exclusive; she dated other guys when Damian was out of town, which was most of the time. Not to mention that he'd had to coax her to go out with him tonight. He'd wondered if she was waiting for someone else to call.

Damian wouldn't hear from her after this stunt nor would he call her next time he was in town. No loss for either of them, really. Moving on was long overdue. Yeah, Damian wanted to look out for her feelings, but she could handle being passed off to Carter. Weighing who needed him more, Carole or Micki, there was no contest.Besides, Carole would probably enjoy Carter, who'd give her the kind of good time she was looking for.

Damian dug into his pocket and peeled off a couple of hundreds. "I'll even pay for your dinner and drinks”

From the corner of his eye, Damian saw Carole looking around for him in the bar while the guys were loading into cabs. "Well?”

Carter shrugged. "Why not? She looks like a good time and the little publicist turned out to be a prude even after I plied her with alcohol."

Damian clenched his jaw. He had no time now to deal with Carter and what he'd done to Micki, but he definitely would later.

An eager Carter snatched the bills and swaggered toward Carole while Damian caught the last cab with his teammates. Damian didn't miss the irony. He was headed for Lacie's Lounge, a strip joint he used to frequent in his younger days, so he could watch out for a woman destined to be his downfall in his declining years.

Once at the club, Damian thought things would get worse, but he was wrong. Micki sat quietly by Roper, taking in the women gyrating around the poles on stage. She hadn't ordered a drink, which Damian took as a good sign and he relaxed in his seat.

For the first time, he noticed the tight bond between Micki and Roper. Was there a thing between them he didn't know about? Damian's gut twisted in uncomfortable knots.

Suddenly the music shifted. The beat picked up. The women on stage altered their movements to the more sensual and seductive rhythm. Micki rose from her seat, mesmerized.

Damian started to stand, too, but Roper put a hand on his arm. "Let her go.”

Damian glanced at the other man.

"She needs this," his teammate explained.

The words were cryptic yet sincere. Damian lowered himself back into his seat, wary and uncomfortable.

As if aware he was staring, Micki turned and met his gaze. Their eyes held. The music pulsed around them in an erotic beat, increasing the awareness simmering between them that he still didn't understand. She was the opposite of everything he normally desired and yet…

She broke the connection as she slowly gravitated toward the stage, seemingly fascinated by the women and their moves. Or maybe it was their skimpy clothing she wanted a better look at. Either way, she made her way forward, staggering a little as she walked.

Damian clenched his fists but forced himself to trust Roper's judgment. Since Micki had been subdued since they'd entered Lacie's, Damian didn't see any harm in letting her watch from up close.

One minute Micki had been watching the women spinning onstage and the next minute she was up and striding closer. She knew she was drunk. She also knew that something about these uninhibited women fascinated her. What made them so bold? So daring? What caused the other women to strut and flaunt their assets while Micki withdrew into herself?

The rhythmic sounds of the music drew her and, wanting a closer view, she stepped toward the stage, looking for…what? Answers to her own insecurity, perhaps?

The tempo changed and Micki swayed her hips in time to the music, which she realized had picked up. The girls on stage were shimmying their breasts at the men in the front row.

Things in front of Micki blurred as she wondered what it would feel like to dance as if she were a woman every man wanted to look at and touch. To call his own. God, she thought, she really must be drunk.

One of the dancers held out a hand. Micki knew she wasn't beckoning to her and yet she reacted as if she'd been lured onto the stage. This was her chance to find out what it would be like to be anyone other than every guy's pal.

DAMIAN BOLTED FOR MICKI, but she'd already joined a dancer on the stage. Her hips swayed and she shimmied to the beat of the music in an exact imitation of the other woman's expert moves. Damian's mouth grew parched.

"We have to get her out of there," Roper said from behind him.

"No shit."

Damian placed a hand on the stage, intending to haul himself up, but Micki's next movement stopped him. Eyes closed, she pulled down the top of her sundress, revealing a sexy lace strapless bra, one transparent enough that her full breasts were exposed for the world to see.

"Oh shit." Damian jumped up to pull her off the stage but another patron was already there.

The big bull of a guy obviously knew it was hands off when it came to the women who were performing but had decided the house rules didn't apply to a regular customer like Micki. The guy didn't bother tucking cash into Micki's strapless lace bra, he just groped her breast instead.

Without warning, possessive anger and fury surged through Damian, along with one thought: No one touches her but me.

Micki's expression reflected delayed horror as she suddenly realized what was going on. She screamed and slapped the guy groping her but he didn't seem bothered at all. Damian intervened, grabbing the drunk by his collar and hauling him away from Micki. While his teammates held the man down, Damian lifted Micki into his arms, doing his best to protect his wrist, and headed for the door.

Straight into the glaring lights of the paparazzi.

Safe and secure in the cab, Damian finally caught his breath. Looking back he realized Micki hadn't fought his rescue attempt. On the contrary, she'd wrapped her arms around his neck and let him whisk her away. She'd even appeared oblivious to the flashbulbs that followed them to the taxi door.