Thank you to every single reader of this story. And an especially big thank you to everyone who has taken a few seconds to leave me a review. As I'm sure everyone has heard before, feedback is always muchly appreciated. :)

I am very sorry that this chapter took me so long to get out. I wish I had an interesting excuse, but the truth is I've been busy with life. Work, a sick mom and the death of my twelve and a half year old puppy who was the light of my life for so long. The unconditional love that an animal gives is hard to lose and I've been a bit of an emotional wreck. I have been working on this chapter for the last month or so, writing bits and pieces here and there.

I have a general outline figured out for this story, but that being said, nothing is set in stone so I am open to suggestion.

Anyway, on to chapter 4 of "Undercover Hearts"!

Jamie felt like his soul was dying. He'd been at Choas for about an hour, surrounded by the Giovanni brothers, their thugs, a few wanna bes and low level criminals. He cast a quick glance towards Miguel, or rather his alias Mitch, and saw that his fellow officer felt the same.

Each of the men seemingly took great pains to one-up one another. They'd look around the bar and spot one of their previous conquests, or someone who looked like a previous conquest and gloat about how they'd taken them into the bathroom for a quickie. Or how little effort it had taken to convince some girl, most likely a very insecure girl, to go home with them. How many times they'd had sex. How wild she was in the sack. How badly she wanted to please him and how he never returned the proverbial favor. How he'd gotten out of there in the morning, or if he'd brought her back to his place, how he'd ushered her out the door in the morning, usually with no more finesse than a bulldozer.

The thought of using a woman in such a cheap manner made Jamie's skin crawl. His parents had taught him that sex was something special and never something to be treated lightly. Of course, as he'd gotten older he realized a few things on his own. The first, when hormones started raging, it was easy to get carried away. That hadn't gotten any easier as he'd gotten older, but he had never and would never push a woman into doing something she wasn't interested in. The second was that while women sometimes wanted nothing more than a release, more often than not, things got complicated after sex.

"What 'bout you?" Carmine asked Johnny. "How was the tail down in Florida? Miami has some smokin' chicks!"

Jamie plastered a cocky grin on his face. "I definitely had my share."

"Oh come on! Don't leave us in suspense!" Carlos, one of the Giovanni thugs chortled.

Jamie took a long gulp of his beer, trying to come up with a believable story that he would be able to remember. Then he remembered a Halloween party at Harvard. A few minor changes to the truth and he might be able to sell it.

"They do it up big in Miami on Halloween," he started. "Weather is typically pretty warm at that time of year, so the costumes don't leave a whole lot to the imagination."

The men chuckled.

"All the women had legs up to here," he motioned to his neck, "a great rack and a fantastic ass." As the words left his lips, he inwardly cringed. "Then this one girl walks in and I swear, every single guy couldn't take his eyes off of her."

"Playboy Bunny?" Carlos smirked.

"Owl."

"An Owl?" Carmine's brow furrowed.

"Yeah," he nodded. "She was sexy as hell." He wasn't lying. "All these other chicks were offering themselves up on a silver platter...but this girl, she was mysterious. She had a mask on so I never saw her entire face, but she had the most brilliant blue eyes and her smile…" he shook his head and cleared his throat. "She was on her own at the party and she sat down at the bar and ordered a drink. When I approached her, she made me work for it."

Juan, a wannabe associate, rolled his eyes. "Dude, seriously? You let a chick run the show? A real man is always in control of his conquest."

Jamie shook his head and leveled his gaze directly at Juan. "Been there, done that," he said. "Half the thrill is in the chase. And knowing that every guy in the bar wanted her as badly as I wanted her upped the ante."

"And she chose you?"

Jamie smile was smug. He leaned back in his chair and shrugged. "I was best choice. All those other guys made it clear they only wanted one thing from her. They may as well have told her where they wanted it and a how. I, on the other hand, made her feel special. I asked her questions. I made her think that I valued her beauty and her brain. Of course, there wasn't much substance upstairs," he switched gears and sounded condescending as he pointed at his temple. "Only took a few minutes of feigning interest before she was all over me at the bar. She was practically giving me a lap dance."

Carmine threw his head back and laughed.

"How'd the night end?" Carlos leaned forward, interested in the new pick-up tactic.

"When she'd done all she could do to me the bar without getting arrested, she bit my ear and whispered in my ear to follow her to the bathroom."

All the men clapped their hands, agreeing how sexy it was when a woman did that.

"But, that was located on the other side of the very crowded bar. She grabbed my hand and lead to me the coat closet." He chuckled humorlessly. "Let's just say there were more than a few people who most definitely needed to get their coats dry cleaned after that!"

"Sounds like it was pretty wild night."

"Let's put it this way: I compare all women to her."

"How do they stack up?"

"No one has ever come close," he picked up his beer again and took another long pull.

The guys continued on with the Frat Boy mentality. They were loud and cocky and either women were incredibly attracted to their group (for reasons which he knew he'd never understand) or they would throw a few crude comments back at their table. Usually the men tossed some barbs back and forth until the women made it clear they were uninterested. They either told them off in no uncertain terms, or they'd just take their beverages to an empty table away from their crude comments. But so far, none of them had found a woman who was content to be nothing more than a scratching post for the evening.

"Can I get another?" Jamie hollered over the noise in an attempt to get the attention of the bartender, though he didn't seem to notice. People were approaching the bar faster than the single server could whip up the concoctions that people were asking for.

"Let me try to get his attention," a soft feminine voice said just over his shoulder.

Jamie turned to look over his shoulder and made a small space for the woman to lean up against the bar. He couldn't help but smile. It was the mystery woman from the park. "Think you can do better?"

She nodded her head in confirmation before clearing her throat and placing two fingers to her lips. Her sharp, but short, whistle caught the bartenders attention and he held up one finger, indicating he'd be over in a minute.

"See?" she smiled, softly laughing.

He smiled, leaning against the bar. He noticed how blue her eyes were. "I think that only works for women. If a man did that, the bartender would've held up a finger, but it wouldn't have been his index!"

She laughed again. "I suppose it might be more well received coming from a woman."

Jamie glanced over at the table and the realization that he was still working undercover hit him like a freight train. Now was not the time to be flirting.

He cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. "Everything OK?"

She looked at him oddly. "I'm sorry?"

"The other day, at the park…the phone call?" he asked.

"That's right," she nodded, her smile fading a little. "Sorry for running off like that."

He noticed the sparkle in her eyes faded a little at the memory.

"You could give a guy a complex when you run off like that, you know," he joked. He couldn't help himself. For some reason, he just wanted to see her happy.

She smiled and the sparkle in her eyes started to come back. "I am really sorry. I don't usually run away from people I've just met."

"Unless they happen to be carrying a pair of running shoes in just your size?" he couldn't help teasing.

"That is an exception to my rule," she smiled.

"Seriously, though," Jamie prodded. "Is everything OK?"

"Everything will be fine," she exhaled and forced her smile to get a little bigger, but once again, the sparkle was gone.

"What can I get you two?" The bartender finally asked.

"Two beers," she answered, reaching for her wallet.

"I got this," Jamie quickly pulled a twenty dollar bill from his wallet. "It's the least I can do. Without you, I'd still be standing here trying to get his attention."

She giggled and the bartender just offered a gruff apology as he quickly poured and placed two beers infront of where they stood at the bar.

A drunk man stumbled into her, knocking her off balance and right into Jamie's chest. His arms quickly enveloped her, steadying her, keeping her safe.

"Watch where you're going, Buddy!" Jamie called out, but the man was already stumbling away, unaware. When he glanced down to make sure she was OK, he noticed that she fit perfectly against him. It felt right.

She luxuriated in the feel of his strong arms holding her protectively. She couldn't remember the last time she felt so safe. His scent was intoxicating. It was a mix of something woodsy with a hint of citrus. Every inch of her body was tingling. She felt giddy. Like a teenage girl. She shook her head gently, reminding herself that she couldn't get carried away. She had to think all of her decisions through. She couldn't make a rash decision just because her body was reacting to this man in a way it had never reacted before.

She cleared her throat and gently, reluctantly moved out his arms. Sheepishly, she looked up until his eyes. "Thanks for the save. Me falling on a bar floor would be anything but graceful." Her lip curled upward, "or hygienic."

"True story," he smirked, pulling a shoe clad foot up off the floor. The sound made it clear that a soda like substance had been spilt and whoever had mopped up hadn't cared to do a good job. They laughed as he reached over to the bowl filled with peanuts. He held out his hand, offering to share.

"No thanks," she declined.

"Allergic?" He asked. She shook her head no. "Don't like them?"

"I like peanuts. I just don't like, shall we say, communal peanuts."

"Why is that?" he popped one in his mouth and he noticed she hesitated to answer. "It can't be that bad."

She cringed. "It is." When he went to put another peanut in his mouth, she grabbed his arm, halting him. "I'm sorry….it's just gross."

He laughed. "Peanuts at a bar are gross?" he chuckled.

"More like what's on the peanuts at the bar that's gross," she answered. "Think about it. One bowl – countless people reaching in and spreading germs….the ladies room was pretty gross. Can't imagine people who make that much of a mess actually wash their hands…and I'm guessing the men's room was just as bad, if not worse."

"Oh!" Jamie dropped the peanuts from his palm and quickly grabbed his beer and drank half of it quickly.

"Yeah," she nodded, "good idea. Alcohol might kill the bacteria."

He laughed. "Why the hell didn't that ever occur to me before?"

"Makes you want to run home and brush your teeth, doesn't it?"

"Little bit," he admitted, laughing.

Carmine suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, making Jamie crash back to reality.

The man snaked an arm around the woman's shoulders. Jamie noticed she tensed up immediately.

"Just close the deal, already!" he laughed. Carmine looked at her. "You into my friend, Johnny?" he nodded his head towards Jamie. She said nothing just stared at him. "What's your name, little lady?"

Her gaze turned steely. "I don't appreciate men I don't know giving me a pet name."

Carmine smirked down at her then looked at Jamie. "You found a feisty one here, Johnny!"

Her lips were firmly set in a straight line. "Excuse me," she reached over to her shoulder and picked up his arm, removing it from her shoulders. She looked at Jamie. "I think we're done here."

Jamie felt his heart drop as she started to walk away from the two.

"Eh, no big loss," Carmine said loudly and rudely, wanting her to overhear. "You've got a stick up your ass, Sweetheart!"

She stopped in her track and turned around to face Carmine. "What I've got, Sweetheart, is self-respect. I have no desire to be yet another notch on anyone's bedpost. And I certainly have no desire to expose myself to all the STDs you're most likely a carrying around. When was the last time you got tested, huh? You clean?"

Carmine hated when a woman talked back.

"You're just jealous 'cause I've never taken you for a ride." His smug expression disappeared when she started to laugh, clearly amused that he was so sure of himself.

"Women share details about every aspect of their lives," she said when her laughter subsided. "You might be feared on the streets because of your rumored business dealings, but I can assure you, no one is talking about your magical abilities between the sheets. What we are gossiping about, however, is that Porsche you tool around in? Well, I've heard you're compensating for a rather short coming," she glanced to the fly of his jeans then back up to his face. "So, no…I'm not jealous. And I'm definitely not interested. In fact, I'd rather buy a lifetime supply of batteries than lower my standards so far as to end up in your bed, or wherever it is that you take women."

This time when she walked away, he had no snide comment to bring her back. Being verbally kicked in the balls once was enough for one night.

"You're better off without that bitch," Carmine commented, turning around to face Jamie.

"Thanks man," Jamie groaned. "Truly. " Angry, he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Jamie couldn't help feeling like Carmine, or more accurately, his undercover assignment, might've just cost him something very big.

Hope you all enjoyed. :)