Note- The title comes from a song by Pam Tillis called Mi Vida Loca (My Crazy Life).

Destiny Turns On A Dime

Chapter One

May 2004

A typical day at the coffee shop.

While other men there were consumed with their blackberries or still half asleep Derek Morgan was bright eyed and bushy tailed. He woke up three hours before to do his one thousand sit ups and then run five miles before his shower. Breakfast consisted of an egg white omelet and a power shake from the health food store.

He sure as hell had not gotten his six pack abs from sleeping in. And he wouldn't keep it by sleeping in either. And keep them he intended to do until the day he died. They were freaking phenomenal- like the rest of his body- and he knew it.

This morning, like every other morning he was in town, he was scoping out the selection of lovely ladies that made this a regular stop on their morning routine. He had quite the reputation here for being a playboy but then that was true for many places he went.

Okay, for everywhere he went.

He couldn't help it. His mother said he got his father's charm and good looks. And Derek, never one to complain when fate dropped such a lucky break in his lap, made the very most out of his God given gorgeous physique and flirtatious nature. There was no doubt about it he was a blessed man when it came to having everything it took to score.

And damn if he did not know it too.

A big smile curved over his lips as he moved forward in the long line waiting to place their coffee orders. The woman in front of him was desperately sexy- tall, dark, and stacked. Watch him work. She would be his before her coffee even got poured.

Looking over her shoulder he noticed she was flipping through a magazine. It was about local life in Washington DC. She happened to be reading about the opera house. He commented "Madame Butterfly is my favorite."

She looked over her shoulder and flashed him a smile. "Is it really? Or is it the only one you know?"

He winked at her. "You caught me." Then he paused and said "Derek Morgan. Guilty of lying in the first degree."

She giggled.

It was like taking candy from a baby. Really. He could have her number before he even moved up another place in line. Hell, he could have five numbers before he got his coffee. He loved the game but sometimes it was just too easy.

Or maybe he was just too good.

XXXXXXXXX

Penelope Garcia took her coffee from the barista. She was in a rush. She couldn't be late for work again. She really shouldn't have stopped for this latte but the stuff they served at her job did not compare to this lovely concoction of sugar and caffeine. She could drink the stuff in the break room all afternoon but in the morning she needed her grande caramel macchiato with whip cream.

Without it she couldn't function right.

Not being on top of her game wasn't really an option at her new job. She had better be all that and a bag of chips if she wanted to stay out of prison. Luckily, even on her worse day, she was the best hacker the F.B.I was ever gonna see join their ranks.

Hurrying toward the door of the coffee shop she didn't notice that her pink silk scarf had slid off. She was carrying her purse, her computer bag, her coffee and some files. Just as she pushed open the door she heard, but didn't pay much attention to, a man call out "Excuse me, Miss.....uh...Hey!"

Stepping out into the warm spring air she headed down the block. The building she worked in was right next door.

She hadn't gotten but a step or two when she heard "Baby girl!....HEY, GORGEOUS!" and then a hand on her back.

Penelope spun around. She took in the sexiest man she had ever laid eyes on. And she had thought, till then, she knew sexy. But she had thought wrong. This man was making a whole new category all for himself.

He wore a blue business shirt and black slacks. The sleeves of the shirt were rolled up his arms, shoving off muscular lower forearms that made her mouth nearly drool. Especially when she imagined what was hidden beneath the parts that shirt covered up.

Yum. This sexy sugar buns of a man was delicious. Totally.

And he had been talking to her when he called out 'Baby girl' and 'Gorgeous.' Hmmm. Well, that was interesting indeed. Maybe her luck was turning around after ten straight years of craziness in her life and crazies in her bed. Or freaks. Or losers. Or assholes. Or men who couldn't get her off if their lives had depended on it.

She found herself purring at him "Baby girl? Gorgeous? Hmmm. I would ask if we've met before but I would remember a tall glass of chocolate milk like you coming into my life."

He let out a chuckle.

She went on "Perhaps it was in another life time or..."her voice purred, as she forgot all about being late for work, "my dreams."

"Yeah, maybe." A big grin spread over his lips. "I do star in a lot of those for a lot of women."

She had the urge to touch him and just could not resist. Her hand, sporting neon pink painted nails that matched the pink in her hair and in her clothes that day, shot up and smoothed over his shoulder. "I just bet you do."

Penelope didn't know where this intense boldness was coming from. She had never flirted this way with a man before. She had flirted. Sure. After all, she was far from a virgin. But she had never flirted in this high octane way.

She knew how to have lots of fun and laughs with guys she met but she always felt like the type of woman a guy had to get to know as a buddy before he would want to hit on. Not the type he would run after on the street.

The stranger's dark brown eyes- filled with mischief, teasing and sex- were stuck on her hand as it moved over his shoulder and only when she pulled it back did he meet her gaze again. Something sizzled between them that was hot enough to put a hitch in time for a minute.

The next thing she knew he had pulled her scarf out of his pocket. She startled a little and blushed slightly.

He waved it around. "Missing something, baby girl?"

"Yes, it appears I am. Thank you, handsome stranger."

"Sure. No prob. I wouldn't want this fine outfit of yours to go without this accessory."

"No, that wouldn't be very good at all."

He put it around her neck. "There you go, sweetie."

"Thanks," she said, breathlessly, because he had gotten so close when he leaned near her. And he smelled so good. She would like to bathe in his dirty bath water. That is how hot this man was.

"De-" he started but just then Penelope spotted her boss getting out of a cab.

"Sorry, Hot Stuff, I gotta jet! Work calls. But it was an experience. That's for sure. And I thought my only jolt for the day was gonna be this macchiato. Silly me! You put the ya in yummy!"

Even if he was the hottest thing walking Penelope had to run off because if she messed up her job she was afraid she would end up in prison. She hurried along the sidewalk, her highs clacking, and pushed the door for the building, slipping into air conditioning that immediately made her nipples harden.

Or maybe that was the beautiful specimen of man meat she had just met. Shivers coursed all through her and she felt hot from head to toe. In the elevator she hoped the other passengers didn't notice how aroused she was.

He had called her baby girl, gorgeous, sweetie. He was quite the charmer. Not that she thought it meant a damn thing to him but that stranger had made her morning. Maybe her whole dang week.

Penelope knew who she would be using in her fantasies for the foreseeable future.