From Mel’s perspective, it made little difference. It was the job itself that mattered, the job itself that fired her senses and made her tingle with anticipation—getting past the gate, getting past the locks and getting into a house she didn’t own and where she simply didn’t belong.
It was a familiar thrill. But it wasn’t a thrill she should want anymore. And that disturbed her even more than her growing feelings for Kyle.
* * *
KYLE WATCHED FROM THE VANas she moved slowly toward the Bryant house. The sun was dropping behind the foothills, and she seemed to dissolve in the shadows. His pulse beat in his throat. Even though they were doing nothing illegal, adrenaline still surged through him. Excitement filled the air, and he knew why someone would do this; why they’d take the risk.The thrill. Like skydiving or bungee jumping.
He shook his head, banishing such foolish thoughts. He wasn’t here to get cheap thrills. He was here to try to save his business.
A few minutes passed as his eyes scanned the perimeter, trying to find any sign of her. No luck. He pressed the button on the microphone and whispered. “Mel? Melissa, do you copy?”
“Loud and clear.” Her whispered tones filtered back through the speaker he’d set up on the dash.
“I lost visual. Where are you?”
“What do you mean where am I? I’m right where I’m supposed to be. In Bryant’s library, staring at his wall safe.”
He blinked, then looked at his watch. No way. He must have heard her wrong. “You’re where?”
She laughed. “Don’t sound so surprised, Radley. Did you forget why you hired me? I’m one of the best.”
“You mean, youwereamong the best. Don’t you keep telling me you’re retired?”
“Right,” she said. “Wasthe best. What are you, the verb police?”
He chuckled. “I’m not even the real police anymore, sweetheart. But if you can get into the safe just as fast as you got into the house, I promise I’ll give you some sort of performance bonus when you get back out here.”
“Oh, yeah? Like what?”
He made a show of lowering his voice. “Trust me, sweetheart. I’ll make it worth your while.”
Her laugh rang out over the speakers. “Mind out of the gutter, Radley,” she said. He chuckled. His mind wasn’t in the gutter. Hell, he almost wished it was. Gutter thoughts about Mel he could handle. But the thoughts he was thinking were hardly dirty. No, they were pure. Love. Commitment. Kids and family.
Scary thoughts for a bachelor, but for some reason these thoughts weren’t scaring him at all.That’swhat scared him. Becauseshewas convinced that she was the wrong woman. And Kyle wasn’t sure what the hell he would do if he couldn’t convince her otherwise.
