She frowned. “Wait. Why’re you apologizing?”
He fumbled, confused. “I was going to ask you the same question.”
“I kissed you,” she reminded him.
“No,” he argued, “I kissedyou.”
Her eyes narrowed. “So…you’re not mad at me?”
He laughed nervously. “I thought you were angry at me.”
She shook her head. “None of this would have happened if I hadn’t pushed you up against the side of a building and…”
The blood sank swiftly to his groin at the memory of what she had done to him. He shifted in his seat, crossing his ankle over his knee. “I took it a step further. Way further than I should have.”
Spots of color appeared in her cheeks. He saw it licking the surface of her neck and fought a groan at the sight. She remembered, too.
Sassy cleared her throat, looking down at the empty containers. “I’ve been trying to get up the courage to tell you that I’d like to start over. Forget the whole thing happened.”
He breathed a sigh of relief, coming to the edge of his chair. “I want the same thing.”
Her expression was almost plaintive as she scanned him again. “It didn’t mean anything. Right?”
“Absolutely right,” he said, nodding vigorously. It was a blatant lie, but he’d agree toanythingto make things right between them again.
“Okay,” she said. “I guess that’s settled.”
He beamed stupidly at her for a moment. Then he reached into his pocket. “You left this at the Bootleg.”
She stared at the offering in his hand. “You found this where?”
“The Bootleg,” he repeated. “It was on the table when I went back in to pay for the pitcher. Right where you were sitting.”
She didn’t reach for the silver-and-turquoise cuff. She looked like she’d seen a ghost. Small lines dug between her brows as she shook her head. “That’s not possible,” she breathed.
“Why not?” he asked. “I thought it looked familiar. Is it Soledad’s?”
“It’s mine,” she clarified. “I just thought I left it here on my desk a week ago. It’s been missing for days. How did it wind up on our table at the Bootleg?”
“You weren’t wearing it?” Nick asked. He chastised himself when her eyes lit with indignation. Of course she hadn’t been wearing it. If he’d been paying attention to anything other than her tasseled dress and her red-painted mouth, he’d have known that. “Sorry. I’m just trying to make sense of this. You say it went missing from your desk?”
“I thought so,” she said with a nod.
“How does its absence correspond with the security alarms?” he asked.
She thought about it. “I noticed it missing the day after the first alert. Soledad and I combed every inch of this room to find it. We came up empty.”
“Okay,” Nick considered.
“Oh, God,” Sassy groaned. “What if you were right this whole time and someonedidbreak in to the gallery? But that doesn’t make sense, either. Why would they leave all the priceless art on the walls along with everything of value in the gift shop…leave my computer here on my desk, even, and take the single piece of jewelry I left here that afternoon?”
It didn’t make sense. Unless this whole thing was far more personal than either of them had bargained for. “I’ve been talking to some friends of mine,” Nick said. “They work in security. They suggest we install more security measures around the gallery.”
“How much will I have to pay to get it installed?” she asked measuredly. “I’m still car shopping, so my budget won’t stretch far.”
“I told you,” he reiterated, “they’re friends.”
“You can’t expect me to believe they’ll do all this work for free.”
