Guilty Pleasures (4 page)

“Should have gotten this one from a better angle.” He held up the picture and scrutinized it again.

Eva took aim and fired. Jake saw the sneaker from the corner of his eye, ducked just in time as it whizzed by his ear.

“Hey!” He held his ear, looked down at the rubber and cloth missile and then at his wife. “What was that for
”

Eva stomped her foot. Her cheeks flared in indignation. “You know good and gotdamned well what that was for, Jake Kelly! You ruined our anniversary—again! Instead of relaxing by the pool with … with drinks decorated with little umbrellas, we're running our asses out of here to get on the next plane.”

Fury and frustration boiled inside her until they erupted in hot tears that splashed over her cheeks.

“Baby, Eva…”

“Don't fuckin' ‘baby, Eva' me. Not this time.” She balled up his Hugo Boss jacket and dumped it in the next suitcase.

Jake winced. He hated when Eva was upset, especially at
him.
The plane ride home was going to be hell. He and his wardrobe were going to pay.

He dared look at her. “I did it for us. For our security.” He slowly came toward her. He held her shoulders. She looked away. “I'll make it up to you. I swear.”

Eva sighed. She looked at him then pushed him hard in the chest. “You'd better.” The rush of the sting was fading fast.

The knot in Jake's gut released. “You were brilliant, as always.” His voice wrapped around her, reeled her in.

A slow smile of appreciation inched across her mouth. “I was, wasn't I
”

“It's in your blood, baby. Just like it's in mine.” He grabbed her hips and pulled her between his hard thighs. “It turns you on just like it does for me.”

She arched her neck back and drew in a long breath. “Yesss.” Her lids drifted down over her eyes. She lowered her head and then looked up into his eyes.

Damn, he wanted her. A job always did that to him.

“This is the last time, right
” she cooed as she stroked the inside of his thighs. “We're going to take the money and run. Right
”

His heart pounded, pumped blood to his groin. His penis throbbed. He moved against her to gain some relief. “Nobody like you, babe,” he said against her neck, his breath like fire on her skin. “Whatever you want.”

Eva unbuttoned her blouse. Jake groaned in delight.

“I just have a bad feeling about this, Jake.” She sucked in a sharp breath when his tongue teased a nipple. She pulled the black wig off her head and tossed it on the floor.

“Don't be silly.” He unzipped her skirt from the back, and it followed the wig. “What could possibly go wrong
”

 

3

“Hey, Eva,” Tara, the office assistant, greeted when Eva walked into Sebastian's design studio Monday morning. “How was your weekend
Did you and Jake celebrate your anniversary in style
”

Eva popped a smile. “It was great. We went to Vegas for the weekend. It's where we met.”

Tara grinned with good-natured envy. “You guys are so lucky.”

“Yeah, I guess we are.” She tossed her handbag over her shoulder and sauntered into her small office.

No one had a clue about her and Jake's other life. They were always careful about taking care of business out of town, away from familiar faces. They'd been lucky. But for reasons that she could not shake, she had real misgivings about this last caper. Maybe she was getting old, sentimental. But, Jake was right. They were masters. Years of success as a team proved it.

Still, she longed for a regular life. He'd promised that this would be their last job. But what if a regular life wasn't enough
This life was all she knew. It was pretty hard to imagine anything else.

Her cell phone rang. It was Jake.

“Got everything together,” he said. “It's in the mail.”

“Great.”

“We'll give Mr. Ingram a call in a couple of days.”

“See you tonight.”

“Have a great day, baby.”

Eva disconnected the call. She twisted her lips. This was it. No turning back now.

TWO DAYS LATER

Stan Ingram ambled into his office. How he hated his job, his mundane life. This was not how he envisioned his future, trapped.

He turned on his computer and opened the files awaiting him on his desk, but he couldn't focus. All he could think about for the past few days was Leslie. The last thing he remembered was taking her to his room and her getting undressed. When he woke up, he was naked and she was gone. The whole episode was a blur. A better description was a
blank.
Had he been able to perform
Was it as good in reality as it was in his mind
Leslie.