Twice the Temptation (37 page)

 
“I love you,” he repeated. “I love you.”

 
That sort of talk wasn’t supposed to count during sex, but she’d never heard him say anything he didn’t mean under any circumstances. He didn’t seem to expect an answer, though. Whether he was talking to her or just saying what was uppermost in his thoughts, she didn’t know. But she knew how he felt; he’d said it to her a hundred times, and never once when he didn’t mean it, and never once when it didn’t give her shivers and warm fuzzy feelings all over.

 
“Come for me, Samantha,” he urged, shifting his weight.

 
“Christ, again?” she moaned, laughing. “Demanding much?”

 
His hand teased at her tits again as his pace increased. “Join me,” he groaned, kissing her openmouthed once more.

 
She came all at once in a shivering rush. Samantha gasped, digging her fingers into his shoulders as he heaved against her, shuddering. Mmm. That was it. Knowing that she excited him as much he aroused her. Fighting or frustrated or standing on different sides of the law, they fit.

 
When they could breathe again, Rick turned over onto his back beside her. Silently he tugged her closer, until she lay on her stomach half across his chest. With a slight smile she listened to his heartbeat. He twiddled his fingers into her hair, obviously as reluctant as she was to start talking about anything outside the bedroom again. That was where all the damn trouble was.

 
“Did Walter ever call you back?” he asked finally. “From what you’ve told me in the past, I presume this Shepherd would have been hired by someone. It could be handy to know who that person is.”

 
She sighed. “No, he hasn’t called me back yet. Since I helped get two art thieves here arrested, and a fence got killed because I was digging around, it’s gotten kind of hard for Stoney to find any Brits who’ll talk to him.”

 
“Well, considering that if you hadn’t become involved in that mess there would have been one more dead Brit—one with my initials—all I can say is that I’m sorry for his troubles.”

 
She snuggled closer. “I’m not complaining. Just stating facts.”

 
“Mm-hm. Thank you for clarifying.”

 
“You’re welcome.” Her eyes closed again. That was her—warm, very satisfied, and sleepy.

 
“I canceled tomorrow’s meeting in London,” he said offhandedly.

 
Samantha opened her eyes again. “And why did you do that?”As if she didn’t know .

 
“I thought I’d stay home and watch your opening day.”

 
“What, through the upstairs windows? Do you have any idea how many tourists are going to be crawling around here hoping for a look at Rick Addison?”

 
“Nearly as many as will hope to see Addison’s girlfriend, who’s actually working this…gig, as you call it.”

 
“No way. I’m the fries; you’re the Whopper. Besides, like you said, I’ll be working—and in the security room. Nobody’s going to see me unless there’s trouble. And since you’re not going to put the diamond back in my pocket, there won’t be any trouble.”

 
“I’m staying here,” he repeated, less diplomatically.

 
“For four weeks, then? I thought you had a big dinner thing Monday night.”

 
“I do. I’ve already called Sarah to have her inform my guests that the dinner will be here rather than at the London flat. Rawley Park is more impressive, anyway. And besides, now you won’t have any excuse not to attend with me.”

 
“I knew that damned diamond was bad luck.”

 
Rick chuckled. “Not for me. I get to have dinner with you. Maybe it’s only bad luck if you believe in that sort of thing.”

 
“Do you really call dinner with me and twenty of your closest minionsgood luck?”

 
“I’m thanking them for a very profitable quarter. You could wear this.” He flicked a finger at her new necklace.

 
“Cool. I’m calling it the Fuck Me Diamond Triad.”

 
He laughed outright. “Call it whatever you like. You make it sparkle.”

 
“Me and the unbelievable pressures and heat acting on subterranean coal deposits.”

 
“So pragmatic, you are.”

 
She raised up and kissed his chin. “I love you,” she murmured. There. He got one when it counted.

 
“I love you, Sam.”

 
As for her pragmatism, she hoped that wasn’t a lesson she would have to teach Bryce Shepherd. Because whether they’d once been friends and lovers or not, what she had now was so much more than that. And if push came to shove, she would take Bryce down.

 
Richard sat on one of the stools at the rear of the control room. All four occupants had their eyes on the digital clock in the lower right-hand corner of one of the monitors. At eight fifty-nine and thirty seconds, Craigson began counting backward aloud. Just what they needed—more drama.

 
Richard took a moment to glance at Samantha. Far from the relaxed, sexy, funny woman of last night, this morning she was all business. Today was important for him in that he’d been able to foot the bill and provide the location for a prestigious exhibit just about to open to the public for no charge. For her, she’d been able to come out of the shadows for this one. And she would be able to put it on her résumé when it went well.

 
“Three…two…one,” Craigson chanted. “Blastoff.”

 
Samantha hit the talk button on her walkie-talkie. “Open the gates, Hervey.”

 
“Roger that,” the guard’s voice came back. “Blimey,
it looks like the line for the nextStar Wars movie out here.”

 
“Attack of the Tourists,” Samantha muttered. “A journey to the Dark Side.”

 
Richard and the two guards chuckled.

 
“Just remember that the exhibit would be kind of a failure without them here,” Craigson noted.

 
“Oh, I’m not going to forget that, Jamie. Have your riders stay on this side of the lake. I want to catch any strays before they get into the meadows.”

 
“Will do.”

 
Richard stood and kissed Samantha on the temple. “Are you certain you want to sit here in the cellar and watch all this on camera?”

 
“I don’t want to see what’ll happen if either of us goes wandering out amid the huddled masses.”

 
Neither did he, particularly. “Let’s go up on the roof,” he suggested.

 
She pursed her lips, no doubt gauging all of the angles of a change of venue. She also looked very sexy while doing it.

 
“Okay.” Samantha patted Craigson on the shoulder. “I’ll have my walkie on,” she said.

 
As soon as they were back in the main part of the cellar and away from the security guards, Richard took her hand in his. He loved touching her, though it had taken a great deal of patience to demonstrate the difference between an embrace and a restraint. Since she was working today, he let her go again before she could pull away. Balance. He was still learning, just as she was. He’d thrown out his book of rules the day he’d set eyes on her, and the new one had more asterisks and exceptions than it did actual rules.

 
“I’ve been less nervous about some of the jobs I’ve
pulled,” she admitted in a low voice as they topped the stairs.

 
“Well, the Nightshade’s in the safe, so you should have splendid luck today.”

 
Samantha sent him a sideways glance. “You’re still making fun of me, aren’t you?”

 
He put his hand over his heart. “Me? Be amused because the smartest, most fearless woman I’ve ever met screams and runs at the sight of a priceless blue diamond?”

 
“Mm-hm. I thought so.”

 
They went upstairs, then up into the attic. The roof-access ladder stood in the far corner. “Have you ever stolen something that was supposedly cursed or bad luck?”

 
“Once.”

 
That sounded intriguing. He climbed the ladder first, unlocking the door to the roof and shouldering it open. “And that’s all you’re going to say about it?”

 
As she joined him on the narrow catwalk, she squinted. The pale morning sun turned her auburn hair bronze and lightened her green eyes to emerald. He sighed as he looked at her.Glorious .

 
“The gig was only four years ago,” she returned, following him to what, if they’d overlooked the sea, would have been the widow’s walk. Since they were in the middle of Devonshire, he’d always reckoned it was there so his ancestors could survey their vast domain.

 
“So you’re warning me that I could be an accessory after the fact if you tell me anything about it,” he said.

 
Samantha nodded. “The statute of limitations doesn’t run out for another three years. If I go down, the less you know, the better.”

 
“I think if you were ever arrested, I’ve already done
enough to be considered an outright accomplice.”

 
“Way to bring down the mood, Rick.”

 
“I didn’t mean it that way. It was supposed to sound more like, ‘In for a penny, in for a pound.’ Or, ‘You jump, I jump.’ One of those we’re-in-it-together clichés.”

 
“Ah. Thanks for clarifying.” She sent him her quicksilver grin. “It was a crystal Mayan skull. Creeped me out. The alarm short-circuited and went off, and then my getaway car blew its engine in the middle of Pompano Beach, so I had to boost a VW Bug from a Dairy Queen. Not my finest moment.”

 
“I bet you looked good, though.”

 
“Always.” Below the edge of the roof, cars streamed in through the gates and onto the gravel parking lot. “Man. It looks like an after-Christmas sale at Wal-Mart.”

 
“Have you ever actually been to an after-Christmas sale anywhere?”

 
“I watch the news, baby.” She leaned farther forward, fearless as always. “When we open the gallery wing here, we’re going to have to either expand the parking lot or limit the number of cars that come through at any given time.”

 
“We’ll worry about that later, Samantha. For now, enjoy the moment. Because I would call this a success.”

 
This time she smiled more easily. “I suppose I would, too. The V & A’s going to be happy about this. Especially if the tourists hit the gift shop like they’re hitting the show.”

 
“Speaking of the V & A, where’s Henry Larson?”

 
“He stationed himself as a docent beside the rubies. McCauley must know he’s a fraud, because she gave
him a cheat sheet in case anybody actually asks him any questions.”

 
“At least he seems pretty harmless.”

 
“There’s no such thing as a harmless cop,” she returned, her gaze still on the growing crowd. “At best I would call him incompetent, which still means he could cause a shitload of trouble.”