She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside to the kitchen where her laptop beeped and hummed and displayed lines of code. He squinted at the screen. “What are you doing?”
“Creating some new identities,” she said matter-of-factly. She gestured at the computer. “I’m trying to access some DMV databases at the moment. It’s tricky, but I’ll figure it out.”
Adam shook his head back and forth. “Huh?”
She pushed him backwards until he sank into a chair. Then she climbed into his lap and put her hands on his shoulders. “How about an actual partnership, Adam? I’ll be your literal partner-in-crime. I have a lot to learn, but I do come with formidable computer skills.”
He gripped her wrists, his hands tight like manacles. “No. Absolutely not.” Had she gone completely crazy while he was away?
She leaned down, pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. “I’ll listen to you; I won’t be stupid like I was in Vegas.”
Unable to help himself, he deepened the kiss until they were both out of breath. He forced himself to break away. “I’m not worried about your capabilities, Jess. You’d be an amazing asset to anyone in this business. I thought so the first night we met.” He tipped up her chin, forced her to look in his eyes. “But your life...you want to throw it away to become a professional bad guy?”
She snorted. Loudly. “Is that how you see yourself? As a bad guy? I hate to break it to you, gorgeous, but you’re the best guy I know.” When he opened his mouth to protest, she laid a finger across his lips. “Yeah, yeah, so you break the law. So what? You never hurt anyone. Ever.”
Adam flushed and fell silent under her loving gaze. Well, shit. How exactly did they get here? She wanted them to become some sort of jewel-thieving couple? She wanted to travel the world with him, work with him every day on planning the jobs, and sleep with him every night? It was ridiculous. It was crazy.
It was absolutely fucking perfect.
Before she launched into a lengthy sales spiel, Adam stood up so quickly she would have fallen on the floor if he hadn’t looped his arm under her knees and picked her up.
He carried her into the bedroom. As he tossed her on the bed and began a slow, deliberate climb over her body, she asked, “So that’s a yes? To partners?”
Adam grinned down at her; a bubble of happiness pushing inside his chest so strong he felt like sunshine and streamers might burst out of his eyes. “It’s a yes. To partners in every way.”
* * * * *
Acknowledgments
Being a writer has been my dream for decades...as everyone who knows me can attest. There have been so many people who helped and encouraged me over the years and on this project in particular. Without further ado:
Thank you to Carina Press and my fantastic editor, Lauren Plude. I’m thrilled to be writing for Carina. Lauren, you are a pleasure to work with and your suggestions are annoyingly good. (Annoying as in, why didn’t I think of that myself?)
Thank you to my critique partner, author Ruth Vincent, who just makes everything better with her calm and witty advice. I’m so glad I don’t write urban fantasy, Ruth, because I would just cry all day when I had to compare it with yours.
Thank you to my wonderful Girls Night ladies. I don’t know what I’d do without our Wednesday-night therapy sessions. You keep me sane and you make me laugh.
Thank you to my parents and sister for putting up with me as a child when I didn’t want to do anything but read. Your years of endless pep talks and enthusiasm mean more than I can say. I love you so much.
And finally, my husband. You not only gave me the title of this book, but also the space and patience in which to write it. Thank you, baby. Let’s go have a glass of wine.
About the Author
There are only three things Michelle Dayton loves more than sexy and suspenseful novels: her family, the city of Chicago and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Michelle dreams of a year of world travel—as long as the trip would include weeks and weeks of beach time. As a bourbon lover and unabashed wine snob, Michelle thinks heaven is discussing a good book over an adult beverage. Visit Michelle on the web at www.michelledayton.com or on Twitter, @MKDaytonWriter.
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ISBN-13: 9781488031557
Caught in the Act: A Jewel Heist Romance Anthology
Copyright © 2017 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
Hoodwinked Hearts
Copyright © 2017 by Ainslie Paton
Rough Edges
Copyright © 2017 by Emma Sinclair
Strange Tango
Copyright © 2017 by Michelle Dayton
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author, and all incidents are pure invention.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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Caught in the Act: A Jewel Heist Romance Anthology Page 32
