by Susanna Carr
She dipped her head and took a deep breath. She had to get out of here now if she wanted to make her flight. Christine glanced at the door and saw the pile of clothes on the carpeted floor. How could she have missed that?
Rushing over to the door, she grabbed her clothes from the top of the pile and tossed them into her suitcase. She zipped up her luggage and cringed when the metallic sound echoed in the quiet room. Glancing over at the bed, Christine went very still until she saw that Travis was still sleeping soundly.
She was overwhelmed with the urge to wake him up and say goodbye. She wanted to thank him for showing her Vegas, for encouraging her to pursue her dreams and for taking the time to make sure she crossed something off her bucket list. But, most of all, she wanted one more kiss.
Christine pressed her lips together. No, she shouldn’t do that. It would start a chain reaction. She squared her shoulders and thrust out her chin. All he would have to do was look at her and she would stay.
And then she might find out the truth that would crack through her dream weekend. She felt something more than desire, but that didn’t mean Travis felt the same way. She could keep the fantasy but that meant getting out of here before she ruined this beautiful memory.
Christine’s eyelashes fluttered as she felt the sting of tears. She wasn’t going to regret leaving. She would regret it more if she tried to extend this one-night stand. She grabbed her suitcase and quietly left, refusing to look back.
* * *
TRAVIS WOKE UP when he heard the buzz of his cell phone. He gradually opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling. It took a moment for him to notice the stream of sunlight. His need to turn over and go back to sleep evaporated when he realized he didn’t recognize the room.
He sat up and looked around. The hotel room was like any other. He looked at the bed and saw the dent on the pillow next to him. He smiled as the memories came rushing back. “Christine?”
She didn’t answer. The bathroom and closet doors were ajar, as if they’d been thrown open in a hurry. Travis reluctantly looked at the clock on the table next to the bed. It was past noon.
Damn. Travis tiredly rubbed his hand over his jaw, the stubble scratching his palm. She must have left for the airport. The disappointment weighed heavily in his chest. He hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye.
In a hazy way, he recalled encouraging her to stay for another day, but she hadn’t seemed interested. He should have gotten her phone number or email address. Anything that gave him the chance to continue what they had shared. Now that link had been broken. She was gone.
The regret was unfamiliar. He was used to keeping relationships casual. They were meant to be fun, sexy and temporary. But it felt different with Christine. What they shared was more of a connection. Something he hadn’t felt with anyone for a long time. And when she curled up against him, showing her trust... Travis exhaled sharply. Well, he thought it was more than a hookup.
He heard the buzz of his cell phone again and tilted his head. It sounded like it was close to the door. He rose to his feet and stretched. Looking around, Travis hoped to see if Christine had left a note. There was nothing on the tables or the pillow.
No big deal. She was in a rush, he assured himself. Last night still meant something to Christine. He knew it in the way she touched him, in her sighs of delight and her gasps of pleasure. The way she clung to him as if he was her rock, her shelter. It didn’t mean she had to keep clinging once morning came.
It was probably better this way, he decided as he padded barefoot to his pile of clothes by the door. If they had tried to continue, his history would repeat itself. She would tire of his energy and his curiosity. He would start feeling trapped. What they shared was based on mutual desire. It was pure fantasy and that’s how he wanted to remember it.
Travis reached down for the pile of clothes. He pushed aside his jeans and smiled when he saw Christine’s bra had somehow gotten tangled up with the legs. He grabbed his jacket and retrieved his phone from the pocket. “Hello?” he said, his voice husky from sleep.
“Travis?” Aaron’s loud voice pierced through his fog. “I’ve been trying to reach you. Where have you been?”
“I was asleep. How did the game go?”
“I won big,” Aaron said triumphantly. “Was there any doubt?”
“Never,” Travis lied. One of these days his friend was going to lose badly. Maybe lose the emerald that symbolized his good fortune.
“You should have seen Hoffmann when I won. The guy tried to cheat but he still lost. He really wants that emerald back.”
“And I can’t wait to get rid of this stone. Pitts and Underwood followed us everywhere.”
“Us?” Aaron’s voice squeaked. “The hot chick has been with you all this time?”
“Was there any doubt?” Travis teased as he went through the jacket pocket looking for the emerald. He must have moved it to his shirt pocket. “She just left for the airport. Where do you want to meet? We need to be careful because I don’t think they’ve given up on the emerald just yet.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve been careful since I realized they searched my room,” Aaron said. “I won’t let my guard down.”
“I can’t wait to see the state of my hotel room,” he muttered. Travis froze as alarm shot through him while he stared at the pile of clothes. Where was his shirt?
“How should I know?”
Travis winced. Did he say that out loud? “Sorry, just talking to myself,” he said in a rush. “Let me call you back. I just got up.” He disconnected the call before Aaron could reply.
Travis dropped to his knees and went through the pile of clothes again. His shirt was gone. There was no emerald. Travis searched around the floor. He spotted his wallet and quickly went through it. As far as he could tell, nothing was touched.
He tossed his wallet back onto the floor and tried to breathe as dread twisted inside him. This wasn’t happening. What had happened to the emerald? Did Pitts and Underwood get it when they bumped into Christine? No, that couldn’t have happened. He had checked and still had the emerald at the time. So who took it?
Something silky and delicate slithered through his fingers. He looked down with a frown as he saw the white bra in his hands.
Christine.
No. Travis immediately rejected that idea. Christine was a sweet and shy small-town girl looking for a wild weekend. She was not a jewel thief. She didn’t have it in her to be a criminal mastermind.
Or had it all been pretend?
He tossed the bra to the ground and jumped to his feet. He needed to review the facts, Travis decided as he began to pace the small room. He was the one who had approached her. He was the one who’d made the first move.
And she was the one who took him to her hotel room and seduced him.
Seduced him? Travis rolled his eyes in self-disgust. She did more than that. She toyed with his emotions and made love to him. She knew what he had secretly craved. Her gentleness. Her sweetness. He hadn’t considered that it was fake.
She was good. She disarmed him. Stripped him bare. Played him for a fool.
Travis strode to the window and pushed the curtains open. He stared unseeingly at the Las Vegas Strip as he considered the possibilities. Did she work with Pitts and Underwood? Or did she work alone?
All he knew was that Christine Pearson wasn’t real. If that was even her real name. Anger burned inside him at the thought. Whoever she was, he wasn’t goi
ng to let her get the best of him.
He was going to hunt her down, get back his friend’s lucky charm and make her regret tangling with Travis Cain.
7
CHRISTINE WALKED UP to the front of her best friend’s store in the center of Cedar Valley. The warm yellow wood siding and colorful hanging flowers were a welcome sight in the face of the incoming rain clouds. It had been only one day and Christine already missed Las Vegas.
She wasn’t going to think about that, Christine decided as she carried the pile of clothes she had taken on vacation and walked to the dark green double doors. After visiting a place with the nickname Sin City, of course Cedar Valley would feel tiny and static. She needed to stop resisting the predictable rhythm of the town and accept it.
As she walked into Jill’s dry-cleaning store, she heard the high-pitched bell above the door. Christine paused as it reminded her of the bells from the slot machines and the stunned expression on Travis’s handsome face when she’d won.
Stop it, she fiercely warned herself. She needed to quit thinking about the weekend and start moving forward.
A short and curvy woman with a curly mop of copper hair stepped into the room. “Christine!” Jill said with a shriek. “I didn’t expect to see you so soon. How was your trip?”
“Amazing,” she said with a proud smile as she set the pile of clothes on the counter. “I raced in a Ferrari, I jumped out of a building and I won money at a slot machine.”
Jill’s mouth dropped open and she held up her hand. “Back up. You jumped out of a building? That was on your dream list?”
“No, I hadn’t planned on the jump.”
Jill narrowed her eyes. “You mean you did it accidentally?”
“No!” she said with a laugh as she rested her arms on the old-fashioned counter. “They have this jump for tourists and I decided to do it.”
“Good for you!” Jill reached over and gave a pat on her arm. “You didn’t even stick to your list. You were just a wild woman, weren’t you?”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” If she had been a wild woman, she would have had sex with Travis on the first night.
Jill tilted her head as she studied Christine’s appearance. “There’s something different about you. Did you get some color from the sun?”
Christine ducked her head. “I don’t know. I haven’t noticed.”
“Oh, my God.” Her friend jerked back and pointed a finger at her. “You had sex!”
“What?” She took a step back from the counter and looked around to make sure no one else was in the store. “How did you know? Is there a love bite I missed?” She dragged her fingers down her neck. “How obvious is it? Can I get rid of it before I go to work?”
Jill crossed her arms as she studied Christine. “No, you’re good. There is no incriminating evidence on your body as far as I can tell.”
She dropped her hands. “Then how did you figure it out?”
“You seem more relaxed,” Jill said with a shrug. “So...how was it?”
Christine started to blush. “What happens in Vegas...”
“That good, huh?” Jill waggled her eyebrows. “Who was he? Did you get a name? Tell me you used protection. What does he look like? Where is he on the scale from one to ten? Ten, by the way, is a sex god.”
“His name was Travis Cain.” She hated how her voice caught when she said his name out loud. “He was incredibly hot and that’s all I’m saying.”
“Oh, come on,” Jill insisted. “You have to give me some details. How wild was it?”
It wasn’t wild. It was romantic and tender. Christine sighed. She couldn’t do a one-night stand correctly. No, she had to get emotionally attached to the guy.
“Huh. I know that look. You liked him. A lot.” Jill clucked her tongue. “Tell me you’re not going to try for the long-distance relationship. Those things never work and, knowing you, you’d do all the traveling to keep it going.”
That sounded like something she would do. Relationships and friendships had always been important to her. Too important. Unfortunately, she wasn’t always top priority to her loved ones. “No. Travis doesn’t stay in one place for long. He’s all about freedom.”
“Perfect,” Jill said. “The last thing you need to do is enter another relationship. When I think of all you gave up to be with Darrell...”
“Don’t worry, Jill. I learned my lesson.” She had recognized the pattern after Darrell had dumped her. She had put aside her goal to see the world and focused on the people in her life. It wasn’t just the men. It had also been her mother and some of her friends. She gave relationships her all but didn’t get back the support.
It had been different in Vegas. She had enjoyed Travis’s undivided attention, but it also made her uncomfortable. She was used to compromising, keeping quiet and letting someone else choose first. Travis wanted her to go after her interests with no apologies.
Did he do that hoping for a tumble in her bed? No, Christine decided. He would have given up on the first night. “This was a one-night stand,” Christine told her friend, “and I’m not asking for more.”
Jill pursed her lips as admiration danced in her eyes. “Ooh, look at you. So sophisticated.”
“And late for work. I need to get there before Mrs. Lamb drops by for her weekly visit to her safe-deposit box.” Christine groaned when she looked at the clock on the wall. “I feel like it’s going to take a while to recover from this weekend.”
“You’re going to be fine,” Jill said as she grabbed a basket and dumped the clothes in it. “I’ll let you know when your clothes are ready. Hey, how much money did you win?”
“Not even a thousand,” she admitted. Travis probably thought she was crazy to get excited over a few hundred bucks. He’ll never know that she was more excited about adding him to her dream list.
“At least it’s something,” Jill said. “You can use the money for another wild weekend.”
“Another one.” For some reason, she wasn’t excited about the idea. She hadn’t considered where she wanted to go next. What was stopping her from taking another trip to Vegas?
“Well, yeah. See what you accomplished when you didn’t have everyone in Cedar Valley looking over your shoulder?” Jill’s eyebrows rose, hiding under the coppery curls. “You’re not going to stop, are you?”
“Wouldn’t think of it,” she said as she left the store. Christine tried to ignore the pinch in her chest. Her Vegas weekend was a success because of Travis. She wouldn’t be able to recapture the magic anywhere else with anyone else.
* * *
TRAVIS SLOWED HIS motorcycle on the street and looked around with a growing sense of horror. There were more trees than people, no cars parked on the cobblestone street and it was so quiet that he could hear the birds sing. He saw the hand-painted sign welcoming him to Cedar Valley, but it felt as if he had entered a different era.
There was no way Christine Pearson lived here, Travis decided as he easily found a spot to park his motorcycle. She may have been raised here or even passed through. She was too young, too curious about life, to have stayed.
The town was smaller than he had expected. Travis chuckled. It wasn’t even a town. It was too small to be a village. He was surprised it was big enough to have earned a dot on the map.
He looked at the homes and businesses lined up on Main Street. This place once had money, a century or two ago. Now it was as quiet as a ghost town. But someone had to live here, considering how much effort had been expended to renovate the Victorian houses. They were well loved and freshly painted in colors that reminded him of Easter eggs.
This was an odd place for a jewel thief, Travis decided as he reluctantly got off his motorcycle and removed his helmet. Something about Cedar Valley made him tense, as if he knew he was going to make a false move.
A mistake. He had traveled far and wide, from cosmopolitan cities to tribal lands. It took some time to learn the rituals and traditions, but here he had a very strong sense that he didn’t belong.
It was genteel. Small-town Americana. As he strode down the sidewalk, he noticed the antiques store and teahouse. A carriage house had been converted into a small bookstore. The quaint post office had a small red-and-blue mailbox bolted to the wall. The brown building up ahead was the general store and he saw the white church steeple on the hill, peeking out above the fat, leafy trees.
“Good morning!”
Travis frowned when he heard the young male voice. Great, it was one of those towns. The kind of place where everyone knew you, your family history and your secrets. He never did well in places like this.
He turned around and nodded his head in acknowledgment to the man coming out of the bookstore. The stranger was pushing a cart of paperbacks on the small stone path.
“Are you lost?”
Travis heard the territorial edge underneath the friendly question and gave the man a closer look. He was a clean-cut kind of guy with a blue dress shirt and khaki pants. Bland, forgettable and enjoyed being the big fish in a small pond. “This is Cedar Valley, right?” Travis asked.
“Yes, it is. Sorry.” His eyes narrowed with distaste at Travis’s disreputable appearance. Apparently Cedar Valley had a dress code. Leather jackets and faded jeans didn’t make the list. “Most of our visitors are older and come for our famous weekends.”
“Famous weekends?”
The man stretched his arms out. “Cedar Valley is the Pacific Northwest weekend destination. We have a popular farmers’ market and flower stand. The general store does a great picnic basket. If you’re looking for a place to stay, we have a bed-and-breakfast, but it’s always full on the weekends.”
