Read Online Sleight Of Hand by Kate Kelly - Free Book Online Page A

Honest to God, the
morbid SOB smiled when I told him you weren't here, like it was the
best news he'd heard in the last ten years."
    Sweat broke out on Chance's forehead, and for
a minute, the sound of his heart beating in his ears drowned out
Steve's voice. He knew Gage. Knew how he thought, knew his
dog-with-a-bone tenacity.
    "Chance, you still there?"
    "Yeah. Listen, thanks Steve." He flopped back
on the bed and stared at the wooden strip ceiling.
    "Can you figure this guy? I thought he'd be
pissed that you took off."
    "Catching me at the scene of another theft
would cheer him up."
    "What do you mean?" Steve yelled.
    "I imagine he's coming after me."

Chapter Four
    As the night greyed into dawn, Sarah kicked
the twisted sheets away and dragged herself out of bed. Chance
Spencer was a dead man if she didn't find any coffee in the
kitchen. She yanked open a dresser drawer and grabbed a long cotton
pullover from the neat stack of clothes she'd unpacked in the
middle of the night. A night, she thought, pulling her sweater over
her short nightgown, that was thankfully behind her.
    She opened her door and peeked out. The main
room looked much as it had three hours ago when she'd picked up
various dirty dishes sprinkled throughout the room and washed them.
Chance's dirty dishes. He had a lot to answer for, including her
lack of sleep last night.
    She mouthed a silent thank you when she spied
a tin of fresh coffee grounds in the refrigerator. After filling
the coffee machine, she settled on a stool, and slumped forward to
rest her head on her arms.
    If Chance had come out of his room after his
phone call last night, she wouldn't have fussed about his ankle and
what to do with the Magic Bag Harvey left. After waiting for a half
hour, she knocked on his bedroom door. When he didn't answer, she
peeked inside to find him sound asleep.
    Coffee cup in hand, she almost tumbled off
her stool as the heated memory singed her nerve endings. Wearing
nothing but a pair of wine colored boxer shorts, Chance had
sprawled across his bed in near naked splendor. His boxers had left
just enough to the imagination that she'd tossed and turned all
night.
    The smell of freshly brewed coffee intruded
into her tumultuous thoughts. She slipped off the stool, poured a
large mugful and added cream from the carton in the refrigerator.
After several cautious sips, she gulped the hot liquid.
    Like a flash bulb going off, her brain
snapped awake. She had a lot more important things to think about
than how muscular Chance's legs looked even relaxed in sleep. Or if
the dark hair that covered his upper chest felt as soft as it
looked.
    She pulled her sweater down over her knees
and turned her thoughts to her father. Cautiously, she mentally
tiptoed through the minefield of emotions that arose whenever she
thought of her father.
    Her father always blew into her life with
hurricane force, then with the same compelling urgency, whirled off
to whatever next claimed his attention. She loved him for the way
he filled up all the lonely gaps in her life, but it had always
been done on his time. He'd never been there when she needed
him.
    She twisted sideways on the stool, noticed
Chance's leather jacket on the kitchen floor and reached down to
pick it up. She buried her nose in its soft folds. The jacket
smelled of old leather and an indescribable scent that she knew
instinctively was pure Chance. Her hand kneaded the soft leather as
she once again sunk into the tempting image of a half naked Chance
sprawled on his bed.
    Damn it! She thrust the jacket away from her,
letting it fall back on to the floor. Chance possessed the same
charming intensity that her father did. Since meeting him in New
York, everything she did, everything she thought felt connected to
him. Heaven help her if she didn't sever that connection, because
by his own admission, Chance was as much a restless drifter as her
father. She knew better than to depend on men of their ilk. Some
people just didn't