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

have it in them to be reliable. Which is
probably what got her father into this current mess.
    If only her best friend, Linda, hadn't gotten
married close to the time her father disappeared. His long absences
from her life had never bothered her before. Sarah sighed as she
caught the automatic lie. When would she stop making excuses for
him?
    For years Linda, had been her family. They'd
grown up together in one boarding school after another. A few
months ago, Linda had fallen in love, really in love, and Sarah had
realized it was time to step back and give her friend room to start
a new life. Brave thoughts. Lonely thoughts. Linda was married now,
surrounded by her husband's large family.
    And Sarah was alone, with an emptiness in her
life only family could fill. Except her father was on the run from
the police, and the only other family she knew of wanted nothing to
do with her.
    Everyone had someone, right? Family marked
your place in the world. She blinked back her tears as she stared
at her reflection in the mirror. She wanted to know her place in
the world. She wanted to belong, and her father was the only person
who could give her that.
    If she found him and helped him, maybe he'd
help her, too. Maybe he'd help her find herself.
    Line up your priorities, Sarah. She
was going to make herself noticeably visible around town today. If
the men who had tried to run them over last night were holding her
father against his will, somehow, she needed to let him know she
was here and ready to help. That was number one on her list.
    Feeling more in control, she slipped off the
stool and headed for the bathroom. Buying something reasonable to
wear on her feet would be nice. And, she closed the bathroom door,
she had to gain mastery over her escalating attraction to Chance.
That definitely ranked higher than shoes.
    She rushed through her shower. Chance would
wake up soon, and she preferred avoiding him until she was dressed.
Wrapping a bath towel around her wet body, she pulled the door open
and rushed out of the steamy bathroom.
    She skidded to a stop at the sight of Chance
leaning against the kitchen doorway. His big, solid body half
blocked the hallway to her room.
    "You make a mean cup of coffee." He raised
his cup and toasted her.
    Why did bare feet seem so...intimate? Sarah
studied his lean, bare feet. She dragged her gaze up the length of
his jean clad legs, up to his gray T-shirt. A shirt that should
have been an innocuous piece of clothing, but stretched across his
broad chest, became an enticement to explore what lay beneath.
    She hitched her towel up further and rubbed
her damp foot up and down one leg. "I, uh, needed a heavy duty kick
start. I didn't sleep well." She started to edge past him.
    He shifted to block her escape, then reached
out and traced the dark smudges under her eyes with his thumb. "I
can see that. Worried about your dad?"
    She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
She was worried all right. Worried if she didn't put some distance
between herself and Chance real quick, she'd do something
monumentally stupid. Like running her hand over his T-shirt to see
if his muscles felt as hard as they looked. Or lean those few
tempting inches toward him and rub her cheek against his day old
beard, then slide her fingers into his lush black hair to push back
that persistent lock that hung over his forehead. So much--too much
to worry about.
    She inched her head away from his touch. "I
should, uh...." she swallowed and tried again. "I should get
dressed."
    "Yeah." His voice dropped to a deep husky
buzz. "You might get cold." He brushed her wet hair back off her
shoulders, then traced her collar bone with one finger.
    As if his finger wiped away part of her
carefully constructed reserve, she turned and pressed her cheek
into his wide, calloused palm.
    Contact . She felt frozen in place, yet
at the same time, knew she was a second away from a major meltdown.
Why did it have to be so intense, so breathtakingly real