B. G. McCarthy - A Thief At Heart

by A Thief At Heart (lit)

  He could hear the whir of the helicopter blades in the distance, the sound of sirens finally reaching their location. “Help’s coming now, Riley Jane.” He had no hands free so he used his chin to smooth back the hair that had tumbled across her face. She was ashen pale now and her lips trembled with the chills that racked her slender body. He’d already covered Mary with his coat so there was nothing he could do to warm Riley except hold her close, exactly what he wanted to do anyway. She was getting shocky.

  “I hear them,” she whispered.

  “You’ll be okay, love. Hang on.” Anger surged through his blood again at what he’d put her through. “Why the hell did you do that for me? I’m not worth your life. You could have been killed. I could have lost you. I won’t lose you again, Riley Jane.”

  She gave him a small smile. “You can’t really lose what you never really claimed as yours, Robin. By the same token I can’t change how I feel about you either. Is this where you disappear on me again?”

  She passed out before he got the chance to answer.

  ~ * ~

  Riley wondered where Aggie was. She hadn’t been that thrilled by the location they’d chosen--a trendy country club--and the planning committee had all been happy with the turnout. So far the celebration had gone off without a hitch, even though Aggie had caught on a few weeks before the event. Despite the fact her arm was still in a sling and she had some residual pain, Riley was holding up pretty well.

  Robin Butler had not come to the reunion. Now they were back in Aggie’s yard, just the six of them, and she was thinking about saying her goodbyes.

  Not that she was expecting Robin to come. He had called her a few times in the first week after her injury, but their conversations had felt strange, strained. He’d told her very little of what was going on with Vasco, just that he was working with some ‘colleagues’ on the case, whatever that meant.

  Riley didn’t know if the stilted conversations were her fault or his. He’d told her he had a lot of things to clear up as far as work went, had said he might be tied up for a while.

  And when he got untied, what then? Did he come back to see her? Did they start something?

  She wasn’t going to speculate on that. She still wasn’t quite sure what Robbie did, just that it was covert and involved stealing things back from the bad guys. All she could picture in her head to describe what he did was a modern day Robin Hood.

  Robbie would look damned hot in tights and a doublet, whatever those things were called.

  Riley just hoped, for Mary’s sake, that something good could come out of it. Mary still didn’t believe a scheme to murder her entire family for her inheritance was something Belinda had come up with alone. Maybe this Vasco person was nothing more than the seducer of an impressionable and selfish young woman, as Belinda now claimed. Maybe he had coerced her into it.

  What would happen to Belinda when the smoke cleared was anyone’s guess. So far she was cooperating with the international police in an effort to track down Vasco. Belinda was incarcerated for now, bail having been denied. As for Todd, his health was improving and Riley hoped he’d learned his lesson about getting involved with the wrong people.

  Riley was applying for jobs since Mary had gone last week into intermediate care. She was not bitter about any of it. She’d just close this short chapter in her life, learn her lessons from it and move on.

  If she could stop thinking about Robin--missing him when she closed her eyes at night...

  She closed her eyes against the tears and the feelings that threatened to overwhelm her.

  “Riley Jane?”

  Her heart stopped beating for what felt like a full minute at the sound of that voice. Robin Butler walked towards her.

  He was wearing a beautifully tailored, grey suit that was perfect for the occasion. His hair was a bit mussed and longer, back to the colour of espresso, and he hadn’t shaved. She liked him that way. Sort of scruffy and sexy.

  The closer he got to her, the harder Riley found it to breathe. His eyes were blazing blue and there was a smear of lipstick on each cheek: one red smear and one apricot.

  “Hi,” she said, inanely. “You’re here. You missed the party.”

  “How are you doing?” he asked. He didn’t kiss her, but he looked at her mouth for a long moment, sweeping his eyes on a possessive journey down her body. “Feeling better?”

  “Yes. I’m fine. It’s stiff sometimes but my therapist is pleased.”

  “Hope he’s not some handsome young guy,” Robin said with what she hoped was a jealous smirk.

  “He is, actually. Did Aggie see you? I think one of those smears of lipstick is hers.”

  He rubbed his cheek making the smears worse. “Nope. Rory and Annika were a little enthusiastic about my turning up here. Are you mad at me?”

  “No.” She wasn’t. She was just glad to see him, glad he was in one piece. Riley wanted to rub at a smear near his mouth with her fingers. Touching him would be like holding lightening in her hands. Her whole body ached at the thought.

  “I called Aggie the other day,” he said. “I promised I’d come. I didn’t mean to be so late. I’m sorry.”

  That surprised her a little. “I’m glad you did,” Riley said. “Thank you for the roses you sent me. How long are you here? Or do you have to go back and clear up more things with that Otis person?”

  “I’m here for as long as I want to be.”

  She stared at him, her heart fluttering wildly. “Did they catch this Vasco character?”

  “No and I doubt they ever will catch him. He’s one slippery bugger. By a fluke I did get what we were originally looking for through something Belinda inadvertently told us.”

  “What was that?”

  “A few stolen paintings and sculptures we were trying to track down.”

  “That’s good, isn’t it?”

  He nodded, smiling. “It was lucrative. It was nice to go out on a positive note.”

  Go out? What did he mean by that? “What do you do next?” she managed, hope making her heart flutter.

  “I want to ask you out dancing for a start. I had this hankering to take you in my arms on the dance floor again, but I’m too late.”

  “Have you really had a hankering?” she asked him. Heat arced through her. “How long has this hankering been going on?”

  Robin’s blue eyes sparkled. “Going on about fifteen years, I’d say.”

  “I don’t believe that for a minute.”

  He laughed. “It’s true... I like dancing with you. Oh, before I forget, I have something for you.” He reached into his pocket and took out an envelope. “Here. It’s hopefully going to help you find something you’ve been looking for.”

  She looked down at it. “Grace? You found Grace?”

  “I’m not certain. I don’t want to get your hopes up but a friend of mine called yesterday to tell me he may have a good lead this time. His number’s in there. I hope it works out.”

  “Oh, Robbie, thank you.”

  “It’s not a sure thing, Riley. I just hope this is the one.”

  Riley swallowed hard and nodded. Tears threatened to blur her vision. “I know. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.” She looked up at him, at the strong face that had become so dear to her. “You never really said what happens next. Not that it matters really, but--”

  “I’m thinking about a consultation business. Security. Insurance. That sort of thing. I was hoping--” He broke off with a shrug.

  “Hoping for what?”

  “I’m hoping to find a woman who’d like to take a chance on a guy like me, someone who wants to settle down with a man who has a few hard miles on him.”

  Riley stared up at him.

  “Are you? Are you looking for that, too, Riley Jane?”

  “Am I looking for a man like that?” she whispered.

  “I know I had a criminal record. I’m clean as the driven snow now thanks to some rather creative effort on my part and Otis’s.” He looked sheepi
sh. “Mind, you, all legal--”

  Riley couldn’t help but laugh at that.

  “All legally accomplished, I swear. I paid my debt to society.”

  “I believe in you, Robbie. I really do,” she said softly. She walked towards him another step or two. Close enough that she could catch his subtle sandalwood scent. She took his hand and entwined her fingers with his. His palm was slightly rough-skinned, warm.

  His thumb caressed the top of her hand. He was actually trembling a little. “Riley, I’ve wanted you since the day I saw you on Aggie’s steps. You knew that. You came to me that first time because you wanted me, too. I’d have gone on just wanting--”

  “I did come to you.”

  “Even from a hundred feet away seeing you rocked my world. I never believed I was good enough for a girl like you. I would have stayed away from you altogether, but I couldn’t. Then after it happened... I wanted it to stay perfect, and I knew it wouldn’t. I thought nothing was ever going to be perfect for me because I didn’t deserve it.” He lifted her hand and touched her fingers with his lips.

  “You come close to perfect, Robin Butler.”

  He shook his head. “Not me. I always used to walk away as soon as things got good for me. I couldn’t handle the idea of failing. You know how that feels?” His eyes searched hers.

  “Yes.”

  “But I didn’t get spooked by how hard and fast I fell for you this time, Riley. This time... this time I knew what I wanted. This time it’s forever. I’m not that wild kid anymore. He’s still here sometimes, with me, but I know I deserve something good in my life now, Riley. I’m the right man for you. You are the right woman for me. I’ll spend my life proving that, if you’ll let me.”

  She looked into his clear blue eyes. “I know that, Robbie. I know what I want, too. I loved that wild kid. I baked him cookies and tried to take advantage of him.”

  “Wow, you sure did,” he said on a sigh. “You still got that recipe?”

  “I think I may have it somewhere. If I don’t, I’ll improvise.”

  “I love you more than anything, Riley Jane.” He reached for her, pressing his lips softly against hers. Riley tasted his mouth briefly then aligned her body with his. When he kissed her it felt like she was finally breathing, living again, for the first time since she’d seen him walking across Aggie’s yard a few moments ago.

  Breaking the kiss to hold him, Riley watched over his wide, sturdy shoulder as a fat red-breasted robin flew in with his drab mate and began to feed at Aggie’s bird hotel.

  “I love you, too, Robin,” she whispered. “I’m glad you returned to me.”

  Meet B. G. McCarthy

  B. G. McCarthy has dreamed of writing since reading Ivanhoe at twelve, mainly because she thought the hero ended up with the wrong girl. Still suffering an irresistible urge to rewrite other peoples’ stories, B. G. started writing Internet fan-fiction for a television spy show. Encouraged by fans of the storyboards, she decided to leave that realm and weave her own stories where the right girl gets the guy and there is always a happy-ever-after. She loves quirky heroes, slightly snarky heroines with issues and swears that the ubiquitous secret baby plot will never show its diaper in her own fiction universe. She walks, gardens, paints, is addicted to the BBC channel and Food Network and is raising two almost-perfect teenage girls, a neurotic Jack Russell Terrier and a husband who races sports cars.

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