by Aimee Laine
Tripp sat next to her. “I think we’ve got some questions to ask George and Marge, if we can ever find them again. Where did you say Robert learned about it?”
“He said his wife bought it at an estate sale.” Lexi stood again, paced to the balcony. “Is this all worth it? I mean, every step of our journey has resulted in some sort of … issue. Like I expected it would. Either you or me—” She paced back to the bed. “If this is what our life will be like, is it worth going forward with this relationship? Really?”
He took her hand in his. “I don’t think we simple humans are meant to ask those questions and have an answer, Lexi. Remember at the house, Marge asked me if I trust you? Well, I do. This feels right to me, problems or not.”
“And I want to trust you,” Lexi said with a twitch of her lips. “I really do. But—”
Tripp’s head cocked to the side as if waiting for a verbal or physical blow.
“I’m going to take a quick shower. Then I’d like to get dinner and end the day on a much brighter note.”
He gave her one nod.
Without another glance in his direction, she headed to the bathroom.
• • •
Tripp moved to the balcony, dropped onto one of the rockers and let the breeze cool him. With his phone in hand, he pressed 4 to call Ian.
“Everything okay?” Ian asked as soon as the line connected.
“You don’t say ‘hello’ anymore?” Tripp chuckled.
“Not to you. How’s she holding up?”
He flicked a bug from his jeans. “After the crying jag at the toy shop, the hour long interview with the Detective, and the refused hospital visit, she’s recovered and raring to go, apparently. I don’t get it. I figured she’d want out of here right away.”
“That’s a woman thing.”
“I guess. Actually, remember the pendant I had you research?”
“Of course. That’s where all this started.”
“Exactly. I need more intel on it.”
“I’m on it.” Ian’s tone turned excited, and Tripp imagined he scrubbed his hands together like a mad scientist. “I take it you haven’t gotten a hold of our data yet?”
“I’ll grab it after dinner. There’s one more thing I need, too.”
“For you? I will do … almost anything.” Ian’s sarcastic laughter filled the earpiece.
“I had a little run-in with Sloan’s information gatherers. Remember the painting he had us remove from the archives?”
“You mean the one we switched at New York’s Museum of Art? The deal was one of our best paying gigs. He had documentation, everything said it was his. It was a no-brainer, an easy job.”
“Easy to you, my friend. You stayed in the car the whole time.” Tripp ran a hand over his head. “Anyway, he’s going to take some action on it if I don’t marry Jill.”
“Son of a bitch! How can he prove we had anything to do with that?”
“My sentiments exactly—and does it matter how? He’s got the resources to make it look like I took it. And since he has it in his possession—oh, I can see the press on that one. He’ll return it, claim he’d bought a duplicate for his home. After a quick audit, we’ll find out it was real, and he’ll point back to me since we’re known for stuff like this.”
“Shit.”
“Another word I agree with. I don’t know what his plans are, how he expects to do any of it exactly, but we’ve got to counterbalance it. We need to get one painting back and replace it with the fake. We need to—”
“Return it to the Museum,” Ian said. “Or, you’re stuck marryin’ the witch.”
“It’s my choice, or so he apparently said. His daughter, or my reputation and possible jail time.”
“Lexi know about this?”
Tripp shook his head despite Ian’s phone-only presence. “No. Thought I’d tell her, but I’ve changed my mind. This is something you and I will deal with.”
The sound of spray against walls in the bathroom ceased.
“Gotta go. Call me when you find something.”
“Will do. Enjoy Savannah. Oh, and don’t forget to get the papers, too.”
• • •
Lexi stepped out, covered only in a towel she’d tucked into a knot at her breasts. Leaving her curls to drip dry, she walked back into the room to grab clean clothes.
Tripp stood at the edge of the balcony doors, his jeans low slung at his hips, the top button undone and his feet bare.
The muscles of his bare chest contracted. His biceps alone, so round and smooth, stirred desire in her. She wanted to run her hand along them, hold on to him and never let go.
“Nice dress.”
“Very funny.”
He walked back in as the breeze blew the sounds of the square’s nightlife up to them along with the smell of roasted corn and grilled steak. Her stomach grumbled as he hooked a finger in the top of her towel, pulling her in for a wet kiss.
“Are you hungry?” She wiggled out of his hold and over to her suitcase.
“I am, but come look at this.” He dragged her to the balcony’s edge in nothing but her towel.
The sights and sounds of excited life raged. Lights strung across the tree branches added a twinkle effect topped only by the stars themselves. A mix of musical delights streamed through as dancers whooped in a square created by the people who stood around them.
“Looks like a party,” she said.
Tripp stood behind her, swept her hair to the side, and laid a line of kisses along her neck. Lexi tightened her hold on her towel. He swayed with her to the rhythm of the Jazz band.
The kisses didn’t stop as Lexi leaned her head back against his shoulder. “We should move this inside.”
“No.”
She spun, but he caught her before she could turn to him and pushed her back into place.
“Wait, what are you—” She groaned the rest of the question as his hands teased, slipping back and forth under the cover of the towel. “Tripp, this is not the—” She withheld the squeal as he toyed with her beneath the short white cotton.
“We could do it right here on the balcony, and I’m ninety-nine percent sure no one would notice.”
“Only ninety-nine?” She tried to turn again, but he held her in place.
The temptation to stand together in an open space in front of a potential audience forced her inner desire to explode into absolute need.
“This is very naughty, Tripp.”
“Well, if you don’t want to.” He removed his fingers.
She held on to the towel’s knot, shook her hair to let it fall all around her again. “Do you want to take that chance?”
“We only have one life, Lexi. Sometimes, the risk is worth the reward.”
Sometimes not, too.
Her neck grew warm with his kisses, cooled again as the breeze wafted over the spots moistened by her hair. Behind her, he made his readiness known, scooting her closer to the balcony’s rail with tiny presses against her uncovered butt.
She stiffened. “All the way out here?” A check of both sides showed no other hotel guests on their balconies.
“Yes. Right here in the open of the world. I’d say let it all hang out, but nothing is hanging right now.”
Lexi giggled, nearly losing her towel in the process.
His hands kept up a lazy perusal of her lower half. “I’m a multi-faceted man, Lexi.”
She breathed her agreement as Tripp nipped her neck. Her sigh could be none other than one of complete and absolute pleasure. “We better not get caught.”
The zip and slide of his jeans had her trembling. Lexi braced the rail with one hand, holding the towel with the other. A cool breeze coated her in a chill starting at her back as Tripp lifted the terrycloth above her hips and slid himself between her parted legs.
“I think you’re liking the perks of my gift, you know.”
“You mean something other than just your devious, mischief-filled nature?”
Lexi roc
ked her hips forward and backward. His touch sent bolts of heat down her body.
Tripp guided himself until he found the right spot, and a slight push merged him with Lexi as intimately as two could imagine. Her shudder produced his own.
He slid until he could go no farther.
Lexi shifted her legs, rising on her tiptoes and lowering again. Tripp laid a hand on her back, the other snuck under the towel, cupped her breast while she held the soft white material in place and tightened against him.
He slow-glided in and out as she shivered. To move in tandem might cause the balcony to creak or her to lose her balance, so Lexi forced herself as still as possible while Tripp battered her with sensation.
She wanted to cry out, to scream with the pleasure he brought to her, but she bit her lip instead. As he slid back and forth and his pace increased, she looked out into the crowd. No one so much as angled their head in Tripp and Lexi’s direction.
A small moan escaped, and Tripp’s thrusts grew more powerful.
Lexi cried out in a whisper for ‘more’ as he drove into her, pulled and squeezed as they took from each other. In the twinkle of light below, dancers spun, musicians played and Tripp and Lexi gave in to the music until their crescendo reached its finale.
• • •
Tripp leaned over her back. He drew her onto him once more as the last of the explosions within him subsided. He’d thought before, the woman into which he continued to add small thrusts held more power over him than any other. He still agreed with himself. As Lexi shifted upward, he slipped from within her, wrapped an arm around her waist and retraced their steps together back into the hotel room.
“You’re very inventive, Mr. Fox.” Her smile bloomed as she spun to face him.
He returned the grin, adding a soft kiss to her lips. “You’re very willing.”
“Trust me when I say this is not the usual me. Nothing has been normal for me since I went in search of this pendant.” She fingered the chain draping down her exposed chest.
As Lexi played with the jewel, the towel slipped from her finger tips. Tripp ran his thumbs across her nipples.
“We didn’t get much play in on that round. Want to go again?” He nudged her with his lips at the corner of her mouth as she moaned against him.
The grumble from her stomach flipped his switch. “Have you eaten at all today?”
She shook her head.
“Geez, Lexi. Why didn’t you say something?” He started to pull away, but she snaked her arms around his neck, locking him to her.
He recognized the tease of a smile and quick brow raise.
“I’ve been a little busy … pretty much all day.” She inclined her head to the side.
“You’re going to eat. Get dressed. We’ll hit the restaurant downstairs—”
“I want to go to the park.”
Tripp took a deep breath. The thought of the place led him back to the earlier activities of the day. How she could be so nonchalant grated on him when he still wanted to murder the bastard who hurt her.
He angled her chin up with a touch of his finger. “Are you sure?”
“I want the park to have a happy memory for me. It was beautiful this morning. I want that feeling back.”
“Okay. Alright.” He tried to sound positive.
“I have ways of blocking things out more than most people. This won’t … linger for me—”
“That’s also the way to get yourself killed, by letting your intuition guide you exclusively and forgetting what’s happened in the past.” The memory of Isabelle popped into his mind.
Lexi patted him on the chest. “Well, that’s where I’ll have to rely on you and Ian to teach me. If we’re going to be partners in this, I’m sure you’ve got a few pointers.”
Tripp smiled. She wants instruction. “Come on, lady cat burglar, let’s eat dinner and maybe, just maybe, I’ll let you accompany me to get the papers.”
An hour later, Lexi dragged him from the restaurant, out into the excitement of the square. Their meal had been simple, enjoyable and altogether too expensive for what came on the plate. Trumpets and light drums beckoned them from their window seat until Tripp gave in, scarfed down his steak and out they went.
She headed straight for a group of dancers, but he tugged back.
“What? Don’t tell me you don’t like to dance.” Lexi’s smile suggested she already knew the answer to her own question.
“Not like that.”
In the center, two couples spun, flipped and whirled in and out of each other’s arms. The women wore long skirts with rings of color swirled in circles, creating a rainbow effect. From the crowd, the two male and two female dancers chose bystanders for a quick pass as the musicians ramped up the speed or changed the pitch of the music.
Certain he would be one of those selected if he stood at the edge, Tripp stayed out of any line of sight but waved Lexi forward. He’d watch her the entire time.
She snuck her way to the front, clapped and whooped like the rest of the group. As the song came to a close, the party broke into applause and chants of ‘more’—Lexi included.
Tripp’s grin grew while he watched the woman he knew he’d fallen in love with tap her toe to the beat of a salsa. She’d selected a breezy skirt of brilliant gold and a shirt, tied behind her neck, in a lighter color. It reminded him of the getup she wore on the beach the week before.
A trombone broke through the sound as the dancers started up again. When a person retired to the side, another filled the empty spot. One of the men picked Lexi. She went straight to the center with him, held out her hand and spun into his arm. Her hair whirled around her, but the smile said it all. She tugged at Tripp’s heart like a climber to ropes.
The music shifted to a sultry ballad as couples turned to each other, swaying at their hips with arms entwined around each other. Lexi gave her dance partner a hug and trotted over to Tripp.
“Surely, this kind you can do.”
She dragged him back into the mix but stopped at the farthest edge. Extra lights flickered on above them as they moved back and forth to the slow beat. Her lips found his, giving him more than kisses. He took from them possibility, love, respect, kindness and understanding. He gave back the same as she laid her head against his chest. Tripp envisioned the life George and Marge suggested they could have, right down to kids and grandkids—all with the farmhouse as their base.
In the far corner of the square, Isabelle Reed stood, her arms crossed over her chest, and a smile on her face.
He tipped Lexi’s chin up, offered his lips, fearing what he would have to give up.
17
Lexi swayed against Tripp, timing her movements to the music as much as to the beat of his heart. The whirlwind of the prior twenty-four hours didn’t escape her, but she wanted to let some of the memories go. She held tight, accepting his lips against hers until the sounds of the instruments faded.
She urged him down for one last kiss before switching from pleasure to business. “I believe we have some paperwork to pick up, right?”
“You sure you want to get into this kind of stuff?”
They meandered back toward the hotel, her hand in his. “Depends on the project, I guess.”
“Luckily, this one’s easy. Care to double check the location of our goodies?” Tripp led them to a bench, slid out his phone. “Need this?”
Lexi shook her head. She visualized the papers Tripp had shown her and stepped her way through to their spot inside the safe. “Same place, same stack, same … well, everything.”
“Good. Let’s go, then.”
The hotel’s lobby bustled with late night activity. Park goers strolled in, and the bar’s band picked up where the outside group left off. Lexi and Tripp cut a path to the elevator through hallways lit with electric sconces reminiscent of the candles used in the original building. According to the brochure, the effect gave hotel patrons a feel for its first era but still met all the current-day commercial regulations.
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Tripp guided her to the second floor offices, which he found tucked behind a faux wall.
“I thought this kind of stuff only existed in movies,” Lexi said.
His chuckle preceded a smile. “This is another way to modernize without taking away the atmosphere.” He stopped, his hand on the fake panel. “Can you see stuff outside of the object in question?”
“Sometimes. You know those virtual tours they give of beach houses or buildings? I can shove through that kind of stuff pretty easily, at least in the vicinity of the item.”
He tilted his head in her direction. “Cool. Want to do a double check no one’s inside?”
“Sure.” Lexi closed her eyes, visualized the papers again and backed out through the images.
Without lights to guide her, she navigated from the smaller room to a bigger one but found no people or security cameras.
“I don’t see anything.”
“Excellent.” Tripp pushed open the door.
“Um, how did you get us through that? It was locked.”
He drew one finger up and touched it to her closed lips. She followed him into the dark, lit only by the glow from computer screens. He inched his way through until he opened another hidden door behind a painting of the most recent hotel owner.
Lexi wanted to say ‘gawdy’ and ask who left the air freshener on high but kept silent as Tripp ran his hands over the safe and the combination lock. He spun it forward and backward, around a third time.
One click.
A swish.
The door opened with ease.
From his left pocket, he withdrew a flashlight, motioned her to take it while pointing into the depths of the safe.
With Lexi’s hold on the light, Tripp picked through the assorted papers.
As he slid the last one out, the faux wall door creaked.
Lexi tugged at Tripp’s shirt as he re-closed the safe and spun the lock, stopping it again with the white line just past the 8. He replaced the painting as a light in the front room flicked to life.
The desk in the room became their cover. Lexi’s body shivered as their predicament defined itself.
No exit—except the one through which they’d entered.