by Kay Hooper
   “Maybe.”
   He turned her toward him and bent to kiss her. “I love you, sweet,” he murmured.
   She smiled up at him. “I love you too.”
   He touched her cheek lightly, and said in a very calm voice, “When we get this damned gold to Washington, you and I are going to have a serious talk about our future.”
   Secure in his love, she said innocently, “I thought we already had that talk. It seems to me you told me very bluntly that you couldn’t offer me a future.”
   Falcon gave her a look, and began taking off his coat in preparation to begin digging. “Don’t throw my own words back at me, sweet. A man never likes to be told what a total ass he made of himself.”
   “I’ll keep that in mind,” she murmured.
   Falcon gave her another look, but grinned when she laughed, and began digging. Some time later, his shovel struck the first chest, and within minutes a dozen of them had been uncovered.
   Falcon bent to lift the first out, and his eyes rose swiftly to meet hers as he straightened to place it on the side of the pit he had dug. Victoria, alerted by that look, came closer and watched as he lifted the chests out, one by one. Then he used the shovel to smash the locks and opened the chests, one by one. And they looked at each other, baffled.
   The chests were empty.
   To my friends, Iris and Fayrene. Thanks.
   BY KAY HOOPER
   The Bishop Trilogies
   Stealing Shadows
   Hiding in the Shadows
   Out of the Shadows
   Touching Evil
   Whisper of Evil
   Sense of Evil
   Hunting Fear
   Chill of Fear
   Sleeping with Fear
   Blood Dreams
   Blood Sins
   Blood Ties
   The Quinn Novels
   Once a Thief
   Always a Thief
   Romantic Suspense
   The Haunting of Josie
   Amanda
   After Caroline
   Finding Laura
   Haunting Rachel
   Classic Fantasy and Romance
   On Wings of Magic
   C.J.’s Fate
   Something Different
   Pepper’s Way
   If There Be Dragons
   Illegal Possession
   Rebel Waltz
   Larger than Life
   Time after Time
   In Serena’s Web
   Raven on the Wing
   Rafferty’s Wife
   Zach’s Law
   The Fall of Lucas Kendrick
   Unmasking Kelsey
   Outlaw Derek
   Shades of Gray
   Captain’s Paradise
   It Takes a Thief
   Aces High
   Golden Threads
   The Glass Shoe
   What Dreams May Come
   Through the Looking Glass
   The Lady and the Lion
   Star-Crossed Lovers
   The Wizard of Seattle
   The Delaney Christmas Carol
   Rafe, the Maverick
   Adelaide, the Enchantress
   Velvet Lightning
   Golden Flames
   Summer of the Unicorn
   The Matchmaker
   PHOTO: © SIGRID ESTRADA
   KAY HOOPER is the award-winning author of Sleeping with Fear, Hunting Fear, Chill of Fear, Touching Evil, Whisper of Evil, Sense of Evil, Once a Thief, Always a Thief, the Shadows trilogy, and other novels. She lives in North Carolina, where she is at work on her next book.
   Kayhooper.com
   Facebook.com/BishopPage
   Love stories you’ll never forget
   By authors you’ll always remember
   eOriginal Romance from Random House
   randomhousebooks.com
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