How To Catch A Crook

by Linda Verji

  “Okay.” Though surprised, the waitress followed his orders. But she wasn’t gone for long. She and Sin only talked for a few seconds before she marched right back with the tray still in hand. Smiling sheepishly, she said, “Sin said to bring the cake back. She doesn’t eat or drink anything with milk.”

  “She doesn’t drink milk?” Worth looked in Sin’s direction but she wasn’t even looking his way.

  How in the world had he never realized that she didn’t drink milk? Then it struck him; the only meal they’d ever had together was on the day he’d dragged her to a restaurant so he could berate her over her dressing style and behavior. Even after sleeping with her he’d never offered her a beverage. She was the one who was always serving him, taking care of him. Guilt pulsed hard and strong through him. He’d treated her like crap, hadn’t he? No wonder she was having such a hard time taking him back. But he’d make it up to her, he swore. He’d make it up to her.

  He didn’t have any urgent calls so he was able to stay until closing time. Sin’s curt, ‘aren’t you leaving?’ was enough to send him out of the café. However, instead of heading home, he lingered by the entrance, waiting for her. A few minutes into his wait, Sin came out of the café carrying a full garbage bag.

  Worth strode over to help. “Let me get that for you.”

  “What?” Sin swung the garbage bag away from his reach. “What are you doing?”

  “Helping you.” He tried to grab it again but even when he caught the top, she didn’t let go.

  “Don’t!” Anger flashed in her gaze. “I can do it myself.”

  “But you don’t need to. Let me,” he insisted. When she still didn’t let go, he eyed her. “Are we seriously fighting over garbage?”

  It was enough to make her let go, albeit with a huff of frustration. Her angry gaze burned into his back as he hauled the bag down the sidewalk. He dropped off the garbage in the dumpster before coming back only to find her still standing by the café’s door, waiting for him.

  “Why are you acting like this?” She confronted him as soon as he was in talking-range. “You’re being weird; trying to help me out, trying to feed me.” She puffed angrily. “Stop pretending like you care about me. Just act like a jerk like before.”

  “I didn’t want to act like a jerk and I do care about you.” Worth closed the distance between them to a stop just a few feet from her. “This is how I wanted to treat you. I wanted to take care of you.”

  “That’s a damn lie!” she snapped.

  “No, it’s not. What I was doing then was the lie.” He rubbed the nape of his neck nervously and wondered why his skin felt so hot to touch. “I missed you whenever we parted but I pretended that I didn’t. I was afraid that if I showed you how much I cared for you, you’d think you were winning, that you’d use me.”

  It was embarrassing to reveal how warped his thinking was at that time, but he knew that he had to. It was the only way he could get her to understand him and forgive him.

  “But I was wrong.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his black jeans as he added, “If I’d just done what I really wanted then, we’d be together.”

  “No, we wouldn’t.” There was an odd sadness in her voice as she emphasized, “No matter how you had acted back then, we still wouldn’t be together.”

  “Why not?” He watched her. “We love each other.”

  This time she didn’t bother denying it. Instead she said, “It doesn’t matter. We’re too different. You’re Wentworth Ransom the Third, and I’m Tamsin Jacob. It would never work between us.”

  Confused, he frowned. “What do our names have to do with anything?”

  “Not our names. Our identities.” Her eyes watered almost as if she was about to cry.

  Instinctively, he stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He almost whooped in joy when she didn’t shove him away. However, her next words watered down his excitement.

  “You’re a businessman who is well-respected in your city –in every city,” she reminded him. “Heck, you’re practically a celebrity. And me? I’m a con-artist, Worth. I’m a criminal. Ex-convict!”

  He didn’t like how she was emphasizing her past. Cupping her cheek, he reminded her, “I know who you were. It doesn’t matter to me.”

  “Maybe not.” A tear slid down her cheek, then another one. “But it will matter to everyone else. What will your parents say? Your brother? Your employees? Your business partners?”

  “Is that what this is about? What other people will think?” he asked. The sight of her tears falling sent hurt threading through him and his heart clutched. Using his thumbs to wipe her tears away, he soothed, “If I cared about what people thought about me and the choices I make, I wouldn’t be where I am. I’d be living a very different life from the one I’m living now.”

  “Well, I do. I care.” She pushed his hands away from her face so she could wipe her tears away herself. “I care about what others think.”

  “Since when?” Worth frowned. “You’ve never been a coward. You always do what you want.”

  Sin shook her head. “You don’t know me. I’m a coward.”

  “You’re not.”

  “I am,” she insisted. “I’m not daring enough to destroy your reputation and your life just so we can be together. I’m sorry, Worth. I can’t do that! I can’t be with you.”

  He didn’t get the chance to convince her otherwise because she turned on her heels right then and went back into the café. There must’ve been a door in there leading up to her apartment because she didn’t emerge again. Worth waited and waited for her to come back with no luck. Finally, he gave up. But the next day he was back. Unfortunately Sin wasn’t.

  He waited until about eleven a.m. before he gave in and asked a waitress where she was. To his disappointment, he learnt that she’d taken the day off. He took the stairs to her studio apartment but found the door locked. She wasn’t there.

  Was she hiding from him? He wondered as he came down the stairs. If she was , then where would she be? He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the woman at the foot of the stairs, leaning against the wall, until he was almost upon her.

  “Are you looking for Sin?” Ten asked.

  “Yes!” Worth stopped three steps above her. “Have you seen her?”

  “No.” Ten suddenly smiled. “But I know where she’ll be later.”

  His heart immediately leaped in excitement, but he hid it by coolly asking, “Where?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know!” Ten dipped into the pocket of her sports jacket to come up with a ticket. She held it out to Worth. “We’re supposed to go see this later.”

  “You’re giving it to me?” Worth frowned. “Why?”

  Ten raised her eyebrows. “Sooo you don’t want it, huh?”

  “That’s not what I mean.” He quickly jogged the last steps to her then plucked the ticket out of her hand. Once the ticket was safely in his hands and he’d confirmed that it was a ticket to the latest superhero movie, he asked, “Why are you giving me this? You don’t seem to like me.”

  “I don’t.” The petite lady shrugged. “But Sin does, and that’s all that matters. Just think of it as my good deed for the year. I told her that I was going to get to the theater a little later than her and to just take her seat first. So all you need to do is chill until the movie starts then pop in beside her and do your thing. If it doesn’t work for you, then you need to go back to school and learn some game.”

  Worth wasn’t sure whether to be thankful or offended. Ten was good at making you feel both crappy and good. She was a confusing lady. But she wasn’t the lady he was interested in today. He raced home to prepare for his afternoon date.

  He was at the mall thirty minutes before the movie but stayed in his car so that Sin wouldn’t see him and run away. Thankfully, he was parked strategically enough that he spotted her as she walked across the parking lot. He bent his head and shielded his face with his hands as she passed his
car but once she was a safe distance away, he watched her.

  God, how he wanted to just stride up to her and take her in his arms. After thinking about their conversation last night, he’d realized that she was rejecting him because she was protecting him. He hadn’t missed the fact that when she’d said it wouldn’t work, it was because she didn’t want to ruin his reputation. Her concern was justified. Already he knew that many people around him would have a hard time accepting that she was part of his life.

  But Sin was mistaken about one thing.

  She thought his reputation mattered to him more than she did. It didn’t. He would gladly throw away any reputation he had if it meant being with her. His reputation wouldn’t keep him warm at night. It couldn’t love him like she did. He would never give her up just so people could think better of him. He wasn’t giving her up! Never!

  About fifteen minutes after the movie’s scheduled start, Worth exited his car. He made his way up the elevator to the floor where the theater was. After handing in his ticket, he followed the attendant into the theater. The large auditorium was dark except for the lit screen where the movie was already playing. The attendant flicked on a torch to help guide the way down the aisle to Worth’s row. When they were by the right row, the attendant pointed out Worth’s seat then left him to get there himself.

  Worth immediately spotted Sin. She was focused on the movie. However, a few movie-goers on their row started grumbling when Worth skirted past them thus drawing her attention. She looked in his direction, stared and stared… The moment she recognized him, she sat straighter in her seat as if preparing to run.

  He got to her before she could.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked. If they were outside, her voice would’ve sounded normal, but in this theater it almost sounded like a shout. She immediately cupped a hand over her mouth.

  Smiling, Worth flipped his chair then sat down. “I came to watch a movie.”

  “How?” Her voice was a murmur as she arched her upper body away from him as if she was afraid to get too close to him. “How did you know…” She suddenly gasped. “Did Ten give you her ticket?”

  “Smart girl,” he complimented.

  “You can’t… I can’t-” She stood. “I’m leaving.”

  “Don’t.” He stopped her by grabbing her elbow. Panic ballooned up inside him. “Please don’t leave.”

  “Worth…” she gave an exasperated sigh.

  “Please!” He squeezed her elbow. “Please stay.”

  CHAPTER 24

  Sin didn’t know why she stayed, but she did.

  All through the movie, she was stiff, nervous and ridiculously aware of Worth. Though he didn’t do anything untoward, all her senses were on high alert, ready to run if he so much as breathed in her direction. By the time the movie’s closing credits ran, she had no idea what the movie they’d just watched was about.

  “Did you enjoy the movie?” Worth asked as they exited the theater.

  “Mm.” Sin nodded even as she frantically racked her brains for a good excuse to ditch him. She found one. “Uh… I have to pass by the supermarket. You go on ahead.”

  “I’ll take you there,” he offered.

  “No. No. No.” She vehemently shook her head. “I can go on my own.”

  “But you don’t need to.” Worth suddenly narrowed his eyes. “Unless it’s just an excuse. Are you afraid to hang out with me?”

  “Of course not! Why would I be afraid?” Sin protested but even to her own ears she sounded nervous. What was worse was that when they actually got into the supermarket, she couldn’t think of anything she needed to buy. In the end all she plucked from the shelves was a jar of olives.

  Worth watched her with raised eyebrows as they stood at the checkout line. “That’s all you needed to buy?”

  “Yes.”

  “Really?”

  “It’s my shopping list,” she retorted with more bite than necessary. “I know what I need to buy.”

  “Okay… okay.” The amused twinkle in his eyes left no doubt that he knew that she’d just made up the excuse. Then he threw her another curve-ball. “Why don’t we have something to eat before we leave?”

  “Huh… no!” She rubbed her throat in an attempt to quiet her suddenly racing pulse. “I’m… I’m not hungry.”

  “Really? We’ve been in there for almost three hours and it’s-” He looked at his watch. “- a few minutes past seven. It’s dinner time. How can you not be hungry?” He canted his head to watch her then smiled. “You’re not afraid to have a meal with me, are you?”

  “Of course not!” And that’s how Sin found herself seated across from him at one of the mall’s restaurants.

  “Thank you,” Sin smiled gratefully at the server who’d just brought their meal.

  Instead of getting straight into his meal, Worth looked around the small family-style restaurant then sighed. “I wanted to take you somewhere better than this.”

  “Oh no! This place is just fine. And I’ve tasted their teriyaki chicken.” She pointed at his plate with her fork. “You’ll love it.”

  “Really?” With his fork, he picked a piece of the chicken then pushed into his mouth. After a moment of chewing, he grinned. “You’re right.”

  “It’s delicious, right?” She smiled in response. Then when she realized what she was doing, she gave herself a mental slap.

  Get yourself together, Tamsin. You can’t fall for his smile. This guy is as cunning as a snake, and if you’re not careful, he’ll seduce you with his sly tong-

  “By the way,” he cut into her thoughts. “I’m sorry.”

  She blinked. “Sorry? For what?”

  “I ruined your movie, didn’t I?” He offered her a sheepish smile. “You were expecting Ten there, and I just butted in.”

  “No. No. No. It’s okay,” she reassured him. “I don’t like superhero movies anyway. But Ten kept insisting that she wanted to see it so…” Sin’s words drifted into a long pause as a sudden thought struck her. “Ten doesn’t like superhero movies either!”

  “She doesn’t?”

  “No, she doesn’t.” Sin suddenly gasped. “No, she didn’t! She couldn’t have. Tell me that that heifer didn’t just set me up.

  “She did.” Worth laughed. “She even brought me the ticket herself.”

  “Wow!” Sin kissed her teeth.

  Ten didn’t seem like the matchmaker type but now that Sin thought of it, this made complete sense. Since neither A.J nor Kelly knew what had gone down in Portland, Ten was the only one Sin could mourn to. The little minx must’ve gotten tired of all the whining and decided to pawn her off to Worth.

  Wow! Sin shook her head. “With friends like that, who needs enemies?”

  “I actually like her,” Worth confessed with a grin. “How did you two meet?”

  Without conscious thought, Sin said, “Her sister and I were in the same prison.”

  The moment she said the words she realized that she had just revealed another part of her former criminal life. Her eyes flew to meet his. She expected to find shock there… maybe even disgust. But there was none; only interest. Ah! Her being an ex-con wasn’t new information. He already knew. But if he did, why was he still here with her, chasing her?

  “Was it because of your father?” Worth suddenly cut into her thoughts.

  “Huh?”

  “Did you decide to be a con-artist because of your father?” he asked.

  She stilled with her fork poised over her food as surprise shot through her. How did he know about her father? Ah! He’d investigated her. An unexpected bolt of embarrassment shot through her. One would think that she’d want him to know every mortifying, dirty detail about her past so that he’d be disgusted enough to leave her, but for some reason she didn’t want him to know. She didn’t want him to be disgusted with her.

  “Yeah! It’s because of him.” Unable to meet his eyes, she stared at her plate. “He hurt my mom so I hurt men like him.” She forced a laugh.
“Pitiful, right?”

  “No, it’s not pitiful.” Worth reached over and closed his hand over hers. “It’s not pitiful at all.”

  She should’ve pulled her hand away but she couldn’t. His touch was too soothing, too reassuring for her to pull away from it.

  “Do you ever regret getting into that world?” he asked.

  Sin didn’t answer because, frankly, most days she didn’t regret making the choices she had. Except for the Claire fiasco, every job she’d completed had left her with an overwhelming sense of satisfaction as if she’d just righted one wrong in a mountain of wrongs. Fine, she was a therapist’s dream patient, but she didn’t care. Though her career choice hadn’t been the right way to deal with her disturbed past, it’d nonetheless helped her cope with her father’s betrayal.

  Still, she knew that most normal people expected her to feel sorry. Heck, she’d been paroled just for saying that she deeply regretted her past. Worth was as normal as any man she’d ever met so she supposed that he was waiting for her to say she was remorseful. But she couldn’t lie. So she just kept quiet.

  Imagine her surprise when he said, “I don’t regret it.”

  “What?” Her gaze flew up to meet his.

  “If you weren’t a con-artist, you and I would never have met it.” He squeezed her hand. “So I don’t regret your past.”

  She’d been right. Worth was as sly as a snake and knew just the right words to melt her heart. Yet she still couldn’t help smiling at him. Even if he was lying to her, hearing him say that he didn’t mind her past sent an odd warmth through her. He smiled back but a moment later, he rose from his seat.

  She was so startled by his sudden movement that she didn’t anticipate what he’d do next. He shuffled closer until he was right beside her then bent. It wasn’t an overly sensual kiss; his lips just nibbled at hers for a few seconds and his tongue lightly swept over the seam of her lips. Still, it left her heart thudding into overdrive, and when he straightened to his full height, her lips still tingled.