Cursed by Love (3 page)

She eyed the canvas tote she’d stuck the
jade in this morning. How could she have guessed the object would generate so
much interest? Now she wished she’d packed it in something more substantial
than her ordinary school bag.

Something like a sturdy metal box. With
padding. And a lock. And handcuffs that attached her wrist to the handle.

Or an armored car.

She’d never carried around anything so
valuable before... except when she’d brought the jade in with her today. But
that didn’t count. She hadn’t been nervous about carrying it then.

Her awareness of its value changed
everything. She’d be much more likely to succumb to an attack of the
clumsies
. The thought of dropping the Lotus petals and
watching them shatter into pieces almost made her hyperventilate. What if she
put the package down to wash her hands and forgot to pick it up? What if
someone tried to take it from her?

She scanned the crowd with a critical
eye. They’d seemed like good-natured well-wishers before. Now, after talking to
James, Ethel, and Bert, the faces in the shadows looked envious and
avaricious.  Menacing, even.

Who knew what man, woman, or child might
have designs on her treasure? Maybe that woman in the straw hat, or that man in
the corner with pointy Spock ears, or the couple in the matching workout suits.

With the bag clutched against her chest,
she scanned for the nearest exit before she paused to get a grip.
Huh.
Just a few minutes after learning about the jade and she’d morphed into Molly
Paranoia. Not an attractive persona.

She needed to get out of there. Besides,
she couldn’t wait to share the news with Mom. This was exactly the sort of
serendipitous event that tickled her fancy. Or used to, anyway. Hopefully, it
would perk up her spirits today.

Molly chewed her bottom lip. But what
about that business of a curse? That really couldn’t be true, could it? A
tingly frisson of fear made the hair stand up on the back of her neck, just as
it had the first time she’d unwrapped the pink jade from the crinkling old
newspaper that had protected it for decades. She shoved the fear aside.

“Uh, Ms. Webber? Molly?” Gabe’s deep,
sexy voice washed over her, shivered down her spine, and made her toes curl
inside her shoes.

“Yes?” She looked over at him and
smiled, unable to contain her excitement over their mutual good fortune. Unable
to forget the fact that she’d kissed him on public television. And that she’d
wanted to keep on kissing him. Odd, even though he was still gorgeous, she no
longer felt as inclined to tongue-tango with him now.

“Do you have a minute? I think we should
discuss this, uh—windfall, don’t you?” His eyes gleamed like one of her
third-grade students after hitting a game-winning home run during recess. He
flashed her a conspiratorial smile that stopped her in her tracks, a smile that
had her panting to leap into his arms. Based on a healthy strain of
self-preservation, she backpedaled.

“I’d like to, but I’ll feel better once
I have this half of the Sleeping Lotus under lock and key.” She felt oddly
protective about it now and eager to be away from the force field of desire he
cast around her. Taking a purposeful step back, she checked to confirm that
Ethel and Bert had left the vicinity before setting the
tote
on the table and groping for a pad and pencil. “I’ll give you my phone number.
Call me later, okay?”

“Tell me the number, and I’ll save it to
my contact list.”

After she rattled off the digits, he
fished a business card out of his computer bag. As she accepted his card, her
hand brushed his, their eyes met, and
bam
! There were the echoes of
desire she’d hoped had vanished.

Her heart plunged into a dip and dive
that rivaled the biggest roller coaster at Kings Island. She shivered with the
strangest premonition—like some kind of instant karma had clicked into place
between them, something that would bind them and link them together.

Forever.

Ridiculous! Shake it off.

But her breath caught, and her heart
rate accelerated just the same.

No relationship or emotional connection
was ever that straightforward, she knew from firsthand experience. As much as
she’d like to believe it, nothing was written in the stars.

Forever rarely meant ‘til death do us
part.’ In Molly’s own personal
Get-Over-It Dictionary
, forever only
promised tonight, maybe tomorrow, possibly next week, or until one partner or
the other got bored, tired of being tied down, or developed a wandering eye.

Just ask her former fiancé William about
forever.

Just ask her father and mother.

Nope, Molly sure didn’t believe in
forever anymore. But right now, with Gabe’s gaze locked with hers, ‘tonight and
maybe tomorrow’ shimmered with possibilities.

Gabe pocketed his phone and shut down
her wayward thoughts. “Thanks. I’ll give you a call.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she
noticed Bert bearing down on them. With an abrupt nod, she lifted her bag,
slipped the straps over her shoulder, hugged the tote against her, and headed
for the exit.

Slinging the strap of his computer bag
across his shoulder, Gabe fell into step beside her. “Where are you parked?”

Molly glanced at him sideways. Oh, yeah,
it was much better having him out of her direct line of sight. Easier to think
straight.

And straight-thinking lead her directly
to suspicion.
Just how trustworthy is this guy?

She knew virtually nothing about him.
But for the time being, they did have this one enormous common interest. And
everyone in the auditorium had been witness to their meeting. His open, honest
expression convinced her to take a chance.

“The garage across Elm.”

“Me, too.” He held the door, and she
emerged from the stuffy, crowded Convention Center into the welcome coolness of
the early spring air. “I’ll walk with you to safeguard our joint property.”

“Right.” How could she object? Down by
the river, fans cheered at Great American Ball Park, followed by the boom of
fireworks cascading against the dusky sky. Her dad had said he’d be at the
game. “Sounds like a homerun.”

“Go Reds,” Gabe said, with a pump of his
fist.

She cuddled her tote like a baby,
pulling in a deep breath of river-scented air. Gabe carried his bag with
kid-glove care, too.

“I’m still in shock.” He shook his head.
“How about you?”

“That pretty much describes it. I had no
idea what I had in my hands when I walked in there this afternoon, did you?”

“Not a clue.”

“Why’d you bring in your half?”

They stopped at the corner to wait for
the light to change. She tapped her foot, eager to get moving, stealing another
glance at him, looking away and back again, kidding herself that she had any
control over her insane reaction to him.

“My
grandfather.” Gabe’s mouth quirked up on one side, a movement that could have
been delight or exasperation, maybe a little of both. “He watches the show
religiously, and once he’s made up his mind, he can take stubborn to a whole
new level. He wanted me to bring the jade here to get it evaluated. And despite
all my objections, somehow he got his way. What about you?”

“Curiosity, mostly. My grandmother died
a few months ago. When my mother and I went through her house, there was all
kinds of cool stuff packed away in her attic. The jade caught my interest
because I had no idea what it was, how old it was, or even what it symbolized.”
She remembered the adults-only theme. “Still, I’m glad I brought in something
so unusual. So unique.”

“So erotic.” His purely masculine smile
set her heart jumping.

“No doubt.” She lowered her chin to hide
her blush.

As the light changed, he cupped her
elbow. His warm and steady hand propelled her forward. Heat from his touch
tingled along her arm. “You’d never seen it at your grandmother’s before?”

“Never.” She sighed with relief-tinged
regret when they reached the other side of the street and he released her.

”You don’t know how long she owned it?”

“The hatbox I found it in was covered
with dust, and the jade was wrapped in yellowed newspaper. My guess is that it
had been stored away for a good long time.” Even now, Molly recalled how her
head had buzzed expectantly when she lifted the lid on the old box.

“And there wasn’t anything denoting
provenance?”

“I’m not sure I would recognize
provenance if it had a big red bow tied around it. I’ll look again.” She dared
another peek at him from under her eyelashes. “Does your grandfather have any
documentation?”

“I’ll ask.” Gabe sighed and shook his
head. “And apologize. Sometimes Granddad embellishes his stories, and normally,
well, it’s best not to put much stock in them.”

“But this time you can.” Molly grinned
and Gabe grinned back. They could keep doing that all night long, for all she
cared. What an amazing dimpled smile he had, especially when his eyes joined in
that way. She had to question the compulsion that made her want to make him
smile more often.

“This time I can take it to the bank,
literally.” A fleeting look of relief passed over his features.

They descended the concrete steps to the
underground garage. Emerging from the enclosed stairwell, their footsteps
tapped in unison, echoing an eerie downbeat that had Molly checking over her
shoulder again.

Relieved to reach her destination, she
stopped beside her canary yellow Volkswagen Beetle, unlocked the door with a
beep, opened it, and carefully set the Lotus inside. “Thanks for helping ward
off the potential robbers, and muggers, and thieves. Oh my.”

He looked at her with raised brows.

“You know, like ‘lions and tigers and
bears’? From
The Wizard of Oz
?” She rolled her eyes. Really, she spent
way too much time with children.

“I do know.” His eyes crinkled at the
corners, preventing her from feeling like a complete dork. “It’s one of my
niece’s favorites.”

“Yes, anyway.” She cleared her throat.
“It was nice having someone to share the news with a little while longer.”

“Don’t you have someone at home who’ll
be eager to hear? Husband? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Significant other?”

“No one like that. I’m going to go tell
my mom about it first. How about you? Wife, mother, child?” She looked away
with feigned disinterest.

“None of the above. But my grandfather’s
probably pacing the floor, waiting for all the details. He’ll be so excited
when he hears that he’ll forget he’s eighty-two and suffers from arthritis,
bursitis, psoriasis, and colitis. If there’s a story on the news tonight about
an old man breaking several bones and suffering a stroke from doing too many
cartwheels, you’ll know the announcement was well received.”

They laughed together, and Molly reveled
in the warmth of the moment. “I know what you mean. I’m so thrilled, I keep
wanting to jump up and down and hug myself.”

Definite interest flickered through his
eyes. “If you need any help with that, I’d be happy to lend a hand.” He waited
a beat before adding, “Again.”

For a single second, Molly would have
been oh, so delighted to take him up on the offer. But the first few notes of
“When You Wish Upon a Star” interrupted them again, an audio
bucket-of-cold-water, reminding her of the unfavorable first impression he’d
made. She pulled her cell out of her tote just to check, but she wasn’t the one
receiving a call.

How could she have forgotten he’d been
yelling
at someone? Not a wife, thank heavens. Good to know he hadn’t been kissing her
as if he had invented kissing solely for her enjoyment while having a
legally-wedded wife tucked away somewhere.

Except at Reds or Bengals games, yelling
was one thing she absolutely did not do or allow—no matter how provoked. Not
even the day after Halloween when her twenty-two third graders practically
scaled the classroom walls, buzzed on sugar. Yelling was strictly forbidden,
deserving of a ten-minute time-out.

“Aren’t you going to get that?” she
asked, when the refrain repeated.

“No point.” He reached into his pocket
and shut the thing off without checking the display. “The garage reception is
lousy, and there’s nobody I’d rather talk to than you.”

Her heart melted a little, but her head
warned her about smooth-talking strangers. Next, he’d be offering her candy and
asking her to get into his car.

She took a giant step back and scanned the
rows of parked cars. The Spock-eared guy from the studio stood beside a Jeep a
couple of aisles over.

He waved and nodded. “Congratulations,”
he said. “You were the hit of the show.”

“Thanks.” Wondering how that guy had sneaked
up on them, she waved back.

“Yeah, thanks.” Gabe’s voice echoed off
the concrete walls.

Funny that she hadn’t heard Spock
approaching. Had she been that focused on Gabe? Every other sound seemed to
bounce around the garage like thunder in the Grand Canyon. She waited for Spock
to get in his Jeep, but he fumbled with his keys, dropped them, and cursed.