You Again (2 page)

“What do you want?” she said.

He leaned back and stretched out his long legs under the table.  Instead of answering immediately, he watched her beneath lowered lids, his arms crossed over his broad chest.  He’d always been good at making silences work for him, getting her to talk when she didn’t really want to.  It must be a cop thing.  She’d forgotten how good he was at his job, and how much his job carried over into his life.

“You know why I came here, Lil,” he finally said, his voice husky and low.

“No, I don’t.”  But she did.  She just didn’t know how
he
knew.  She’d been careful, made sure no one was home and no evidence was left behind.  She must have slipped up somewhere.

He sighed and rubbed his scalp with his fingers which only made his hair stand on end even more.  He drew his legs back and shifted his butt to the edge of the chair.  She thought he was going to stand but he remained seated. 

“You stole a necklace from a house in Toorak last night,” he said. 

“No, I was—."

“Damn it, Lil, why did you do it?”  He stood and paced the room, crossing from one side of her small lounge to the other in four easy strides.  “Now I have to arrest you.”

“If you would just let me speak, I could explain.”

“Explain what?”  He stopped pacing to look at her and she saw something in his blue eyes that she’d rarely seen before.  Anger.  Directed at her.  Normally he was so cool, so in control, never giving anything away beneath that smooth facade.  The only other time she’d seen him like this was when she’d told him her father was Wesley McAllister.  THE Wesley McAllister, Melbourne’s most infamous thief.  But even then his anger had simmered away into bitter disappointment.  This time it was raw and didn’t look like simmering away at all.

“Explain that you are just like your father?” he said.  “That you were born to steal?  That breaking and entering is in your blood and you can’t help it?  Christ, Lily, don’t feed me any of that bullshit.”

She’d never hit anyone in her life but damn she wanted to hit him now.  She closed the gap between them, the
thump thump
of her blood loud in her ears, urging her to knock some sense him.  But she stopped when her nose was only inches from his chest.  He was too big, too solid, and she had her goddamn hands cuffed.

She tipped her head back to fix him with her most murderous glare.  But he’d lost some of his anger already.  He watched her through half-closed eyes and his mouth turned soft, curved slightly down into a frown.  His hands moved, lifted, and she thought he was going to capture her arms, but then they dropped back to his sides.

“Damn,” he said quietly.  “Sorry.  I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Why not?” she snapped.  “It’s what you’re thinking.”

“It’s not—."

“Don’t deny it.  You think I’ve turned out exactly how you thought I would.  You think Dad taught me everything he knew about the family business before he died.”  She must have hit on at least part of the truth because he suddenly looked away. 

“I’m sorry about your Dad,” he said, his focus somewhere past her shoulder.  “I heard he died.”

“Yeah, I got the flowers.”

“And I got them back the next day.  I wish you’d kept them.”

“An insincere token?  No thanks.”

His gaze returned to her face, sharp and hard.  “It wasn’t insincere.  I was thinking about you, Lil.”  He brushed his knuckles down her cheek.  The tender gesture caught her off guard, made her want to throw herself into his arms and let him hold her.  But then he withdrew and the moment passed.  “I knew how much you loved your old man and I knew how much you’d be hurting.”  He sighed and shook his head as if shaking off a bad memory. 

Why did he have to be nice?  Just when she was prepared to slice his balls off and hand them back to him on the point of a knife, he went all gentlemanly on her. 

“And I didn’t mean what I said before,” he went on, speaking in that low, calming voice that dripped like thick honey from his lips.  “I never thought you’d end up like him.  You’re not a thief, Lil.”

“Thank you,” she said, warily. 

“So that’s why I couldn’t believe it when I saw the footage of you stealing the necklace from the Haywood-Smith house.”

Lily’s heart did one powerful
whump
and stopped.  “What?  Whoa, hold on a minute.”  She tried to put her hands on her hips but the stupid cuffs stopped her.  “Firstly, I didn’t steal anything and secondly, there was footage?  I thought I’d disabled all the cameras.”  Damn it, she must have missed one.  An amateur’s mistake.  Her father would be groaning in his grave from embarrassment. 

“Tommy’s team were put on the case,” he said.  “He saw the CCTV tape from a hidden camera and recognized you so he came to me.  I told him I’d talk to you first, unofficially.  He agreed since he always liked you.”

“This is unofficial?”  She held out her hands.  “Then take these things off.”

“Are you going to hurt me if I do?”  He eyed her, one brow raised.

“Let’s just wait and see, shall we?”

“How about we talk first and take them off after you explain why you stole the necklace.”

“Hello?  Are you even listening to me?  I didn’t steal anything.”  Had he grown deaf in the past two years or had his stubborn streak grown wider?

“Lily, we have you on tape.” 

She rolled her eyes.  It was like talking to a three year-old.  “Did it catch me taking something?”

His eyes narrowed as if he was recalling the video footage.  “Not exac—."

“No?  Oh, then perhaps, just maybe, you got it wrong, Superintendent Tanner or whatever the hell you are now.  Because I didn’t steal the goddamn necklace!  I was
returning
it.”

“Returning it?”  He snorted.  “Lil, surely you can come up with something better than that.”

“It’s the truth.” 

“Nope,” he said, crossing his arms again.  “Wrong answer.  You couldn’t have been returning it because it’s missing.”

CHAPTER 2

“Missing?”  Lily sat on the edge of the coffee table, her chest so tight she couldn’t breathe.  Oh God, she was going to jail. 

No one would believe her side of the story now.  Her mother would never speak to her again.  Her cousins would applaud her and dub her the new matriarch of the family—the lying, thieving side of the family, that is. 
Crap.

Air.  She needed air. 

“Just breathe, Babe.”  Luke’s hand at the back of her neck felt warm and strong and steady.  His fingers rubbed, working the knots in her muscles loose. 

She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, letting the air into her body, enjoying the sensations of his massage more than she should.  He’d always given good rubs, finding just the right spot to ease even the worst tension. 

Usually his massages ended in their love-making.  His big hands would slowly make their way down her shoulders to her breasts, cupping and playfully teasing.  By that time she was always ready for him, waiting for his delicate kisses on her throat, the nibble of her ear, the whisper of her name.

She sighed and instinctively leaned into him.

Big mistake.

He jumped back as if she’d turned into a snake, taking his magic fingers with him.  "Better?" he asked, voice husky.

She nodded then remembered what they'd been talking about and shook her head.  “I
did
return it.”  She sounded like a petulant child.  But damn it, she
had
returned the necklace her father stole a year ago.

Hold on.  She looked up at Luke.  “That necklace has been missing for the last year so how could I have stolen it?"  Ha!  Work that one out, Smartass.

He frowned at her, crossing his arms.  Stand-off mode.  “No, it was only reported stolen last night.  After you broke in.  Which, I might add, is breaking and entering.  So even if you didn’t steal anything, you still committed a crime.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said with a wave of her hands, “the judge will throw it out of court.  Especially when he finds out I
didn't steal anything
!” 

Luke drew in a breath and forced out his most patient smile despite his rising irritation.  Damn it, Lily was as stubborn as ever!  Why couldn't she just give in and admit she'd stolen the necklace?  He'd seen her on the CCTV for Christ's sake, what more evidence did she need before she realized it was all over?

"Lily—."

"No, don't use that tone of voice with me, Luke."  She pointed a finger at him and the cuffs clinked.  She looked so sexy in his handcuffs.  If only he'd thought of using them while they were still dating.  Now
there’s
a memory he could use to warm his nights.

No.  Don't go there.  Bad, bad idea.  He did not need any more memories of Lily clogging up his head, especially ones of the naked variety.

"And stop smirking," she snapped.  "I know what you're thinking."

Yeah, she probably did.  They'd always been on the same wavelength, especially where sex was concerned. 

"Sorry," he said.  "But it's hard focusing with those things on."  He dug into his pocket and pulled out the key, holding it just out of her reach.  "Promise you'll behave."

She gave him a look that could strip paint.  "You had your fun, now take them off."

Fun?  Having his chest waxed for a bet when he was eighteen had been more fun than finding out the woman he once wanted to spend the rest of his life with was a master thief.

But whatever she was, she didn't deserve the indignity of cuffs.  It had only been a way of showing her he meant business anyway.  He unlocked them and she turned her wrists in little circles, loosening the muscles.  He pocketed the cuffs along with the key and took her hands, rubbing his thumbs along her wrists.  The blue of her veins contrasted starkly with the pale skin there.  She felt soft and delicate like a petal from her flower's namesake, but he knew it was just an illusion.  Many people, including him at first, had made the mistake of underestimating her.  Lily was tougher than most and he'd met some tough guys through his work, on both the right and wrong sides of the law.

"Better?"  His voice sounded raw, like he'd been shouting all day.  He coughed to clear it. 

"Mmmm."  She blinked up at him and he swallowed hard, fighting against the natural instinct to kiss her. 

He let go and stepped back to put some distance between them.  Damn, that had been close.  Too close.  In the space of a heartbeat, he'd nearly thrown away all the effort he'd put in trying to forget her. 

"So where is it?" he asked, forcing himself to focus on the reason for his visit.

"Huh?"  She seemed dazed.  Had the connection between them taken her by surprise too?  Now that was interesting. 

"The diamond necklace," he reminded her.  "The one you stole."

Her forehead wrinkled.  "Ruby."

"Pardon?"

"It was a ruby necklace.  Actually it was a choker.  One large central ruby with a smaller one on each side.  No diamonds.  And I didn't steal it."

"Rubies?  Are you sure?"

"No diamond I know of comes in a blood red color.  This necklace was definitely rubies."

He sat down heavily on the chair.  She sat on the couch opposite and for a long time they stared at each other.  Her quick mind was probably trying to work out what the hell was going on.  His certainly was.

"I don't get it," she finally said, shrugging.  "I put back a ruby necklace and you're here to arrest me for stealing a diamond one."  When he didn't answer, she bent her head and rubbed her eyes.  "I'm screwed aren't I?  You're going to arrest me.  No matter what I say, you won't believe me."  Her voice cracked and he started to get up to comfort her but sat down again before she noticed.

"I believe you."  He hadn't known he did until he said it.  "I believe you, Lil."

She looked up, unshed tears shining in he eyes.  "Really?  You're not going to put me in jail?"

"You don't belong in jail."  Prison was for drug dealers, murderers and your average all-round nasty piece of work.  Not women like Lily.  Evasive about her family, yes, but she was also generous and gentle-natured.  She had a good soul.  A wonderful soul.