"Screw you," she said mildly.
"Ahh . . ." He cleared his throat. "Please note that I am politely pa.s.sing on that beautiful setup." She had time to blush before he went on. "I trust you weren"t that blunt with Libby. Just relax. Teenagers often select adult mentors. It"s normal. You should be flattered."
She lowered the phone long enough to give it a quizzical look, wondering when he would quit surprising her. "Since when do you know so much about teenagers?"
"I have six nieces and nephews, and three of them are teenagers."
"Oh."
There were several seconds of dead air. "So are we okay with leaving you at home with Libby?"
"No, we are not. And by the way, she thinks you"re hot, and so does her friend."
"Libby"s a bright girl."
"Uh-huh. Actually, she didn"t say hot. She said you"re cute in a really bad way, meaning you do bad things. I"m sure she means s.e.xual things."
"Uh . . ."
"I expect that any second now she"ll be speculating aloud about your s.e.x life. That girl has quite an imagination. Being the anointed mentor, I suppose I"ll have to try my best to answer, although I don"t really know the answers, so I"ll have to make some things up."
"I see. I"ll pick you up when I finish this job."
"Thank you."
"Perhaps I can help you come to some conclusions. "Bye."
She pocketed the phone, trying to pretend that the fluttery feeling in her stomach wasn"t antic.i.p.ation.
He worked as fast as he could, but it was nearly two hours before he made it to the Westfield mansion, and from the look on Janet"s face he wasn"t a moment too soon. Libby had just finished her tennis lesson and was walking off the court to greet her audience. Janet and Elizabeth were clapping at her performance when the trio caught sight of him strolling across the lawn. He could have sworn Janet heaved a sigh of relief. As he drew closer her smile grew wider and her eyes took on a new sparkle. A sharp kick of excitement hammered through his chest; he"d waited a long time for that sort of reaction from her.
Libby claimed his attention first. "Hi, Rocky! You missed my great serve."
"Hey, gorgeous. I"ll bet it was terrific." He high-fived her. "How"s the backhand coming along?"
"So-so. My playing is still uninspired." She said it without a trace of the crestfallen look most kids would have shown.
"Your coach is an idiot. Do you want me to have him mugged in a dark alley?"
She grinned. "No, stupid." She slapped at his arm playfully. "He"s just doing his job. He wants me to be more aggressive."
"So why aren"t you?"
She rolled her eyes. "It"s just a game, hitting a ball back and forth."
"We obviously need to have a talk about the compet.i.tive spirit. Later. Right now I have to take Janet someplace."
"Where?" She asked automatically, as if there were no reason that anyone might keep something from her. But he couldn"t tell her he was rescuing Janet from the attentions of two curious thirteen-year-olds.
"To see a friend," Janet supplied, stepping past Libby. "He won"t let me go anywhere alone." She made a face to show how ridiculous she thought it was for him to be preoccupied with her safety.
"Good," Libby approved. Sensible as always. If the kid ever wanted to run away from home, he"d take her in any day.
They said good-bye and walked across the lawn to his car. Janet leaned closer. "No wonder she thinks you"re so great," she said, keeping her voice low so it wouldn"t carry. "You call her gorgeous and offer to beat up anyone who criticizes her."
"I"d do the same for you, beautiful. Who do you want me to kill?" She laughed, but no longer showed that slightly fl.u.s.tered blush she got whenever he flirted with her. He hoped that meant she was getting comfortable with his attentions, because he was more than ready to take it to the next level. And she finally seemed to be ready, too.
Chapter.
Seven.
He hadn"t started the car. "So where are we really going?" Janet asked. "I don"t mind if you have another job, I just needed to get out of the house. I can tag along and stay out of the way."
His smile was oddly thoughtful. "You"re not in the way."
"Okay." She had no idea what he was thinking, and he wasn"t giving her any clues. A belated p.r.i.c.k of guilt made her wonder what she"d taken him away from. "Did you need to go to cla.s.s?"
"Summer break."
He still had that contemplative look, as if he was doing a mental a.s.sessment. Hair, check. Nose, check. Ears, check. With a worried frown she flipped the visor mirror down and peered closely. "Do I have something on my face?"
"There"s not a thing wrong with your face." He gave her the charmingly c.o.c.keyed smile that sent hormones zipping through her system. Great, her body was tuning in to his signals whether her emotions were ready or not. Another minute of that and she"d be going for a repeat of last night"s amazing kiss. Then they wouldn"t be going anywhere.
Her glance fell on a slip of paper stuck in the cup holder. It looked like a crudely drawn map. "What"s this? Is this where your next job is? I promise I don"t mind if you take me along." She put a hand over her heart. "Home security has always been my secret pa.s.sion."
"You really are desperate." He took the paper from her and stuffed it back in the cup holder. "It"s just a lead I got on a guy who might have fenced your necklace. I haven"t checked it out yet; it could be nothing."
"The necklace?" She couldn"t keep the sudden excitement out of her voice. "You have a lead already? Why didn"t you tell me? Let"s go talk to the guy."
Rocky shook his head. "No way. I"m not taking you to some scuzzy p.a.w.nshop to meet some guy who may or may not be able to help us."
"Why? You think scuzzy is contagious? Besides, it sounds like you"ve never met him, so you don"t even know what he"s like. Maybe he eats truffles and listens to Beethoven while he lists his p.a.w.ned items on eBay."
His lips pressed into a cynical smile. "Trust me, this guy is the lowest of the low. You don"t want to meet him. I"m sure we can find something better to do."
Maybe the s.e.xual innuendo was all in her imagination, but his frank look made her breath catch and her b.r.e.a.s.t.s tingle.
Unfortunately, the guilt he raised was even stronger than the l.u.s.t. He wanted to help her, but doing it would put him back into the same criminal world he"d barely managed to escape a year and a half ago. She didn"t know how he"d become a jewel thief in the first place, or what had made him turn from a life of crime to the honest business world. Which meant she didn"t know how precarious his straight life was. If he were somehow drawn back into his criminal past because of her, she"d feel responsible. She"d hate herself. Ellie and Jack would hate her. h.e.l.l, even Elizabeth Westfield and Ben Thatcher would be furious.
Janet didn"t know how to tell Rocky that without insulting him.
Apparently, her long pause had made him nervous. "Look, Janet, I know you don"t want anything more to do with men who have a police record."
"I wasn"t thinking about that! I mean, I know you aren"t Banner."
He almost smiled. "I think we got past that last night. But I was talking about the kind of criminals this p.a.w.nbroker deals with. He"s a fence. He knows what he"s buying is hot, and he knows the men he deals with are criminals. He doesn"t care. You don"t belong in that world, Janet."
"Neither do you." She felt the heat in her face and knew she was blushing at bringing up his past. His history hadn"t embarra.s.sed her before, so it shouldn"t now. Just because she"d kissed him . . .
He c.o.c.ked his head, seeming intensely interested in her embarra.s.sment-and amused. "There"s a lot you don"t know about my past, Janet. I"m not going back to that life."
That was good to hear. "Still, you"re talking to these people on my behalf, and some of them might not be too happy to see you again."
He raised an eyebrow. "You"re probably right. But I can handle it."
"But you shouldn"t have to. This is about me, not you. I appreciate that you"re willing to help me, but you can"t expect me to stay home while you go out and risk your safety and your-" she struggled for the right word "-your legal status, all because of me."
"My legal status?" He smiled, and reached over to hold her face between his hands. She felt the sc.r.a.pe of calluses from his palms, evidence of the honest work he did every day. "Babe, I"d risk a lot for you, but trust me, my legal status isn"t in danger. Nothing"s going to pull me back into that world." His gaze held hers, gently demanding. "Do you believe me?"
She nodded, confident he was telling the truth, but finding it difficult to talk while caught in the depths of his brown eyes.
"Good." He leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on her lips. "So you understand why I want you to stay safely at home when I go see this p.a.w.nbroker?"
She found her focus again. "No."
"Janet-"
"No. It"s my problem, and I"m not handing it over to you to take care of. You have to take me with you."
He sighed. "I don"t want to argue with you-"
"Then don"t."
"-but you can"t make me take you, either."
She studied him for several seconds, then dug into her purse for the keys to her rental car. "Just in case I lose you, that was a side street just off Evergreen and Fenkell, right?"
Rocky"s jaw muscle twitched as he clenched his teeth harder. "Okay, you win."
She smiled sweetly and put the keys away. "Thank you."
He shook his head. "I hope I don"t regret this."
"Not a chance." She flashed a smile. "I"m good company."
He lifted one eyebrow. "Yes, you are. And just remember while we"re visiting the sleazy, scuzzy fence that I had something way more fun in mind."
Desire shot through her again. The intense look he gave her before starting the car left no doubt about what sort of fun he"d had planned. If she hadn"t guessed from his kiss last night, he"d just confirmed that she"d opened a door he"d been waiting behind for too long. There would be no more harmless flirting and cute allusions to s.e.x; he meant to have the real thing.
She smiled to herself. Chances were good he was going to get it.
They pa.s.sed the p.a.w.nshop, turned around, and parked halfway up the block on the opposite side of the street. Rocky made no move to get out of the car.
"What are we waiting for?"
"I don"t like to walk in without knowing who might already be in there. So we watch for a bit."
She looked over at the door with the scratched gold lettering. "Lost and Found Treasures." Fancy name for a dull gray building. The barred front window showed an array of digital cameras, video recorders, and TVs, all looking surprisingly new. "Looks like a small-scale Radio Shack."
"It should. A lot of this stuff probably came from there. Or was meant to end up there, before it was stolen off the truck. I mean, before it was lost. Nice euphemism."
He was right; this was a world she knew nothing about.
A minute later a thin black woman walked out of the store. Five minutes after that a white teenager slouched through the door, stayed less than a minute, and slouched out again. They waited another seven minutes, but no one went in or out.
"Okay, let"s go." He paused with his hand on the door handle. "Just so we"re clear, I do the talking."
"No problem. I"m here to watch and learn."
He gave a cynical laugh. "There"s a scary thought."
He took her hand as they crossed the street and held it as they walked into Lost and Found Treasures. It felt protective, something she was glad for when an angry buzzer sounded and the door closed behind her with a suspicious click.
They were in a jail cell. The next thing to it, anyway. The s.p.a.ce was no bigger than her bedroom, maybe twelve feet on each side, with the barred front window at her back and another in front of her that looked like the betting window at a race track. Sudden claustrophobia made her chest ache with the effort to breathe. Or maybe it was just the heavy haze of cigarette smoke.
"Is this what all p.a.w.nshops are like?" she whispered to Rocky.
"No." His gaze was wandering as much as hers, skimming the merchandise. "This guy must deal with some crazy people."
Tall display cases covered the walls on each side, with more barred gla.s.s protecting shelves crowded with watches and small electronic items. There were more than a hundred watches, she guessed, and dozens of cell phones and MP3 players. Her gaze darted across the glittering array until a deep voice startled her.
"Help ya?"
Rocky stepped closer to the caged window where a young man stood. Janet stared at his narrow, pale face. His hair was pulled into a stringy ponytail at his collar, long enough that she couldn"t see the end. His arms were heavily tattooed and nicotine-yellowed fingers held a burning cigarette. This open violation of the law against smoking in places of business was probably insignificant compared to what else went on here.
The man"s light blue eyes scanned Rocky, then lingered on Janet with interest. She could almost feel shutters banging closed inside her, as if attempting to protect her from something dirty and unpleasant.
"I"m looking for some jewelry," Rocky said.
The young man"s gaze dragged back to him. "Got lots of that. What kind?"
"Some particular pieces that you don"t have. But you did. You sold one to a friend of mine, and I"m looking to buy the rest of them."
The man"s face grew cautious. "If I don"t have "em, I don"t have "em. Why you asking me? You a cop?"
"Not even close. My name"s Rocky Hernandez. Mean anything to you?"
"No." He took a long draw on the cigarette and let his gaze run over Janet again, long enough to make the back of her neck p.r.i.c.kle. "Should it?"
"Ask around. I used to work this area."