Blood Ties in Chef Voleur by Mallory Kane Page B

and slid her arms around his waist and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “Mmm, you smell warm, like my husband. Are you going with me?”
    Jack frowned. “To the sheriff’s office? No. You heard me tell Ryker I’d be there a little later.”
    “No,” she said, moving her lips against his shoulder. “To the gallery.”
    “What for? I’m going to be busy all day. Those plans I’m working on are a tricky design and it’s probably going to take me several more hours to finish it.”
    She nuzzled his shoulder, then moved up and kissed the nape of his neck. “Not today. Tomorrow night. For the opening. There will be hors d’oeuvres and wine. It’s semi-formal.”
    He stepped away from her kiss. “Sure. Give me the name of the gallery and the time and I’ll meet you there.”
    “I want you to go with me.”
    “Depends on what time you’re leaving. You’re probably wanting to get there early, but the reason I’ve got to finish that design today is because I’ve got a meeting in Biloxi tomorrow afternoon. I might be cutting it really close.”
    She gave him an odd, almost hurt look. “Okay. I’ll go by myself and you can come when you get back. Mom said she’d be there, and I guarantee you she’ll invite us over for coffee afterward. She already tried to get me to come over for dinner before the show.”
    “Why don’t you go? She just wants to have you around.”
    “I can’t eat before a show, and besides, I’ll probably still be working on the finishing touches for the two pieces.”
    “Okay, then,” he said, and moved to kiss her on the cheek, but she intercepted him with her mouth and gave him a kiss that promised everything he’d ever wanted and more. He responded with a sense of surrender. He was going to be in big trouble if he had no more defenses against her than to get caught by such a simple ploy. He should have anticipated her last-second feint. Sometimes he was afraid she was much smarter than he was. Very afraid. If she was as smart as he was beginning to think she was, he probably didn’t have a chance of fooling her for very long. He needed to get the proof that would exonerate his grandfather and get the heck out of there before she started putting things together. All these thoughts zipped through his mind the one-tenth of a second between her stopping the kiss and speaking. Because while she was kissing him he hadn’t been able to think anything except More, more, more.
    “Bye, handsome,” she said, flicking him on the nose.
    “So long, beautiful,” he responded, not looking at her. He listened to her heels click on the hardwood as she walked up the hall. He heard her stop in the office, then turn around and come back to the bedroom.
    “By the way, when you were in my office, did you take down one of my grandmother’s journals?” she asked him.
    “No, why?”
    She sat down on the bed. “One of Grandmother’s journals is on the table instead of on the shelf. And it’s under my sketch of the cat.”
    “I saw it. I figured you’d left it there.”
    “No.” She stared at him for a few seconds. “So if you didn’t leave it there, then I’m worried that someone really is coming in when we’re not here.”
    “ If I didn’t?” Jack repeated. “What the hell, Cara Lynn? Don’t you believe me?”
    She seemed taken aback. “No, of course I believe you. Didn’t you mention it earlier? About that bottle of water being missing?” She glanced up briefly, then turned her head to look toward the office. “But, you’re sure you didn’t forget—while you were looking at the sketch maybe?”
    “I didn’t move your stuff,” he snapped, a lot more irritated by her implication than he should have been.
    “Okay,” she said, irritation sharpening her voice as well. She stood and left the bedroom again. As she walked out, he heard her mutter, “I know it wasn’t me,” then heard the front door open and close.
    He’d thought he would need a cool shower after that kiss.