Lover's Bite by MAGGIE SHAYNE Page B

the first time you betrayed me for money.”
    â€œIt wasn’t me.” He was wounded, actually, that she could even entertain the thought. He wished he could look her in the eyes or delve into her mind to determine whether she believed him. He tried, but she was blocking—not deliberately, he thought. It was anger and mistrust keeping his mind from probing the depths of hers. Digging any deeper would take more concentration than he could muster up while simultaneously driving and trying to think of convincing arguments.
    â€œI gave you information to help you. Why would I do that if I were going to turn around and throw roadblocks in your way?”
    â€œOh, come on. You convince me you’re on my side to find out more facts to sell, then stab me in the back.”
    â€œTopaz, I knew where you were staying, and I knew why you had come out here before I ever arrived on that villa’s doorstep. I could have sold that information to the tabloids without ever setting foot in California.”
    She lowered her head. “Maybe that’s not all you’re after.”
    He sighed, frustrated as hell.
    â€œIf you want to convince me, Jack, just tell me why you’re really here.”
    He was quiet for a long moment, so long that he could feel her speculation, practically hear those wheels turning in her mind. She thought he was taking his time so he could make up a good lie, he realized. Say something, you idiot, he told himself.
    â€œI have never felt remorse before. Not in all my years of conning women. Never once. But I felt it with you. I thought it would go away, but it’s been getting worse instead of better. And there’s more. I—I’ve missed you.”
    She was staring at him, probing. He wished he could let down his guard, let her dig around inside his thoughts and see that he meant what he said—but there were too many things she couldn’t know.
    â€œAnd besides all that, I kept getting the feeling that this mission of yours could be dangerous.”
    â€œSo you want me to believe you’re selfless?”
    â€œHell, no! I thought by coming out here, helping you do this thing that means so much to you, I might somehow atone for my sins and these feelings of regret would go away.” He thumped a palm on the steering wheel. “I don’t like feeling this way, Topaz. It’s affecting my work.”
    â€œYour work? ”
    â€œYes, my work. How am I supposed to move on to the next mark if I have to worry that I’ve somehow developed a conscience?”
    She drew a breath, then blew it out slowly. “I suppose that’s at least…plausible.”
    â€œJust assume it’s the truth for now, and let’s move on, okay? Who—besides me—knew you were coming here?”
    She pursed her lips. “Besides you? The only people I’ve spoken with are the owners of the villa I rented. But I didn’t tell them who I was.”
    â€œCould they have recognized you, like Rebecca did?”
    â€œI haven’t seen them face-to-face.”
    â€œAll right. It’s a simple thing to find out, really.”
    â€œIs it?”
    He shot her a smirk. “Hello! We’re vampires. ”
    â€œSo?”
    â€œSo who wrote the story? Is there a byline?”
    She looked at the piece again, then nodded. “Les Marlboro.”
    â€œSounds like an anti-smoking ad. All right, so we find out where this Marlboro man lives, and we pay him a little visit. He’ll tell us who his source is.”
    She shot him a look—a worried look. “I don’t think we need to go that far.”
    â€œYou’re kidding me. You’re okay with letting someone spy on you and report your activities to the press?”
    â€œI just think there might be a less…violent way of finding out.”
    â€œI wasn’t suggesting we torture him,” he said. “Much.”
    â€œWe can find another way.”
    He