Lucky Streak

much as he empathized with her emotions, he didn’t understand her choices.

In the wake of his silence, Amber drew a shaky breath and continued, “So I contacted Marshall.”

“And you became partners,” Mike said. He heard the disappointment in his voice as the memory of his first meeting with Amber came back to him in vivid detail.

A lovers’ quarrel, Marshall had said.

Ex-partners, Amber had claimed.

The illegalities had never been mentioned.

Mike’s blood chilled. If he’d known, he’d never have spent the day with Amber. Never have married her.

She touched him on the shoulder.

A mixture of warmth and hurt flooded him on contact and he jerked away.

“Hey! Don’t you judge me until you’ve been in my shoes!” she said with indignation. “Imagine what you’d do if you couldn’t pay for decent care for your father.” Her eyes flashed with defiance, defending her choice.

“I have thought about it, dammit. While you explained your reasons, it’s all I could think about. I’m trying like hell not to judge you, but I’m a cop. Right and wrong is just too clear-cut in my world.” He ran a hand through his hair, wondering how she couldn’t see the solid barrier her past…hell, her present, placed between them.

“Then consider yourself lucky things are so simple for you,” she said coldly.

Once again she was angry at him for something he hadn’t caused, he thought, the irony strong. This woman and her damn contradictions, her warped sense of right and wrong.

“Why don’t you continue,” he said, suddenly exhausted, but knowing she hadn’t finished.

Amber let out a sigh. “You know the rest. High-stakes poker games for big money. Every penny went to the home for my father’s care. I supported myself with savings and the money I made working at my friend Paul’s bar. Look, I’m telling you this because, despite how it all looks, I believe in honesty. I’ve wanted to tell you all along. I just didn’t know how you’d react to the truth.”

“Like hell. You’re confessing now because you’re cornered and you need protection.” Did she really think he was an idiot? he thought, frustrated.

“I’m telling you because if King Bobby is coming after me and I’m staying here with you, you need to know what’s going on. Again, it’s about honesty.”

“King Bobby? What the hell kind of a name is that?” He couldn’t help but laugh.

She tried unsuccessfully to block a grin. “King Bobby, owner of the biggest used-car dealership in all of Texas,” she said in a Texas drawl.

“Oh, brother.” Mike rolled his eyes. “How do you know for certain he’s after you?”

She recounted how she’d seen King Bobby and his wife at the Bellagio after she’d gone looking for Mike. She explained the trail King Bobby had left from Vegas to Beverly Hills, asking about her. “He’s a smart guy and chances are, he’ll dig up our marriage certificate and track me down here. It’s only a matter of time. I don’t know what he wants, but I like my body the way it is too much to let him find me.”

Mike liked her body, too. That was part of the problem.

“We have two choices. Hang around like a sitting duck for this King Bobby character to find you, or hide out.”

“We have two choices?”

He shook his head in frustration, not sure if he wanted to strangle her or kiss her senseless and make her problems go away. “Did you really think I’d just abandon you to deal with this guy on your own?”

“Frankly, I didn’t know what to expect from you.” She sniffed and turned away.

That disappointed him. Hadn’t he come through for her before?

“Go pack up your things.”

She frowned at his order. “To go where?”

To the only place he could think of where she’d be safe. Where a man named King Bobby from Texas would have a hard time tracking her down. “To my father’s place. This King would never guess to look for you at the home of a reclusive old man without a phone.” And when Edward had had a telephone, his number had been unlisted.

“Are you sure he won’t mind us staying there?” Amber asked, obviously surprised at Mike’s choice of hideouts.

“Not us. You.” Mike bit the inside of his cheek. “I can’t get off until this weekend. I’ll have Derek head over and prepare my father. You can take my car first thing tomorrow. It’s a fairly easy drive.”

And since she needed a safe place to hide out, Mike trusted her not to run away again.

Her eyes turned soft and liquid as she stepped toward him. “I really appreciate your help, considering how you feel about me.”

She had no idea how he felt about her. Hell, most of the time he had no idea how he felt about her. He just knew how he felt about what she’d done.

Not trusting himself with words, he stepped out of her reach and gave her a curt nod.

Mike headed to the bedroom to shower before bed. He needed a good night’s sleep so he’d be able to think more clearly tomorrow. Although once Amber climbed into bed beside him, sleep would be the last thing on his mind. She’d end up with her hand-or her mouth-on his body, expressing her thanks.

And as he’d proven more than once, he had no self-control when she touched him. In bed, their differences weren’t so obvious. If he was smart, he’d send her to his father’s tonight, but he knew his cousin wouldn’t brave Edward’s house at night, un-announced. And since Mike knew Edward didn’t always answer his cell phone, Derek would have to make the trip in person.

In good conscience, Mike couldn’t spring Amber’s visit on Edward without warning. Tomorrow would have to be soon enough. He’d have to survive one more night sharing a bed.

Then he’d send his soon-to-be-ex wife to stay with his father while Mike looked into this King Bobby character. His father, Amber and Stinky Pete together under one roof. Mike shuddered at the thought.

Hopefully, Mike could straighten out the mess Amber was in and divorce her without too much trouble. He paused in the doorway and glanced at the woman standing in the family room, appearing to be contemplating something. She twirled her finger around one lock of hair and looked as if she was planning her next move.

He had no real idea how her brain worked and wasn’t sure he wanted to find out. She’d be gone before he knew it and his life would get back to normal.

Unfortunately, normal had been solitary and routine, and the notion didn’t bring him the comfort it should have.

HE MUST BE A WEAK MAN, Mike decided, because when Dan picked him up for work he was humming. So was his body, the result of a spectacular bout of first-thing-in-the-morning sex and a long thank-you/apology kiss from Amber as she walked him to the door and said so-long.

“Goodbyes are permanent and I’ll be seeing you on Friday,” she’d said, ever optimistic. She totally ignored the fact that he didn’t approve of her choices any more this morning than he had last night, something he’d made certain she understood. Just because they’d shared another night of mind-blowing sex, he didn’t want her to think anything else had changed.

A divorce was in the cards, Mike thought. A perfect play on words if ever there was one.

He’d given Amber directions to his father’s house along with his cousin Derek’s home and cell phone. Since Derek’s wife Gabrielle had had a stalker issue last year, his cousin understood Mike’s concern and had taken a ride out to Edward’s this morning. He said Edward had complained nonstop about having his privacy invaded, but he’d also begun rinsing glasses in the sink in preparation. Unusual to say the least.

Could Amber’s assessment of Edward be correct? Was he too ingrained in his reclusive life to ask for help, yet looking for a way out? Mike refused to get his hopes up. What could Amber possibly know about the crazy old man Mike called his father?

And yet Mike found himself placing hope in Amber’s ability to reach Edward during her stay there. Once again, he found her contradictions maddening. Was she a card-counting cheat or a warm, caring, insightful woman who wanted to help Mike’s father? Could she really have had no choice?

No! He crumpled up the paperwork he’d filled out incorrectly because he hadn’t been concentrating. They were too different. He couldn’t possibly trust her. And she caused complications in his life he just didn’t need.