The Beautiful Thief (Stolen Hearts #2)(24)

Running was Adam’s least favorite workout. It was boring, didn’t really help his strength, and there was never a good place to do it. Where he lived in Louisiana, he was always getting on other people’s property or avoiding gators. Not that there were gators out for every run, but there were enough for him to keep his guard up.

He’d give the cardiovascular exercise its due, though. Being able to run was damn practical.

And now in downtown Chicago, he had to deal with dodging people heading through rush hour while keeping an eye out for anyone unfriendly who might recognize him.

At the moment, he wasn’t bothering anyone, so even if someone recognized him, he didn’t expect trouble. By the end of the day, he was guessing that everyone would want to get a hold of him.

So he kept running and tried to let his mind fall away so all that was left was the pounding of his feet on the pavement. But every time he even started to get to that zone, he’d think of Melody and all his calm would fizzle out.

She’d run away after they got to the room, and who could blame her? He hadn’t been able to keep his hands off her for even thirty seconds after they’d gotten to the room. And when he’d gone out for his run, she’d been pretending to sleep to avoid talking to him. He didn’t call her on it, though. He’d give her those few minutes of peace.

He doubted she was going to warm up to him at all during the course of the day. Once they entered into Forbes’s territory, she was going to have to follow his lead. She might be able to handle herself in tough situations, but this was his territory. He knew the players better than she did, and he knew how they were going to react to the two of them showing up and looking for Forbes.

Maybe he shouldn’t have smashed Ike’s hand. No. The bastard totally deserved it. But Adam hadn’t thought there’d be any reason for him to come back to the city a week later and need help.

Melody could be right. If he brought her with him, she could butter Ike up. He didn’t like Adam, so Ike would need a pretty face to bat some eyelashes and get information.

And Melody was determined enough to get information out of anyone. It was the kind of determination that was going to get her killed if she wasn’t careful. Hell, it would get him killed too if he wasn’t on guard with her.

Which was a problem, because his guard always seemed to be lowered when she was nearby.

He finished the loop and turned back toward the hotel. When he got to the room, Melody’s bed was empty and he could hear the shower running. He took the chance to peek inside the bags she’d gone out for the previous night. Considering she’d managed to get an unregistered handgun out in the swamps, he was sure that here in the city she’d be just as capable of arming herself.

Sure enough, in the heaviest bag was a small Beretta with a loaded magazine. He took the gun out and eyed the rest of the purchases. A fortune in makeup and a few different outfits. Nothing else crazy.

“What the hell are you doing?”

He glanced over his shoulder to see Melody behind him, her hair wet around her shoulders and, most importantly, wearing nothing but a towel. “Morning, darlin’.”

She started to push him away from the bags but then she noticed the gun in his hand. “That’s mine.”

“I’m guessing that’s not what the serial number says.” He turned the gun over in his hand. “Oh, would you look at that. There is no serial number.”

She narrowed her eyes as she held her hand out. “Seriously, give it to me.”

“Seriously, I’ll give it to you when I think you need to shoot someone.” And when he didn’t think she was about to shoot him. “Are you done in the bathroom?” He assumed she needed to get clothes because that’s the only reason she’d take the chance of venturing out in only a towel.

“For now.”

“Good. I need a shower.” He started for the bathroom and Melody turned to follow his movements.

“You need a gun in the shower?”

“No. But if you need the gun, you’re going to have to come in and get it. Door will be unlocked but I’ll be in there. Naked.”

Her glare followed him all the way into the bathroom, but she didn’t venture in while he showered off the sweat. When he stepped out of the shower, the gun was still there. He ran his fingers through his hair, shaking off the excess droplets before toweling off and wrapping the towel around his waist.

Unfortunately, Melody was dressed when he came back out. Her still wet hair was wrapped into a bun, and she wore a white silk shirt that seemed to fall against her soft curves in just the right way. Even though the neck was high and the sleeves were long, he could make out the outline of her body through the almost translucent material. Almost like she was wearing nothing....

“What time did you want to head out?” she asked.

“Eleven is good. There are so many people coming and going around lunch that we should be able to get to Ike before anyone notices.”

“The CE building that the party was in?”

“Yep. Forbes got me the job with the security team there. I’m going to see if they can tell me where to find him.”

“The team that was beating the crap out of you last week?”

“The very same.”

“Why would they help us?”

“Because we’re going to be very persuasive.”