The Beautiful Thief (Stolen Hearts #2)(34)

“Why the divorce?”

“Tell you what. If we make it out of tonight alive, I’ll tell you all the sordid details.”

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll just start making shit up.”

The corner of her mouth hooked up. “Make shit up?”

“I bet you decorated the entire house pink.”

That had her snorting. “What?”

“Yep. He left you because you have horrible taste in interior decorating. He wanted to feel like a man but he couldn’t because there was pastels and potpourri everywhere.”

“Oh God. If only it was that simple.”

“Well, that’s my theory.”

She knew what he was doing. He still thought she was freaking out and he was trying to break up the tension with humor. Well, she was laughing and she felt a lot better than she had in the bathroom, so she couldn’t knock his methods.

The club wasn’t too far from the hotel. The bigger issue was finding parking. They didn’t want to go into a garage. Garages were too well lit in this day and age. Darkness was your friend when running from the scene of a crime. There wasn’t any street parking for about two blocks—which could be better, could be worse.

Adam parallel parked as if he did it for a living, and Melody found herself wishing that he was still telling jokes to cheer her up. All those nerves were creeping right back up.

She tried to keep the fear from showing as she got out of the car. Adam put some coins into the meter. There was a forty-five minute max, probably why there was no one parked here. But if they got a ticket, they would deal with it.

“Ace of Spades is this way.” Adam pointed east.

Melody repeated all the uncertainties in her mind. They didn’t know whether Forbes was going to be there. They didn’t know whether they would have a chance to take him out. Hell, at this point they didn’t even know whether they were going to get into the club.

All of the sudden, Adam’s arm went around the small of her back and pulled her in close as they kept walking. “Time to pretend you like me, darlin’,” he drawled into her ear, his Southern accent showing more than normal.

Damn it, he’d done it again. He’d noticed her nerves and was working to calm her down. She reminded herself that she was an attractive woman walking on the arm of an attractive man. No, attractive wasn’t the right word for Adam. She let her biases against him slip away and admitted it. He was dripping with sex. Even though he was in long pants and long sleeves, it was obvious just how much strength he had. When he leaned over and whispered in her ear, every nerve ending went on high alert, trying to prepare herself for the next words or next touch.

She allowed her muscles to relax and molded herself to his body as they approached the club. They weren’t coworkers now. They weren’t a team infiltrating a building. For right now, she let herself truly believe the lie.

She was just some random girl off the street and she was with a strong, powerful man she wanted. She allowed herself to feel the heat of his body through the thin material of her dress. She allowed herself to notice the strong muscle of his arm around her waist. She allowed herself to inhale the masculine scent mixed with the clean, crisp smell of the hotel soap.

She was so distracted by the sensory overload that she barely noticed the line they were passing until they stood in front of the bouncer. Melody made sure to project calm and confidence. As though she wasn’t even worried that they wouldn’t be let into the club.

Adam went a step further as he reached into his back pocket with his free hand and let her go for the briefest second before he fished out a wad of cash and, not even trying to be subtle, handed it to the bouncer.

The man didn’t even count the bills before he moved to unhook the rope. Melody gave him a quick smile as Adam once again had his arm around her waist and ushered her inside.

The thumping dance music was immediately overwhelming as they walked in the door. She wanted to pull Adam aside and start to search the place, but he kept walking, leaving her little choice but to follow.

Adam kept going until they reached a little standing table. He stopped and suddenly pulled Melody close. Her back was against the table, the high top hitting the middle of her back, and Adam at her front. One of his legs was between hers and his face was close, his nose brushing her cheek as he said, “There are cameras everywhere.”

It took a second for Melody to find her breath as she realized what he was doing. If their faces were close, it would be hard for the cameras to get a good view of either of them.

She scanned the room, but with the dim lights, it was impossible to tell whether Forbes was there. The Ace of Spades kept with the card theme, and the black, whites, and reds of the club were diluted with the flashing lights on the dance floor.

The clientele of the club was a lot of older or portly men and the girls were all gorgeous. This was a club for rich men; there was no doubt about it. Forbes should stand out considering he was in shape and younger than a lot of these guys by a good ten years.

“Stay here.” Adam started to pull away.

Melody grabbed his wrist and pulled him back against her; this time his entire body went flush with hers and for a brief second, she forgot how to talk. Just as quickly, she regained herself. “We can’t split up.” She’d seen enough horror movies to know what happened when people split up when they knew nothing about what they were facing.