The Beautiful Thief (Stolen Hearts #2)(35)

Adam leaned close to her ear. “If Forbes is here every night, he’s going to have a private room. Get a drink. I’m going to find him and then I’ll find you.” Before she could ask how he thought he was going to find Forbes, he reached for her purse. She let him have it as he slipped out a good chunk of the twelve grand. “Don’t do anything stupid.” He pocketed the cash and gave her back her bag.

“Let me go with you.” She didn’t come here to be stuck on the sidelines.

She expected him to give her some excuse, but instead he took her completely by surprise as he leaned in once more and, instead of speaking into her ear like she expected, he captured her mouth with his.

The kiss was so unexpected that Melody just stood there, motionless. No, that wasn’t true. She moved her lips against his, kissing him back. All the noise and lights around them seemed to slip away. The kiss was soft and exploratory. His hand went to the curve of her waist, but he didn’t pull her closer. It just stayed there, a slight sign of possessiveness. Just as quickly as it started, it was over as he pulled away. Melody immediately covered her mouth with her palm, partly to keep her face covered and partly out of pure shock.

Why? She knew they were trying to blend in and keep their faces hidden, but was it necessary?

Who was she kidding? The only reason Adam had kissed her was because he wanted to.





Adam would take the deserts of Afghanistan over a noisy club any day, but being able to work side by side with Melody more than made up for the migraine-inducing noise and the drunk people surrounding him.

The kiss was like a spark of energy had been injected directly into his bloodstream. It had been a stupid move. She’d been cornered. It wasn’t as if she could slap him in the middle of the club and yell at him for being a jerk.

But she’d kissed him back.

At first, she hadn’t seemed to know she was doing it, but soon enough she had been responsive enough to make him wish he didn’t have to stop.

It was stupid to kiss her here and now, but at the time it had seemed like a good idea. She was a bundle of nervous energy and that energy needed an outlet before it got them into trouble. The energy charging him at the moment was a different kind. It was as if he were back overseas again, walking into a dark, empty building. There could be nothing; there could be a guy with a fully automatic weapon just waiting to try to see how many extra holes he could put in Adam.

But he didn’t have nerves. You didn’t walk into as many stupid-as-hell situations as Adam had with stage fright. But he did have the adrenaline that came before a job. The adrenaline that would keep him alive. The adrenaline that could have him jump out of the path of a speeding bullet just in time and the adrenaline that could have him draw his weapon first.

So before he walked off into the unknown, he’d used that adrenaline to give him the strength to kiss her. Because if he died right now, that might be his only regret.

Now that he knew she would kiss him back, it seemed stupid to corner himself time-wise like this.

He made his way to the edge of the club. He didn’t like leaving Mel alone, but it would be smoother without a plus one. He needed to find Forbes. The guy came here every night, so Adam suspected he was in a private back room, which he wasn’t getting access to unless he convinced someone to let him back. And that required finesse and money.

If it were quieter, he’d be more than happy to have Mel work her charm on any poor sap. But the music had a way of creeping up on someone who wasn’t expecting it. It gave you a false sense of security, and less experienced people would drop their guard. Thing was, the music might hide any time a lie caused a tremor in your voice, but it wouldn’t hide any fear in the eyes.

Adam had a lot of faith in Melody, but he’d promised to deliver her Forbes. So if he wanted to make sure he did that as quickly as possible, he was going to have to leave her alone for just a minute.

There seemed to be a few different hallways that led toward any number of back rooms. He’d have to take a guess. There were cameras everywhere, but he’d have to expose himself if he wanted to find Forbes. He could hope that Forbes wasn’t in charge of monitoring the feed. Theoretically the guy was here for fun, not to work, so it was a good chance.

As he approached the closest hallway, the bouncer moved to block his path. “This way’s closed,” said the guy in a deep voice that rumbled almost as much as the pounding bass.

“I need to talk to someone who can let me in,” said Adam, letting the calm confidence in his voice speak for him.

“This way’s closed,” said the man again.

Well, it was time to take out the magic key. He reached into his back pocket and took out a large chunk of cash. “Want to tell me when it opens?”





Melody stirred the drink she didn’t even want. But it was a good reason to look down and avoid cameras as she waited for Adam to come back. She’d tried to follow his progression through the club, but with the lights and the increasingly packed crowd, it was hard. She’d think that with the line outside and the supposedly rich clientele that the club wouldn’t be so packed, but this was probably part of its success.

The packed space projected success and people gravitated toward that success. She stirred her drink more before bringing it to her lips, but didn’t take a drink, setting it back on the table right after the ice barely touched her lips.