The Cocky Thief (Stolen Hearts #1)(28)

On that note, Jennifer looked at her phone once more. No calls. She wanted to call, but with the boarding time approaching, Stranger’s guys might start wandering around the airport, looking for her. Austin had pointed out three, but there were probably more than that. She’d have to wait until they were leaving the airport before she could take the time to let her guard down long enough to make a call.

“Where are you parked?” she asked.

“Fourth floor. You didn’t check any baggage, did you?”

“I didn’t exactly have time to grab my luggage before we left. All I have is this,” she said as she raised her shoulders to emphasize the backpack she was wearing.

“Good. I like a woman who can travel light.”

“Thank God I have your approval,” she said sarcastically.

Austin looked as tired as she felt. He wore what looked like the same shirt and pants from last night, but the jacket was gone. The button-down shirt was no longer tucked and the sleeves were unbuttoned and rolled up, revealing strong forearms with a slight dotting of dark hair.

Just one more strange thing that her brain kept jumping to. There was nothing worse than knowing she needed to be focused but her mind wouldn’t agree. They made it out of the airport and to the parking garage without any incident. Maybe it was a sign of how cocky the team had been, thinking they knew exactly what flight she was going to be on. She followed Austin out to his car, which was a big black SUV squeezed into the small airport spaces.

As soon as they were seated, she called Isobel and Mel, but neither answered. “You said someone was going to get my mom. Is he going to scare her off?” Because if some stranger introduced himself to Isobel out of nowhere while they were escaping a successful con, chances were that she wasn’t going to react well.

“No answer?” Austin turned onto the freeway.

“No.” She sighed.

“Can I see the phone? Maybe I’ll have luck.”

She frowned as she handed the phone over. “Why would you have better luck than me?”

“Because this.” Austin rolled down his window and before she could stop him, he threw the phone out the window, where it was immediately run over by the car behind them.

“What the hell?” she screamed as she twisted in her seat to see the shattered remains of the phone become smaller and smaller.

“If Ajax had your number, that means Stranger has it. If I’m going to rescue you, I’m going to do it right.”

“I need to be here if my family calls me.”

Austin handed her an older model flip phone. “Here’s a GPS disabled phone. Number is on the back. Call them from here and leave a message. We’re dumping that phone in twenty-four hours, so they better call you fast.”

They better call her a whole lot faster than the next twenty-four hours. Jennifer messaged her new temporary phone number to her family and then stared at the phone, willing it to ring.

“Would you relax? You’re giving me a headache just looking at you.”

“I’m so sorry I’m inconveniencing you.” She ran a hand through her messy hair before she grabbed a hair tie from her bag and pulled her hair up and into a ponytail. “What’s the plan? Help us just long enough to get the Dragon Heart for yourself?”

“You really don’t trust me, do you?”

“When there’s this much money on the table, you can’t trust anyone. You’re a thief. You should know that.”

“Playing the victim card again? I hate to break it to you but you’re a thief too.”

“I didn’t lie to you.”

“Says the woman who walked away with my necklace.”

“I didn’t know!” she snapped. “Isobel didn’t tell Mel or me about what she was planning, okay? When I met you, I was just a girl going to her mother’s wedding. Everything that happened in that limo was honest. An honest mistake,” she added for good measure.

“So you were just into me?”

“I swear, if you turn this into a flatter fest for you, I’m going to make you drop me off right here. Besides, you lied to me about your job, your name, and your purpose for going to Stranger’s wedding. Why exactly did you get in that limo?”

Austin was quiet for a moment and she thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then he finally said, “I got into the limo because I knew if I arrived at the vineyard with you, I would appear more trustworthy to strangers. But what happened inside the limo was because I wanted it.”

A rush of heat went to her cheeks. Damn it, she shouldn’t care if he’d really wanted her, but she’d wanted what had happened to be real so badly. Because normally her gut instinct about someone was her most reliable asset. If she couldn’t count on that, she couldn’t count on anything.

The phone in her lap started to ring and even though she was waiting for a call, she jumped at the unexpected noise that cut through the tense silence. Her mother would be so disappointed.

Jennifer didn’t recognize the number but answered anyway. “Yes?”

“Who is this?” asked the masculine voice on the other end.

“Jennifer,” she said as Austin reached over and took the phone from her hand.

“Hart? What’s going on? Okay, sounds good. I’ll meet you there.”