The Cocky Thief (Stolen Hearts #1)(42)

Everyone was silent and most of the attention was on Weston. Austin was more than ready to trust Hart, but if Weston walked, he didn’t know whether they had much of a team. Toni and Scott would be the only faces Stranger didn’t know.

“You might be a cop, but you’re crazy,” said Weston finally. “I can respect crazy.”

“That makes no sense, but I guess that means we’re good.”

“I have one question, Boy Scout.” Toni narrowed her eyes at Hart. “In this plan, you haven’t mentioned Sterling once. Isn’t he your true target?”

A flash of...something came over him, but Hart cleared it just as fast. “Sterling will get his eventually. But I know from experience, Sterling is a hard target to get to. If we want our plan to succeed, we have to have one goal and one goal only: get Melody safe from Greg Stranger.”

And in that moment, he realized something he probably should’ve picked up on much earlier in this operation. Scott Hart might be a son of a bitch, but he was probably the most selfless person Austin had ever met.

Somehow that made him more annoying.





Jennifer slid her dress on and smoothed it over her stomach. She’d done this thousands of times before, but this time felt different. There was always a chance of things going wrong, but tonight was more serious. It was the first time in a long time she actually believed she might die.

“If you were robbing me, I’d give you anything you wanted,” said Austin from behind her.

She smiled at the unexpectedness of his charm. Not that it was surprising for him. Austin was always charming, a constant that she desperately needed right now. “Make yourself useful and zip me.” She put her back to him.

They had spent half the day prepping for the night. Everyone had split up to take care of what they needed on their own ends. She’d gotten the number-one tool for herself—a dress—and some of the basic items that could get her through a lock and keypad—some AUX and USB cords and a jailbroken phone that she could use to get through basic keypads.

Isobel had gone on a makeup run and Jennifer had hit her up for some of those necessities.

“I don’t know if I should be impressed that you found a dress that perfect for your body or just admit that you’d look amazing in whatever you wear.”

She gave him a half-smile as she studied him through the mirror. “I don’t remember the last time I wore anything red. Normally I try to blend in.” This dress was going to guarantee Stranger saw her. If his eyes were on her, that would give Weston a chance to get to Melody and Isobel a chance to get to Stranger’s office.

The body-contouring dress was skintight. The only thing that made it manageable was ironically the fact that it was so short. At least her legs could move. The dress would look better if her hair was down, but she didn’t want to hide her face. Instead, she’d twisted the long, dark strands into a French knot and curled a few of the loose strands to frame her face.

He pulled the zipper up and seemed to move closer to her every second. “I think red looks great on you,” he said softly, his breath brushing against her ear.

“Stop that,” she murmured.

“Stop what?” he asked, knowing full well what he was doing.

“Stop making me want you to move that zipper back down.”

He turned her in his arms. “This much charm can’t just be turned off.” He looked down at her.

“I don’t know what’s worse—the fact that you’re so cocky or the fact that you’re right about it half the time.”

“It’s one of the things you love about me.”

Love? He seemed to realize what he said at the same time she did but when she started to take a step back he held her tighter. “It didn’t mean anything,” he said even as he bent in closer and pressed his forehead against hers.

She let her eyes drift closed and savored the feel of his body so close to hers. Love was such a strong word, especially combined with all the other emotions she'd been fighting this week. Excitement, terror, anger, lust....

But it wasn't like Austin was some random guy she was using to get off with. That was the plan but it was so far from what was happening. He felt so good right now not just because he was warm and strong. But she knew it was Austin holding her. It was Austin who was offering support.

Maybe not love, but it was something.

So when his lips touched hers, she didn't think about the lipstick she was going to have to retouch or the hair that was falling out of place as he touched her neck.

The kiss started slow. Austin's mouth moved insistently over hers, coaxing and taking everything she was willing to give. But soon it turned into something more. He coaxed and lured, promising her pleasure and bliss without saying a word. Promising that for these last few minutes before they faced Stranger and put their lives on the line, they could at least have this pleasure.

He angled the kiss and her tongue teased the seam of his lips as his hands traveled over her sides, gently running along the sides of her breasts and dip of her waist. One palm slipped inside the hem of her red dress and skimmed up the sensitive skin of her inner thigh and found the edge of her panty line. And then he'd slipped under the soft material and right to the bundle of sensitivity that had her jumping in his arms. “Damn it, Austin,” she muttered against his lips.