Lucky Streak

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

AMBER’S HEART POUNDED in her chest as King Bobby Boyd looked her over like meat hanging on a rack. She didn’t know if he was going to slice her, dice her or spit her back out.

“Isn’t this a coincidence,” he said in his lazy Texas drawl. “Have yourself a seat.”

Acting unfazed wasn’t easy, but Amber did as he said, easing herself slowly into the booth across from him. “Hey, King Bobby, long time no see.”

He raised an eyebrow, or at least she thought he did. It was tough to see beneath his hat.

“You’ve given me quite a run for my money.”

She forced a casual shrug. “Not really. You just have to know where to look. Obviously you did or you wouldn’t be here now. So, why in the world have you been trying to track down little old me?” Putting on her best Texas accent, she pointed to herself with her thumb.

He let out a hearty laugh. “I like you, Amber Rose, I really do. Or I did, till I realized you’d associate with someone who’d con King Bobby out of his hard-earned cash!”

Amber narrowed her gaze. So he didn’t realize her role in helping Marshall? Or was he trying to trick her into an admission? “What makes you think Marshall didn’t win fair and square?” she asked him.

“Because he ran faster than the Road Runner once that guy at the table pegged you for someone he’d met in L.A.” Propping both elbows on the table, he leaned forward. “I’m many things, little lady, but I ain’t stupid. Once I put all the pieces together, I knew that game stunk to hell ’n’ back.”

Amber swallowed hard, still not willing to concede anything. “You don’t have proof.”

“I got two people who went underground, that’s proof enough for me,” he said, his voice rising, probably along with his blood pressure.

“Calm down before you give yourself a stroke,” Amber said to the red-faced man. “What do you want from me?” she asked him.

“Well, now, that’s more like it. I want your friend Marshall. Or is he your lover and that’s why you’re protectin’ him?”

Ew, Amber thought. “No! He’s not my lover! He’s my-” She was about to say business partner, but caught herself before she admitted too much to King Bobby. He could guess all he wanted, but she refused to give him any ammunition. “He’s my friend and an old friend of my father’s. Anyway, that’s beside the point.”

“Not really. I saw how he looked at you. The man was interested in more than poker.”

Because they’d put on a convincing act for the table, Amber thought. Just not convincing enough or King Bobby wouldn’t be sitting in front of her now, guessing their con all too accurately.

Instead of replying to King Bobby, she remained silent.

“Just tell me where he is. Or better yet, tell me where my money is and we’ll call it even.”

Amber exhaled slowly. She didn’t like Marshall much these days, but she couldn’t turn him over to this man. Besides, as much as she hated to admit it, they were guilty of the same crime when it came to fleecing King Bobby. It didn’t matter that she’d justified her reasons as more moral or altruistic than Marshall’s.

Which was exactly why Mike couldn’t forgive her, she suddenly realized. Nausea swept over her at the painful conclusion.

“I don’t know where Marshall is. Or your money.” Her share of the winnings were in Mike’s bank where they belonged.

King Bobby cleared his throat. “I can make your life pretty uncomfortable, missy. I got friends in places a lady like you knows nothin’ about. But since you’re so dang pretty, I might have to settle on talkin’ things out on your man. Somethin’ tells me that law-enforcement hubby of yours won’t like a public scandal involvin’ his new wife.”

Amber reached for the only weapon she had, the one word of ammunition Mike had supplied her with before leaving town. “No, Mike wouldn’t like a scandal,” Amber agreed. “Anymore than Emmy Lou would like to know about that mistress you’ve been keeping behind her back.”

As she grasped at her only straw, Amber broke into a cold sweat, hoping King Bobby would find himself faced with a quid pro quo-that neither he nor Amber could afford public humiliation.

His already-red face turned the color of beets. “How in the tarnation do you know about that? Nobody knows the King’s personal business!”

Yes! Amber silently applauded. But instead of outwardly reacting, she waited for him to calm down and make the next move. A trickle of sweat ran down her chest, but she ignored it, knowing she was well on her way out of trouble with this man.

“Damn, I knew you were a smart one,” he muttered. “I shoulda just denied it.”

Amber shook her head and tried not to laugh. “Thank you,” she said.

“Just ’cause I can’t touch you, doesn’t mean I can’t still go after Marshall.”

“You’ll have to find him first,” Amber said, not the least bit sarcastically. She meant it.

“Nothin’ stays buried for long,” King Bobby said. “Hey, honey,” he called to the waitress, “get the little lady here a light beer.”

The woman scowled at him, but she headed for the tap.

“I really need to be going,” Amber said.

“Not until we toast our mutual agreement to leave our secrets buried. What do you say?” King Bobby asked with a grin.

It wouldn’t hurt to do as he asked, she figured. Especially if he left town and she’d never have to see him again. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”

“Good. And while we’re at it, we’ll toast to me findin’ my money another way-and you lettin’ me know when you hear from your old boyfriend. Because trust me, he’ll be turning up again one day.”

Amber raised her brow. Now that she’d made peace with King Bobby, she hoped she’d never hear from Marshall again. But King Bobby didn’t need to know that.

As long as The King was happy, Amber was free.

“Bring on the beer,” she said, relieved. A few more minutes and this nightmare would all be over.

No sooner had they clinked glasses and toasted than a loud, throat-clearing noise sounded in her ear. “What the hell is going on here?” Mike’s voice reached a dull roar.

Amber winced, knowing how bad things must look. “Listen, King Bobby and I-”

Ignoring her, Mike glared at the big man in the booth. “If you’ve so much as whispered a threat in her ear, I promise you’ll answer to me.” And if his words weren’t enough to send tremors of fear shooting through the big cowboy, his stance was.

Legs parted, arms folded across his chest, muscles bulged beneath his black T-shirt and his thighs appeared rock solid even encased in denim.

A quick glance at King Bobby told her he wasn’t impressed, but Amber was. She rose from her seat. “Everything’s fine,” she assured him.

His gaze narrowed. “You promised to stay put.”

“Hey, watch how you talk to the little lady,” King Bobby said.

“That’s rich, coming from the man who’s been stalking her across the country. Which ends now, by the way.”

“Um, Mike?” Amber interrupted, wanting to tell him she and King Bobby had resolved their issues.

“I can handle this,” Mike said to Amber. Then he turned to King Bobby, leaned down and stared into the big man’s face. “Listen up. I have enough information on you, your mistress and your little love nest to keep you and your wife tangled up in divorce court for years to come. And something tells me your other associates won’t want to deal with someone who’s caught up in a scandal. People in your circle prefer to keep a low profile. So if you don’t want to keep your sleazy criminal friends and the life you have now, I suggest you leave my little lady alone.”

Amber couldn’t control the squeal that escaped at his use of the word my. Warm chills flooded her, at odds with her earlier realization that Mike couldn’t possibly understand or forgive her for her past. But she was determined not to walk away from him until she’d bared her soul and heard his response.

Just in case.

King Bobby chuckled. “Y’all are really interestin’, that much I’ll tell ya. Detective, you need to chill. Your little lady and I already traveled this road and reached us an agreement. So why don’t you just join us for a beer?”

“No. Thank. You.” Mike clenched his jaw. “You said your business is finished?” he asked.

King Bobby nodded. “Until she hears from her pal Marshall, right, honey?”

“Right.” She crossed her fingers behind her back.

“And where will you be in the meantime?” Mike asked.

“Where the land is as big as the ribs,” King Bobby proclaimed. “I’m gettin’ the hell out of the Northeast as soon as I can.”

“I’m holding you to that,” Mike said.

“King Bobby’s a man of his word,” the other man said loudly.

Mike treated him to a curt nod, while at the same time clamping his hand around Amber’s forearm. Not hard, but not gently, either.

He was furious, Amber knew.

“In that case,” Mike said, “we’re out of here.”

Knowing better than to argue, Amber let Mike lead her out of the diner for what might be their final showdown.

MARSHALL WAS DAMN PROUD, if he did say so himself. Doing an end run around that idiot King Bobby had been a brilliant move. Instead of the King finding Marshall, Marshall had found the King, and the big Texan had done Marshall’s work for him, leading him right to Amber.

His gut burned with acid as he thought about what he’d just seen. Amber and King Bobby, sitting there, drinking beer and shooting the shit. About him? Marshall’s blood fired up at the thought and anger pulsed through him at her betrayal.

There was no other explanation. No other reason why King Bobby would be laughing with Marshall’s ex-partner unless Amber had given the King the information he needed to come after Marshall. If Amber had handed over the names of his close friends and associates, it was only a matter of time before someone slipped up and betrayed him.

He couldn’t remain out of sight forever. King Bobby would find him eventually.

Damn Amber, anyway. She was his partner. His woman. They’d belonged together and now she’d turned on him. And why? For that cop husband of hers she’d known for less than one week. Well, he hadn’t looked happy finding her with King Bobby, either, but she hadn’t protested when the guy put his hands on her and dragged her out of the diner.

Last time Marshall had seen her, Amber Rose had warned him not to touch her ever again. As if he was scum. When he finally got her alone, she’d see the difference between a pansy-ass cop and a real man.

And Marshall would make sure it was a lesson she’d never forget.

NOW THAT MIKE had Amber by his side, he vacillated between being furious at her for leaving the house, and being overcome with relief that King Bobby hadn’t hurt her.

He didn’t say one word on the car ride back to his father’s place. He needed to calm down first and, typical of Amber, she understood his anger and remained silent. Unfortunately, by the time he parked the car in front of the house, his tension and frustration hadn’t eased.

Once inside, he found a note on the entryway table from Clara. He read her neat handwriting with Amber glancing over his shoulder, her fragrant, arousing, now-familiar scent seeping into his pores, magnifying every emotion he felt for her, both good and bad.

He was wired.

Tense.

On edge.

The note stated that Clara and Edward had gone to town, looking for store space and for dinner. The craziness of it all didn’t escape him. Mike couldn’t begin to figure his father out and at the moment, he didn’t care to try. He was solely focused on his wife and the fact that they were alone.

He slowly turned to face her. Her sunglasses were still perched on her delicate nose, her baseball cap askew on her head, and she stared at him intently with those beautiful, knowing eyes.

“Mike-”

“I came home and you weren’t here,” he interrupted her. “No one knew where you’d gone.” He’d never been so bone-chilling scared in his life.

“I know, and I’m sorry.”

“And then I find you breaking bread with the man, forging agreements, making promises-”

She winced at his description. “You have to know that I would never turn Marshall over to King Bobby. I only said that to keep the guy happy. Not that I think I’ll ever hear from Marshall again, but I wouldn’t give him up to King Bobby.” She wrinkled her nose in thought. “Even if he deserves to be taught a lesson. Heaven knows I’ve learned one,” she said quickly.

“Right now, I don’t give a damn about what happens to Marshall.” But he did understand what she was trying to convey. She was attempting to distance herself from her past and the people in it. She wanted him to believe she’d changed, that she understood the error of her past actions and the type of people she’d associated with.

“Amber, do you realize how lucky you are? The man could have killed you. Or worse,” Mike said through clenched teeth.

“What’s worse than killing…me…Oh…” Her voice trailed off and she turned pale, the blood draining from her face.

She suddenly understood all the things that had gone through Mike’s mind when he realized she left his father’s house. Assault, rape, heaven only knew what else. He’d seen a lot in his years on the force.

She swallowed hard. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen. That I took off. I didn’t mean to blatantly go against you, but I was going stark raving mad doing nothing for days on end. I’m a proactive person, Mike. I’ve been taking care of myself for years and I’ve never had anyone to rely on before, nobody else to consider before I acted.”

“If he’d gotten you alone-” This time his blood chilled at the thought.

She reached out and placed a warm hand on his arm. “He didn’t. I knew better. I didn’t even know he was in Stewart until I saw him in the diner window. And then I realized I had a choice. I could keep running…or I could face him and put this mess behind me. I chose a public place where he couldn’t hurt me. I was smart, I swear.”

He ground his teeth so hard his jaw hurt. Pride in her bravery warred with lingering fear for her safety. He couldn’t listen to her rushed rambling for another minute without feeling for himself that she was safe.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her hard against him, covering her lips with his. She melted into him, wrapping her arms around his neck, kissing him back.

Everything next happened in a blur, thanks to the blood rushing through his head-and to other body parts. He devoured her with his mouth, relief that she was home safe firing up his blood along with her eager, hot response.

He pulled her hat off her head and tossed it onto the floor, freeing the long curls from confinement. She yanked her glasses off and then she was back, kissing him again.

Undressing him.

She pulled his shirt up and over his head. Lowered his jeans and briefs around his ankles, leaving him long enough to grab a condom from his wallet, step out of one pant leg, then the other before she plastered herself against him once more. But it wasn’t enough for Mike.

He needed to feel her heat, her warmth. He pulled her T-shirt up for skin-to-skin contact and realized she wasn’t wearing a bra.

He gazed appreciatively at her full breasts and darkened nipples before he yanked her against him with one hand. Flesh against flesh, heat seared him.

His groin pulsed between them, throbbing against her stomach. “Do you feel what you do to me?” he asked gruffly.

She grazed the head of his shaft, liquid coating her fingertips. She grinned. “Yeah, I feel it.” She tipped her head back and met his gaze, wickedness burning in hers. “Now it’s your turn.” Her hands shook as she unbuttoned her jeans and quickly peeled them off along with her lacy underwear.

God, she was gorgeous.

“Feel what you do to me,” she ordered.

He slid one finger into her warm, feminine heat, finding her slick and wet. Ready for him.

He reached behind him and turned the lock on the front door, assuring them nobody would walk in. “You sure you want to do this here and now? Isn’t it disrespectful?” he asked, only partially teasing.

She’d felt that way before and if he took one more step, he wouldn’t be able to stop.

She pushed him against the wall and practically climbed him to get closer. “That was then. Edward was around the house somewhere. This is now. And trust me, if Clara actually managed to get him out, she won’t bring him back for hours.” Amber treated him to a warm, wet, lingering, seductive kiss. “Are you sure you want to keep talking?” she asked.

Everything in him screamed for release. “Talking’s overrated.” He picked her up and carried her to the nearest couch, only to find it too narrow.

Amber laughed, the sound cushioning his heart in warmth. “At this point the floor works,” she said, panting with desire.

He lowered himself onto his back, shielding her from the hard surface. He took care of protection, then held out his hand.

She took it.

Amber lowered herself over him, positioning her thighs over his until her feminine cleft sat poised over him. Her eyes never leaving his, she slid home.

Inch by sweet, delectable inch, she enveloped him in wet heat until he couldn’t think. He thought he groaned out loud, but he couldn’t be sure, so hard was the blood rushing through his head, his ears.

And then she squeezed, contracting her internal muscles, pulling him into her very essence and he couldn’t control the wave of emotion filling his body, his mind, his heart.

If only everything between them was this perfect, Mike thought.

And then she began to move, and rational thought fled with the silky-smooth viselike grip her body had on his. He cupped her breasts in his hands as she rode him, up and down, fast, seeking release. He was damn close himself.

But suddenly he didn’t want it fast. He wanted to savor it and her. In case this was the last time.

Shaking off that thought, he bent his knees slightly, slowing her tempo. Her eyes opened wide and as she met his eyes, she must have read his mind.

Because as he slowly lowered his legs, she eased her rhythm. Changed it slightly. Slid down, milking him hard, then up again, pulling his shaft with her. She came down again, leaning forward as she did so, joining their bodies more firmly, intimately.

A soft sigh escaped her lips. “I like this,” she murmured, rocking against him before sliding up again.

Down, rock forward, back up.

Down, rock forward, back up.

Until her inner walls began to contract on their own, building everything inside him to an intense crescendo. Higher, higher, until she exploded around him, inside him, through him.

She’d taken him on the slowest, sweetest, most heart-stopping ride of his life.

One he’d never ever forget.

WITH THE KING BOBBY threat neutralized, there was no longer any reason for Amber to remain in Stewart. Whether there was a reason for her to stay with Mike remained to be seen. Amber dressed slowly, prolonging the moment and imprinting every second of making love with her husband in her brain and deep in her heart, which already belonged exclusively to him.

She glanced over her shoulder to see him pulling on his jeans in silence. The only sound was the ticking of an old clock and their own heavy breathing.

She knew what she had to do. Amber had been brave once today. She looked at Mike, the long line of his back and his stiff shoulders, and knew she’d have to gather her courage one more time.

Because she wasn’t leaving him without putting it all on the line, without taking the ultimate gamble. She drew a deep breath. “Mike?”

He turned to face her.

“You already know I’m a gambler, right?”

He met her gaze, his expression confused. He was obviously unsure of her point. “Right.”

She stepped up to him and tipped her head back to meet his eyes, to put herself on some kind of even footing. “We met in Vegas and gambled on marriage and the slots, so I guess it’s only fitting I’m standing here now, gambling on you.”

“Amber…”

“No. Don’t interrupt and don’t panic. Just pretend you’re back in Vegas and willing to take a chance.” Her heart squeezed tight in her chest, but she pushed on. “You already know how great we are in bed. Or out of it.” She pointed to the floor where they’d made love and laughed.

He didn’t.

She knew then she didn’t have a prayer. But her father hadn’t raised a quitter. “It isn’t just that we started off strong sexually, though hey, that’s a bonus. And we also like the same TV shows.” She searched his face for a glimmer of emotion, but all she found was the wall she’d come back to in Boston.

“Look,” she continued anyway. “Somewhere between you rescuing me from Marshall the first time and now, we’ve discovered something good. Fun. Something that could be real and lasting if we gave it a chance.” She reached for him, but his stiff posture never changed. She let her hand fall uselessly to her side.

Her heart, which minutes before had been full of hope, seemed to be shriveling into a small ball of nothing. Pain shot through her, but she forced herself to go on.

“Mike, even if we can’t have anything lasting-” Her voice nearly cracked on the words. “Can you at least find it in your heart to forgive me for leaving you in Vegas? Taking the money? Knowing me the way you do now, can we at least part as friends?”

The word nearly killed her. Friendship was the last thing she wanted from him, but it was better than the disgust he’d felt for the woman she’d once been.

He cleared his throat and the pain in his eyes matched the hurt inside her. “Amber, being with you has been-”

She raised her hand in the air, cutting him off, unable to bear hearing more. “Please don’t say anything else.”

“I have to. Because you need to know that I do care about you.” His expression was tight and tortured, his eyes bleak and devastated.

Yet whatever pain she glimpsed inside him didn’t change the fact that he was obviously going to end things. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of the curse. I won’t believe it.” She tried to laugh, but couldn’t.

“Of course not. That’s my father’s job. He’s the one who ran away from life.” Mike glanced away from her.

“And what are you doing, if not running away?” she accused, trying to pull him back.

He shook his head. “It’s not the same. You see how my father is. That’s how he’s been for as long as I can remember.” Mike paused and cleared his throat.

Amber caught the fullness in his voice and didn’t push him further. She had to let him tell her in his own time.

“I couldn’t live with the ups and downs he caused when I was a kid. I hated it. So my mother took me away, making sure I had stability. I need that stability.”

Amber swallowed hard. She’d understood his feelings about Edward, his fears about living with someone whose actions and moods he couldn’t count on from one minute to another. It was the way she’d felt living with her father after his diagnosis.

“I can give you that,” she said softly. “Maybe I haven’t so far, but once things are settled in my life, that’s exactly what I want, too.” She touched his face, turning him toward her. “I lived the same way once. I had a steady job I loved working for the Crown Chandler Hotels and I was great at what I did. I want you to see that part of me!”

“I want that, too, but it can’t work. We’re different, you and I. You said it yourself in Vegas. You need that thrill every once in a while and frankly, I don’t. The ups and downs you bring with you…they’re just not how I want to live.”

Amber’s heart beat hard and a sick feeling settled in her stomach. “I don’t need those kind of ups and down. I was talking about how you make me feel. That’s all the thrill I need.”

“You like unpredictability, you thrive on it. I saw how easily you left me in Vegas. No matter what your reasons were, you jumped first and explained later.”

She pulled in a deep breath and tried to think. He was right. Abandoning him in Vegas and taking his money had ripped the foundation out from under any relationship they might have had. “I would never do that again.”

But she already saw in his bleak expression, her words didn’t matter. Her past actions did.

“You don’t think so now. But you don’t know what the future holds.” He grabbed her hands. “Being with you, though it’s fun and exhilarating, it’s also like a roller-coaster ride.”

She remembered his words in Vegas all too well. “I really don’t like roller coasters. In fact, I hate them.” And hearing them now applied to her was like a punch in the stomach.

She stiffened and turned away. “I get it, Mike. We both know how you feel about roller coasters.” She paused and forced the pain back down her throat before continuing. “It’s too bad though, because we could have had it all.”

Gathering her pride, she turned and headed for the bedroom to pack. “Make sure you call the psychiatrist for your father,” she said before closing herself alone in the room.

She needed to get the hell out of Stewart and let Mike Corwin return to his safe, certain, stable life.

The one without her in it.

KING BOBBY PRIDED himself on being as good as his word. Unless something happened to change the circumstances during which he gave it. He’d been planning on leaving town and heading back to Texas. Yes sirree Bob, he had. He already knew there wasn’t a hotel room available in this town or any surrounding it thanks to the press.

But then, as he was walking on back to his car, the King felt it again. A presence. A distinct feeling of being shadowed.

More than once, he’d turned back around only to find no one behind him, but King Bobby knew something was off. So he wandered for a while, finally ducking out of sight and peering out to see who was there.

Hot damn! Marshall, the lying, cheatin’ SOB!

Unbelievable, King Bobby thought as he weighed his options. He could grab him now, but he had a feeling the coward would scream bloody murder before King Bobby ever found out where his cash was. Or he let him go and turned the tail on the weasel, following Marshall instead.

King Bobby had no idea why Marshall would be following him, but it had to have something to do with the pretty filly in denial about her ex-partner’s feelings.

Between the two, one of them had the King’s cash. All King Bobby had to do was let things play out. Even if it meant going back on his word and spending more time in this rinky-dink town.