And she’d been alone for most of her life.
Her cell phone rang suddenly, distracting her from what could have been a very risky thought process. She grabbed her BlackBerry from the counter by the coffee machine.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Lex.”
At the sound of Coop’s voice, her stomach fluttered with a warm, fuzzy alien feeling. “Hey, yourself.”
“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked.
The vague memory of him leaning over her and removing her glasses flitted through her mind. “How long did you stay?”
“Long enough to watch you sleep,” he said, his voice gruff.
“Oh.” Swirling pools of desire circled inside her. “Sorry I wasn’t good company.”
“Says who?” He chuckled. “I like listening to you snore.”
“Hey! I don’t snore!”
“I say you do and it’s pretty darn cute, if you ask me.”
She smiled and hoped he was doing the same. “We need to talk some more.” About her grandmother and the jewels.
“I know. Unfortunately, I have to work. A meeting I can’t cancel. How about dinner tonight?”
She wouldn’t mind having the day to work on her designs. Maybe she and Claudia could have an impromptu get-together as well. “Sure. Dinner sounds good.”
“Great. How’s our favorite almost octogenarian this morning?”
Lexie sighed. “I wish I knew. She was gone by the time I woke up. No note, either.”
“Think she’s avoiding you?”
“That’s exactly what I think. She’s afraid I’ll ask more questions about how she really got the necklace.”
Coop cleared his throat. “We need a plan.”
Lexie nodded. “I agree. We can figure it out over dinner.”
“My place?” he asked.
She remembered what happened the last time they had dinner at his apartment. So did her body, and a tingling arousal settled between her legs. She squeezed her thighs together to stop the sensation, but that only served to heighten the feeling.
“Lexie?”
“Your place sounds perfect,” she murmured. Private, too. She doubted she’d survive the day anticipating what was to come.
“See you later, sweetheart.”
Sweetheart. At the endearment, her mouth ran dry. “Later,” she said, the words barely audible before he hung up.
She dragged a deep breath into her lungs. She had a long day ahead of her and wouldn’t be productive if all she thought about were his rich voice and sexy hands. Nope. She needed to work if she wanted those hours to pass quickly.
He was right. They needed a plan. But what would it be? Confront Charlotte and risk upsetting her? Or let it go, in which case the mystery would remain unanswered forever. The latter was unacceptable to Lexie, and there was no doubt in her mind that Coop would never agree to just pretend an unsolved jewel theft had never happened.
And if their digging confirmed her grandmother’s guilt? Lexie closed her eyes, knowing in her heart that Coop the reporter couldn’t possibly bury such a story. Right now they shared a mutual interest. Dig up the story, uncover the truth, figure out what had happened in the past. Afterwards? That mutual interest would be torn in two.
Clearly, the end was near. Sooner than she had hoped. In which case she had to make the most of the time that remained, which meant that when she saw him tonight, seduction first, discussion later.
CHARLOTTE AND SYLVIA, scarves covering their red hair and Jackie O sunglasses perched on their noses, stood across the street from the Vintage Jewelers and waited for their prey. They’d already walked in and talked to Ricky’s daughter. She’d told them that her father had gone fishing and hopefully would be back soon.
Ricky had never been a man who liked to get his hands dirty, and the story seemed suspicious. So they’d agreed to case the joint until he returned. On the off chance that, like them, he knew there might be trouble and was playing it safe. He might show up on off hours and try to sneak in without being noticed. They didn’t call him a snake for no reason.
History had given him that name.
While watching for the man, Charlotte couldn’t help but reminisce about how they’d come to this point. She and Sylvia had grown up together in the same poor Bronx neighborhood. Neither woman wanted to follow the traditional route of marriage and family in an era when that was the norm, which left them with no real means of support. They both took odd jobs to make ends meet, serving in local eateries, and yes, occasionally reverting to thievery so they wouldn’t starve.
Who knew ancient history could come back to bite Charlotte in the butt this late in life?
Sylvia had met Ricky on a blind date when he was working part-time at a jewelry store. Later, he’d hired her and eventually he’d gotten the idea to rob from the rich to give to the poor—Ricky being the poor one. He must have sensed a kinship with Sylvia because he’d tapped her as his sidekick and she’d brought Charlotte along for the ride. Sylvia had always been in love with Ricky, but as soon as he’d laid eyes on Charlotte, he’d started viewing Sylvia as more of a friend. The unrequited-love business had always made for a risky partnership and friendship between the three, but somehow they’d made it work.
Until that fateful night when Charlotte had caught the two of them in bed. She’d stopped speaking to them both. A short time later, fate interceded in the form of her beloved Henry. She’d waited on his table and he’d asked her on a date. Being around him made her feel alive and happy, and Charlotte decided the time had come to live a normal life. She hadn’t been able to conceive a child right away. Then came the draft and the Korean War.
Charlotte had been so bored and lonely that when Ricky showed up on her doorstep, begging her to go along for one last heist, she’d agreed. Along with Sylvia, whom he’d also found, they’d hit the Lancaster house. A place that Charlotte knew from her husband’s days as their part-time chauffeur. That part of the story she’d told Lexie had been real.
“I still don’t see how such a low-down snake could have such a sweet, beautiful child,” Sylvia said, pulling Charlotte’s mind from the past.
She glanced up to see Anna step out of the store, probably for lunch. She’d had another young salesgirl with her and she was probably watching the shop.
“You didn’t think he was a snake when you jumped into bed with him.” Her mind had obviously still been in the past when the words slipped out, despite their agreement never to discuss their romantic history with Ricky again.