Sealed With A Kiss. Kristin Hardy

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      3

      “YOU’RE KIDDING.” Gwen stared at Joss across the table at Rose Pistola that night, while the waiters bustled back and forth behind them. “You’ve promised to go to Stockholm and sleep with some guy you don’t know from Adam?”

      Gwen didn’t sound nearly as horrified as she once would have, Joss reflected. Vegas had certainly changed her. “It’s no worse than a one-night stand, which you’ve had recently yourself. Besides, I sort of know him from Adam. He comes with references anyway.”

      “How about blood tests? This is pretty out there even for you, Joss.”

      Joss forked up a bite of salad. “Why? The guy is sexy as hell. Why shouldn’t I have a fling with him? You and Del just did out in Vegas.”

      “That was different.”

      “How? You might be serious about each other now, but it wasn’t that way at the beginning. Look, we’ll get the job done and have a good time while we’re at it. Besides, you know the saying—if you’ve got ’em by the ’nads, their hearts and minds will follow.”

      “Ah. So, you’re going to sexually enslave him and have your way with him, is that the plan?”

      Joss considered. “It has its advantages.” She leaned forward and the humor vanished. “The guy’s good, Gwen, and we need someone good for this job.”

      Gwen looked at her, lips twitching. “Just don’t bonk his brains out so much that he can’t do any detecting.”

      “I sincerely doubt that’ll happen, although you never know.” Joss thought of the hard swell of his shoulders under her fingers. “If he was that good with his tongue when he was kissing, who knows what else he’ll be good at.”

      Now Gwen did grin. “You’re so bad.”

      “Oh, come on. Tell me the thought hasn’t gone through your head when you’ve first kissed a guy.”

      “So, what’s he like?” Gwen asked, ignoring her.

      Joss considered. “Confident,” she said finally. “Maybe a little bit of a control freak. Hot, though, really hot. He’s serious but he’s got this wonderful, strong face and you just know if he’d let loose, he’d be…” She thought of the way he’d looked after they kissed. “I got to him at the end, I could see it in his eyes.”

      “Watch out that you’re not the one who becomes enslaved.” Gwen pulled some bread out of the basket on the table.

      “He’s a guy. They’re pretty easy to manage,” Joss said carelessly, giving the busboy such a brilliant smile he accidentally overfilled her glass, slopping water on the tablecloth. “I’m not worried about it.”

      “So you fly to Stockholm together and then what? I mean, you can’t just wander around asking everyone you meet questions.”

      “You said you knew this Silverhielm guy has the stamps.”

      “I said I thought he had the stamps. Not the same thing as knowing.”

      “Well, I hope you’re pretty certain, because I’ve got a plan for getting in good with Silverhielm. It means taking a risk, though.”

      “How do you mean?”

      Joss hesitated. “I need to take the Blue Mauritius.”

      “You’re out of your mind.” Gwen’s reply was immediate. “That stamp is in the bank vault where it belongs, and that is where it’s going to stay.”

      “We’ve got to have it to smoke out Silverhielm,” Joss argued and outlined the plan, leaving out the fact that Bax had had doubts.

      “It’s too risky,” Gwen almost wailed. “Do you know what it would do to the value of that stamp if it got so much as creased? Let alone wet or torn. It wouldn’t even be worth the price of a replica. We can’t take that chance.”

      “We have to,” Joss told her. “It’s the only angle I can think of. Don’t you want the one-penny Mauritius back?” she coaxed.

      Gwen pressed her face into her hands. “I can’t believe I’m even considering this. You swear you’ll be incredibly careful with it?” she demanded, raising her head.

      “I swear.”

      “And you’ll put it in a bank vault over there until you need it?”

      “Don’t worry about it, Gwen.”

      “Oh, like that makes me feel better. You need to take this seriously, Joss.”

      “I do take it seriously. Haven’t I been different since I came back this time? Haven’t I?” she demanded.

      Gwen nodded grudgingly. “You’ve done a good job at the store. Frankly, I expected you to be gone a long time ago.”

      “I’ve changed, Gwen, I really have. Letting Jerry steal the stamps was a screwup by the old me. I need to make it better. Anyway, we’ve got Bax on the case, remember? He knows what he’s doing.”

      “And what is he doing so far to earn his exorbitant fee?”

      Joss СКАЧАТЬ