Sleight Of Hand Read Free Page B

the
years. Where else had the money come from to send her to all those
expensive schools? So, she ignored the disquieting thought that
Chance knew more than he was telling her and rushed up here in her
usual heedless fashion.
    Moping around this empty cabin wasn't the way
to find her father. She grabbed her hat, spun away from the mirror
and checked her watch. Chance had been gone for a while. He'd
probably questioned half the town by now. Ignoring her unpacked
suitcase, she pulled her old Nikon out of its bag and rushed into
the empty living room.
    With her camera and wool hat down in hand,
she stared at the fleece-lined rawhide jacket hanging in the
closet. What had she been thinking to let that sporting goods clerk
talk into buying the heavy, oversized jacket and those stupid
boots? Chance must think she was an idiot. Not that it mattered
what he thought.
    She pulled on the jacket, tucked her braid
inside her collar and slipped on a pair of heavy framed glasses. A
smug smile looked out from the mirror beside the door.
    Big city, my ass.
    She'd ignore the honeymoon tale Chance had
fabricated and stick to her original plan of telling people she was
a photographer. Besides, she hung her camera around her neck, she
never went anywhere without her old camera.
    As she reached for the doorknob, the door
swung open and Chance stepped inside. He brushed snow flakes from
his long eyelashes. His eyes narrowed as he blinked.
    "What have you done with your hair?"
    Not certain if she was pleased with his surly
reaction, she took her time drawing on her gloves before answering
him. "You're the one who said I looked too Big City."
    "You look...." He snapped his mouth shut
before she could find out what he thought she looked like.
    "The restaurant's open. Let's go." He held
the door open.
    She marched past him. "I suppose you've been
down there already asking about my father."
    Before she could set a foot outside, he
pulled her back and slammed the door shut. His eyes reminded her of
the ocean at the onset of a storm.
    "This isn't going to work. First of all, you
can get rid of those ridiculous glasses. Your father told me how
you hide behind the useless things." He plucked her glasses off her
nose and threw them on top of her hat and scarf on the table. "And
don't wear that stupid hat." He pointed a finger at it. "It's not
that cold out."
    She edged away from him, her alarmed
heartbeat sending heat into her face.
    "Come on Sarah, don't look at me like
that."
    "Like what?" she croaked.
    "Like I'm going to eat you for supper."
    Dragging her gaze away from the sparkle in
his eyes, she reached to adjust her glasses. Her fingers met empty
air, so she wound her fingers around her camera instead. "Can we go
now?"
    "Not yet." Dimples creased his cheeks as a
slow, sexy smile spread over his face. "We're supposed to be on our
honeymoon. Maybe it's time we started acting like it." He reached
out and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
    This man, he's not.... Her breathless
thoughts stumbled as he ran the pad of his thumb over her bottom
lip. A warning signal blipped at the back of her mind, but the heat
from his body as he moved closer drowned it out. She couldn't pull
her gaze away from his as he lowered his head. Just before he
touched his mouth to hers, she caught a faint shift in his
expression.
    The complacent rat! She jerked her head back
and ducked under his arm, her body vibrating with outrage. Did he
really think she'd fall into his arms because he smiled at her?
Okay, she took a deep breath, she'd come close, but all that meant
was she had to be on her guard.
    No kidding.
    "Don't ever try that again."
    Now what was he up to? He still smiled as he
turned to face her, not the same seductive curving of his lips, but
a grin, open and honest. If she could use a word like honest to
describe him.
    "It was worth a try."
    A lock of black hair fell over his forehead,
and his eyes flashed with inner amusement. She automatically
reached for her