MEL DIDN’T USUALLY find herself tongue-tied, but even she would be the first to admit that this wasn’t the usual situation. Far from usual, it was instead both supremely fortuitous and supremely awkward. Awkward because she’d told herself that she really shouldn’t see Kyle Radley again. Fortuitous because she’d been dying to do that very thing. No matter how much she wanted to deny it, she’d wanted to wrap herself in his arms just one more time.
And now here he was. Looking fabulous…and sexy…and, dear Lord, she was in trouble now.
She cleared her throat, trying for casual. “I, um, understand you have a job opening.”
His eyes never left hers. “You’re a hard woman to locate, Gracie Melissa Tanner.”
“Yes, well, I—” She blinked, then stumbled over her own thoughts. “You were looking for me?” The knowledge sent a little trill of pleasure shooting down her spine and she stood up straighter.
“As a matter of fact, I was.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think?”
The heat in his eyes gave the answer away, and she felt her cheeks burn. “Oh.” She licked her lips. “Kyle, we can’t…I mean, I can’t…” Getting involved with this man would be a bad idea. She needed to keep reminding herself of that.
She lifted her chin, steeling her heart at the same time. “I need a job. That’s why I’m here.”
“A job. Right.” He held up a finger. “Excuse me a second.”
Mel watched, baffled, as he disappeared into the back room, then came out moments later with a woman at his side. He showed her to the door, promised to be in touch and then closed the door after her.
When he turned back to her, Mel raised an eyebrow. “My competition?”
“I’ve got a lot of interviews lined up today,” he said, which only partly answered the question.
“I see.” Mel crossed her arms over her chest, her pleasure at seeing Kyle dissipating as she remembered why she was there. A job. Property taxes. Food. All her other expenses and plans.
She wasn’t a shoo-in no matter how much she wanted to be. For that matter, considering he knew her deep dark little secret, she wondered if maybe she shouldn’t leave right then.
No. This was the best lead on a job she had, and she wasn’t going to blow it.
Determined, she slid her résumé out of her thin leather briefcase, crossed to the receptionist desk, and dropped it onto the desk blotter. “I can type over a hundred words a minute, and I’m proficient in Excel, Word, Access…” She counted the programs off on her fingers. “Pretty much you name it. But I don’t do dictation.” She smiled at him, all bright and cheery. “Not really my thing.” Of course, the truth was that none of it was her thing. But she was determined to get a job and to like it. “Well?” she prodded.
He didn’t say anything, just leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest.
Fine. He needed a little convincing. No problem.
She took a seat in the receptionist’s chair, arranged her résumé neatly on the desk, then took two pens out of her purse and sat them alongside it. She picked up the phone, frowned at the odd configuration of buttons, then shook her head at him. “You really ought to upgrade. This system is ancient.”
“I’ll get right on that.”
“Good.” She clasped her hands on the desk in front of her, church-and-steeple style. “Look, just hire me, okay? I know what I’m doing. You won’t be disappointed.” She felt a little pathetic begging for the job, but she was out of options. Unless she wanted Gramps and her out on the street, she was either going to convince Kyle to put her on the payroll or she was going to have to revert to her old career.
And that was something she’d promised herself she’d never do.
She was just gearing up for another round of pleading, when the front door opened and a tall, lanky man with fiery red hair and a smattering of freckles across his nose stepped into the room. He held a Taco Bell bag in one hand and looked much more like he belonged in a cornfield than an office.
“I thought you were working at home,” Kyle said.
The man nodded. “Yeah, but I had to grab some stuff.”
Kyle turned his attention back toward her, then nodded briefly in the other man’s direction. “My partner, Brent.” He gestured between the two of them. “Brent, Melissa. Known to her friends as Grace.”
Considering the way Brent started to chuckle, she could only assume he’d heard their story.
He held out a hand, a broad grin stretched across his face. “Great to meet you, Melissa. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
She shot a wry glance toward Kyle. “Yeah. I imagine you have.”
“So where’d you two meet, anyway? And you actually got him to go out of his way to change a tire? I’m impressed. I didn’t think he was that chivalrous.”
Where did they meet? She turned her attention back to Kyle. So he hadn’t told his friend she was a thief. Interesting.
She turned back to Brent, her smile wide. “Actually, Brent, he is that chivalrous. In fact, he was just about to save me once again by offering me a job.”
Kyle glared, but she only smiled sweetly.
“Yeah?” Brent said. “Well, if he’s going to insist we waste money on an assistant, then I guess a little eye candy is a good thing.”
Kyle rubbed his temples. “Sorry,” he said to her. “My partner is not the chivalrous type.”
“Oh, come on,” Brent said. “She knows I’m just kidding.” He flashed a charming grin in Mel’s direction. “Or maybe not. You really are one hell of a looker.”
Mel blinked, not at all sure how to respond to that. “Um, thanks. I think.”
Kyle just shook his head. “Go,” he said. “Get your stuff and get out of here. I’m in the middle of an interview.”
“I thought you’d already hired her,” Brent said as he walked into one of the back offices.
Kyle’s eyes never left hers as he answered. “Yeah, well, that remains to be seen.”
Brent came back out holding a stack of file folders, a leather laptop case slung over one shoulder. “Well, I trust you to work it out. Melissa, Grace, whatever you go by, it was nice to meet you.”
Brent was halfway out the door before she managed to say, “You, too. He’s…interesting,” she said to Kyle.
“He’s brilliant,” Kyle said. “And I’ve known him forever. He takes some getting used to, but I couldn’t have built this business without him.”
“Speaking of…” She licked her lips.
He shook his head, and her heart sank. “Sorry, Melissa. I can’t do it.”
“So much for chivalry,” she mumbled.
He ran his fingers through his hair, then took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. I can’t do it. I don’t have a job for you.”
She gestured around the room. “Typing. Filing. Phones.” She leaned back in the chair and looked up at him. “I dunno. Sounds like a job to me.”
“This is a security company. How would it look if I had a thief doing my filing?”
Mel flinched. There it was. The tone. The accusations. She’d never escape her past with people who knew her past. Hell, she should know better than to try. She should have turned around and run out the door the second she’d realized who he was.
She hadn’t, though, because this was the only job on the horizon. And, damn it all, she still needed it. She drew in a breath, determined to convince him. “No one knows I’m a thief,” she finally said.
“I do,” he said.
“Yes, but you also know I’m retired. I told you so. And besides, if you’re the only one who knows—”
“Can’t do it. This company means too much to me. I can’t risk the scandal.”
“Kyle, come on. I don’t see how—”
“Since I’m the one doing the hiring, it really doesn’t matter how you see it. Does it?” He stared at her for a moment and then got up and moved back around the desk to the guest chair. The oak desk between them was only about two feet wide, but to Mel it seemed like an infinite chasm.
“I can’t hire you for the assistant job, Melissa. I’m sorry.”
“Call me Mel.” She drew in a deep breath. “I…I should probably go now.” She stood up, gathering her things off the desk.
“Can I help?”
She tried not to sound bitchy when she answered. “Apparently not.”
He frowned. “I could keep my eyes open for other jobs—”
“Believe me, I’ve been through the gamut.” She patted her jacket pocket, checking for her car keys. “I’ll be fine. I’m not your problem.”
“Do you need a loan?”
Her temper flared. “No, I don’t need a loan. I need a job. And I need it fast because frankly I’m all out of money and it’s just—” She clamped her mouth shut, then squeezed her eyes closed. Damn it. She hadn’t intended to do that in front of him.
She took a deep breath. Then another. When she felt calm enough, she headed for the door again. “Listen, thanks. I understand. I really do. No hard feelings, okay?” She pulled open the door and started to step outside.
“Wait!”
She stopped, turning to look back over her shoulder.
“I’m sorry about this. I really am. But it’s just business. And I’d really like to see you again. Do you think we could do that?”
Every fiber in her body screamed yes, yes, yes. But her head and her mouth knew better, and instead of throwing herself into his arms, she simply shook her head. “No, Kyle. I…I don’t think that would be a very good idea.”
“You’d stay for the job.” There was a note of accusation in his voice.
She met his eyes dead on. “Yes. I would.”
His sigh sounded almost painful. “I’d like to help you. I really would. Against every bit of better judgment I’d actually like to give you a job. Hell, gainful employment would probably be a good thing.” He flashed a teasing grin. “After all, I used to be a cop. I’m all for rehabilitation as a preventative for recidivism—”
Mel glared.
“—but the bottom line is that I have to protect my bottom line. My company is on shaky enough ground right now. I can’t afford to have a thief working here. If word got around…” He let the words trail off, looking thoughtful.
She frowned. “Kyle?”
He held up a finger in a very Harrison Ford sort of gesture. Then he looked up, a huge smile crossing his face. “Sweetheart, I think I might have the answer to both our problems.”
* * *
KYLE WANTED HER to say yes more than he probably should. And not because he could use her help clearing up the Driskell mess—though that was how he planned to convince her to stay—but simply because he wanted Melissa beside him.
“What?” She was looking at him with wide eyes, full of anticipation.
“Do you know anything about my company?”
Her brow furrowed. “Integrated Security Systems. One of the leading home security companies in Orange County. Owners Kyle Radley and Brent Connors. Sponsors a Little League team.”
“Betsy fax you a cheat sheet?”
“Um, no, actually.” She pointed to the Appreciation Award the company had received from the Little League organization. “I saw that on the wall. The rest I just assumed.”
“So you don’t know about our current crisis.”
Her brow crinkled, and she shook her head just slightly.
He took some small comfort in the fact that his company’s travails hadn’t permeated the local news. “Well, the company’s on shaky ground.” He gave her the rundown, describing the Driskell break-in and his unsuccessful efforts to figure out the weakness in the system.
“I had no idea,” she said with some surprise. “I haven’t heard anything about it.”
“And you’d know, I suppose.”
She shrugged. “It’s a small world.”
He sighed. “Any idea about who it could be?”
She shook her head. “No. Doesn’t sound local at all. Donovan’s in jail. Carlysle died last year. And the new guys aren’t any good. They’ll just get caught in a year or so.”
He stared at her, part amazed and part impressed. “You really know your stuff, don’t you?”
For a second he didn’t think she’d answer. Then she shrugged. “Yes, I do.”
“Good, then you can test it for me,” he said.
The confusion lingered, and then her eyes widened, lit with an emotion he’d felt many times or seen on Brent’s face during a late-night session to fine-tune a system. Excitement. And the thrill of a challenge.
But as soon as he’d identified the look, it faded, her expression turning bland and unreadable. She shook her head, the small movement almost imperceptible. “I’m not a thief.”
“I’m not looking for a thief. I’m looking for someone who can act like a thief and think like a thief. It’s a temporary position,” he added. “Just until I figure this mess out. But I promise it pays well.”
She licked her lips, and he could practically see the wheels turning in her head. “You said you couldn’t hire me.”
“Not as an office assistant. But there’s nothing underhanded about hiring a thief—sorry, a retired thief—as a thief. Everything will be completely aboveboard. Honest. Open.”
“So you want to hire me to break into the Driskell place once you install the upgraded system?”
“To try to break in. And more, actually. I need your skills to assess the system that’s already in place. Help me figure out the flaw and then test the upgrade once we install it.” He spread his hands wide. “Of course, it’s only a good plan if you’re good,” he said baiting her. “If you’re just some two-bit burglar, you’ll hardly be able to help me find the flaws.”
“I’m good,” she said, just as he’d expected she would. She licked her lips and moved across the office to stand right in front of him. She smelled delicious, and he wanted to sample and taste every last inch of her. Instead he just clenched his fists at his sides and tried to look like a professional. She eased closer, and though she wasn’t touching him, she might as well have been.
“I don’t know…” She worried on her lower lip. “I’ve given that up. I mean, I’m—”
“Looking for a job,” he said, his voice calm and reasonable. Now that he’d thought of it, he was determined to win her agreement. “I’m offering you one. Security consultant. Completely legit. Completely aboveboard.”
She nibbled on her thumbnail, doubt coloring her face.
“Come on, Melissa. What do you say?” Kyle asked. And then he held his breath and waited for her to either make or break his day.
* * *
MEL SAID YES.
Really, what other choice did she have? The job was too perfect. Too her. And, yes she’d given up burglary, but since Kyle had made it clear that no actual larceny would be involved, the position was a legitimate exception. Heck, it even had a cool title. “I’ve never been a security consultant before,” she said. “Can I have business cards?”
He laughed. “I’ll order them tomorrow.”
“Good.” Her smile matched his, and she realized she was genuinely excited about the job. And why not? Deep down in her heart of hearts, she missed the excitement of her old life. Missed doing something that she really and truly was good at. And she even missed the little thrill she got from knowing that what she was doing was not exactly on the right side of the law. It wasn’t a life she could go back to, though. The risks were too great.
But this job, well, it was a real, honest-to-goodness, paying job. And for the first time in a long time she had a chance at real, successful, gainful employment.
“Thanks,” she said, the word almost a whisper.
“I think I’m supposed to be thanking you. You’re the one helping me out.”
She shrugged. “Maybe we’re helping each other. At any rate, I’m not sure why she did, but I’m glad Betsy sent me here today.”
He smiled. “Me, too.”
The air between them sizzled, and Mel fought the urge to step forward into his arms, to initiate a repeat performance of their kiss in Frances’s bedroom.
For days, now, she’d been reliving that kiss, dreaming about it. Imagining Kyle’s hands stroking her body and his lips pressed against hers. Now that she was here, though, standing right next to the man, she couldn’t do it. Couldn’t let herself get involved with him.
He knew her secrets, knew about her past. And that would never do. The whole reason she was looking for a legitimate job, the whole reason she’d walked away from the family business, was so that she could start over fresh. A clean slate.
She wanted a life where no one ever looked at her with suspicion. And that life wasn’t with Kyle Radley.
She shook her head, frustrated with herself. Once again she was getting carried away.
She cleared her throat and fought the urge to nibble on her thumbnail. “So, um, where do we start?”
For just a moment she saw disappointment reflected in his eyes, but he shifted quickly enough to professionalism. Five minutes later they were at a small conference table, copies of the police reports relating to the break-in spread out between them.
“And now the insurance company is insisting that we’re negligent,” Kyle explained. “Their attorney has informed me they’re going to file a suit for indemnification in six days.” He pointed to a wall calendar, showing a big purple circle around August 12.
“So you want to prove it’s not your fault.”
“Basically,” he agreed. “What I want to do is prove that the thief didn’t just waltz in. That the system did its job, but that the burglar was extraordinary.”
“To show that your company wasn’t negligent,” she said, thinking out loud, “that you didn’t simply pawn off a sucky security system.”
“Right.”
“And if we can’t prove that?”
“Then my business is going to tank.”
“Well, so long as there’s no pressure on me in my new job.”
He met her grin, then rested his hand on top of hers. A simple gesture, it still sent sparks shooting all the way down to her toes.
She opened her mouth, not sure what she was going to say, but she never found out because the chime sounded in the reception area.
“Kyle?” Miss Emily’s voice.
“Back here, Grandma,” Kyle said, rising to his feet.
“Kyle, darling,” she said, gliding into the room. Her gaze found Mel right away, and a smile bloomed on her face, her eyes dancing with such delight that Mel couldn’t help but feel flattered.
“Grace! Darling, it’s so good to see you.”
“Thanks, Miss Emily,” Mel said, standing up. “Actually, Grace is an, uh, nickname. My name’s Melissa Tanner.”
“Well, it’s still a pleasure to see you again, my dear,” Miss Emily said.
“Actually, Kyle and I are working together now.”
“Fabulous.” She clasped her hands and looked so delighted that Mel almost had to laugh. Apparently Miss Emily was as much the matchmaker as her grandfather. Which reminded her…
“Miss Emily,” she began, “it occurred to me that you know my grandfather. Gregory Tanner. He was a bit player in some of your movies. When I mentioned meeting you, he said that years ago you’d actually been acquainted.”
For just a moment Emily looked quite befuddled. Then her face cleared and the perfect smile returned. “Gregory Tanner. Of course. I remember him well. A darling man.”
“He seemed very fond of you, too.”
“Gregory Tanner,” Kyle said.
Mel turned his direction, curious about the musing tone of his voice. “Do you know him?”
“Only by reputation. Now I remember the story.” He turned to his grandmother. “Gregory, The Cat. All those Hollywood stories about the dashing cat burglar. I used to read all about him in the boxes of fan magazines you kept in the attic.”
“That’s my grandfather,” Mel confirmed. “Of course, his reputation was bigger than he was,” she added with a meaningful look toward Kyle. “Certainly he was never proven to be a thief.”
“Of course not,” Kyle said. “Probably just a publicity stunt.”
Mel turned back to Miss Emily and noticed that her cheeks were bright red under the dots of already red rouge. “Yes,” she said, “well, Kyle, I never realized you’d gone through all those magazines.”
“My favorite thing to do when I was bored and you were off at some publicity thing. Lucy and I used to take a picnic lunch up there and spend hours. Great fun.”
“Who’s Lucy?” Mel asked.
“Funny you should mention her,” Miss Emily said. “I’m here about Lucy.”
“She’s my cousin,” Kyle said to Mel. He turned back to Emily. “Is anything wrong?”
“Quite the contrary,” Emily said. “She’s getting married. Frances and I are giving her an engagement party tomorrow night. Short notice, but her fiancé is in the military and is being called away for a short tour. I came to make sure you could come.”
“Sounds great,” Kyle said. “Where?”
“My house, tomorrow, eight.”
“You couldn’t have just used the phone?”
She waved a hand. “I’ve been running errands all day. I was in the neighborhood.” She shifted a bit, pulling Mel back into this part of the conversation. “And it’s a good thing I dropped by, too. Because, Mel, dear, I’d love for you to join us. And bring your grandfather, too. I know I’d so like to have the opportunity to catch up on old times.”
“I…” Mel trailed off, wanting to accept, but not wanting to step on Kyle’s toes.
“Say yes, Mel,” he said, reaching over to squeeze her hand. “I promise I won’t abandon you to the wolves this time.”
Miss Emily’s gaze drifted to their joined hands, and her smile broadened. “Good. Then it’s all set. We’ll see you two tomorrow and—”
“Grandma?”
“Yes?”
“Did you say you and Frances were throwing this party?”
Emily sniffed. “Of course, dear. Don’t look so surprised. Lucy is my grandniece, after all. My sister and I may have our differences, but where the children are concerned, she and I can get along just fine.” She tucked her purse under her arm and smiled. “Trust me.”