Free Thief of Mine by Amarinda Jones Page A

a
foolish feeling, but then again there were a lot of unexplainable things that
happened in life. All Stella knew was that it an ancient treasure that belonged
to everyone.
    Kit smiled softly. Stella had called him by his first name
without thinking. It sounded good on her lips. And he was not surprised she
wanted to return it. The light in her eyes told him she understood the
importance of this idol to the country it belonged to. He felt a pang of guilt
at his actions.
    “I will return it.” The words were out of his mouth before
he had time to think of all the reasons why they should have remained inside.
    “You promise?” Suddenly it seemed really important to get
Kit’s word on this, almost as if the carved woman was urging her on.
    “I’d promise you anything, princess.” And that was no lie.
Kit Kincaid knew in that one moment this woman had been destined to become the
most important woman in his life. It was weird how epiphanies came out of the
blue and hit you between the eyes when you least expected it.
    Would Kit promise her anything? Most likely. Could she
trust him? Believe him? Did she want promises fulfilled by him or did she just
need that ice cream and a good night’s sleep?
    “Just return it, that’s all I ask.” Because that was all
Stella knew she could get for the moment.

Chapter Five
     
    “Well this is nice and messy,” Kit commented as Stella
opened the door to her home. He had deliberately followed her up the steps not
giving her any chance to escape him. Kit knew if Stella closed the door on him
and his presence she would be reluctant to open it up again. He looked around
at the disorder. Books were stacked in haphazard piles, clothes were slung
carelessly over chairs and dust catchers and assorted clutter littered what
seemed like every available surface.
    “You’re a thief. You can hardly make judgments on others.”
    Who invited him in here anyway? Kit was just supposed to
drop her off, and not come to the door and then follow her inside making comments
about her stuff. She knew she wasn’t a neat person by nature. Stella did not
have to be. She lived alone and she liked it that way. She didn’t have to
justify herself to anyone, especially not a thief. But Kit had followed her
into her home without so much as a by-your-leave. Stella had a feeling Kit had
the ability to go anywhere he wanted just by the sheer force of his
personality. And, at this moment, she was too tired to fight him. Luckily for
her, despite leaving her purse and keys at the reception, she had the foresight
a long time ago to hide a spare house key out among the potted plants in her
front garden. However she suspected Kit probably had a knack of entering places
with the minimum of effort. She herself was evidence of that.
    Stella turned to look at him. She never realized how tall he
was. He had a masculinity that could overwhelm a woman. It wasn’t threatening,
it was just there, unavoidable and making you think about stuff you didn’t want
to. He had momentarily overwhelmed her but she was back on track and not going
down the “having sex with Kit Kincaid” path again. Well, that was the plan. And
maybe her original plan A had not worked out so well and it had indeed led to
plan B but now she was onto plan C—accept what happened and move on.
    “So is there some hidey hole or den of thieves you hide out
at?”
    And can you please go to it now, Stella nearly added.
    Kit had a very nice and expensive apartment in the heart of
Brisbane city, however, if Stella wanted to think it was something more glamorous
or fictional than that so be it. He wanted to encourage any interest she showed
in him at all. Kit didn’t want her hardening her heart to him as the
possibilities for the future for them were endless as far as he was concerned.
    “I thought I’d stick around here and keep you company.” He
saw Stella stiffen at this. He knew she wasn’t as indifferent to him as she was
trying to make