Free The Fall of Lucas Kendrick by Kay Hooper Page A

didn’t care. The wind whined outside, moaningaround the eaves, stirring the porch swing so that the chains creaked. She heard every sound more clearly than ever before.
    And she could see awareness flickering in his eyes. It was as if something were moving with hushed force inside both of them, slowly and inexorably. Fascinated, she watched his face change subtly, become leaner, tauter. She felt that gentle hand on her neck tighten a little, and underneath her own hand his stomach tensed.
    Very softly he said, “Kyle, go back upstairs.”
    “Why?” she asked huskily.
    He seemed to be having trouble breathing, but his voice was steady. “Because I love you.”
    Kyle slowly rose to her feet, compelled by something in his eyes or his voice, or both. She turned away and went silently back up the stairs, sliding into her bed and drawing the covers up. She lay there for a long time with her eyes fixed on the dark ceiling, listening to the wind outside. And thinking.
    What would they have lost if they had becomelovers again tonight? Kyle wasn’t sure, but she knew Lucas thought he was, and that was why he had sent her back to bed alone. What was it? A new and fragile thread of trust between them? A delicate bond forged in the quiet, soul-baring moments after a nightmare?
    Kyle turned over on her side and closed her eyes, hardly aware that she was smiling.

F OUR
    “I DON’T TRUST you,” Kelsey told his boss roundly. “You’re just acting too damned straightforward.”
    Hagen, sitting behind a desk that held nothing but a thin sheaf of papers and a telephone with several lines, looked up to smile angelically. “You have a suspicious mind, my boy.”
    Kelsey saluted him mockingly. “Learned at the master’s knee.” He leaned back in the single visitor’s chair in the room and stared broodingly at Hagen. “As far as I can tell, you’vebeen completely straight with Lucas. So what gives?”
    “Nothing at all, I assure you.” Hagen feigned humility—something he didn’t do too well. “Kendrick deserves all the facts; I merely supplied them.”
    “Uh-huh.” Kelsey pointed at the sheaf of papers on the desk. “Just out of curiosity, whose idea was it that Josh innocently call Rome to inquire about the possibility of buying that Rubens and subsequently try to get himself invited to the party?”
    “His. And sound strategy, I must admit. His interest in the painting is quite real; he’s known to acquire anything by Rubens that becomes available. And, of course, it was a good thing he got invited to the party. Should Rome be suspicious, he will keep a sharp eye on Long.”
    “Leaving Luc free to search for the stolen art?” Kelsey kept his gaze fixed thoughtfully on the revised guest list for Martin Rome’s party.
    “That is the plan,” Hagen told him.
    “And you don’t think Rome will panic andmove the stuff because he knows Josh is coming?”
    “Not enough time. And if he does attempt to move the artwork, we’ll have him dead to rights.”
    Kelsey lifted his eyes to Hagen’s cherubic face. “A nice, simple plan. I must be asleep and dreaming.”
    “Why don’t you go and call Kendrick,” Hagen suggested. “He should be told that Long and Raven will attend the party. Also, you must arrange your nightly rendezvous with the lady and him. All those little details to work out, my boy.”
    Rising slowly, Kelsey frowned at his boss. “You missed the human element again,” he reminded him with a certain satisfaction. “Whatever happened between Luc and Kyle years ago, I’d say they’re busy mending fences now.”
    Coolly Hagen said, “An entirely anticipated development.”
    Kelsey blinked. “You mean this time you deliberately set the scene for a romance?”
    “Certainly.”
    After a moment Kelsey asked, “You decided to stop matchmaking by accident and do it on purpose?”
    Maddeningly impervious to his agent’s surprise, Hagen merely nodded.
    “Why?”
    “To find out if I could.”
    Kelsey