Free Lucky Streak by Carly Phillips

court,” he said, taking a large bite of the burger without bothering to add ketchup first.
    â€œSo on to more exciting things. How was Vegas?” Derek asked, taking a bite, as well.
    At the mention of the subject Mike had been trying not to think about without any success, he lost his appetite.
    â€œThat good a time?” Derek asked into the silence.
    Mike knew if there was anyone he could trust with the truth, it was his cousin Derek. “You know that expression ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’?”
    The other man inclined his head. “Yeah…?”
    Mike drew a deep breath and told his cousin the entire story.
    â€œSo basically both the woman and the cash stayed in Vegas,” Derek concluded for him. He shook his head. “Holy shit. Why don’t you press charges? You’re a cop, after all.”
    â€œThat is why. Where’s my credibility after I admit publicly that I let myself be taken in by the oldest con in the book?” And that’s what still got to him.
    What prevented him from sleeping on the plane back to Boston late Saturday night and again in his own bed last evening. How had he misread Amber so completely? Her sincere gaze, her genuine excitement, that connection.
    â€œI have to talk to her again first.” Because things just didn’t add up. He was a cop who acted on gut instinct and he was seldom wrong.
    â€œEgo.” Derek finished his soda and signaled for a refill. “You can’t admit she conned you, so you’re going to let her get away with it?”
    â€œI’m going back to Vegas first chance I get. I’m going to find her, and then get some answers, and a divorce.”
    â€œDon’t forget to press charges,” Derek said. “Now I have another question for you.”
    â€œShoot.”
    â€œTo quote Jay Leno to Hugh Grant, ‘What the hell were you thinking?’”
    He hadn’t been thinking. He’d been feeling and everything he’d felt had been so damn good. Which only made him feel more like a fool in the cold light of day.
    â€œNever mind. Let me know when you plan to go back. I’ll go along and help you out,” Derek said.
    â€œI appreciate it.” But Mike probably wouldn’t call his cousin.
    Next time he faced Amber, he wanted to be alone.
    A little while later, Mike left Derek and headed to the station to finish up some paperwork before starting his shift tomorrow. He’d taken today off in case court ran long, so he might as well make productive use of the rest of his day.
    By the time he headed home, jet lag and plain old exhaustion beat at him. He let himself into his apartment and was immediately on alert. The dead bolt wasn’t flipped shut. He’d been tired this morning, but he couldn’t have been too tired to lock up.
    Hand on his holstered weapon, he stepped inside. Everything seemed normal. He walked through the entry, gave a cursory glance into the kitchen, passed the empty den, entered his bedroom and nearly keeled over.
    Amber lay in his bed wearing nothing but one of his collared shirts. She was a vision. The shirt wasbuttoned low, showing off a generous hint of cleavage, making his mouth water. Her long, bare legs peeked from beneath the hem of the too-big shirt. Her red-painted toenails teased him from beneath his navy blanket. And those riotous blond curls fell over her shoulders in gorgeous disarray, making him forget everything but his body’s immediate and obvious reaction.
    He blinked, certain she was nothing more than a mirage, but when he opened his eyes, the vision remained. That was when he noticed the rest.
    She lay on his bed surrounded by cold hard cash.
    â€œAmber?”
    He still didn’t believe she was real, even as every emotion imaginable rushed through him, from desire to relief, shock to gratitude, curiosity back to desire again.
    Until she spoke. “Hi, honey, I’m home.” She waved at