Sleight Of Hand Read Online Free Page B

strand of hair against his cheek, to the tremble he felt
travel the length of her body.
    He shifted again, brought her up against his
heat, his hardness, wondering if he could hold back long enough to
get their clothes--
    "Chance. Hey, earth to lover boy."
    Straining to breathe, he pulled back and
stared at her flushed face, at the light that shone behind her
incredible green eyes. A voice buzzed in his ear. Vaguely annoyed,
he flapped a hand in the direction of the pesky sound.
    That kiss. Her lips. His pulse took another
wild leap.
    He wet his own lips, thinking of Sarah's
mouth, thinking of kissing her again. And again, until--
    A high-pitched, nasal giggle crashed into his
fantasy. He blinked. Sound exploded around him as though someone
had just cranked up the volume.
    For crissakes.
    "You've got it bad, eh, Romeo?"
    The back of his neck burned as the garrulous
waitress he'd chatted with yesterday over several beer elbowed him
in the ribs.
    "I'm Cindy." She smiled at Sarah as she stuck
her stubby pencil into her nest of hair.
    "I gotta tell you girl, it's a good thing you
showed up when you did," she continued chattering as she took
Sarah's arm and led her to a booth halfway down the restaurant.
    Chance's mind slowly awakened to the fact
that he was standing by himself at the front of the restaurant,
staring at absolutely nothing. He glanced at the crowded booths of
people. If the smirks on some of the men's faces were any
indication, he probably looked as stunned as he felt. He stuck his
hands in his jacket pockets and followed Cindy and Sarah to the
booth.
    He had definitely convinced everyone here
that he was hot for Sarah. The problem was now to convince himself
he wasn't.
    Cindy wiggled her eyebrows at him after he
hung his jacket on top of Sarah's and slipped into the booth. "The
ladies were taking numbers on who had first go at Romeo here if you
didn't make it. Now that I've seen the competition, though...." She
sighed, gave the red Formica table a quick swipe with a rag from
her pocket and plunked down two plastic covered menus on the table
in front of them.
    "Doesn't hurt to dream, I always say. You
wanna a beer first, Chance?" She pulled her order book out of the
other pocket in her apron and miraculously found her pencil on the
first try.
    As he started to nod yes, Sarah stiffened
just enough for him to pick up on her tension. Whatever had
possessed him to say he'd cut back on the booze? Perplexed, he
slumped down in his seat.
    "Coffee's fine. Thanks, Cindy." The minute
the words were out, he felt a dryness in the back of his throat he
knew only a cold beer could wash away. He frowned and leaned back
as Sarah ordered tea. Maybe Steve had been right to rag him about
the amount he'd been drinking lately. Great, now he had another
thing to worry about.
    Cindy's voice pulled him from the annoying
thought.
    "Tea. That's right. Chance said you lived in
England. You're a photographer." She aimed her pencil at Sarah's
camera.
    "Yes." Sarah pulled her camera from around
her neck and placed it on the table in front of her. "Sometime when
you're not so busy, I'd love to photograph you."
    "Me?" Cindy's eyes widened. "You gotta be
kidding."
    Chance watched a cool, assessing look creep
into Sarah's eyes. He looked at Cindy and wondered what Sarah saw.
Yesterday, he hadn't quite decided what look the scrawny, heavily
made-up waitress was going for. She sort of looked like a Phyllis
Diller who baked homemade cookies and crocheted. Man. He ran a hand
over his face. That kiss really had knocked him out of the
game.
    "I'm serious." Sarah continued to study
Cindy. "In the morning, I think. Over by the front window." She
nodded at the large window that filled most of the wall beside the
door.
    "Well." Cindy followed Sarah's gaze to the
window, then looked back at her. "You famous or something?"
    "No. But I'm collecting portraits for a book.
Here, I have an example in my wallet of the kind of picture I
take." Sarah pulled a small