Page 8 of Stolen Goods
Art.
Everything in his life had always come down to art—it was poetic justice that his freedom should be no different. Painting, whether with oil on a canvas or dye on a cake, was something he could bullshit about for days. And upon seeing the first hint of frustration cross her lips as she jerkily spread strokes across the edible surface, Thad knew exactly what to do. Mysterious stranger showing up to ask for directions in the middle of the night? Some might say alarming. Others might say intriguing. It was too risky to chance. But mysterious handsome artist come to save the day? That was a winning hand he’d played many times before.
Game plan at the ready, Thad discarded his baseball cap and straightened his collar. Then went the glasses and the faux beard. He scuffed up his hair and wet his lips, bringing his most charming smile to his face as he strode across the street and into the light. Standing before the door, he took a deep, steadying breath and tapped his knuckles against the logo etched into the glass.
She didn’t hear.
Stifling a sigh, Thad tried again, a little more forceful this time but not enough to frighten.
Addison didn’t look up. Instead, she politely called, “Sorry. We’re closed.”
Even her rejections are cheerful, he remarked, doing his best to keep a frustrated curl from rising to his lips.
He knocked again. This time, her shoulders drooped and her entire body deflated with a sigh. She set the brush down, lifted her torso, turned her face in his direction—and froze.
Thad lifted the edge of his lip just so and waved once, fully aware of the effect he normally had on women. The summer he turned fifteen, he’d grown six inches and started lifting weights. By the time he was seventeen, after hours and hours of carefully studying his own reflection in the mirror, he’d figured out the optimal grin for seduction—a little cocky, a little unsure, and high enough to dig one small dimple into each cheek. At the time, he’d wanted nothing more than a date, but his father, a true con man, had shown him the value of an innocent smile that brought all sorts of wicked thoughts to a girl’s mind.Men in our line of work can’t afford modesty.Thad had taken his father’s lesson to heart. He knew every tool at his disposal, and he’d learned to wield them well.
Addison’s brows mushed together…and then shot up in shock. She jumped into action, straightening her spine as her eyes glanced everywhere but at him. Those sugar-coated hands smoothed out the wrinkles in her apron as she rushed to the door. A gulp tightened her throat. She tucked a wayward black curl behind her ear and chewed her bottom lip, gaze still on the floor beneath her feet as she reached for the lock. The latchclicked. Only then, as her petite, elegant fingers twisted around the knob, did she slowly raise her eyes to meet his. He stared into those two deep turquoise pools, but the remarkable color wasn’t what made him pause. It was the faith, the innocence, the joy shining within them that made his heart skip a beat.
“Can I help you?” she asked, somewhat breathless, the barest hint of wonder laced through her feminine southern drawl.
Thad blinked and refocused, deepening his grin as he lifted his hand to the frame and leaned in, not too close, but close enough to make her draw in a sharp breath.
Just like that, he knew he had her.
Hook.
Line.
And sinker.
- 4 -
Addison
Holy hotness. Addy had lost the ability to think the second she saw that man standing in the doorway. At first, she thought he was a mirage. A figment of her imagination. She had, at that very second, been daydreaming about the perfect meet-cute with a construction worker building a house in the hot summer sun—shirtless of course, sweat dripping slowly down the contours of his muscles as she happened to saunter by. Their eyes met across the distance, attraction an instant bolt of lightning down her spine. Totally taken off guard, she tripped on a discarded wooden board hidden in the grass. He, in a show of inhuman, nigh-heroic strength, managed to race across the distance to catch her in his more-than-capable arms—
And thentap, tap, tap.
Addy had been certain it was her mother, coming home from a night out to dinner, asking what in the world she was doing still working at that hour.
Instead, it was an Adonis.
Naturally, she couldn’t believe her eyes, even as she crossed the room, undid the lock, and opened the door. Words came out of her mouth. There were definitely words, that much she knew, but what she said? A complete mystery. Her thoughts were too wrapped up in trying to decipher if he was a hallucination, if she’d finally lost her mind, if she was talking to nothing but open air…
But then he spoke.
Real words.
With a deep, sensual voice her brain couldn’t possibly have imagined.
“Sorry to intrude.”
A flurry instantly swarmed to life in her stomach. Heat gathered beneath her skin. Which meant he was real—he had to be.Intrude away.
His lips twitched, making those dimples in his cheeks dig deeper.
Shoot!Addy shook her head.I think I said that out loud.She coughed, clearing her throat. “I mean, no bother. Can I help you with something?”
