Page 16 of Queen of Diamonds
He slid his hand around her neck and pulled her back to him, giving her a kiss that was both gentle and sweet. “Thank you,” he said when he let her go.
He could own her heart if he only half tried, but he’d warned her against falling for him, something she best not forget. Still he had shared something precious with her, so she would do the same.
“You wanted to know why I was at your bar.”
“Are you going to tell me a bedtime story?”
His grin and the way his eyes focused on her made her tingle, all the way down to her toes. “Sure, I can do that. Once upon a time there was this girl whose father died before she was born, and that always made her sad. Then her mother, whom she loved dearly, died. The girl found a letter her mother had written her, telling her that the father she’d always wished she’d met wasn’t real and that she had three brothers. Because the girl had found herself alone in the world after losing her mother, she wasn’t sure how to feel about learning she had brothers. Would she like them? Wish she’d never met them? She finally decided to look for them. Then, after months of searching, the girl learned that her brothers owned a bar called Aces and Eights.”
Kinsey frowned at the way the warmth in Rand’s eyes faded as she told her story. But she’d started it, so she continued on. “After the girl found out who her brothers were, she wasn’t sure she wanted to meet them. She worried that they were bad men. So she went to Aces and Eights, hoping to get a glimpse of them. Instead she met you.” She’d thought he would be amused by that, but he pushed her away.
“The Gentrys don’t have a sister.” He left her bed so fast that she wasn’t sure what was happening. “What’s your game, Kinsey?”
Game? She didn’t have a game. “I don’t understand,” she said as she watched him dress as if the room were on fire and he needed to evacuate immediately. Then she frowned when she realized what he’d just said. “And how do you know what they have and don’t have? You said you only met them once at closing.”
“I know they don’t have a sister.” With those parting words tossed over his shoulder, he was gone.
Kinsey stared at the indent in the pillow where Rand’s head had lain. She pushed the covers aside, slipped on her robe, and walked into her living room to lock up behind him.
She leaned her back against the door. “What just happened?”
