Page 51 of Just My Luck

“Really? You think we’re in that much danger?” she asked, eyes widening.

“Why wait around to find out?”

She nodded nervously, then picked up a tangerine from the fruit platter that got delivered every day to their suite. He watched her toy with it, wondering if he’d ever feel her fingers playing with him like that.

They’d slept in this suite three nights, and not once had he gotten a good night’s rest. All he could think about was her. Keeping his distance had been excruciating, but essential. They couldn’t afford the distraction, and getting closer to her, getting sexual, would be all-consuming—he knew it.

“Did you learn anything when you snuck away today?” she asked.

“A bit.” He grinned, still feeling the satisfaction of his successful mission. “I learned that Tanaka has zero respect for either of his sons. He’s furious with both. And he’s keeping something in his hotel safe, something so valuable that it’s being guarded by four highly trained armed guards.”

She dropped the tangerine back into the bowl. “Please don’t tell me you’re planning to break into that safe.”

“Is this an Ocean’s Eleven movie? Absolutely not.”

“Are you going to get your security team to do it?”

“No. I’m not going to do anything. Because you just told me they’ve already lost part of it. If I can find the piece that Nathan lost, I can figure out what this weapon talk is all about.”

“He didn’t lose it,” she said absently, as she perched on the arm of the couch and crossed one knee over the other. Her maxi dress slid across her leg, revealing a glimpse of delicate ankle, sleek tanned skin, and shimmering toenail polish. “His guard did.”

“What difference does that make?”

“I’m not sure, but there’s something that’s been nagging at me.” She frowned and looked up at the ceiling, as if reliving some thought process. Then she snapped her fingers. “That’s it. Mia found a good luck charm in hale twelve after we left it that day, when Tanaka’s guard came to the Royal Leilani. Remember, the day we met?”

“I don’t know, there was a lot going on that day,” he teased, deadpan. “You can’t expect me to remember everything.”

“No, of course not,” she began, but he cut her off. Striding to her, he put his hand under her chin and tilted her face.

“You had your hair in that silly topknot.” He touched her hair, which was already returning to its natural wavy state. “You were wearing the standard Royal Leilani uniform, as well as a stack of bracelets, at least one of which was a friendship bracelet made from purple thread. You had a pimple next to your nose.”

Her hand flew to her nose. “You saw that?”

“I saw everything. But don’t worry, I liked it.”

“You liked my pimple?”

“I liked everything.”

Under his intense gaze, she turned several shades of pink. “Anyway,” she said, breathless, “you’re distracting me from the main point.”

Right now, for him, she was the main point. He slid his thumb across her cheekbone, savoring the silky texture of her skin. “Go on,” he murmured in a deep, gruff voice. “I’m paying attention.”

She blinked at him, as if she’d completely forgotten what she was talking about. The fact that she reacted to him that way was deeply satisfying.

“Mia,” he reminded her. “Hale twelve. The day we met.”

“Oh yes. Her good luck charm. We Morrisseys are obsessed with charms because in general we have very bad luck. Anything cool we find, we turn into good luck charms. That day, she found a shiny iridescent chip on the floor. I’d never seen anything like it. We thought it was some kind of jewel or maybe a piece of electronics. When I touched it, it felt warm.”

Oh my God. “Are you saying Mia found a piece of the CHUM?”

“I have no idea what it was.”

“Is it mostly clear, with a bluish tint?”

She shook her head. “No. It had some pink in it. It was a smooth disk, maybe two inches in diameter.”

“Then it’s not the CHUM. It’s something different. You’re right, the guard must have dropped it that day.”