Steal the Day (20 page)

I made no apologies for that. “He’s an ass.”

“Yes, he is, but if you happen to get pissed off at the local werepanthers, try to contain yourself. I’ve managed to work out an alliance with their alpha. If you shoot his balls off, it might kill my deal.”

“I’ll try,” I said with a smile. “But I can’t promise anything. I have a taste for it now.”

Daniel laughed, pulling me close and looking into my eyes. “You are the cherry on top of my crazy cake, you know that, right? I love every crazy-ass inch of you.”

“Chad talked to you, didn’t he?” I figured the new vamp might be giving his boss advice on the romance front. I was just surprised Daniel listened.

“Chad is a smart guy. He was right. I was stupid to think you were just using Dev to get back at me. And I’ll admit I was pretty sure Dev was using you because he likes the adrenaline rush of sleeping with someone forbidden. That wasn’t the way he sounded when he talked to you earlier today. He sounded serious. I’m not willing to give you up without a fight, Z. I love you. You’re my world. Dev might not be a complete asshole. He might care about you, but Dev will never love you the way I do. I’m going to fight him every inch of the way. I’d say it’s working because your little honeymoon suite reeked of sexual frustration tonight, baby.”

“That’s not something to be proud of, Danny. I have feelings for him. I don’t know that it’s going to go anywhere. I don’t know that I’m anything to him but a good time.”

“I stand ready to kill him at your earliest request,” Daniel offered with a grin that told me he was happy to hear that news.

I laughed. “Don’t you dare.”

“Fine,” he conceded. “I’m gonna win, Z. We’re meant to be together. In the end, I’ll win. So heavy relationship discussion over. Do you want to run with the pigs?”

I looked down at the field. They were free and happy. Daniel knew there was nothing I loved more than a crazy experience I could hold in my heart. “Hell, yeah!”

Daniel pulled me back in his arms and flew us down to the field. He let us float to the center and landed gently. I ended up slightly behind him. I stayed where I was because this was where Neil always stood during formalities. I wasn’t sure how formal this would get, but I knew Daniel was going to be negotiating with this pack and there were rituals involved. Daniel looked back at me curiously, then pulled me to his side. “You stand beside me. Always.”

The pack stopped their run. They all turned toward the interlopers. The largest of the razorbacks came forward and a smaller pig followed behind him. The rest sat back on their haunches, content to watch the action play out. The two pigs that had come forward changed, their forms slipping back into human so smoothly I knew they were unquestionably the alphas.

“Your Highness,” the male said. He was naked but I expected that. I was getting used to the two-natureds’ liberal views on nudity.

Daniel nodded. “Jasper, this is Zoey Donovan.”

“Your mate?” The alpha’s eyes slid over me in an assessing manner that had nothing to do with sexual interest and everything to do with politics.

“My queen,” Daniel corrected.

Jasper nodded and his female came forth. “This is Hillary, my mate.”

Hillary was a larger woman. Her face was set like she expected me to reject someone like her. It wasn’t a surprising attitude. Those in the vampire world tended to be arrogant and disdainful of those not. I was going to have to change those attitudes. It was the first time I realized I actually could help Daniel in a capacity that didn’t involve blood or sex. I smiled my brightest smile and walked forward with my hand out. “Hello, Hillary. I’m so pleased to meet you. Please call me Zoey.”

Hillary’s lips curled up, and when she smiled she was quite lovely. “Pleased to meet you, Zoey.”

I looked at the little pigs whose tails were shaking with excitement. “Are they yours?”

She looked back, her face glowing with pride. “Two of them. My sons, Bobby and Chris.”

“They’re adorable,” I said, smiling down at the piglets.

Jasper held his arms out. “Your Highness, we can talk about alliances tomorrow. Tonight the moon is full and we run. Your wolf might not be welcome, but your queen is.”

I looked back at Daniel, who watched me with a quiet satisfaction. Jasper and Hillary took their forms once more and we ran. I frolicked with the babies, loving the way they licked my face and rolled in the grass. I played in the moonlight with the pack until the sun was almost up. Daniel was content to watch.

When the pack began to move on, Daniel picked me up, and with a nod to the alpha, took off. I leaned my heavy head against his chest, perfectly content with my evening.

I stepped back through the window and felt the air rush away as Daniel left to find his daytime resting place. I tried to move quietly, but Dev was sitting up in bed looking at me. I was surprised he didn’t look angry. There was just a weary sadness to his face. It was not an expression I had ever seen on Dev before.

“Can you come to bed now?” he asked softly.

I thought we should talk. I thought I should explain. He looked at me like he’d lost something, and there was nothing I could say to that. How did I explain that I loved two men? How did it ease him to know I didn’t want to give up either one?

My expression must have given away my inner turmoil because Dev pulled back the covers. “No talking, Zoey. No explanations are needed. Just come to bed, unless you no longer want to even share a bed to sleep with me.”

I tossed the sweater on the dresser and stripped down to the tank and underwear. Dev gave off an enormous amount of heat, and I knew no matter how cold the room was, I would be warm under the covers. I slid into bed even as dawn was breaking. Dev started to turn away from me but I wedged myself close to him. Though he was upset, his strong arms wound their way around me and hugged me to his chest. Despite his earlier protestations of sleeping better alone, Dev always ended up draped around me whenever we slept together. He preferred to sleep in a tangle of arms and legs.

“Was he good to you tonight?” Dev asked quietly.

“Yes.”

“All right, then,” he said and then his breathing took on the steady slow beat of sleep.

I let his warmth surround me and sank into sleep myself.

Chapter Thirteen

I wasn’t used to quiet, contemplative Dev. I watched him across the luncheon table. I wanted to say anything, do anything to bring back the outrageous, reckless man I’d fallen in love with. His high-wattage grin was muted, his charm strictly business.

We’d slept in, skipping breakfast. When he woke me up at eleven, we politely discussed what we needed to accomplish today. He’d been showered and dressed when he got me up, and I knew the minute I saw his jeans and sweater that I was in trouble. I expected teasing and seduction. I expected him to try to tempt me into sex because that was just what Dev did. Before I had fallen asleep, I’d just known that Dev would wake me with his morning friend and try to put last night behind us.

Now I realized this was a real fight, and I wasn’t sure I could win.

“We sure missed you at breakfast this morning, Mr. O’Malley.” Mary Jo placed a steaming bowl of vegetable beef stew in front of Dev. She held court at these meals like a queen on a very fussy throne. “It was French toast and bacon.”

This is when Dev would usually make some comment about how much he would have loved the French toast, but his wife greatly preferred a nice big sausage. He would have grinned at me to let me know he would be happy to provide it for me whenever I wanted. Today he smiled blandly and made an excuse about sleeping in. He talked pleasantly with everyone present, including Mr. Renfro, who had made a surprise appearance for lunch. Renfro was a hard-looking man in overalls and a John Deere cap. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Dev the whole time we were eating.

I moved my chair a little closer to Dev in an attempt to ward off Mr. Renfro’s obvious jealousy. I suspected his wife had spent too much time going on about her handsome new guest. It was only to be expected because even in a big city, Dev stood out. I was sure they hadn’t seen anything like him here in…well, possibly ever. Apparently Mr. Renfro had come to make sure his woman wasn’t doing anything she shouldn’t with the city slicker.

I laced our fingers together, and Dev looked down at them. I hoped he didn’t brush me off, but Dev really was good at this. He pulled our joined hands to his lips, brushing them over my knuckles. It sent a little spark of heat through my body, but he just gave me a tight-lipped smile and started to eat his lunch.

As Daniel and the vamp crew had been sidelined with politics the night before, I still didn’t have any intelligence on the farm. They were going to try again tonight. Daniel also planned to talk to Jasper. I hoped the alpha might be able to give us some sort of information on the Renfros since the pack more than likely lived in the rural communities that dotted the area. The B&B was fairly isolated, but there was a small town ten miles to the north, and someone had to know something.

I stared down at my lunch, not hungry at all. Things seemed to be changing so fast. Dev was mad. Daniel was playing a shockingly dangerous game. And I just wanted to get the job done. We had a few days left, but I needed time to figure out how to use the object. We were due in Vegas in five days. Two days after that was the ball. Time was running out. I was getting desperate, and I always make mistakes when I get desperate.

Lunch broke up in favor of games. Two of the older couples set up backgammon boards, while the Ruckers took up Mary Jo on her offer to show them around the grounds. Apparently there was a lovely garden up the road. We were invited, but Dev complained about his slipped disc and everyone nodded sagely and agreed he should rest. Mary Jo had sent me a dirty look like my lust had damaged him. I was glad her husband decided to escort his wife and the Ruckers around.

I’d slipped my trusty kit into the pocket of my cardigan before we came downstairs. It was a basic lock-picking kit, but that’s really all I needed. The lock looked to be a simple pin tumbler, probably bought at a hardware store. It was standard, and I was good with standard. My father provided me an array of locks to practice on when I was in my teens. He considered it my real homework. I spent hours at the kitchen table using a torque wrench and a half-diamond pick.

I glanced at Dev, who nodded slightly to signal he knew what to do. We’d gone over the plan this morning. If we could find a time when everyone was accounted for and away from the kitchen, I would go for it. Normally I would wait until dark, but Mrs. Renfro had proven to be a very light sleeper last night, and I wanted to get this job done. Dev argued for waiting until dinnertime, but I thought the room was too close to the kitchen. All it would take was a forgotten salt shaker for us to get our butts kicked out of the establishment and possibly shoved into the local jail.

Dev leaned back in his chair and looked up at me as I stood. I affectionately ran my fingers through his hair, wondering if this might be the last time I got to do it. His dark hair was thick and silky in my hands, and I let myself linger for a fleeting moment. Dev’s emerald green eyes were curious before he pulled me in for a light kiss. There was no force behind it, no teasing hint of tongue. It was a kiss between partners, not lovers, and I took that as my cue to get the job done.

“Hey, baby,” I said with a smile I was sure didn’t come anywhere near my eyes. “I’m going to run back to the room for a minute.”

“Don’t be too long,” he murmured.

“I won’t.” I wouldn’t. I would be fast because I was good. I might be a crappy girlfriend, but I was a good thief. As I walked out of the parlor, my hands were already pulling out my kit. I walked quietly to the back of the house. Out the back window, I watched as Mary Jo and her husband led the older couple up a wooded path, and when they were safely out of sight, I got to work.

The door was small, but the minute I stood in front of it, I knew there would be no reason for Daniel to cut short his meeting with Jasper tonight. It was here. I could feel it behind the door almost calling to me. It was like Felicity had said. This was an item of angelic origin. It wanted to be with its own kind. I was the closest thing to it, so it had decided I would do. I put my hand to the door and felt it vibrate gently beneath my fingers. If every job was as easy as this, I would be rich. It would be so much simpler if every item I decided to steal just called out and said “hey, I’m right here.”

I slid the torque wrench in first and then the pick. I raked the pins quietly, holding them in place with the wrench when it slid into the right place. It wasn’t long before I felt the lock pop gently into its correct position, turning in my hand like a soft caress. I loved that sound, the simple click of a lock opening just for me. It was intimate and always felt like a victory.

The others might be able to yank a door off the hinges with a single pull. They were able to yank a safe from a wall and gut it to take its contents. I was just a little human with female strength, but they couldn’t do what I could do. They couldn’t seduce a little lock into sweetly offering up its treasures.