“Doesn’t that constitute a bribe?”
“Bribing the emotions, maybe.”
“And you never did pay for that orange you pilfered in the grocery store.” She pretended to consider him carefully. “I think that with just a little encouragement, you could become quite corrupt.”
“I’m already there. I’m lying in a jail cell with a female inmate and wishing with all my heart that I could have carnal knowledge of her.”
Giggling, she pressed closer to him. “Is that what you’re wishing?”
“Cut it out, Kari, or we’re both going to be in more trouble than we’re already in. Are you warm enough?”
“Hmm, yes,” she sighed. “Stay right there. Don’t move. There’s something to be said for narrow beds.”
“I can feel your breasts against my chest.”
“Can you?”
“Yes. Have I ever told you what beautiful breasts you have?”
“Yes.”
“Next time we make love, I’m going to give them special attention.”
“I’ll look forward to that.”
The arm around her waist tightened and drew her closer. His lips wandered through her hair. “I’ve missed you. I’ve missed making love to you, reaching for you in the middle of the night and finding you there, waking up in the morning with you lying beside me. Remember that afternoon in Breckenridge?”
“I remember them all. You’ll have to be more specific.”
“When it rained.”
“Hmm, yes.”
“Do you?” His lips slid down the length of her nose before they planted a sweet kiss on her partially opened mouth. “Which part did you like best?”
“All of it. I like it when we slowly explore each other with our hands and lips. I love the feel of your skin and the hair on your chest and abdomen. My mouth waters when I think about the way you taste. And I love to feel you inside me. You fill me so completely.”
His breathing was harsh and rapid in her ear. “You’re tight and warm,” he whispered, making the words wonderfully forbidden. “Always perfect for me, perfect.” Then his mouth found hers in the darkness and made love to it with his tongue. When at last they fell apart, he tucked her head under his chin. “Go to sleep,” he said roughly.
“You’ll stay with me?”
“I’ll stay with you.”
“I love you.”
“I love you.”
Their hearts pulsed together. Kari slept.
When she awakened at first light, he was gone. But the cot was still warm where he had lain with her through the dark night.
WBTV’s attorney looked like David Niven. He had the same debonair mannerisms and dressed in a dapper fashion, even down to the fresh carnation on his lapel. When he appeared before her cell later that morning, he smiled charmingly. “Good morning, Ms. Stewart.” Kari had the distinct impression that if he had had a hat, he would have doffed it while executing a quick bow. “You’re being released.”
She felt considerably better about the jail cell than she had the previous night before Hunter’s appearance. Still she couldn’t get out of it fast enough when Sergeant Hopkins unlocked the door. “Thank you,” she said breathlessly. The attorney took her arm and led her down the corridor. At Sergeant Hopkins’s desk, Kari paused.
“Do you still want my autograph?”
The policewoman beamed. “I wasn’t going to bother you about it. Thanks for remembering.”
Kari signed her autograph to Gus on the top sheet of a tablet. When she handed it to the woman she asked, “Aren’t your shifts rather long?”
“I worked a double one. Mr. McKee asked me to so I could look after you.”
With a soft private smile Kari nodded and left the cell block with the lawyer. Downstairs they collected her possessions. She checked the contents of the manila envelope against the inventory that had been made the day before, signed the release, and gathered her things to leave. It was then that the booming voice halted her.
“Wait a minute!”
Kari turned to stare into the intimidating scowl of Lieutenant Harris. “I wanna see you.” He pointed a blunt finger at her. The nail had been bitten to a nub.
Fear clutched at her throat again. Did she have to go back to jail? Where was Hunter?
“Ms. Stewart has been released on bail,” the attorney said crisply.
“This is between me and her,” Harris said belligerently, dismissing the attorney with a wave of his hand. His beetle eyes remained on Kari. “You coming or not?”
It was a dare. And as Pinkie and Hunter knew well, she never backed down from a dare. “Of course.” Much to the lawyer’s consternation she followed Harris. He had no choice but to trot along behind.