Page 45 of Sticky Fingers

“Oh,” Kathy says quietly, as if she’s disappointed. “Then he had his way with you?”

“Well, actually, then I sort of had my way with him,” I respond quietly.

Kathy gives me a look, and I shrug.

I mean, if I have to be honest, he’s the one that untied me. But by then, I was already dripping wet and gone.

“I mean it was all business at first. Things just got out of hand.”

I smile again, replaying in my head the moment he wrapped his strong arms around my torso, pinning me down against the floor and manhandling me like no one ever did before.

“Things got out of hand, huh? C’mon! We’re talking about the dude that’s trying to pin the Picasso theft on you. This isn’t some random asshole we’re talking about!”

She looks exasperated now, her voice breaking slightly. It’s almost as if she was trying to drill some sense into a young kid.

“You worry too much.”

“I worry too much?!” She’s looking at me with wide eyes, her lips a thin line of irritation. “You’re damn right I worry too much! Who would do the worrying without me around? Remember that time we got the Rembrandt painting? When you—”

“Yeah, I do,” I snap.

How could I forget? The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Security had been doubled for the night at the museum I was supposed to case, and I still decided to go through with the plan.

Of course, Kathy almost fainted at that. But we pulled it off anyway. Kathy did all the worrying—as well as the additional legwork needed to get rid of security—and I did all the stealing.

“But this is Malcolm Push we’re talking about. Not a team of brain-dead security guards, Sonia!”

“I know!” I laugh brightly, grabbing a bottle of white wine from the fridge and getting two glasses out of the cupboard. “And that’s exactly the reason it happened. I mean...willpower can only go so far.”

“You’re impossible.” She finally relents with a subdued laugh and then leans against the counter, grabbing her own glass. “But seriously...you’ve gotta to be careful, Sonia. There’s no telling what Malcolm might do. Sure, he might not have enough evidence to take to the cops...but what if he tells your dad? He’d go crazy, you know that.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” I blurt out, surprised at my own reaction.

Somehow, I don’t believe that Malcolm would be that kind of guy. I don’t think he wants to ruin me like that...no, this whole thing is a game to him.

Just like it is for me.

By stealing the painting right from under his nose, I started a cat-and-mouse situation that Malcolm can’t help but want to solve.

“Besides,” I continue, “it felt so damn good. Let me tell you, that man is so much more than just eye-candy.”

“Oh?”

“That’s right,” I nod. “He knows what the hell he’s doing.”

“What about his…?”

“Just perfect...and huge,” I laugh again, and this time Kathy joins me.

She might be the serious one in this partnership, but every woman has a soft spot for all the sordid details concerning hot men.

“Okay, look,” Kathy starts, her serious expression returning to her face. “Be that as it may, you have to be careful. I knowexactlythe way you work...and I know that this game you’re playing has just started. But please, please, please...let’s investigate some more about Malcolm. Let’s be smart about this.”

“You’re right,” I agree, nodding seriously while I refill both our glasses.

But behind my serious facade, the only thing my brain is concerned with is replaying the scenes from before. The way I had him in my mouth, the way I came in his...the way he pinned me to the mattress, the way he fucked me so hard I could see flames dancing behind my eyelids.

You may have wowed me on Round 1, Malcolm Push.

But I can’t wait to take you on for Round 2.