Kiss Me If You Can (5 page)

She turned back. Face-to-face, their breath almost commingling, she replied, “Count on it,” before disappearing into the hot, summer night.

C
OOP HEADED BACK
to his apartment, whistling as he walked.

Whistling?

All from a first date with Lexie, if he could even call it a date, considering how much business they'd conducted. But he'd enjoyed her company and now he had himself a Web designer, a partner in his ring investigation and a romantic interest. There was no doubt about that.

He took the stairs to his walk-up two at a time. The dimly lit hall was quiet, letting him know his neighbors, a married couple on one side and a good friend of his who lived on the other, were probably still out.

He went to insert the key in the lock when he realized his door was ajar. The lock had been jimmied, deep gouge marks on either side of the handle.

Coop muttered a curse. He lived in a relatively safe neighborhood but, hell, this wasn't a doorman building and there was no security to be found.
Silence and gut instinct told him that whoever had broken in was already gone. He kicked the door open and walked in slowly. Just in case. A quick look around confirmed his fear. Someone had broken in and tossed the place, leaving no couch cushion or piece of paper unturned.

For the second time in less than a week, Coop found himself on the other end of his own crime beat. He called 9-1-1 from his cell, hoping maybe something in this apartment held a clue to who'd broken in and why.

 

F
OR THE NEXT FEW HOURS
, New York's finest did their thing, dusting for prints, looking for evidence and taking his statement.

Coop had pulled out two bottles of Coke from the fridge and offered one to Sara Rios, the female officer on duty who just happened to be his neighbor and good friend.

Sara was pretty, with long blonde hair, big eyes and a good heart. In uniform she was a kick-ass cop. As a friend, she shared his taste in books and movies.

“At a glance, is anything missing?” she asked.

Coop bit the inside of his cheek. “Other than my laptop?” It had been the first thing he'd checked for and the only thing that seemed to be gone. “Everything else is here. Television, iPod, even my camera is still sitting where I left it.”

“I'm sorry, Coop. But I did tell you to install better locks.”

“Thanks for not saying I told you so,” he muttered.

“You think it's work-related?”

He shook his head. Although work was the obvious reason someone would snag his computer, it didn't add up. “There's no current case I'm working on that's anything out of the ordinary. It's not like Son of Sam is sending me letters or anything.”

She perched a hip on the arm of his sofa. “I hate to ask, but could it be a female stalker? One of your Bachelor Blog groupies?” She unsuccessfully tried to hide her smirk behind a notepad.

“Wiseass. The women in this city are desperate, that's for sure.” He told her about the scented notes and panties he'd dumped in the trash earlier. “But if it was one of them, wouldn't I have found her waiting in my bed, not stealing my laptop?”

“You've got a point. We won't know anything more until we run some tests. The guys seem to be finishing up,” she said, pointing to the forensic team, packing up. “If you realize something else is missing, call me. You know the drill. Sometimes it's the little information you don't think is important that can break a case.”

He nodded. “I think I can handle it.” He covered this crap on a daily basis.

“Now who's the wiseass?” she asked, treating him to a grin.

“I don't suppose we can keep this quiet? The last thing I need is more publicity.”

She shook her head. “You know better. If your paper doesn't cover it, another one will. At this point you're the closest thing to a celebrity this city's got. Until another big thing comes along, the Bachelor Blog
is
the news.” She slapped him on the shoulder, commiserating but not helping him in the least.

“What about the robbery you foiled?” Sara asked.

“You know as well as I do, that's an open-and-shut case. The guy couldn't make bail, so he's still sitting in lockup.”

Sara glanced at her partner who was gesturing toward the door. “I'll check in when I get off duty in the morning. Call if you remember anything else.”

He nodded. “Thanks, neighbor.”

After the cops took off, Coop righted the sofa and table, ignoring the rest of the mess for now. He sat down, kicked his feet up and pulled on a long sip of soda. As he leaned back, something sharp jabbed him in the thigh.

The ring.

Why hadn't he thought of it sooner?

Coop took the object from his pocket and studied the piece of jewelry, letting the puzzle
pieces add up. He'd just discovered that the ring had value. The same ring had been flashed all over the local news, the information regurgitated in the blog. And now both Lexie and Ricky were interested in the ring.

As for motive for breaking in here, Lexie had been with him, he'd shown her the ring and she'd had no reason to think he wouldn't work a deal with her to give the ring to her grandmother. Not only didn't she strike him as the thief type, but she'd been with him all night. And he couldn't envision her hiring someone to toss his place when he'd promised to bring the ring to their rendezvous.

Ricky Burnett, on the other hand, was a big question mark. Coop had already turned down his request to return the ring. But would a hoarder go to all this trouble just to reclaim any old piece? Or was his interest related to the ring's value? Or to its history?

Or had this been just a random robbery unrelated to anything going on in Coop's life at the moment?

Coop hadn't a clue about that, but he did know it was time to find out whether this ring was the real deal. First thing in the morning, he'd call in some favors. There had to be someone who could authenticate the ring without calling attention to the fact that it had once been stolen. Then he'd put the ring in a safe deposit box in the bank.

Just in case.

 

L
EXIE WOKE UP
to sun streaming through the window and the crooning sound of Perry Como coming from the CD player in the kitchen. Grandma loved Perry Como.

Somehow Lexie needed to broach the history of the necklace with her grandmother without arousing the older woman's suspicions that Lexie had an ulterior motive beyond curiosity about the past. Before she even thought about how, she needed caffeine.

Lexie padded to the kitchen in her T-shirt and bare feet, craving coffee before she could start her day. On her way, she passed her grandmother hunched over the computer in the den, Sylvia standing beside her.

“Morning,” Lexie mumbled.

Both women jumped. “Mercy, you startled me!” Charlotte said.

“Good morning, darling,” Sylvia said. “Go get your coffee so you'll be human, then we can talk to you.”

The two women knew Lexie's morning routine as well as Lexie herself. In the kitchen, she poured her coffee from the pot her grandmother had waiting and added milk. All the while, she heard arguing in the other room. She couldn't make out the words, but given the way Charlotte and Sylvia bickered over everything from the brand of hair dye to use on each other, to which colored deck of cards they
would break out for gin rummy, Lexie didn't strain herself to hear.

A few delicious sips of hot coffee later, the caffeine began flowing through her veins. She waited a few more minutes to savor her morning brew and let the jolt of awareness kick in before heading to rejoin her grandmother and her friend.

“Hi!” Lexie said, kissing first her grandmother then Sylvia.

“There she is, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.” Grandma Charlotte pinched her cheek. “I tried to wait up for you last night but I was too pooped.”

Lexie smiled. “Sleep is good for you.”

“Tell me about your date!” her grandmother said.

“I already told you last night it wasn't a date. It was just a business meeting. Web-design stuff,” Lexie said, more truthfully this morning than when she'd fudged about meeting a client last night.

She
would
be working on designs for Coop's Web site. She also happened to have designs
on
him.

Vivid memories of his knee brushing hers came rushing back to her. His strong fingers wrapped around her hand, his thumb drawing lazy circles on her skin, making her tingle and burn. The man's effect on her had been so potent it was difficult to remember she also had to keep an eye on whatever information they discovered about the ring and the necklace, protect her grandmother and hopefully
end up with the ring in her possession. That was her endgame. Even if the path there held the potential to be an extremely exciting trip.

“Look, Sylvia, she's blushing!” Grandma Charlotte said, pointing to Lexie's cheeks. “Just a client, my patootie.”

“Keep eating that farmer cheese and your patootie will keep growing,” Sylvia said to her friend before turning to Lexie. “Your grandmother is right about something else, too.”

Sylvia pressed a finger to Lexie's cheek. “Yep. You're beet red.”

Lexie rolled her eyes. “You both really need to get a life instead of worrying so much about mine.” Lexie focused on the computer behind them. “So what were you two up to before I woke up? Practicing some of the things I taught you?” she asked her grandmother.

“Well…I…”

“We were just…”

Lexie looked over the stammering women's shoulders but a screen saver prevented her from seeing the actual screen. The words
Born Free
wound their way around the monitor in 3D.

Lexie narrowed her gaze. “I didn't set that up.” And it would take someone pretty proficient with a Mac to know how to do it.

“Oh, I did,” Sylvia jumped in. “I wanted to prove to your grandmother that I was smarter than she is,
so while you're giving her private lessons here, I'm taking my own at the Apple store. And voilà!” She swept her hand toward the screen. “Try doing that,
Miss Giggle Me a Bachelor Blog
.” Sylvia grinned, obviously proud of herself.

Lexie laughed at the women's one-upmanship. “Grandma, you're going to have to step up your game if you want to be able to keep up.”

“I'll show you, Ms. Smarty-Pants,” Charlotte said to her friend. “Watch how computer savvy I've become, thanks to my brilliant granddaughter. And speaking of my granddaughter, when did you start lying to your grandmother?”

“Lying?” Lexie crinkled her nose, confused by the accusation.

“The date that wasn't a date was actually something much more.” Charlotte pinned her with the stare that used to have her confessing all when she was a teenager, attempting to avoid her parents' mandatory ice-skating practice sessions. Grandma would uncover the truth, then help Lexie ditch the routine of practice for side trips to museums in the city behind her parents' backs.

“Grandma, let's try being straightforward. What are you talking about?”

“Pictures don't lie. Not only did you have a real date last night, but it was with that sexy Bachelor Blog reporter.” Charlotte waggled her already
penciled eyebrows. An early riser, she always had on a full face of makeup before Lexie woke up.

“Pictures?” Lexie asked warily. Charlotte and Sylvia glanced at each other, then with a shrug, Sylvia pushed the mouse. The movement shut off the screen saver, revealing the Web page beneath.

Lexie adjusted her eyeglasses and leaned in for a better look. The caption on the morning edition of the Bachelor Blog read,
Newest Bachelor Works Fast. Is an Engagement Next?
and below it were two grainy photos. The first was of Coop showing Lexie the ring. And the other was of Lexie
wearing
said ring while Coop looked on with an adorable grin on his handsome face.

“Oh my God!” Lexie muttered. She hadn't seen anyone take a picture. Boy, people could be sneaky.

“Look how smitten he looks!” Sylvia said dreamily.

Smitten? Before Lexie could reply to that, her grandmother walked up to her and poked her on the shoulder. “How could you lie to an old woman?” She placed her hand over her heart.

Sylvia returned to surfing the Net.

“Cut the dramatics, Gran. I didn't lie. He's a client. I'm doing his Web site.”

“And the ring?”

Lexie hoped she didn't blush more and give herself away. “He was just showing it to me.”

“Does it really look like my necklace?” Charlotte asked.

Two sets of eyes stared at her, waiting for an answer.

“Actually, there are similarities.” Lexie didn't want to get her grandmother's hopes up, in case the ring was stolen and had to be returned. Until she knew more, she couldn't set the older woman up for potential hurt and disappointment. “But there are also differences. Seeing the ring got me wondering how the necklace originally came into Grandpa's possession.”

Charlotte and Sylvia exchanged a long, pointed glance. Those two could practically read each other's minds, which often left Lexie struggling unsuccessfully to interpret the meaning.

Charlotte cleared her throat. “Your grandfather was given the necklace as a substitute for payment for services rendered.”

“Driving services?” Lexie asked. Her grandfather had been a chauffeur to various wealthy families over the years.

Charlotte nodded. “So when can I see?” she asked.

“The ring?” Lexie asked.

“No, silly girl. When can I see your suitor? I want to meet the man you are going to marry! Then
he
can show me the ring.”

Lexie rolled her eyes and waved her empty left hand at her grandmother. “I'm not engaged, Gran.”

“Pictures don't lie,” Charlotte and Sylvia repeated in unison.

They each had a one-track mind and Lexie realized that until she humored them about Coop, her grandmother would keep changing the subject away from the necklace.