Kiss Me, Kelly Read online

  “The gold and the shape of the links reminded me of the little gold flecks in your eyes,” he said. “I noticed them that first night, when we were dancing. Do you like it?”

  “I…Yes, it’s lovely, but I…” She faltered over her words. Of course she liked it. It was beautiful and unreasonably extravagant. What woman wouldn’t like it? She wanted to keep it and hold it dear because it was a gift from Elgin, but she was also aware of a policeman’s wages. He simply couldn’t afford to give her such a gift.

  “But what?” he asked. “But you already have two just like it?”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. “No. I’ve never owned anything like this.” She swung the chain from side to side, watching it shimmer in the sunlight. “It’s so beautiful and you’re so…” She looked up at him. “You’re so wonderful for wanting to give it to me, but how can you afford this?”

  Her last words rushed out of her mouth as if they were on fire. She knew she was taking the chance of insulting him, but she couldn’t let him go into bankruptcy for her either.

  “If I wasn’t sure before, I am now,” he said, giving no indication that her concern had offended him. “You know cops—and how much money they make. But you don’t need to worry this time, babe.” He took the chain from her and began to work on the clasp. “My plastic is feeling a little used and abused at the moment, but it’ll survive. I don’t have a mortgage, or kids to raise, remember?” He held the necklace to her throat, slipping his hands to the back of her neck to secure it. When he was finished, his hand slid to her face and he kissed her deeply and sweetly. “I want you to have it, Kelly. It pleases me very much to see it on you.” He looked down at the chain, then back at her with a sly glint in his eyes. “Actually, it would please me more to see you with only the chain on and nothing else. Makes me hot all over just thinkin’ about it.”

  She laughed, even as she reached up in her near disbelief to touch the chain.

  “I knew there had to be some ulterior motive behind all this,” she said in like humor, then from her heart she added, “Thank you, Elgin.”

  He shook his head. “No strings. The necklace doesn’t have anything to do with anything else, except for the fact that I think you’re a terrific woman…and I care for you.”

  This time she instigated the kiss. She wrapped her arms around him and relished the warmth and welcome of his lips, the light, giving touch of his hands, and the sensation that time was standing still for them.

  He lowered her head to the crook in his arm, blending deep, searching kisses with tiny sensual nibbles that aroused her to mania. He was a wizard with the power to drug her senses. He cast a spell of enchantment on her, locking out all concerns, fear, and doubt. Together, they were the definition of Tightness. They were perfect and meant to be.

  He raised his head and looked down at her, his eyes bright with emotions. Yearning, elation, a fierce possessiveness, and, to Kelly’s confusion, a certain amount of sadness and regret.

  Gently, he pushed a few loose curls away from her face. “These are your choices, babe. You can let me love you right here, right now. Or we can make our dinner reservation and make love later. Or we can turn around, grab a burger on the way back, and make love in the first bed we find unoccupied.”

  Her laugh was soft and breathless. Right here, right now held a great appeal for her. She was a blaze of need and unspent passion. She had no uncertainty about the open field or the cows. She had no qualms about the length of her acquaintance with Elgin, because she had no misgivings about her feelings for him or about making love with him. It would be the most natural thing in the world to do at that moment.

  The strange look in his eyes, though, the sorrow and remorse, kept her from pulling him close and accepting the outcome of all three of his options. That sadness wasn’t the principal player in his demeanor, but it was definitely present, and very disconcerting. He wanted her and he cared about her, those emotions were plain to see. She wasn’t sure if he was even aware of his own hesitancy, but she sensed that if they were to make love at that moment, it would somehow distress him.

  “Maybe we should keep our reservation and see how it goes after that,” she said, watching his expression for signs of relief, a release of whatever was bothering him.

  All she saw was reluctant understanding and disappointment before he kissed her twice more; once gently on the tip of her nose, then again on her lips. He tickled her insides with his smile, and she wondered if she hadn’t made a mistake.

  A short time later, Baker was suffering an adult-sized headache.

  He was a master manipulator and he had Kelly right where he wanted her. She’d fallen for his charms—hook, line, and sinker. She’d fallen in love with him, given him her trust, and believed him to be an honest man. So why was he feeling so miserable?

  Why did he hate himself and the life he’d chosen to lead more than anything else in the world? Why couldn’t he look her in the eye? Why did he feel computerized inside, as if he were an empty, nonfeeling machine?

  “Elgin!” Kelly shouted to be heard over the rush of air that filled the car as they whooshed along the interstate with the windows open. He glanced at her and realized it hadn’t been her first attempt to get his attention. “You’re going in the wrong direction,” she said. “We should be going north, not south.”

  “Not if we’re having dinner in Atlantic City,” he shouted back.

  “Atlantic City?” She smiled and nodded her approval of his scheme. “Chilidogs by moonlight on the Boardwalk.”

  Not exactly, babe, he told her silently, as his smile encouraged her misconception. He pressed harder on the gas pedal to shorten the trip and the time he had to change his mind. Every second he spent with her was becoming harder to bear. To look at the happiness in her face was an agony for him.

  There were lots of towns along the shores of New Jersey with boardwalks—Point Pleasant, Spring Lake, Asbury Park. But it was the famous Boardwalk in Atlantic City that Baker needed in order to carry out his plan. Arrangements had been made. He was in too deep. He’d come too far, sacrificed too much to turn the clock back and start over. His determination wavered again and again as Kelly excitedly pointed out one landmark casino after another along the Boardwalk, but it didn’t crumble. He was still determined to finish what he’d started, then hope for the best.

  Like a man grimly resigned to his fate, he drove straight through to the marina and pulled up in front of Harrah’s. Not a high rollers casino, it attracted more of the general public. It was certainly an establishment at which he could accomplish his goals.

  “You going to ride around with the valet or come inside with me?” he asked, grinning at Kelly’s confusion as he opened the car door for her.

  “Elgin, I’m not dressed for this. My hair’s standing straight on end from the wind. I didn’t bring any—”

  He held a finger against her lips to silence her protests.

  “Didn’t surprise number one turn out okay?” She nodded. “And two?” Again she agreed. “So will number three. Trust me.” He almost gagged on the words.

  “You’re sure about this?”

  “Are we back to the money thing again?”

  With a grimace for her earlier indelicate reference, she nodded once more. He was ready with a blithe chuckle.

  “Next to Vegas, you can get more for your money here than anywhere else in the country. Food, rooms, clothes. Everything’s cheap, unless you’re addicted to gambling. That’s when it gets expensive.”

  She had apparently heard this before, as it didn’t take her long to laugh and give herself innocently over to his whims. “Okay,” she said. “You’re the tourist.”

  The room for two reserved in his name didn’t seem to alarm or surprise her. However, his suggestion that she take a nice long bubble bath while he went shopping for their clothes alarmed and surprised her a lot.

  “Will you relax?” he said. “I know what women wear. Just tell me what size you are. I know what I’
m doing.”

  But did he? he wondered. Did he know what he was doing? How much faith could you put in a woman’s love? How far could you stretch understanding and compassion? Once shattered, could such things as fragile and delicate as love and trust be repaired? Were hope and prayer going to be enough to see him through to the end? Was he risking more than he knew, and could the possibility of losing Kelly ever be worth such a risk?

  “It’s gorgeous,” she gasped a short while later, wrapped in a thick rose-colored towel, another wound around her head like a turban. She lifted the gold lamé gown from the box and held it up against her body. “So beautiful,” she whispered, her eyes shining.

  “You are so beautiful,” he said, unable to stem the urge to be close to her. “That’s a dull, drab dress by comparison.”

  Skin as smooth and pale as cream, tinted to a rosy glow by good health and fine emotions, beckoned him to touch. He slowly caressed her shoulders, following the slender lines of her neck and arms. She dropped the dress back into the box, stepping closer as he enfolded her in his arms.

  To kiss her was heaven. To take her body and soul and make her his own was his most coveted wish. More than anything, though, he wanted simply to hold her, to feel her warmth, her energy, her life connected with his. He closed his eyes and filled his senses with her sweet scent. He hailed fantasy to invade his troubled thoughts and dreamed that time had come to a screeching halt. In his vision, Kelly remained in his arms for all time. He felt no heartache or misery…and neither did she. Peace and contentment ruled his world in those moments, before the spell was broken.

  She pulled away to look up into his face, her golden brown eyes brimming with gentle sympathy.

  “You’re worried about the investigation, aren’t you?” she asked.

  “A little,” he said with a practiced shrug. Straining to sound upbeat, he added, “But not enough to let it spoil our night together. You shimmy into that dress while I shower, and then we’ll go down and paint this casino red. How about it? You with me?”

  “All the way,” she said, smiling.

  “Do you want to rephrase that?”

  She thought about it briefly.

  “No, I don’t think I do,” she said, teasing him with her eyes.

  Kelly was amazed to discover that Cloud Nine was only six inches above the floor. She viewed the entire casino from a normal perspective, but the cloud kept her feet from touching ground. It presented the evening like one of those dreams that was so real, when she awoke she couldn’t distinguish it from actual memories.

  The casino was huge with nine or ten different kinds of places to eat, and shops of every type and variety possible. She’d never seen anything like it.

  They had a private cove in a huge, opulent dining room. The lights were low and romantic as candlelight flickered across their faces, highlighting their intent expressions. Adding height to Kelly’s elation, Elgin didn’t seem to have any trouble focusing his attention on her. The room came furnished with a horde of beautiful women, but he had eyes only for her; words only for her; tender touches…only for her.

  They took their time and basked in the glow of their love. Their dinner came and went. The waiter brought more champagne and then faded into the shadows. They sat close with their heads together, whispering, teasing, and laughing. Could life get better than perfect? Kelly didn’t waste a second to wonder about it. She was too busy living it.

  “I’m feeling real lucky right now, how about you?” Elgin asked, giving her shoulders a little squeeze.

  “Very lucky.”

  “That makes us a double whammy. We could probably own this place by morning, you know.”

  She laughed. Nothing about the night would surprise her, but she had to ask, “How?”

  “We’ll break the house. We’ll win every penny in the vault before we make them put up the deed to this place to cover our last bet.”

  “I’m not feeling that lucky.”

  “Well, I am.” He motioned for the waiter to bring their tab, hardly turning his gaze from her face. “Whatdaya say, babe? Shall we try our luck? Shake our fists at fate?”

  “Rolling for drinks is about as daring as I get. I’ve never really gambled before.”

  “You gamble every time you get out of bed, sweetheart. You took a big gamble coming here with me. Everybody gambles. It just seems scarier when you’re using chips because we’re more afraid of losing our money than our lives.”

  “Well, when you put it that way…” she said, giggling at his persuasive logic. Leave it to Elgin to come up with the ultimate argument, she mused lightheartedly as he took her hand and led her out of the dining room to the gaming tables.

  Elgin was a patient and tolerant teacher. Where her grandfather and brothers, and even Tommy, would have blown a gasket at the amounts of money she lost playing blackjack, he took it in stride. And where she normally would have stopped playing because of her losses, she didn’t. Elgin was very good at the game and kept slipping her his winnings when she ran out of chips. Together, she estimated they were breaking even.

  Or at least she hoped so. The color of the chips kept changing on her. Originally they’d started with red chips. But as the game progressed and the chips came and went, she soon had a mixture of red and green chips.

  “How much are these red chips worth?” she asked, worried that she might be losing too much of Elgin’s money and fully prepared to stop at any time.

  “Five dollars. Whites are a dollar. Pinks are two-fifty.”

  “Oh. Well, couldn’t we just play with the pink and white ones? I’d feel a lot better about losing your money if I wasn’t losing so much of it.”

  He grinned at her, then leaned over to give her a peck on the cheek. “You worry too much. And in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m doing pretty well over here. Those green ones are worth twenty-five, so relax. I’ve got you covered.”

  She did try to relax. However, she made Elgin laugh and shake his head in hopelessness when she exchanged her four green chips for twenty red ones before she began betting again.

  They went from table to table, trying different games with much the same results. Elgin winning and her losing. Big time. It was at craps that Elgin met his match.

  He explained the game and they placed frontline bets while the dice went from player to player around the table. Kelly took her turn first. The croupier didn’t seem to recognize any other numbers but two, three, or twelve—probably because that was all she was able to roll. By the time she realized her mistake—betting on her own luck—she was down to her last chip. She bet against herself and the stickman called out a seven.

  She knew when to give up and pass the dice to a real gambler. Elgin traded her another fistful of chips for the dice.

  “You play with these while I clean up,” he said, and winked at her. He handed the boxman more money, received his chips and made his bet. At first he placed his bets, choosing any number between four and ten, except seven, to win. He didn’t crap out the way Kelly had, but his chips started disappearing at an alarming rate. He produced a few more bills, for which he got black chips instead of red or green, and told Kelly he was going to win the hard way.

  Hard-way bets, it turned out, could only be won if the dice produced an even number between four and ten, and only if they had an equal number of dots on each die. He liked six and eight and could throw them in every conceivable combination of dots, except three and three, or four and four.

  Once again, Elgin passed money to the man in charge of the chips, but this time the man handed him purple chips in return. He tried different strategies, but seemed to lose no matter how many dots came up on the dice.

  It was a fast game, and Kelly had some difficulty keeping track of the rules and the various possibilities for betting. It hardly mattered though. She had exhausted her supply of red chips once again.

  When Elgin offered her more, she refused. She was far more interested in the change in his behavior, than in losing more chips
to the casino. He was like somebody new, someone she hadn’t met before.

  With every change in the color of his chips, his tension level increased. He grew more pensive, more aggressive. He had long since passed the dice on to the next player at the table, yet he still swore over the dots that came faceup as if he had some control over them.

  “Would you like to try another game? Roulette maybe?” she asked, trying to distract him, break his concentration. “We don’t seem to be any good at craps.”

  “Hang on, babe,” he said, absently flinging one arm around her to give her a reassuring hug. “We can still do it. A little luck and we’ll get ol’ Jerry there to call upstairs and have them bring down the deed to this place.”

  “I think our luck’s run out at this table.”

  “Ha. With you by my side, I feel like the luckiest man alive,” he said, although he didn’t sound as if he really meant it. He was too busy trying to decide where to place his next wager.

  His purple chips dwindled, so he switched to orange chips and continued to bet. That was when Kelly’s first suspicions took root in her heart, spreading rapidly throughout her consciousness like a deadly virus. That was when she happened to catch sight of one of the bills Elgin was handing to the boxman.

  It was a one-hundred-dollar bill. And it wasn’t alone. It was folded over several other bills, but she couldn’t see their denominations. Still, she calculated, with the number of chips he’d purchased at the craps table alone and with both of them losing steadily, Elgin had lost a lot of money. If each chip were worth five dollars, they’d wasted several hundred dollars already.

  Trouble was, she knew that only the red chips were worth five dollars. And Elgin seemed to hold a great resentment toward playing with pink and white chips, which meant that all the other colors were worth more than five dollars each. Greens were twenty-five, but what of the rest? Ten? Fifteen? Twenty? Or more than twenty-five?

  “How much are those black chips worth, Elgin?” she asked, leaning closer to him to be heard.