GAMBLING ON LOVE (Travis Series) (18 page)

“And you don’t worry about yourself enough,” he scolded
.
“This case isn’t exactly in the corporate market
,
so why are you taking it?”

Beth shrugged
.
“The money was good and it sounded like a nice change
.
Who knows, maybe we’ll branch out a little.
”

Vic picked up the files on the freelance investigators
.
“By the way, have you read the fax I set on your desk while you were gone?”

“Not yet
.
Is it important
?
”

“I’m not sure.
”
He recounted the contents of the fax even as Beth picked it up and scanned the paper
.
“It’s from John Stockton
.
He wired the money but there’s a little problem
.
His brother, Roger, has skipped the country.”

“Well
,
we
half
expected that
he would
,” she said absently
as she read the fax
.
 

“Yes, but he
skipped to America
, sweetie
.
John tracked him as far as the Los Angeles airport,
and
then he seems to have dropped from the face of the earth.”

“We expected that
,
too.”

“Listen, doll.
”
Vic’s serious tone made Beth look up at him
.
“Roger Stockton is facing a lot of prison time if his brother decides to prosecute
.
He’s lost his job, his position of power, his family
,
and now his country
.
Don’t you think it’s possible he might just want to extract a little revenge on the person who took that away from him?”

“I didn’t take anything away from him,” Beth said tersely
.
“
He
did that himself when he stole from his brother.”

“In a perfect world, Roger Stockton would see that and own up to his crime
.
In
this
world, however, he’s going to blame you.”

She sighed heavily
.
“If I got worked up every time someone figured out it was me that nailed them, I’d be a nervous wreck
.
California is a big state and a good place to get lost in
.
He probably chose to come here for that reason.”
 

Vic gave her a skeptical look
.
“Just watch yourself
.
I love you
, Beth,
you know I do
.
If anything happened to you, I’d be devastated.

“Worry-wart,” she mumbled.

“Well, someone has to worry about you
because
you won’t do it yourself
.
I think it would be a good idea to circulate his picture around the office so our people will be aware if he does show up
.
I also think you should tell Sam.”

“Fine, circulate his picture here, but I won’t have Sam worrying about it when Stockton
is
probably in south California by now
—or even over the Mexican border—
just sunning his buns without a care in the world.”

“You’re being stubborn, Beth.”

“And you’re being over-protective
and
annoying
.
Now go get my guys lined up and let me finish my work.”

After Vic left to make his calls and get the jewelry she’d asked for, Beth scanned the rest of the fax
.
John Stockton must have been worried his brother would actually come after her because he assured
Beth
he had men trying to track Roger down and would let her know as soon as they caught up with him
.
She set the fax
aside
.
Despite
what she’d told Vic, a gnawing fear wormed its way through her
.

Roger Stockton had lost everything important to him and somehow he’d found out who and where she was
.
Beth couldn’t dismiss the idea that he just might come after her, but what would he do
?
He was a liar and an embezzler, not a killer
.
She rubbed her throbbing temples
.

Desperation made people do a lot of things they wouldn’t even have dreamed of doing if they were in their right minds
.
And r
ight
now, Roger Stockton was a very desperate man.

“We need to talk,” Sam said that night after they’d settled on the deck to watch the sun go down
.

He was stretched out on one of the lounge chairs in a pair of snug jeans and a muscle shirt, and Beth was finding it very difficult to concentrate on anything but the allure of running her fingers over the corded muscles of his chest
.
She was curled up on his lap, quite content to have his strong arms wrapped protectively around her
.
She tipped her head back, her lips already parting for the anticipated kiss but Sam shook his head.

“Don’t try
to
distract me with those
tempting
lips of yours either,” he said sternly.

“Why do I get the feeling I’m about to be lectured?”

“Because you are
.
And if you know Vic half as well as you tell me you do, then you’ll also know what I’m about to say.”

“The little traitor,” she mumbled.

“This is serious, Anne.”

“He shouldn’t have worried you, Sam
.
I asked him not to.”

“Don’t lay the blame on Vic
.
He did it because he cares about you
.
You should have told me yourself
.
I also want a copy of Stockton’s picture so I can keep an eye out for him myself.”

“You’re both being over-protective ogres,” she complained.

Sam’s voice softened
.
“I love you, Anne
.
I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Nothing’s going to happen to me
.
Besides, I’ll be safely tucked away for the next few days at the Laguna Beach Country Club Hotel under the name of Lizzie Sweet.”

“A new assignment?”

Beth nodded
.
“One of the employees has been helping themselves to the guests
’
jewelry.”

Sam frowned
.
“What about me?”

She pressed a kiss to his lips
.
“I thought you might like to play the part of my bad-boy lover
.
You’d still have your days free to go to the office, but you could meet me there when you got off work
.
What do you think?”

“Depends
.
What does it pay?”

“Nothing, but you get to sleep with your partner.”

“I’ll give it some thought,” he said
and
then yelped when she pinched the tender skin on his side
.
Sam lowered his head and brushed her lips with a kiss
.
“You know in some cultures
that’s
considered foreplay.”

“It is not
!
You’re making it up just like you made up th
at
story about the kitchen appliances.”

“That appliance story still has potential,” he drawled.

“I’m not talking to you anymore.”

Sam chuckled
.
“By the way, I loved your office.”

“I still haven’t forgiven you…”
Beth’s
voice trailed off
when Sam quirked an amused brow. Okay, so she wasn’t very good at dishing out the silent treatment
.
Or resisting his addictive kisses, it seemed, because she didn’t offer a word of protest when he lowered his
head and plundered her mouth
.
She was still feeling the dizzying effect of it as
they watched the sun slip below the horizon
.
They sat in silence for a time
,
enjoying the warm breeze and the comfort of each other’s arms.
 

“Maybe you should stay at my house for a
while,” Sam said thoughtfully.

She sat up and stared at him
.
“Why?”

“Why
?
Because some lunatic is out there looking for you and if
I
can find your house,
he
can find your house
.
It only took me one phone call
.
Granted, he may not have the resources in the
S
tates
that I do, but it wouldn’t be too hard to follow you home one day and you’d never even know it.”

“What’s to keep him from following me to your house
?
No,” Beth shook her head, “I’m not being chased out of my own home.”

“You’re not being chased out
.
Besides, I’ve spent time at your house
;
now you can spend time at mine.”

“For how long, Sam
?
I love it here
;
it grounds me.”

He pulled her back into his arms
.
“Come home with me, Anne
.
We can spend the weekdays in Beverly Hills and the weekends here when I can be with you.”

“I don’t want you to have to play bodyguard.”

“Sweetheart, I can’t think of anyone’s body I want to guard more than yours.”

“Sam
…
”

“I’m being serious, Anne
.
Come home with me.”

“What about your reputation
?
Aren’t you afraid it
will
be
tarnished
if you bring a woman home for more than one night?”

Sam didn’t answer for a moment
.
“I’ve never brought a woman to my house before,” he finally said
.
“Not in the fifteen years I’ve lived there.”

Beth lifted her head and saw the truth of it in his eyes
.
“
Never
?”
Sam shook his head slowly
.
“Why not?”

“Because I wanted it to
remain
untouched
.
”
At the perplexed expression on her face, Sam explained.
“My relationships with women have been brief and emotionally void because that’s how I wanted it. I’ve always been open about it so there were no misunderstandings
, no demands to invade my private life, no hysterical break-ups. But I knew that one day I would take a wife and didn’t want my past haunting her…us.

“
Women obsess about things like that,” he stated, his tone matter-of-fact. “
When I bring my wife home,
I don’t want her to wonder how many other women have shared my bed
.
I decided a long time ago that when
I
find
the woman I
intend
to spend
the rest of
my life
with
,
she will never have to worry that a previous lover has
left memories in our home.
I want her
to
know it
’s
hers, only hers.”

Beth’s heart sank
.
“I can’t, Sam
.
If we don’t work out, then I’ll have ruined your beautiful gift to the woman you love.”

“You
are
the woman I love, Anne.”

“You say that now, but
…
”

“And I’ll be saying it ten years from now,” he interrupted, “and twenty years from now.
”
He kissed her tenderly
.
“I’ll be saying it fifty years from now
.
I love you, Anne.”

She pulled away from him
.
“Sam
…
”

“
This is
not a discussion,” he said firmly
.
“
Until Stockton is found, you will
stay at my house during
the weekdays
,
and that’s final.”

She opened her mouth to argue
,
then pressed her lips together and settled back into his arms
.
“Yes, Sam,” she said demurely
.
She closed her eyes, enjoying the gentle way he cradled her and the soft caress of his warm hand on her back
.
“This is nice,” she said sleepily.

Sam stared out at the ocean, his mind rewinding something she’d said earlier
.
“I
would
never cheat on you, Anne
;
you know that
,
don’t you?”

Beth opened her eyes
.
“What made you say that?”

“It was what you said about my reputation and bringing a woman home for more than one night
.
I can’t undo what I’ve done in the past
.
Those other women
…
”

“Didn’t mean a thing to you,” she finished his sentence as she sat up again
.
“You’ve never lied to me about the way you were before we met and that, probably more than anything, makes me trust you now
.
I’ve heard the rumors
.
I know when you first took over your father’s company, the tabloids had a
heyday
.
I was also told there was some sort of scandal and that shortly afterwards you stopped being hot news.”

Sam looked surprised
.
“Who told you about that?”

“One of my investigators.”

His brows drew together
.
“You had me invest
igat
ed?”

“No, of course not
!
She just dropped in because she saw us leaving for lunch together
.
When I told her your name, she said
you were in all
the gossip magazines
until shortly after taking over at SST.
Then she mentioned the rest about the scandal.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me about it?”

“No
.
I
f
,
or
when
,
you want to tell me, you w
ill
.
Look Sam, I don’t care about any of it
.
I wouldn’t have any business being with you if it was going to bother me every time it came up.”

“You’re an amazing woman, Anne.”

“No
,
I’m not
.
I’m just a woman in love
.
I’ll take whatever time you’re willing to give me.”

Sam grinned
.
“Does this mean I’ll be sharing my closet space?”

“
Sharing
?
You’ll be lucky if I leave you enough room to hang a few shirts.”

“It’ll be nice having your clothes hanging next to mine.
”
He swung his legs over the side of the lounge
chair
and stood with her still in his arms
.
“It’ll be even nicer having you in my bed.”

Beth wrapped her arms around his neck
.
“I thought you liked
my
bed.”

Sam kissed her
.
“I love your bed, but you’ll be safer in mine.
”
He headed into the house, stopping only long enough for her to lean back
to
close the sliding doors and lock them before walking purposefully to her room
.
“Shall we give your bed a good-bye romp?”

“Only one?”

Sam eased her onto the bed, lowering himself over her
.
“My beautiful
Anne,
once is never enough with you
…
”

 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                       *
**

Vic handed her the mail he’d already opened
,
along with three that were sealed
.
Beth held the envelopes up
.
“Vic, I’ve told you a million times you can open the ones that say personal and confidential.”

“It’s against the law.”

“Well
,
who in here do you think is going to report you to the mail police?”