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He was still stealing, he mused somewhat bitterly, but instead of gold and silver and fancy baubles, he stole the life’s blood of his victims.
He snorted softly. The humans in the room were no better than he was. He could hear their innermost thoughts—the middle-aged man to his left had just embezzled three million dollars from his employer; the brunette at the other end of the bar was having an affair with her husband’s brother; the well-dressed black man standing near the entrance was checking the crowd, looking for an easy mark. The balding man on his right had just lost his job and was contemplating suicide.
Straightening, Rhys closed his mind to those standing nearby. He had no interest in their mundane lives, didn’t care a lick whether they solved their problems or not. What mattered was that it was almost midnight. Time to visit Shore’s and the ever so lovely Megan DeLacey.
Megan paused in the act of hanging a new pair of slacks on the circular rack in the center of the store. Rhys was coming. She knew it by the sudden, rapid increase of her heartbeat, by the way her skin grew warm all over.
She was trying to figure out the how and the why of her reaction when he walked into the store.
Tall and blond and wearing clothes she had sold him, he looked like he had just stepped off the cover of GQ. She couldn’t help wondering if he had spent as many minutes as she had deciding what to wear.
He smiled his hypnotic smile as he closed the distance between them. For a moment, she forgot where she was, forgot everything but the incredible attraction that flowed between them. What was there about him that left her feeling weak and shivery inside, that made her want to give him anything he desired?
“Megan, how pretty you look this evening.”
“As do you.”
His dark eyes reflected his pleasure at her words.
His nearness made her nervous on several levels. She folded her hands to keep from fidgeting. “Did you come for the other half of your reward?”
“Reward?”
“The new coat Mr. Parker offered you. To replace the ruined one, remember?” She forced a smile. She hated being reminded of that dreadful night.
“Oh, that.”
“Yes, that.” He couldn’t possibly have come to buy more clothes. He had already purchased enough shirts, pants, ties, and socks to keep three men clothed for a year. What would she do when he tired of coming into the shop? The nights would be unbearably dull when he no longer stopped by.
Before he could reply, the front door opened and Drexel swept inside, followed by his entourage. The young rock star was dressed as flamboyantly as always, from his fluorescent green shirt to his mustard-colored slacks. He wore his long brown hair slicked back. A diamond stud sparkled in the lobe of one ear. His hazel eyes lit up when he saw Megan. Grinning, he swaggered toward her.
She didn’t know what other stores he frequented when he was in town, but one thing was certain; he hadn’t bought that garish outfit at Shore’s.
“Hey, babe, what’s shakin’?” His exuberance faded a bit when he noticed Rhys. “Who’s this guy?”
“Drexel, this is Mr. Costain. He’s a new client of mine.”
“Yeah, well, nice to meet ya, dude, but I’m gonna need Megan for an hour or two. I’ve got a happenin’ gig tomorrow night, and I need to look smokin’ hot.”
“You should have called in advance,” Megan quietly reminded him.
“It’s a last minute thing. I just found out about it this morning, babe. I need something fresh, and I need it now.”
Megan looked up at Rhys. “Do you mind?”
Rhys shrugged. Had Drexel been a grown man, he would have quickly put him in his place, but what the hell, he had all night, and the kid couldn’t be more than eighteen or nineteen. “Go ahead, I’ll wait.”
Megan smiled at Rhys as she led Drexel away.
Rhys grinned as he heard Drexel say, “So, babe, when are you gonna marry me?”
As Megan helped Drexel put together an outfit guaranteed to get him noticed, she was ever aware that Rhys’s gaze followed her every move. Drexel never stopped flirting with her, never stopped complimenting her. Once, when he used a line she recognized from a recent movie, she saw Rhys smile. Had he overheard what Drexel said? But that was impossible. Drexel had spoken to her in a whisper, and Rhys had been at the other end of the store.
Megan breathed a sigh of relief when, after a grueling two hours, Drexel finally rounded up his entourage and left the store. In those two hours, he had proposed three times and tried to kiss her twice. On his way out, he had given her two tickets to his upcoming concert and told her he would send a limo to pick her up. Megan would have refused the tickets, but it had been easier, and quicker, just to smile and accept. Besides, it might be fun.
Megan smiled at Rhys, surprised he had waited so long. “He’s like a tornado, that one,” she remarked.
“If he lays a hand on you, he’ll answer to me.”
“Oh, for goodness sake. He’s just a kid.”
“He’s old enough.”
“I don’t believe what I’m hearing,” Megan exclaimed. “Not to mention the fact that it’s none of your business.”
“You think not?”
Megan glared at him, momentarily speechless. And then her temper kicked in. “I don’t have to answer to you, Mr. Costain, or to anyone else, for that matter. Just because we shared a glass of wine doesn’t make you my keeper. Good night.”
With a toss of her head, she pivoted on her heel and stalked into Mr. Parker’s office, where she slammed the door so hard, the glass rattled.
Rhys stared after her, one brow raised in wry amusement. His kitten wasn’t as tame as she appeared. But that was all right, he thought with a grin. He liked a woman with a little fire in her blood.
Mr. Parker looked up from the papers scattered across his desk when Megan stormed into his office. “What’d Drexel do now?”
“Nothing,” Megan said quickly.
Mr. Parker regarded her quizzically for a moment, then shrugged. “I’m ready to lock up.” He gathered the papers on his desk and dropped them into a drawer. “You ready to call it a night?”
“More than ready.”
“He’s like a whirling dervish, that boy,” Mr. Parker remarked, fishing his keys out of his pocket. “But he’s sure good for our bottom line.”
No doubt about that, Megan thought. Drexel had spent enough tonight to pay the rent on the building.
