Lucky Streak (Lucky 2)

But Mike didn’t hold out much hope. Renee, Mike’s mother, had threatened to leave Edward when the craziness became too much for her to handle, and when nothing changed, she followed through. Since then Edward hadn’t changed, only sunken deeper into his own world.

The waitress arrived with their burgers. While she put their plates on the table, Mike silently thought about his parents’ so-called cursed marriage.

Renee had fallen for Edward in the early days when he’d been fairly normal. But before she’d met him, Edward had been in love with another woman, Sara Jean. And Edward’s brother, Thomas, had fallen in love with her, too. When Sara married Thomas, something in Edward died. Rumors she’d been Edward’s second choice and Edward’s own hard-to-live-with personality, which only grew worse over time, led Renee to finally leave him.

Mike’s mother was now happily married to a doctor and living a normal life. Mike envied her.

Mike would do what he could for his cousin and his wife, but knowing Edward, once he had his mind set on a course of action regarding the curse, nothing would change his mind.

Mike turned his attention to lunch. “I’m starving. Long day in court,” he said, taking a large bite of the burger without bothering to add ketchup first.

“So on to more exciting things. How was Vegas?” Derek asked, taking a bite, as well.

At the mention of the subject Mike had been trying not to think about without any success, he lost his appetite.

“That good a time?” Derek asked into the silence.

Mike knew if there was anyone he could trust with the truth, it was his cousin Derek. “You know that expression ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’?”

The other man inclined his head. “Yeah…?”

Mike drew a deep breath and told his cousin the entire story.

“So basically both the woman and the cash stayed in Vegas,” Derek concluded for him. He shook his head. “Holy shit. Why don’t you press charges? You’re a cop, after all.”

“That is why. Where’s my credibility after I admit publicly that I let myself be taken in by the oldest con in the book?” And that’s what still got to him.

What prevented him from sleeping on the plane back to Boston late Saturday night and again in his own bed last evening. How had he misread Amber so completely? Her sincere gaze, her genuine excitement, that connection.

“I have to talk to her again first.” Because things just didn’t add up. He was a cop who acted on gut instinct and he was seldom wrong.

“Ego.” Derek finished his soda and signaled for a refill. “You can’t admit she conned you, so you’re going to let her get away with it?”

“I’m going back to Vegas first chance I get. I’m going to find her, and then get some answers, and a divorce.”

“Don’t forget to press charges,” Derek said. “Now I have another question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“To quote Jay Leno to Hugh Grant, ‘What the hell were you thinking?’”

He hadn’t been thinking. He’d been feeling and everything he’d felt had been so damn good. Which only made him feel more like a fool in the cold light of day.

“Never mind. Let me know when you plan to go back. I’ll go along and help you out,” Derek said.

“I appreciate it.” But Mike probably wouldn’t call his cousin.

Next time he faced Amber, he wanted to be alone.

A little while later, Mike left Derek and headed to the station to finish up some paperwork before starting his shift tomorrow. He’d taken today off in case court ran long, so he might as well make productive use of the rest of his day.

By the time he headed home, jet lag and plain old exhaustion beat at him. He let himself into his apartment and was immediately on alert. The dead bolt wasn’t flipped shut. He’d been tired this morning, but he couldn’t have been too tired to lock up.

Hand on his holstered weapon, he stepped inside. Everything seemed normal. He walked through the entry, gave a cursory glance into the kitchen, passed the empty den, entered his bedroom and nearly keeled over.

Amber lay in his bed wearing nothing but one of his collared shirts. She was a vision. The shirt was buttoned low, showing off a generous hint of cleavage, making his mouth water. Her long, bare legs peeked from beneath the hem of the too-big shirt. Her red-painted toenails teased him from beneath his navy blanket. And those riotous blond curls fell over her shoulders in gorgeous disarray, making him forget everything but his body’s immediate and obvious reaction.

He blinked, certain she was nothing more than a mirage, but when he opened his eyes, the vision remained. That was when he noticed the rest.