was an incredibly handsome man. He would never look twice at someone like her. And she didn’t want him to.
Did she?
Penny met her at the back door and took the equipment off her hands. “He’s on the phone with Rialto,” she announced.
Excitement surged through Kendra. Finally, after all this time, her plan was going to happen.
“I have a meeting with Rialto tomorrow morning,” Rafe announced, when he rejoined them in the kitchen. The long table was set with three places and Rosa bustled about the stove, humming to herself.
“I’m surprised he waited so long to do the interviews,” Kendra said nervously.
“He probably needed time to run checks on all the candidates,” Penny said. “Don’t worry, Rafe’s background will hold up.”
“Are the interviews at Rialto’s office?” Kendra asked.
Rafe nodded.
Rosa set plates of food in front of each of them, but Kendra barely glanced down. Rosa would scold her again in broken English, but excitement had stolen any appetite Kendra might have had. Everything was finally coming together after all this time.
“You should know about the painting,” Kendra told Rafe.
He paused in the act of lifting his fork. “What painting?”
“Rialto has a large abstract on the wall behind his desk. It’s supposed to be a Sylvian original.”
His brow pleated as Rafe looked the question at her while he chewed and swallowed.
“Rialto was briefly interested in the art scene a year or so ago. Either he wanted some legal investments or he was looking for a criminal angle,” Kendra explained.
“How come we never heard about this?” Rafe asked Penny.
“Because I’m not a computer guru?” she suggested mock sweetly.
“It wasn’t common knowledge,” Kendra assured them. “Rialto got conned by a dealer who sold him a couple of genuine pieces before this fake Sylvian. I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that the dealer vanished after duping Rialto. There was a lot of blood left behind, but no body or a weapon.”
Penny pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Rialto kept the painting?”
“I think it’s to remind him not to get taken again. Plus, I’m pretty sure he installed a miniature camera in the picture or its frame to keep an eye on his desk.”
Rafe stared at her. “How do you know all this?”
“I told you, I’ve made a study of him. The Dallas newspaper recently ran an article on him in the business section. He was pictured at his desk with the painting directly behind him.” She squirmed a little under Rafe’s scrutiny. “He also paid for the painting, and subsequently the camera, through his checking account. I could be wrong about the camera of course, but given what I know about him—”
“How do you know about his checking account?” Penny interrupted.
“I’ve, uh, seen his bank statements.”
Rafe abruptly pushed aside his own plate. “You accessed his personal account at the bank? I thought that was impossible for an outside hacker to do.”
“It is, but I did some consulting work for his bank a few months ago.” She shrugged uncomfortably. “Look, the point is, if you notice the painting and tell him what an excellent reproduction it is, you’re bound to impress him.”
Rafe shook his head. “If I do that, he’ll figure I know something about art, which I don’t.”
“No. You point out that you know someone else who bought a fraud exactly like it from Jasper Coons. He’s the crooked art dealer Rialto used. Rialto is vain. If you say it right, like you know he knows the painting is a forgery, you’ll impress him. He likes people who pay attention to details. Especially the prospective new chief of Rialto Industries.”
“She may have a point,” Penny agreed.
Rafe nodded, eyeing her thoughtfully. “Do you have other tidbits like this for me?”
“Maybe. I’ve told you I made a study of him.”
“So you did. If you’re finished ignoring your food, let’s get back to work.”
“But shouldn’t we be making plans?”
“The plans are already made, Kendra. Now we wait for him to hire me so we can put this operation in motion.”
Penny waved them off. “I’ll distract Rosa while you two make your escape.”
“You are a lifesaver.”
“So true.” She batted her eyes at him. “Let me know when you want mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.”
“Ah, Penny my love, I’m not sure my old ticker could tolerate that much excitement, but any time you want to practice…”
“Get out of here while Rosa’s back is turned.”
Rafe squeezed Penny’s hand and winked at Kendra. He was teasing, but Kendra wasn’t so sure about Penny. The other woman had a wistful gleam in her eyes. Kendra and Rafe scooted down the basement steps where Rafe proceeded to work her harder than ever while asking questions about Rialto the entire time.
“No! Not like that like—”
“Touch me again and I’m going to have to break that hand,” she warned him as he reached for her once more.
Rafe stood still. They were both sweating and she was pretty sure she was going to have a bruise from that last fall.
“I have had enough,” she announced firmly.
“Is that what you’re going to tell one of Rialto’s goons when they corner you?” He narrowed the distance between them until her chest was practically touching his.
“No,” she answered sweetly, “I’ll shoot him. In the chest,” she added for good measure.
The smile started in his eyes and finally lifted the corners of his lips. Her gaze fastened on those lips, so temptingly near. She tried to tell her hormones they were pinging after the wrong man but her hormones weren’t listening. Neither was her common sense.
“You’ll need a weapon,” he said softly, taking another step closer.
Her heart stepped up the pace as his hands touched her shoulders. Lightly. Almost tenderly.
“Yes.” The word was a faint hiss of sound. In that moment as his head lowered toward hers, she knew he felt the sensual pull between them as well. Her lips parted in silent invitation. He was going to kiss her.
At last!
“Excuse me, am I interrupting?”
Kendra
