Rarities Unlimited 03 - Die in Plain Sight

shit.”
    “That’s my line.”
    “Sue me,” he said huskily.
    He reeled in his jaw and told himself he was out of his mind. They had just destroyed the bed and each other, and he was thinking about peeling off that siren dress and sinking so far into her that they both would want to scream. It would be good, so damn good.
    “Promise you’ll wear that for me later,” he said.
    Lacey quit tugging at the fabric and looked at him for the first time. His half-lowered eyelids and smoky voice made her feel like the sexiest woman alive.
    “How about if I wear it now?” she asked.
    “You wear it and you don’t leave the room until I’m too weak to lick your lips. I’m thinking that would be some time next week.” He blew out a hard breath. “What else did your mother bring?”
    Lacey told herself she didn’t swing her hips that extra bit when she walked to the closet, but she knew she did. If she’d had any doubt, it was erased when Ian stood so close behind her that she could feel his heartbeat against her back.
    “Lots of little black dresses,” she said. “I was feeling more…frisky.”
    “You’re killing me.”
    She laughed and pulled out a dress that was as much blue as black, and an electric blue jacket that went with it. “Is this mother-of-the-bride-ish enough for you?”
    “Is that neckline legal?”
    “Since when do you have a thing against a little décolletage?”
    Ian opened his mouth to deny the onset of prudery. Then he shut it. “It’s recent. Should I be worried?”
    “The jacket buttons.”
    “Then we should make it through the evening without me hauling you off into the nearest closet.”
    Lacey laughed. “You make me feel like a sex kitten.”
    “You are.”
    “Only to you.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him. “Thanks. In case you hadn’t noticed, you’re a sexy man. Really, really sexy.”
    His eyebrows lifted. “Learn something new every day.”
    A knock came on their bedroom door. “Ten minutes,” Susa said briskly.
    “We’ll be ready,” Ian said.
    “Yes, but will you be dressed?” she retorted.
    “Dang, you are one picky woman,” Ian said.
    “So I’m told. Nine minutes.”
    Ian and Lacey gave up and hurried into their clothes. She put on some basic makeup her mother had included with the wardrobe, stepped into the kind of toe-cramming, skyscraper heels she hated, and pronounced herself ready.
    Ian was just pulling his suit coat on over his shoulder harness. He was wearing the male equivalent of the little black dress: blue-black suit, cream shirt, maroon tie, black shoes.
    Lacey whistled. “You clean up real nice.”
    He gave her a sidelong look.
    She grinned and went out the bedroom door. Susa was in the adjoining sitting room wearing a devastatingly simple turquoise dress and a spiderweb necklace of South Seas pearls.
    “Wow,” Lacey said.
    Susa smiled. “Thank you.” She tilted her head. “I’ll be right back. I have some jewelry that would be perfect with your dress.”
    A moment later Susa came out of her bedroom with a pin in the shape of a single peacock feather. The eye of the feather was a magnificent black opal. The rest of the feather was made of tiny colored pearls.
    “I can’t wear that,” Lacey said hastily. “It’s too expensive.”
    “You can wear it better than I can,” Susa said matter-of-factly. “It’s too big for me, but I promised Faith and Honor—my daughters—that I’d display it anyway as a way of advertising the family businesses. They’re jewelry designers and my sons gather the gems from all over the world. So when people compliment you on the pin, tell them who made it. You’re doing us all a favor, you see.”
    “Oh.” Lacey stroked fingertips over the pin and smiled at the sheer sensuous playfulness of the piece. “Okay. Just don’t tell me how much it cost. And you fasten it in place.”
    Ian came out, saw the pin, and kicked himself for not thinking of itsooner. “Did you have your jewelry with you when the room was robbed?”
    “No. I left it in the room safe.”
    “You were lucky. The safes are better than nothing, but they won’t keep out a pro.”
    “I suspect the man wasn’t shopping for random items,” Susa said.
    “Yeah. Which makes it less likely that we’ll recover the paintings anytime soon.”
    “Why?” Lacey asked.
    “Pros don’t steal well-known art and then try to fence it cold. They have a buyer or buyers in mind before they ever plan the robbery.”
    “Lovely,”