To Touch a Thief (An Everly Gray Novella) Read Online Free

strangled, barely coherent.  
    “The CEO of Steele Management? That Parker Steele? He and Jayne are an item? Well, damn.”
    Mitch jerked away from my touch. “You know Steele?”
    “Yes, but not well. Our parents were friends. Parker and I were thrown together when my parents dragged me along to various fundraisers, and I spent a few weeks one summer at Parker’s house.”
    I snagged the nearest chair with my foot, pulled it away from the table, and sat. “But wait. Prim, proper, never wrinkled Jayne is involved with Parker? Are you sure about that? And she’s in lust? You know, Mitch, the tabloids haven’t shown him with a woman, not ever. I figured he was probably gay.”  

 
    FOUR
     
    Jayne Hunt and Parker Steele
     
    The insistent ringing of the phone greeted Jayne as she strolled into her office at Steele Management. She successfully juggled the handset and her briefcase while shrugging out of her black trench coat. “Yes, Parker?”
    The rrrriikk, squeak of his chair sounded from down the hall—a sure sign he’d leaned too far back and probably had an annoyingly smug expression on his face. She’d almost be willing to bet on it, considering their game of who-gets-to-work-first.  
    “My office, when you can grab a minute.”  
    Oh, yeah. Definitely smug. Laughter lingered behind his words.
    Try as she might, Jayne hadn’t once beat Parker into work. It annoyed her to no end. “Five minutes,” she said into the receiver and disconnected.
    She crept down the hall on tiptoes and peeked around his office door. A slow smile spread over his generous lips—the only soft thing about him. He glanced up to find her standing in front of him and checked his watch. “Two minutes. I’m impressed.”
    Jayne slid into a chair across from him, her iPad open, fingers poised over the keypad. “Good morning.”  
    “Close the damn iPad and talk to me.”
    She flipped the faux leather cover over the keypad. “No definite leads yet. The fundraiser is our best bet.”
    “Did you secure that woman to lead the séance?”
    “Yes. Her name is Everly Gray and—”  
    “Everly? I haven’t heard that name since I was a kid.”
    Irritation skittered along Jayne’s nerves, and she jumped up, pacing the area in front of Parker’s desk. She’d mentioned a stupid, unusual name, and he was reacting like a delinquent schoolboy. “You know Everly Gray?” She barely kept her tone even.  
    Parker picked up a pencil, twirled it through his fingers. “Grew up with her, in a way. Figures she’d be into séances. Always was a strange kid. And all that red hair…”
    “Focus, and preferably not on Ms. Gray.”  
    He dropped the pencil and captured her gaze, his silver-gray eyes turning the shimmering color of a rainy day. In one swift move, he closed in on her, the heat from his body making her heart ache with need. Damn, but her traitorous body reacted to this man so fast.  
    “Are you jealous, Jayne?” The black of his pupils ate the silver of his gaze as it skimmed over her body, undressing her. He ran his finger along the edge of her pink lace camisole. “Nice. And just so there’s no mistake. You’re the one I want.”
    Heat rose in her cheeks, and she moistened her suddenly sensitive lips with the tip of her tongue.
    “Careful, or I’ll take that as an invitation.”
    She bit her tongue, and pulled a stack of envelopes from under the iPad. “The invitations. For your signature.” Her voice wobbled. She needed to put some space between them, and stepped away until the delicate skin on the back of her knees hit the sofa. The smooth leather was cool, inviting. She sucked in a breath. This was not the time to indulge in an office romp. Not until she completed the audit and the thief had been caught.  
    Parker stepped back, leafing through the envelopes. “The séance should clear all of these donors.”
    “And if not?” she asked, perching on the edge of the sofa.
    “I trust we’ll find the bastard