Scottsdale Heat: a romantic light-hearted murder mystery (Laura Black Mysteries Book 1) by B A Trimmer Page B

happen with just a kiss?
    Then, just as I felt myself start to let go, he withdrew his lips and loosened his grip around my waist. A feeling close to panic set in.
    No, no, please, not yet!
    But his lips were already gone. He gently released me, holding my waist without pressing against me. My face contorted and my body shook with desperation. Tears of frustration came to my eyes.
    Oh, damn it!
    I looked up into his eyes but was unable to speak. He regarded me for a moment, then reached out and touched my cheek with his fingertips.
    “Who are you?” I managed to croak out.
    He again cracked a small smile. “Later, gorgeous,” he said in a voice that was soft but deep and powerful. He then turned and walked out of the office.
    I turned to see Gina and Sophie staring at me, mouths open, stunned. Sophie was the first to come out of it.
    “Damn girlfriend, did you just do what I think you did?”
    “No,” I gasped. “But I was so…damn…close.” The truth was I was still close. My body was still shuddering with short spasms of desire.
    Damn all men!
    “Who was that guy?” Gina said.
    “Well, whoever he was, why didn’t he come over and do the same thing to me?” Sophie said. “I’m pretty sure I could use a standing O too.”
    “So why did he just do that?” I wondered aloud.
    Gina started laughing. “Laura, you were giving him bedroom eyes and staring at him like he was a piece of meat. A guy like that? You didn’t give him a choice. He had to do it.”
    Lenny heard the laughing and stuck his head out of his office.
    “Hey Lenny,” Gina called. “Who was that guy?”
    “Forget it,” Lenny called out. “He’s out of your league.”
    “What do you mean, out of our league?” Sophie said. “Three fine ladies in their prime like us? He only wishes he was in our league.”
    “His name is Maximilian,” Lenny said, walking up to us. “He runs with the big money out of the DiCenzo resorts.”
    “What would a DiCenzo goon want with us?” Gina asked.
    “He’s hardly a goon,” Lenny said. “He seems to be more in the finance side of the family rather than in the leg-breaking side.”
    That didn’t exactly boost my opinion of him. But to be honest, all I was thinking about was my next date with the shower massager.

FIVE
     
    Gina and I followed Lenny into his office. He waited for us to come in, and then closed the door behind us. Gina took one of the seats in front of his desk. I took the other.
    “For some reason, the DiCenzo goon wanted you to take this assignment,” Lenny said, pointing at me. “I told him Gina has more experience in this sort of thing, but he still wanted you. I finally told him you were on assignment already and couldn’t be the primary, but you could act as a back-up investigator to Gina. After that, he seemed satisfied with the overall arrangement.”
    “Way to go girl!” Gina said, giving me a high five. “Looks like you’re getting a reputation out there as a real bad-ass.”
    “To get on with it,” Lenny said. His eyes flicking back and forth between us. “There was a theft last week over at the Scottsdale Blue Palms resort . A very wealthy Russian businessman has had a piece of luggage stolen, or more correctly, it appears his bag was switched with a look-alike bag. The original bag apparently contained not only a substantial amount of cash, but also several sensitive papers and computer disks they are very anxious to retrieve.”
    “How do they know it was a switch?” Gina asked.
    “They didn’t until a few days ago,” Lenny said. “The bag was reported stolen to hotel security last Tuesday afternoon. The hotel first thought someone had merely stolen the contents of the bag, but from the first the Russian was insistent the bag itself was switched. It took hotel security several days of reviewing the tapes for them to have a guess at how it was done.”
    In the corner of Lenny’s office was a big screen TV with a DVD hooked up to it. Lenny hit the button