Stolen Hearts by Karen Erickson

plan from the beginning, and now I’m supposed to believe some weird sense of morality has come over you? Whatever,” she scoffed, clearly disgusted. “You need to leave. Now . Before I call the cops and have you arrested.” She waved her hand toward the door and turned, could no longer even look him in the eye.
    Alex didn’t think he’d ever felt so low. Not the night he was arrested, the day he’d been sentenced or the day he’d faced his father when he’d come to visit him in jail for the first time.
    “Please, Alex. Just go.” Her voice was strained, her expression so sad he could barely stand to look at her. He was too disgusted with himself for putting that look on her face in the first place.
    He did as she asked, heading straight through the door, not bothering to look back.
    Exiting the store, he thrust his fingers through his hair in frustration. Well shit, he’d handled that well. He wished he had something to hit, something to kick. Anything to get rid of the pain that wrapped around his heart with pinching fingers, squeezing so hard he could hardly breathe.
    He should just leave, go back to Los Angeles and tell his father he couldn’t do this shit anymore. It hurt too much, it was too dishonest and he didn’t want to be that person any longer.
    But first, he needed to make sure Vinnie wasn’t going to lift that bracelet.

Chapter Seven
     
    Celeste told herself not to cry. It had been two days since she’d kicked Alex out of her store and she hadn’t seen him since. Which was perfect because she didn’t want to see him, really she didn’t. He was bad, terrible, awful…a dishonest man who’d spent time in prison . After all these years hanging out with cops in the hopes of snagging one, she ended up sleeping with a criminal within twelve hours of meeting him.
    What were the odds? It was bad enough she’d gone against her normal behavior and done something crazy like that, sleeping with a virtual stranger—albeit a sexy one. But with someone like him ? Like Alex? It really didn’t make any sense.
    He’d been sent here to steal from her, for God’s sake—so why was she still weeping over him?
    Because it had hurt so badly to send him away. After all he’d confessed , it had still been the last thing she’d wanted to do. In one short day she’d started to fall for him, had wanted to spend more time with him. But when he’d suggested they go out of town, she’d known immediately something was wrong. Heck, she could tell something was off the second he’d walked through the door.
    How she hated that she’d been right. What he’d said to her had shocked her to the core, the very last thing she’d expected him to admit. He’d seemed so nice, so sweet, so honest.
    It had all been an act, a lie—and she’d fallen for it like a complete sucker.
    After Alex had left she’d called Johnny, begging him for extra patrols to drive by the store. She even agreed to go out to dinner with him when he’d asked again, setting a date for the following week.
    She could care less about going out with Johnny. Her body yearned for Alex. A man she absolutely could not have. Just the idea of never seeing him again, touching him again, never having sex with him again made her body hurt.
    Especially her heart.
    On top of her misery, business had been terrible the last two days, which came as a surprise considering the time of year. Fall was usually perfect for bringing out the tourists who wanted one last escape on the mild coast before the holidays and their impending bad weather. She’d been banking on that when she’d bought the bracelet, hoping to find some wealthy tourist willing to drop a lot of money on an expensive early Christmas gift for his wife.
    No such luck. Barely anyone had walked through the door today, let alone serious buyers, and she was an hour away from closing. The only glimmer of hope was the holiday shopping season ahead.
    The bells over the door rang and when she glanced up,