Cheating at Solitaire

"I want that..."

Lance brought the book to her lips, silencing her. "Just how thin was that nightgown?" he whispered.

She stammered. Lance laughed out loud. She gasped and struggled harder, but Lance lifted the book and continued to read.

"A bolt of lighting stretched across the sky," he exclaimed as if he himself had been struck with electricity. "The horse leapt from the road, chasing the thunder, and before Isabella knew what was happening, she and the horse were gone, as if transported to another world."

"Very nice, Lance," Julia said, finally prying his hand from her and straightening herself on the couch. She turned and planted her feet on the floor beside him. "You get an A-plus. Now you can stop."

She tried to stand, but he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her nearly into his lap. "Wait." Both arms were around her then, squeezing her tight. "This is my favorite part," he whispered near her ear and read on.

"The man in whose arms she lay seemed half angel and half demon, too strong and brave to be a mortal man. She looked up into his hard, gray eyes and felt herself shudder. He held her in strong arms that seeped warmth through her thin gown and brought her another, deeper kind of runaway emotion."

Lance lowered the book and shifted her effortlessly against the arm of the couch. He stared into her with those same eyes, smiled with that same mouth, and said, "I like your stuff, Veronica."

He held her there a moment too long. Then he shifted, and she felt his weight pressing down on her and realized how warm and soft a hard, strong man could be. "Tell me, Ms. White, where do you get your ideas?"

"That's it!" Julia snapped, lunging for and grabbing the book, but she found herself sprawled across him.

Lance twisted, trapping her beneath him on the couch.

"What would Isabella have done there?"

"Let me go!" she cried, but the harder Julia fought to regain control of the situation, the wider Lance smiled.

"This is a pretty good workout," he said. "You're cute when you're scrappy."

Her hair was as wild as the rest of her, and Julia literally couldn't see straight. She lay, tangled in a web of arms and legs, and said, "You are enjoying this way too much!"

"You started it, Veronica."

"Don't call me that!"

They scrambled and tumbled to the floor, and as soon as Julia was able to right herself, she grabbed the book and scampered behind the sofa, using it as a barricade between them. "Hey," Lance said. "I was reading that." He climbed onto the sofa, so she stepped back, toward the kitchen, farther from his reach.

"I know you were reading," she said. "I heard you."

Then, with more agility than Julia thought humanly possible, Lance sprang over the back of the sofa and plucked the book out of her hands. As he walked past her to his old place on the floor, he used the book to slap her on the butt. She jumped, but he

nonchalantly sunk to the floor and continued to read by firelight. After a long while, she saw a smirk rise on his lips, and without looking at her, he said, "You are very talented, Veronica."

Julia couldn't get to her cell phone fast enough. "Get your night-vision goggles ready," she said when Nina answered. "We're going in."

Chapter Twenty

WAY #33: Utilize professional resources for professional tasks.

Being independent and happily single doesn't mean you have to do everything yourself; always know what is better left in the hands of a professional. And if you do decide to tackle your own project, take the time to research the task and acquire the tools that will enable you to work like a pro.

—from 101 Ways to Cheat at Solitaire

I'm the lookout," Caroline said with more cheer than should ever belong in that sentence. It made Julia wonder if the James sisters, like the Jarfies brothers, had been cut out for a life of crime. The answer was obvious—no, probably not. Then she noticed the walkie-talkie that Caroline had duct-taped to her shoulder, and Julia reconsidered, deciding that there might be a little bandit blood in them after all. Steve was out of town on business, her daughter was asleep downstairs, her infant son dozed in the corner of the room, and Caroline was about to do the craziest thing she'd done, maybe in her en-lire life. Julia studied her sister's face and realized it looked good on her.

"But how are we getting in?" Lance asked for the hundredth time.

Nina dismissed him. "I said I took care of that."

"How?" Lance demanded, and Julia knew he wouldn't budge from that room until someone, evidently Nina, had laid out the plan in detail.

"She has these old tapestries," Nina said. "Some of them are pretty valuable. She's called every design firm in town, wanting to sell them, so today I went by to give her an estimate. But what I was really doing was checking out the joint." Proudly, Nina tapped the notebook in front of her. "When her hack was turned, I unlocked a window." She finished by raising her eyebrows a few times in quick succession.

Julia looked between Caroline and Nina and made a mental note that it might be time to make new friends. I just hope I won't be doing it in prison.

"Fine," Lance said. "There's an open window. What else do we know?"

"I told her that the tapestries were valuable and asked how she had them protected. She didn't mention a security system."

Julia recognized the squeamish look on Nina's face. "What did she mention?"

It took a sharp pinch to the fleshy part of Nina's arm to make her say "pit bull."

"She doesn't have a dog," Caroline scoffed. "I've been watching that house for months and I've never seen a dog.""

"Exactly," Nina said, point proven. "That's why I didn't bring it up."

Caroline moved a box of wet wipes from the changing table and unrolled a set of detailed diagrams of the four house styles allowed in the development. She pulled out the floor plan for the smallest of the possible houses, the one the bankrupt contractor had chosen to build for his mother. It showed that the window Nina had unlocked was in the rear of the house, the "keeping room."

"Okay," Caroline said as everyone gathered around. "I'm going to stay here and be central control." She used a turkey baster to point to the diagram as she carried on. "I can only see into the formal living room, formal dining room, keeping room, and part of the kitchen. But I can keep an eye out for lights coming on and movement in the south side of the house. We have emergency exits here and here." She placed Candy Land game pieces on top of the locations of the pedestrian door in the garage and the French doors off the patio. "Take this." She handed Nina the other walkie-talkie. "If you see anything strange, radio back to base, and I'll tell you whether or not to abort."

Abort? Emergency exits? Central control? What's next, Julia wondered, code names and tubes of lipstick that double as rocket launchers?

Undaunted, Caroline carried on. "Nick wakes up to eat i lost nights about one-thirty. I've never noticed any activity over there then, and judging from the number of whiskey bottles Myrtle hauls to the curb on recycling days, I think that's as good a time as any to go in." She paused to survey the troops. "Does that sound okay?" she asked. There were nods all around, so Caroline finished. "Until then, we should consider ourselves in a holding pattern."

Surprisingly, Julia found herself starting to relax. We've got plan, she thought as she, Nina, and Lance shared "this might actually work" glances in the playroom. A feeling of cockiness was starting to build when the doorbell rang and, despite their cool bravado, all four of them nearly jumped through the roof.

"What's with the getups?" Jason asked, looking at Julia, Nina, and Caroline, who stood in the foyer, decked out in black. "You look like rejects from mime academy."

"We're going clubbing," Nina coolly lied, ever the used-car salesman’s daughter.

"You three?" Jason asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yep," Caroline agreed. "We're gonna pick up guys."

Caroline had forgotten that she had the walkie-talkie taped to her shirt. Julia jumped and tried to stand in front of her, but Jason had already noticed and said, "What's that?"

"Baby monitor," Julia said.

"Why is it taped to you?" Jason asked.

"Babies are a lot of work, Jason," Julia snapped. "Families are a lot of work. But you know that already. Isn't that why you told Nina you never want to have kids?"

Nina looked troubled, but Jason was unfazed.

He just smirked and pointed to the walkie-talkie. "Won't that get in the way of picking up guys?"

"Not really." Lance's voice carried down the staircase. "I'm already here."

Lance strolled toward the door, looking strong and territorial. Julia thought her heart was going to pound out of her chest as a thought settled firmly in her mind: I actually know a man like this. He stopped ten feet from Jason, and Julia realized how Lance had survived as a kid, moving from town to town, living without a father. He was a good man and a great actor, and at that moment, he was acting like someone who would dearly love to beat the crap out of Jason.

Testosterone bounced off the marble floors of the foyer as the two men sized each other up.

"Justin, isn't it?"

"Jason."

"Oh, right. What brings you by?" Lance asked.

"I'm looking for Tiny here," Jason said, and snapped his fingers in an annoying gesture that Julia had seen him do ever since the seventh grade. "Got a couple of movie tickets. Thought she'd want to go."

"Really?" Lance said. "What are you gonna see?"

Jason waved the question away. "It doesn't really—"

Lance cut him off. "If you're asking the lady to a movie because you've got an extra ticket, you ought to tell her what the movie is. So, Jason, what movie is it?"

Julia's eyes darted back and forth, trying to understand this strange phenomenon; the bully was being bullied.

"I need to see my wife. Nina, grab your purse," Jason said, i a king her arm and starting toward the door. "Let's go for a drive."

"Hey," she cried. "Stop it."

Lance stepped toward the door, blocking Jason's path of escape, but Jason still had a firm grip on Nina's thin arm.

Julia stepped forward. "Nina and I have plans tonight, Jason."

Jason turned on her, twenty years' worth of anger seeping into his voice. "Maybe Nina doesn't want to be your date tonight! Huh? Did you ever think of that, Julia? Tiny's got a man; she doesn't need to compensate for you not having one."

"Don't call me Tiny," Nina said, sounding clearer and stronger than she'd sounded in Jason's presence in years. "I hate it!" She cringed. "I'm telling you for the last time, don't ever call me Tiny!"

"Babe?" Jason turned to her, laying on the charm. "I'm sorry. I didn't know—"

"Yes, you did," Nina said. Julia heard tears swelling in her best friend's voice. "You know how it makes me feel. I'm not helpless, Jason. Don't treat me like I am." She wiped her eyes, then said, "I think you'd better leave."