The South Beach Search

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“Not me exactly. Let’s just say that my family has done some really...bad things that I’m trying to atone for.” She shook her head. “Unfortunately, the way things are going I’ll never be forgiven.”

“But you can’t be blamed for what your family has done.”

“Yes, I can. I benefited from their greed.” She took a slow sip of her wine. “Are you warm enough? Do you mind if I turn down the heater?”

“I’m fine.”

When she rose, a quick series of questions snapped through Reese’s mind. Could her rotten family be in trouble with the law? Maybe already incarcerated? Is that why she’d asked if he took private clients? What sort of crime had they committed?

Exactly what would he find if he pulled Taki out of the county database?

But she wasn’t a witness for him to cross-examine, so he remained silent. During that quiet, a bewildering rapport with her blossomed. No one understood wanting to distance yourself from an overbearing family better than he.

“Families can be a real pain in the ass, can’t they?” he said when she’d returned.

“Yes.” She paused, then asked, “So you’re not close to your family?”

“Oh, we’re close. We just don’t get along. My dad never stops harping at me to resign from the U.S. Attorney’s Office so I can join him in his private practice. He takes it as a personal affront that I won’t.”

She swirled her wine. “And you don’t want to go into private practice?”

“Especially not with him. But we were discussing your problem with the missing bowl.”

Before he could stop himself, Reese tucked an errant lock of hair behind her ear. The blond strand was as soft as he’d imagined.

“Tell me if I’ve got this straight,” he said.

She picked up her wine again and took a cautious sip, then leaned against the sofa, raising a wary gaze. He wondered what worried her.

“You believe that by giving the bowl to the ashram, you somehow erase all the previous sins of your family?”

“I hoped it would erase at least some of them, even if just symbolically.” Taki stared into the deep red liquid in her glass and sighed. “But, oh, no. I had to leave the bowl in the Jeep, so certain no one would want it, that the security guard would prevent any theft. What was I thinking after traveling all the way to Tibet?” Concern wrinkled her delicate brow. “I wonder if that carelessness makes the whole situation worse.” She looked up. “What do you think?”

Reese crooked his arm on the back of the sofa and leaned against it. “My first thought is to argue mitigating circumstances.”

She flushed, and he wanted to touch her cheek and tell her she was delightful. He took a swallow of wine as Taki threw him a challenging look.

“This is all a big joke to you, isn’t it?” she asked.

“No. I want my briefcase back as badly as you want your bowl of salvation.”

“But you think I’m completely bonkers.”

“I think you’re lovely.” Reese entwined his fingers in hers and lifted. He kissed the back of her hand, finding it soft and smooth. “And, yes, maybe just a little bonkers.” Fascinated by the stubborn expression that washed across her flushed face, he released her fingers.

“Should I contact you if I get another message from the thief?” she asked.

“Definitely. And don’t meet anyone again without backup.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Backup?”

“Call it what you want, just promise not to go alone.”

“Sorry,” she said. “I can’t promise. That would be a lie. I want my bowl too much, but I’ll take extra precautions.”

He wondered what extra precautions she had in mind. “I’ll give you Agent Rivas’s phone number,” he said, removing a business card from his wallet. “If I’m not available, call him. He can send an agent.”

She accepted the card. “You’re giving orders again, General Beauchamps.”

“Sorry. Bad habit.” What did it matter? Reese thought, suspecting she disregarded orders as easily as he gave them.

“That’s okay,” she said. “I’m getting used to it.”

“Yeah, I know. You just ignore me.”

“I always ignore lawyers.”

“Have you had a lot of experience ignoring attorneys?”

Her face closed off to him then, and he wondered why. What had happened in Taki’s past that she hated lawyers? Had she been involved with her family’s crimes? Is that why she was so protective of her phone number?

“Any experience is too much,” she said.

Good dodge, he thought, and searched for a neutral topic. “Tell me about your name.”

“My name?” she asked in a voice he could only describe as cautious. Again he wondered about her secrets.

“I know you weren’t born with the name Taki. How did you come by it?”

“Oh,” she said. “My guru gave it to me.”

“Your guru?” Reese shook his head. “You have a guru?”

“Yes, I do. Guru Navi. He’s been my teacher since I was eighteen when I met him following a lecture.”

“Okay. Go on. Your guru changed your name because...”

“As a symbol of a new beginning. A new name, new beginning. Navi is my spiritual guide.”

“How old is he?” Out of nowhere, Reese irrationally hoped that this guru she spoke of with such affection was Shinhoster’s age at least. Even older would be better.

“I never thought about it.” She grinned. “Ageless, I guess. Or timeless anyway.”

“He lives at this ashram?”

“Half the year here, half the year in India. He’s in Miami until June.”

“Smart guru,” Reese said. “He jets out just when the weather starts to get nasty and buggy.”

“It’s just as hot in India,” she said. “Hotter in some places. And you’re wrong about Navi. He has helped me more than you can imagine.”

Reese decided to run a check on the ashram to make sure the place was legit. It seemed strange that a well-meaning spiritual guide would send a woman with no money on an expensive trip to Tibet. Could the guru have had something to do with the meet at Puerto Sagua?

He took a drink of the delicious wine, wondering if he was actually jealous of a guru.

“This is excellent,” he said. He picked up the bottle, but the print was too damn small, so he couldn’t read the year. Working twelve hours a day had ruined his eyesight.

“It was a gift,” she said.

“Does the name Taki mean anything?” he asked, replacing the bottle.

She gathered her long hair behind her, then draped it across one shoulder. “Navi calls me his little seeker because I’m always searching.”

Without thinking, Reese lifted a lock of her blond hair and rubbed his thumb across the silky strands.

“What are you searching for?” When their eyes met, Reese wondered at the emotion he read there. She moistened her full lips with the tip of her tongue.

“Happiness,” she said softly. “Forgiveness.”

“How could anyone not forgive you?” he murmured, cupping her cheek. He stroked his thumb across satin-smooth skin, thinking her the most enigmatic woman he’d ever met, full of enchanting contradictions. Her blue eyes widened, but she didn’t pull away.

When Reese lowered his mouth to hers, she closed her eyes. Her soft lips were warm and willing, and Reese explored her mouth hungrily, tasting fine wine and enjoying the tiny noises issuing from the back of her throat.

Kissing Taki was a lot easier than trying to figure her out.

CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_db8b524d-5b7b-5ef3-99ff-f17865666631)

EVEN IF REBORN a thousand times, Taki knew she would never forget the power of this kiss. Reese took possession of her mouth the way he dominated everything in his path, and his intimate, velvet warmth sent shivers of desire dancing through her.

She made a small sound of protest when he released the pressure on her lips. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and focused on the area just above his loosened collar. Inhaling his spicy aftershave, a scent she knew she’d forever associate with him, her gaze traveled to his mouth barely an inch away. She lifted her face, wanting to kiss him again, to go on kissing him until...

“Taki, I...” His breath feathered across her cheek as he trailed off, seeming unsure of himself for the first time.

She dropped her chin and pulled back. Reality checked in again, and with it came tons of baggage. For a brief time-out, though, while his mouth made love to hers, nothing had been important but him.

“Should I apologize for that?” he asked, searching her eyes. “Because I’m really not sorry.”

“Me, neither,” she whispered. And she wasn’t. Reese really knew how to kiss.

She averted her eyes, not wanting him to see what she was feeling. She couldn’t let anything romantic get started with Reese. The man set her emotions on fire, and such turmoil was all wrong for her. She required tranquility in her life. She’d had enough upheaval.

An awkward silence stretched out.

“It’s getting late.” He placed his wine on the rattan table but made no motion to rise. Neither of them knew what to do now, she thought, where to go after that amazing kiss. Or at least it had been amazing for her.