The Cocky Thief

Chapter 21

But now that the sparse bushes of the Great Basin Desert stretched before them and they were off the main freeway, music stations were fewer and further between. After she'd spent five minutes flipping through the static, Austin reached forward and slammed the power button. "I think we can give up on that."

"Sorry," muttered Jennifer as she sat back in her seat and folded her legs under her. She'd long since flipped the sneakers off so at least her shoes weren't destroying the seat.

"It's fine. If you don't want to talk, we don't have to talk."

She sighed. It bothered her that he knew what she was avoiding. They'd only met a few days ago. He shouldn't know her at all. She made a living of people not being able to guess her motives and now he could read her like a book. It might be convenient but it was damn frustrating.

"Do you think my family is crazy?" she asked finally.

He raised a brow. "Crazy? I don't know. I think your mother is terrifying."

She laughed at that. "She has her moments, that's for sure. She likes you, though."

"That's a lie. I could tell back at the vineyard that she didn't want me touching you with a ten-foot pole."

Well, there was that. "I think that's back when she thought you were a lawyer. She likes you more now that you're one of us."

"Really? Your mom might not be crazy, but she is strange."

That was right.

"You sister seemed cool, though."

A sharp bolt of guilt hit her at the mention of Mel. "She is cool. She didn't want this life."

"Yeah?"

"She quit six years ago. Found a former football star to marry and settle down with."

"I'm assuming that didn't work out as planned."

"Ben was an asshole. I think she knew that for a long time. She didn't talk to me much after the marriage, but I think that was because she was distancing herself from everything I represent. Ben was 'normal.' He was supposed to be 'nice.' It took her a long time to see that there are snakes in all walks of life." And if Jennifer had been around during the divorce, she would've made sure that no matter what the courts said, he would've walked away with nothing. But she didn't want to talk about her family anymore. "What about you? Any crazy relatives in your past?"

Austin shrugged. "I don't really have any family."

"By circumstance or choice?" It was a personal question, but at this point Jennifer felt as if she could ask.

"Both. Daddy was a mean son of a bitch and my mom took off with all the money out of the mattress when I was still too much of a burden to take with her. As soon as I was old enough, I got the hell out of there too. Started picking pockets and never looked back."

"A runaway picking pockets? I never thought you'd be a cliché."

"There's a lot you don't know about me."

True. And that distance was good. The distance was keeping her safe. "Going from picking pockets to big jewelry heists is a big deal. What changed?"

"Nothing changed. I was damn good at what I did and I never got caught."

Jennifer snorted. "BS. Everyone gets caught."

"Not me."

"Not one shoplifting charge? One angry glance? Nothing? I can understand not getting arrested—you can always talk your way out of a charge—but, like I said, everyone gets caught at least once."