AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lee looked at me in the mirror. “I’m thinkin’ at this point you aren’t either.”
I was dressed, khaki low-rider shorts (not Britney Spears low-rider, but they showed a hint of back), sky-blue fitted T-shirt with the wordXanaduacross my chest in glittery lettering, and a wide dark-brown belt with a thick matte-silver buckle.
I walked out and went to the closet and grabbed a pair of flip-flops with ribbon straps with sky-blue funky shapes against khaki. I slid them on, snagged my purse and pulled it on my shoulder. I walked back to the bathroom, snatched up my phone and dropped it in my bag. Then I rested my hip on the edge of the counter and clicked my nails against the top, my other hand on my hip.
And I stared at Lee.
He grabbed a towel, wiped his face and threw it in the sink.
“Hey! You can’t just throw your towel in the sink!” I declared heatedly. “Who’s gonna fold that towel and put it back on the rail? I’ll tell you who itwon’tbe. Me!”
That’s when he grabbed my hips, pulled me to him and grinned.
“You’re tryin’ to break the land speed record for gettin’ an offer to move in rescinded, aren’t you?”
“No. And it was hardly an offer as much as sexual blackmail.”
His grin widened into a smile.
Fucking Lee!
“Hello!” I called. “Fortnum’s? My bread and butter? The family business for the last…” Wow, I didn’t even know how long it had been in the family. I’d have to wing it. “Umpteen years! Crazy Italian guy? Duke’s homicide threat? Ring a bell?”
He drew me closer to him. “Have I told you you’re cute?”
Grr.
* * *
We walkedinto Fortnum’s and my crazy morning got crazier.
Terry Wilcox, Goon Gary and The Moron were all facing off against Duke.
“What’s going on?” I asked when I walked in, my stomach lurching. You could feel the bad energy in the room.
No customers (thank God, kind of) and Jane was nowhere to be seen (thank God again).
“This idiot has brought the Italian guybackafter the police took himaway. Says he’s a fuckingpresent,” Duke shared.
“India. You look well,” Terry Wilcox said, his eyes sliding down the length of me.
Yuck.
I was getting that queasy feeling that my body seemed to save for my encounters with Terry Wilcox. I was hoping they would only number two, this one and the last.
Luckily, Lee’s hand felt warm and strong where it settled at my hip.
“Coxy,” Lee greeted.
“Lee,” Wilcox replied.
“You know him?” Duke asked.
“Yeah,” Lee said, and that one syllable said he didn’t like him much.
Duke moved toward us at the same time that Lee put pressure on me to move behind him. I planted my feet and stayed where I was.
Goon Gary and The Moron were shifting, getting ready for action.
