A Case of Christmas Read Online Free PDF Page A

didn’t get off to a
    good start, and that’s partly my fault, but you really should let a doctor look you over.
    You took a hell of a fall. Let me drive you to the med—”
    “ Partly your fault?” Shane interrupted. “See, now that’s where you’re wrong because
    we did get off to a good start. Which is the whole problem. I thought we got off to a great
    start, but then it turned out that you were playing me the whole time.”
    He did not remember taking a step back, let alone inviting Norton in, but somehow
    Norton had crossed his threshold. That would be the cottage’s threshold, though Shane’s
    had been breached as well.
    Norton said, “I wasn’t—”
    “What the hell is your real name?”
    “Uh…Linus.”
    “Linus?” Shane was momentarily distracted. He had often wondered what Norton’s
    real name was. Linus had not figured into those guesses. Magnus or Jackson or
    Dominic…something offbeat and a little flamboyant. The only Linus he could think of
    was the one in the Peanuts comic strip. And anyway, this guy wasn’t offbeat or
    flamboyant. He was another law enforcement officer like Shane.
    Norton—nope, Linus—grimaced. “Linus Norton. I like to use my real last name
    when I’m under—working. It keeps things simple.”
    “I bet. So let’s just cut to the chase. You ran an op on me.”
    Linus said sturdily, “I did. Yeah. That was my job. And it worked in your favor.”
    Shane ignored that last comment. “You were in disguise.”
    “Sort of.”
    “You bleached your hair. And your eyebrows. Unless you’re in disguise now. I guess
    that’s a possibility too.”
    “I was undercover. Of course I had to change my look. It’s about getting into the
    role.”
    “It was about getting into a lot of things,” Shane said. Linus’s eyes widened, and he
    opened his mouth to protest. Shane cut him off. “Are you even gay?”
    “Of course I’m gay!”
    “I don’t think there’s any of course about it, Mata-Hairy. You lied about everything
    else. Right?”
    “It. Was. My. Job.”
    “Great. But meanwhile I was—” Thankfully, Shane’s cell phone rang again, cutting
    off an admission he would have deeply regretted.
    “Meanwhile you were what?” Linus’s brows drew together in a dark line. His blue
    eyes watched Shane alertly.
    “I have to take this.” Shane held up his cell phone with one hand. Pointed to the door
    with the other.
    Linus protested, “You’re not going to try to pretend it was anything more than sex?”
    “Hell, no. It’s about common courtesy.” Shane stepped around Linus and opened the
    front door since Linus didn’t seem to be getting the message.
    “You could have found me if you’d tried.”
    “Yep, I sure could have.”
    “Those two years stretch both ways.”
    “Like the elastic band in a worn-out pair of shorts.”
    Linus stepped reluctantly onto the front stoop. “So…we’re even.”
    “Go to hell.” Shane slammed the door after him. Which felt great for about the
    length of time it took for the reverberation of the bang to die out. He answered his phone,
    registering his sister Sydney’s smiling image before he snapped, “Bah, humbug.”
    Sydney said cheerfully, “You say that like you mean it.”
    “How’s it going?”
    “Better than it sounds like it’s going over there.”
    “Nah, I’m fine.”
    “Yeah, but you’re not, Shane. That’s the point. You just got out of the hospital. You
    should be taking it easy. Resting.”
    Shane glanced out the window at the rain-slick street. “I was lying down not four
    minutes ago.”
    “Hm. I don’t believe you. Anyway, even if that’s true, this is really disappointing.
    For Mom in particular. She was hoping we could have the kind of Christmas we used to.
    How often do we have this opportunity? And now you’re not going to be there.”
    He sighed. “I know. And I know I’m probably not explaining myself well. I just
    need… I need a little time.”
    A pause while Sydney