As Good as Dead Read Online Free PDF Page B

sick?"
    "You sure are nosey," Jacob said.
    "You know me-always concerned about my fellow man."
    Jacob's lips twitched in a hint of a smile. Ever since they'd been kids, she'd been able to make Jacob smile, even when Genny couldn't. And he loved Genny more than anybody on earth, her being his cousin who'd been raised like a sister to him.
    "I'm setting up a time for flu shots for all my employees," Jacob explained. "It's getting to be that time of year. With the small force I have at the sheriff's department, I can't afford to have anybody laid up with the flu for a week."
    "I hear your staff is going to be decreasing by one pretty soon," Jazzy said. "Just as so-on as Tewanda gets her law degree and passes the bar."
    Jacob nodded. "Yeah, and we're all right proud of her, but we're sure going to miss her.
    She's been a topnotch deputy."
    "Hey, if you're not doing anything special for lunch today, why don't you come over to Jasmine's and join Reve and me." She swallowed a chuckle and clamped her teeth together to keep from laughing out loud. "We're going to get acquainted. You know… just in case we turn out to be sisters. You could fill her in on what I was like as a kid. And you could give her some insight into me as a woman." She turned to Reve. "You know Jacob and I even dated for a while, and I'm here to tell you that this man"- Jazzy wound her arm around Jacob's arm -"is one great kisser."
    Reve gasped. Jazzy laughed. Jacob seared Jazzy with his tight gaze.
    "Ah, lighten up, you two," Jazzy told them. "Relax. I'm just having some fun with y'all."
    "I'm afraid I don't see the humor in this situation," Reve said.
    "Look, I don't know why you two decided instantly that you can't stand each other, but we need to do something to change this. Right now. If Reve is my sister, I can't have one of my oldest and dearest friends and my newly found twin hating each other."
    "I haven't got time for this," Jacob said and tried to move past Jazzy.
    She stood stubbornly in his way. "Agree to have lunch with us and I'll-"
    "I have other plans for lunch," he said.
    "Then supper tonight-you two with Caleb and me."
    "Don't do this," Jacob told her, a strained expression on his face.
    "I'm not available for dinner," Reve said.
    Jazzy heaved a deep sigh. "Okay, I give up. For now. But don't think this is the end of it." She moved aside and allowed Jacob to pass.
    Once they were alone, Reve snapped around and glared at Jazzy. "I do not-under any circumstances-wish to be engaged socially with Sheriff Butler. I'd appreciate it if you'd give up any plans you have that involve my becoming better acquainted with that man."
    Jazzy let out a long, low whistle. "He really punched all your buttons, didn't he?"
    "All the wrong buttons."
    Jazzy shook her head. "I just can't figure it out. I've never seen Jacob have a negative effect on a woman before. Usually, a woman takes one look at him and swoons at his fe-et. After all, honey, let's face it-the man is to die for."
    "I'm afraid I fail to see whatever it is that makes him so irresistible."
    "You're kidding, right?"
    "Let's end this ridiculous conversation." Reve started walking toward her Jaguar in the side parking lot next to the clinic. "I can drop you back by Jasmine's, if you'd like. I made plans for an early checkin at my cabin. I'd like to get settled and freshen up before lunch."
    "I'll walk," Jazzy said. "It's only a few blocks."
    "Very well. What time shall I meet you for lunch?"
    "How about one o'clock?"
    Reve nodded agreement.
    Jazzy didn't press the matter-getting Reve and Jacob together-but she had no intention of letting it drop. She suspected that although Reve disliked Jacob and probably found him intimidating, she wasn't as immune to his obvious masculine charms as she professed to be. Maybe Reve just didn't know how to deal with unwanted sexual attraction. And unless she missed her guess, that was what was going on between Jacob and Reve.
    Jazzy couldn't contain her laughter, amused at