Better Unwed Than Dead Read Online Free PDF Page A

onto the cobblestones, powdered sugar sprinkling his lap.
Pigeons honed in and a moment later his snack was flying across the
French Quarter.
    "Nick? I mean, if you don't want to do
that...I'm not saying I want to be with another guy. You're the
only guy I ever want to be with, but I just thought it might be fun
to pretend. And really, you would be both guys. The guy on the
phone, like, maybe he would be the Good Nick, and then the guy who
bursts through the door to punish me, he would be the Bad Nick, but
in a really good way, and..." Julia trailed off, sputtering.
    "No, no, honey. I don't mind giving you a
threesome, so to speak. I think I'm man enough. In fact, I'm
looking forward to it." And he was. He had to shift his street map
from the table onto his lap to keep from being indecent when an
elderly couple strolled by. Nick noticed the gold bands gleaming on
their linked fingers and felt a pang in his chest.
    "Good," Julia sounded relieved that her idea
was well received. "Hey, will you take a picture of the Arch for
me?"
    "Oh, uh, sure," Nick lied, deciding his
camera phone battery would be dead at the time he supposedly
visited the Arch. "Listen, I've got to go. It's almost time for my
appointment. Love you."
    Julia hung the phone up and turned to face a
handsome man on the other side of the cash register. "Oh! I didn't
hear you come in!" she stammered, praying he only just walked in
the door.
    "I've been in here for fifteen minutes." He
grinned wickedly and waggled his dark brows, narrowing his sharp
blue eyes. "But you were too absorbed in your very interesting
conversation to notice I was browsing on the other side of the
shop." He set a few books beside the register.
    “Um, yeah…I’m sorry, I didn’t know anyone was
in here.” Her face on fire, Julia began ringing up the books,
fumbling like she had ten thumbs.
    “Your fiancé, I take it?” The man pointed at
Julia’s ring.
    “Huh?” She looked up startled, still not used
to the idea of having a fiancé. “Oh, yes, that was him, my fiancé.”
She started stuffing the books into a paper bag, silently cursing
when she bent the dusk jackets.
    “He’s in St. Louis? Tracking down a voodoo
cursed family heirloom. That’s a very interesting pursuit. But I
have to tell you, if I were him, I wouldn’t be leaving a pretty
girl like you home alone.” He leaned his elbows on the counter,
continuing to ply his grin.
    Julia took a defensive side step behind the
register. “I’m sorry. That was meant to be a private conversation
and I do apologize. Your total is $41.34.” She tried to concentrate
on the transaction, hating that this stranger knew Nick was out of
town and hating that her business card with her name proudly
embossed in tall block letters was easily within his view. It
wasn’t hard to remember the name Julia Ellery and it wasn’t hard to
find it in the phonebook either, right along with her address,
where she would be snuggled in her bed tonight in an otherwise
empty house.
    “My name is Alberic Bontecou, by the way.” He
handed over his credit card, proving the very elegant name.
    Julia looked up, surprised. “You’re
French?”
    “Oui, by way of New Orleans, just like you it
would seem.”
    “Huh. It would seem.” Despite grudgingly
having her interest piqued, Julia was still very uncomfortable and
embarrassed. She swiped the card, and wished it wasn’t one of those
days when the machine was running agonizingly slow.
    “In fact,” Alberic Bontecou continued,
unconcerned over Julia’s supposed indifference, “I lived in New
Orleans right up until Katrina. My brother lives in Cleveland, so I
ended up here in Ohio. I think about going back home all the time.
Sure would be lonely though. Most of my friends are now scattered
across the country.”
    “If you’ll just sign here, this is your copy
of the receipt.” Julia pushed the slips of paper and a pen in his
direction. He jotted his name and she wished he’d be on his way or
that