Brownies, Bodies and Bad Guys Read Online Free PDF Page B

a crystal wine glass from the cupboard.
    Sprinkles danced around her food bowl, alternating looks between the empty bowl and Lexy.
    “Are you hungry?” Lexy felt her own stomach nag at her. She filled Sprinkle’s bowl from a canister of dry dog food she kept on the counter then opened the fridge to rummage for her own supper.
    “Let’s see … leftover carrot cake, tuna, spaghetti and a slice of week old pizza. What will it be?” She stood back with her wine glass in her hand deciding which appealed to her the most. After a few seconds, she grabbed the carrot cake and a fork and sat at the small kitchen table.
    The carrot cake was sweet and the cream cheese frosting was tangy, which balanced the sweetness perfectly. Lexy figured she was getting at least two of the basic food groups—vegetables from the carrots and dairy from the cream cheese. The wine wasn’t the best compliment to it, but she managed to drain the glass anyway.
    Lexy pushed her chair back from the table, then crossed the kitchen to dump the cake plate in the sink. Sprinkles followed her eyeing the space between the plate and ground with hawk-like attention, just in case a crumb fell. Once the plate was in the sink with no hope of a stray crumb falling, Sprinkles made her way over to the door and scratched at it to go out.
    “You have to go out?” Lexy asked the obvious. She held the door open for the little dog. Sprinkles wasn’t much of an outdoor dog, she usually just went out and did her business then ran back in. So Lexy was surprised when she took off toward the fence that separated her yard from Jack’s.
    “Sprinkles come back!” Lexy slipped out the door after her, running across the grass in her bare feet. Lexy’s heart sank when Sprinkles ignored her and slipped through the missing board in the fence.
    Lexy followed, barely squeezing herself through and popped out into Jack’s back yard. Sprinkles stood at Jack’s door wagging her tail. Lexy ran over to grab her.
    She started to scold the dog, but her heart melted when those adoring brown eyes looked up at her and she reached down to pet her instead. She could hardly get mad at the dog, Sprinkles was used to making the trip between the two houses, and Jack spoiled her rotten. It was no wonder she wanted to visit.
    “He’s not home, silly.” A movement inside Jack’s house caught her eye. Lexy peered through the window in the kitchen door. A white sheer curtain over the window obstructed the view, but Lexy could make out shadowy movements inside the kitchen.
    Didn’t Jack say he wouldn’t be home?
    She pressed her face against the glass to get a better look. Her heart froze in her chest. She could make out two silhouettes … one looked like Jack and the other was a bit more shapely. A woman.
    Just then Sprinkles let out a bark and leaped up against the door. The door swung in causing Lexy to lose her balance. She tumbled into the kitchen face first.
    She stumbled a few steps, and then caught herself. Straightening up, a jolt of electricity pierced her heart when she saw who was standing in front of her. She sucked in a deep breath feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of her.
    Standing in Jack’s kitchen, looking like she was right at home, was the blonde she’d seen Jack with the other day. His ex-girlfriend.
     
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    Jack bent down to pet Sprinkles while Lexy and the blonde sized each other up. She was pretty up close, Lexy thought grudgingly, baby blue eyes and blonde hair. A little too much makeup, though.
    Lexy’s heart sank as she compared the other woman’s clingy silk tank top and perfectly matched skirt to her flour covered oversized tee-shirt and jeans. The other woman’s outfit was tasteful, but left no doubt that her tall frame carried a body of barbie-doll perfect proportions.
    Lexy felt like a dwarf beside her, her curvy but petite frame seemed even shorter than usual considering she didn’t have any shoes on to add to her height. To top it all