Family Case of Murder Read Online Free PDF Page B

wrenched with guilt because this was the point where she should tell him that she had asked Tosh first, but if she did, he might renege, and she needed him too much to risk it. So she nodded and turned toward the clothes once again.
    After his initial boredom, Jason seemed to get into the swing of things and enjoy himself. Lacy changed behind the large rack of clothes, cycling through outfits at a maddening pace. She already had in mind what she wanted to wear; she simply needed someone’s agreement. At last she had assembled a wardrobe, complete with designer shoes, for the entire week. She also selected a dress for her dinner with Jason. It was the quintessential little black dress and she hadn’t tried it on for him, intending to save it instead.
    Jason gathered his trash and stood, reaching to carry the clothes for her. “That was actually sort of fun,” he said.
    “Of course it was. Kept men always enjoy fashion shows,” Lacy said.
    He reached out and hooked his arm around her neck, drawing her closer. “You’re never going to let me forget I said that, are you?”
    “I’m a millionaire landowner. We don’t forget anything the little people say,” she replied.
    He groaned. “Fine, just for that I’m going to tell you something I probably shouldn’t tell you.”
    “What?” They stepped into the freight elevator.
    “There are gaping holes in your clothes rack. You might think about that when you wonder why I kept encouraging you to change outfits.” He smiled, an impish little twisting of his lips that made her want to simultaneously smack and kiss him.
    Instead she gasped. “Officer, arrest this man. He’s a peeper.”   She wasn’t truly alarmed because the gaps in the clothes couldn’t have afforded much of a view. Probably just enough to intrigue him further.
    He shifted her clothes to his right hand and backed her up against the wall of the elevator, resting his left hand on her waist. “I couldn’t help myself; I’ve always wondered if the rich get dressed the same way I do.”
    “And do they?” she asked, whispering because he was about to kiss her and she was pinned like a butterfly to a board, assuming the butterfly had no desire to get away.
    “No, they wear dresses and pretty little lace things underneath.”
    Someone cleared his throat pointedly to their left. Jason and Lacy turned to see that the elevator doors had opened on the third floor where Mr. Middleton and a team of contractors stood staring at them.
    “Pretty lace things underneath what?” Mr. Middleton said, and Lacy was sure that Jason was now the butterfly pinned by her grandfather’s intense and accusing gaze.
    “Oh, geez,” Jason said, and the doors slid closed again.
     
    “So, that was awkward,” Jason said. They were sitting in Lacy’s grandmother’s driveway in his car, and they hadn’t spoken a word since they left the Stakely building.
    “My life is awkward, so I’ve sort of grown used to it,” Lacy said.
    “Why is that? I’ve never met anyone like you before.”
    “Robert used to say the same thing, only he made it sound like a compliment.”
    He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Are you really comparing me to your slimy ex?”
    “No. I’ve just been trying to hold old memories at bay and they keep intruding,” she said, sighing.
    Jason reached over the seat and took her hand. “It’s going to be okay, Red. I’ll be there. What’s the worst that could—“
    She reached over the seat, pressing her fingers to his lips. “Please do not finish that sentence. Haven’t you learned by now that whenever you say that, life decides to show you exactly the worst thing that could happen?”
    “Fine, let me rephrase. You, me, a weekend in the Hamptons . What could go wrong?”
    Lacy groaned. “You don’t get it at all. You can’t say things like that, put those questions out there, and not expect to have them answered. Because I can see the writing on the wall, and when you say ‘What could go