Foul Play Read Online Free PDF

locked the front door behind her and skipped down two porch steps before coming to a screeching halt. There was no little red car sitting in her driveway. She thunked her fist against her forehead. “Dumb, dumb, dumb.” Her car was still in the supermarket parking lot. No big deal. She could ride her bike. She hustled back into the house and changed out of her bluesundress into a pair of red shorts and a crisp white blouse. She traded her white sandals for a pair of running shoes.
    Thirty minutes later she sailed into the clinic parking lot with sunburned cheeks, her blond curls damp against her forehead. She parked her bike in the flowerbeds to the side of the door and immediately stepped in a soft, malodorous brown mound. The four-letter expletive she uttered fit the occasion perfectly. She entered the empty, air-conditioned waiting room holding her shoe as far from her nose as possible.
    Jake looked up from the front desk and grinned. “You have to be careful where you walk around a vet’s office.”
    â€œUh-huh.”
    He gingerly took the shoe from her. “Follow me. I’ll rinse it off for you and give you the complete tour.” He opened doors as they walked. “Four examining rooms.” He pointed out a room with microscopes and stainless steel gizmos. “We have a good lab.” They proceeded toward the back of the clinic. “This is our grooming and minor-surgery area…over there are intensive-care cages.”
    He cleaned her shoe in a deep sink, sprayed it with disinfectant, and waited while Amy laced it back onto her foot. “Boarding kennels are through that door, and major surgery is downstairs.”
    He led her into a large carpeted room with wall-to-wall bookshelves and a huge oak desk heaped to overflowing with stacks of manila folders, magazines, apple cores, and a massive yellow tomcat with only one eye and half a tail.
    â€œThis is my office. Maybe you could help me get it straightened out.”
    The floor was littered with newspapers. Cardboard boxes held unpacked books. Phone numbers had been scribbled on the wall nearest the desk. Photos of patients were taped everywhere.
    Straighten it out? Amy gasped. It would take a forklift to clear off his desk. “How much are you going to pay me?”
    â€œIt’s not as bad as it looks.”
    â€œIs the cat real or stuffed?”
    â€œThat’s Spike. I rescued him from the shelter. He’s had a tough life. He lives here now.”
    â€œAny other animals I should know about?”
    â€œSpot comes and goes with me; you’ve met him. And there’s Ida.”
    â€œWhat’s an Ida?”
    â€œIda!” a big green bird screeched from the corner. “Ida, Ida, Ida.”
    Amy’s eyes opened wide. “My word. I didn’t see it there. It blends in with the palm tree.” This, Amy thought happily, was going to be fun.
    Jake wanted to kiss her. It was all he could think about. Actually, that wasn’t entirely true, he admitted to himself. He could think of other things, but they started with kissing. Hell, maybe one little kiss wouldn’t hurt. A gentle kiss. Last time he’d kissed her he’d acted like a Neanderthal. This time he’d use restraint.
    He didn’t want to do anything that might jeopardize Amy’s feelings for him. She was a passionate, responsive woman who’d saved a very special part of herself for twenty-six years. He didn’t want to be the one to mess up her plans. He didn’t want her jumping into his bed because he’dstirred up a bunch of vacationing hormones, and then when the flush of desire was sated have her wonder if she’d done the right thing.
    After all, virginity wasn’t something you could replace. When it was gone, it was gone for good. He wanted to make damn sure that when Amy decided to love someone, it would be the man she’d marry. And by thunder, it had better be him! he thought,