Friends and Lovers Trilogy 02 - Charmed Read Online Free PDF Page B

wimp. It’s not that I approve of violence, in fact I teach against it, but I do think you should stand up for people you care about. Since you seemed so intent on picking my brain about Sofie, I just assumed you were head over heels. I can’t believe you didn’t defend her.” She sighed and looked at him as if he were the most pitiful creature on earth. “She’s really got you down, doesn’t she? All right. Come inside. The least I can do is listen.”
    He didn’t have the faintest idea what she was talking about, but at least he’d gained an invitation to come inside and talk.
Progress.
He wanted her out of that fairy princess costume and into her civvies. He wanted to meet the real Luciana Ross. Maybe then he’d get a clue as to why he was here. He followed her in silence to the door.
    She glanced over her shoulder as they maneuvered through the crowded porch. “You’re not one for chitchat, are you?”
    “Not really.” He tempered the answer with a smile, which is probably why she kept talking.
    “Sofie should be home in about an hour, so if you don’t want her to know you were here—”
    “I don’t have a problem with that.”
    “Oh.” She scrunched her nose. “You’re not going to make a scene or anything, are you?”
    “I make it a habit to avoid scenes.” Basic PS training had instilled the notion of shielding the principal from altercations, even if it meant ignoring an insult or personal provocation.
    “Me, too. Although in special instances I have been known to wig out.”
    He couldn’t imagine.
    She reached for the knob and twisted. “Crap. It’s locked.”
    As if it shouldn’t be. He swallowed a lecture on basic home security.
    “Hold on.” She rooted through her poodle purse. “It’s in here somewhere.”
    “Isn’t it on the ring with your car keys?”
    “No,” she said, as if he were nuts. “Then I’d get them mixed up. Oh, never mind.” She stooped down and retrieved a key from under the welcome mat.
    “You’re kidding.”
    “You don’t have a spare key hidden somewhere?”
    “It wasn’t hidden.” Murphy took the key out of her hand. “It was under the mat. The first place anyone who wanted to break in would look.”
    “This is a safe neighborhood. Everyone knows everyone. Mostly,” she added as he slid the key in the lock and turned, “everyone’s nice.”
    “As nice as Sam Marlin?” He pushed open the door and stepped in, flicking on a wall switch and conducting a visual sweep before moving aside so that she could enter.
    She brushed past him, hung her pink poodle on the coat tree and shrugged out of her wooly mammoth coat. “Haven’t you ever heard the saying, ‘ladies first’?”
    Not when there could be an assailant lurking on the other side of the door.
Mumbling a distracted apology, he moved into the living room, flipped on more lights. He peeked into the adjoining rooms.
    She schlepped in after him and kicked off her glass slippers. “Stop worrying. I told you, Sofie’s still at work. If you talk fast I’m sure you can pour your heart out in less than an hour.” She regarded him with a panicked expression as he moved back into the living room. “You can, can’t you? I mean this isn’t like a cry on my shoulder all-nighter thing, is it?”
    He grinned, thinking this Sofie must be one hell of a heartbreaker. Although he couldn’t imagine how she could possibly compare to her cute-as-hell sister. “Do Sofie’s boyfriends always seek you out for relationship advice?”
    “If I had a nickel …”
    He joined her in the living room, set the box on the cluttered coffee table and her tote bag on the floor next to the couch. He unbuttoned his jacket and rolled back his shoulders. “How many people know about this key?”
    She shrugged. “The neighbors on either side and three or four friends.”
    Jesus. He passed her back the key. “You need to hide this in a less obvious place.” He walked back to the front door and turned the