Just a Little (5-8) Read Online Free PDF Page A

offer.
    And I got stuck shadowing an arrogant, egotistical, pig-headed—did I mention beautiful?—officer, one who managed to make my life a living hell more often than not. Because I loved that man with every fiber of my being, I needed to know where he stood.
    So there I was, on my hands and knees, spying from the bushes on the south side of town.
    But I wasn’t looking for Luke; I was trailing Matt.
    Kara and I agreed that it would look far too suspicious if Matt caught her spying on him and the same for me with Luke. We were doing each other a favor; I’d spy on her boyfriend, and she’d spy on mine.
    I’d followed Matt out of the house twenty minutes ago. He said he was on his way to the bistro, but he left home going in the opposite direction of his supposed destination. It was on Frankfort Street that he stopped off at a convenience store, so I ducked behind a building and waited for him to come out. When he resurfaced, he carried a brown paper bag against his chest. With his sunglasses shading his eyes, his collar popped on his jacket, and his sneakers sloshing through yesterday’s snow, he continued down the street.
    He finally turned into the Old Historic District, and I hung back a block. He disappeared into Lonnie and Grace’s flower shop, but he never came out. After twenty minutes, I ducked behind a bush and watched the door intently.
    Another half-hour went by and nothing else happened. He never came back.
    I pulled my phone out and sent him a text.
     
    Me
    Hey. Stopped by the bistro. Noticed you’re not here. Where’d you go?
     
     
    I waited and waited for a response, but he never answered my question. I felt terrible lying to my cousin, but he was lying to me . No… two wrongs didn’t make a right, but I had to get to the bottom of this.
    “Miss Julie,” a voice said behind me, and Detective Bruno squatted next to me. “Who’re we spying on?”
    I threw him a sideways glance. “Don’t judge me,” I pointed a finger at him. “You poke your nose in people’s business every day.”
    “For the community,” he said. “For the law. For justice. I have a valid excuse; what’s yours ?”
    “I think Matt’s cheating on Kara,” I said, and the words slid off my lips before I could stop them. It was only when I said it out loud that I realized how harsh the accusation sounded.
    He didn’t argue. Unlike Charlie and Luke, Detective Bruno didn’t jump immediately to Matt’s defense. He simply nodded and settled in next to me.
    “You have any evidence?”
    “Would I be sitting behind this bush if I did?”
    “Alright,” he peeked out behind the plant. “He’s in the flower shop?”
    “How’d you know?”
    “I’ve seen him there quite a bit lately,” he said, rubbing his chin. “Come to think of it, he was in the last three or four times I stopped by.”
    “Why?” I asked. I didn’t exactly expect him to answer, but it was reassuring to know that he might have some insight. “What business does he have there?”
    “Why not stop in and ask?”
    “He’s not talking.”
    “Talk to Grace,” he said. “She’s bound to know something.”
    “I can’t,” I said. “It can’t get back to him that I’m poking around.”
    “Well,” he shrugged, “you don’t have many options here, Julie.”
    “What would....” I shook my head and started over. “What would you do if you were me?”
    “If I were you,” he repeated, almost sounding as if he was glad he wasn’t. “If I were you and I suspected there was another girl—let me make it clear that I don’t think that—then I’d start with that beautiful young lady Grace hired to work the evening shifts,” Bruno said. “You could stop in. Ask her what she knows. But it’s too far-fetched. You’ve got to give your cousin some credit, Julie. He adores Kara.”
    I nodded and remembered the way Luke had leaned on the counter, talking (and flirting, maybe?), laughing and smiling. Then when I saw who he was caught up in