Notorious Read Online Free PDF Page B

phone.
    When she put it to her ear she heard the familiar voice of her editor. “Keely, sweetheart. Good news.”
    â€œHi, Carolyn,” she murmured softly. Trust her editor to call at the exact wrong moment.
    â€œWhy are you whispering? Are you in a movie theater or something?”
    â€œNo, but I can’t talk loud. Or long.”
    â€œThat’s okay. This will be quick. Remember you mentioned expanding this article by interviewing some dancers in Reno, but I wasn’t sure we should bother?”
    â€œI remember, but can I call you back on this?” She glanced nervously behind her to make sure Noah wasn’t there. “I—”
    â€œI’ll only be a sec. The publisher loves the Reno angle. I’ve lined up a couple of interview subjects for you there. You have a seven-forty flight out of Vegas on Monday morning. Got a pen? I’ll give you the confirmation number.”
    â€œCarolyn, I—”
    â€œReady? Here it is.” Carolyn rattled off the number.
    Keely grabbed her notebook out of her purse and wrote down the number, but all the while she was thinking that this cell phone could blow her cover in no time this weekend. Carolyn expected her to keep the phone turned on while she was on assignment.
    â€œGot it?” Carolyn asked.
    â€œGot it, but Carolyn, you’re fading out.” Keely pressed the disconnect button a couple of times. “Carolyn? I think the phone’s going on the blink. It’s—” She broke off and ran the phone up and down the edge of a box several times, hoping the noise sounded like static. Then she put it back to her ear to gauge Carolyn’s reaction.
    â€œKeely? What’s going on? Keely, can you hear me?”
    â€œBarely,” Keely whispered. “ I think it’s —” She dragged the phone around on the boxes some more before turning it off. Maybe she’d convinced Carolyn that the phone was dead. Keely buried it in the bottom of her purse again before heading back toward the checkout counter.
    Looking extremely uneasy, Noah stood by the counter next to her items, which had been set aside while the clerk rang up another customer’s purchases.
    Keely smiled sweetly as she walked up to Noah. “Those prices weren’t as reasonable, so I decided not to bother.”
    His eyes narrowed with suspicion. “What was that funny sawing noise?”
    During her wild teen years, fast thinking had saved her more times than she could count. “I had an itch in the middle of my back. I used the corner of a box to scratch it.” She gave a little wriggle. “All better.”
    He gulped. “Oh.” His voice was strained as he attempted to sound casual. “That explains it.”
    Somehow she kept from laughing. One wriggle and he was gulping for air. She didn’t remember him being so suggestible years ago. Apparently she had the advantage this time…so long as she kept her heart out of the equation.
    â€œI can ring you up now, miss.” The clerk, who couldn’t have been more than eighteen, regarded her with adoration.
    â€œFabulous.” She winked and sent him a high-wattage grin. “You have a very nice store here…” She paused to glance at his red plastic name tag. “Chad.”
    Chad grew as red as his name tag. “Thank you very much,” he mumbled, and then he concentrated on punching the right numbers into the register. He had to clear his throat before he could tell her the amount. His gaze kept drifting to her chest and then he’d pull his eyes back with an obvious effort.
    She opened her wallet and removed the money as quickly as she could. Her press pass was in there along with a gold card, but Noah would have had to be paying close attention to see either of them.
    Chad took the money and handed over her change. “Do you, uh, live near here?” he asked eagerly. “I mean, would you like to be on our mailing