Sally Berneathy - Death by Chocolate 01 - Death by Chocolate Read Online Free PDF

leaving fingerprints. He hated that.
    I stepped up onto my porch and saw another problem. The cat was still there, lying on my door mat, draped over Taz, creating a perfect border for the Go Away! part. Obviously he couldn’t read.
    But then, neither could Rick who had stood on that same mat last night and paid just as much attention to the message as the cat did.
    “Go home,” I ordered.
    He stood up and stretched, arching his back.
    I picked up the newspaper, opened the door, and he darted inside.
    Yes, it was pretty obvious this cat was a male. He ignored me just like Rick did.
    “What’s that cat doing here?” Rick demanded as the feline leapt gracefully onto my faded rose-colored recliner. He was a big cat, completely filling the seat and draping his head and front paws over one arm of the chair. He looked up with those killer blue eyes and gave a contented meow before settling down, completely at home.
    Rick sprawled on my sofa, making himself as much at home as the cat. I’d been gone long enough for him to shower, blow dry his hair with my dryer, shave with my razor, and slip back into his khaki Docker slacks, Italian loafers and white Polo shirt that enhanced his tan. To top it all off, he was drinking from my favorite mug, the one that said “Life is uncertain. Eat chocolate now.”
    “Go home,” I repeated.
    “Yeah, cat, go home.”
    “I was talking to you . This is—” I looked at the regal creature in my chair— “this is King Henry, my new cat. He’s staying and you’re going.”
     

 
     
    Chapter Three
     
    Rick set my cup down on my coffee table, the one I found years ago at a garage sale and he would never let me use in our house where everything had to match. The table was wrought iron with a top of colorful mosaic tiles, almost all of which were intact and unchipped. It had character.
    “You never liked that table,” I snapped, tossing the newspaper down beside his cup. “Get away from it.”
    He lifted his arms toward me and smiled. Given enough time, I could learn to hate that smile. But not quite yet. Against all common sense, it still had the power to tickle the edges of my heart.
    “C’mere, babe.”
    I took a step backward, ignoring him.
    He rose and came after me. I reminded myself that he hadn’t come after me the evening I left. In fact, instead of falling to his knees and begging my forgiveness after I’d caught him in our bed with that Fluffy person, he’d pointed out that this house was between tenants, empty and available, and maybe I should move in. He and Buffy the Erection Slayer would keep the one we’d been living in since it was too expensive for me. Real magnanimous of him.
    The memory of that nightmare afternoon…the pain and the anger…washed over me, and I turned and headed for the door. I’d go back outside. Hide in the bushes. Crawl down the storm sewer. Take up jogging and run to Oklahoma. Whatever it took to get away from him.
    He wrapped his arms around me from behind and started nibbling the side of my neck.
    Somebody moaned, somebody with no pride and no common sense. Me.
    “We never used to have the paper delivered,” he whispered. “Let’s toss that one in Paula’s yard, and I’ll go out for another one, just like I used to do every Sunday. I’ll bring back a paper and some of those chocolate doughnuts you love. We’ll sit in bed and read the paper while we eat doughnuts.” He nibbled the other side of my neck. “And you can read the comics out loud while I do some wicked things to your body.” He ran his hands over my body and pulled it against his, reminding me of some of those wicked things he’d done as recently as last night.
    Fortunately, the chocolate doughnuts also reminded me of some other wicked things he’d done…a different kind of wicked.
    “You chose that doughnut place across town so you’d have time to go see your girl-friend-of-the-week for a quickie before coming home,” I reminded him, pulling back and facing