This Case Is Gonna Kill Me Read Online Free PDF

falter, and I was about to give up on my “damn the torpedoes” approach and fall back on slinking away, but Ryan Winchester gave me a careful vampire smile that didn’t reveal the canines, and said, “Linnet, how lovely, please, join us.”
    The waiter, who had been ignoring my order for a chair, now leaped into motion. By the time I reached the table, he’d brought a chair and set another place next to Ryan.
    I had met Ryan Winchester a couple of times over the past two weeks, which was the only reason I went ahead and sat down. Ryan had been friendly. He had actually come down to my office to welcome me to the firm, and two days ago we’d run into each other in the library. I had been standing at the foot of a ladder, gazing up at a top shelf that held the book I was seeking. He’d offered to climb up and get it for me, for which I was eternally grateful. Heights were not my friend.
    Ryan had blond-streaked brown hair that women spent two hundred dollars to achieve, and blue eyes that he focused on you in rapt attention when you talked. I tried to tell myself it was just a technique, but it really felt genuine with Ryan. Ryan and the four human males all stood up. Vampires are all about the courtesy, and they insisted on the same old-fashioned manners from the male humans around them. Ryan pulled out my chair.
    “Linnet, I’m so glad you came in today. You’ve just been locked in your office working far too hard. Now I’ll have a chance to get to know you away from school, so to speak.” He gave me a warm smile, and this time I got a flash of tooth.
    I noted the frowns from my fellow associates, and I responded with a great big smile. I turned back to Ryan. “Well, I’m trying to get up to speed,” and I heard a muffled snort of suppressed laughter off to my left.
    I took a quick look, but couldn’t identify who was responsible. My guess was Doug McAllister, who was always making little digs at Chip, to which Chip seemed oblivious.
    I met Caroline’s cool gaze. She was above cutting remarks. She just existed, and that was enough to establish her superiority. For a moment, the therapist in the back of my head rummaged through my neuroses.
    Why are you so insecure?
    Because she’s tall and cool and elegant, and she knows the ropes. I hate not understanding the rules. And she reeks of money.
    And you’re from an old New England family with money and respect.
    “Linnet?”
    “Hmmm?” Ryan’s face was only inches from mine. It was a handsome face that looked totally normal, and those facts helped push back the involuntary shudder.
    “I said, I heard you’re quite the horsewoman,” Ryan said.
    “Ah, yes. Have been. Hard to do now. Here in the city.” The words emerged in tiny, disjointed sentences.
    “Well, I have a weekend place in the Hamptons, and a stable full of fat and lazy horses. Please feel free to come out and ride any time you like.”
    “Tha … thank you,” I stammered. “That’s very kind.”
    “No, it’s not. I have an ulterior motive.” He smiled. “I was hoping you’d give me some tips.”
    “I would be delighted.” I hoped Ryan had a good seat, because that whole predator/prey thing is amplified with horses. Before cars, most vampires had humans to handle their horses, and they rode in carriages rather than riding astride.
    But that was a problem for another day, and one that might never materialize. Right now it was time to savor my triumph. I looked down the table. The men were looking annoyed, but the women’s reactions were very different. Jane was looking down and away, almost hiding behind the swing of her long brown hair. Caroline stared at me. Her expression was harder to identify. I almost thought it was pity, but then it was gone, and I wondered if I’d imagined it. Perhaps I was stepping into a situation I didn’t understand. Maybe Ryan and Caroline had been an item? Though that would have been dangerous, since it’s drilled into a newly made vampire not to