Read Online 3 Straight by the Rules by Michelle Scott - Free Book Online Page B

pitched a Philadelphia roll with enough speed and force to make a professional baseball player proud.  It stuck the waiter exactly where I’d hoped it would, and he clutched his crotch and doubled over.  The crowd cheered, and more cameras flashed.
    While Milo gaped in pain, I took my final two pieces of sushi and shoved them into his mouth.  “Eat that!” I demanded and sent my succubus into overdrive.
    Immediately, Milo’s pupils shrank to pinpricks, and he began to chew.  Although he was fully under my demon’s spell, he didn’t like what he was doing.  He pressed his hand to his mouth to keep the food in.  His eyes bulged.
    “Now swallow,” I ordered.  Using my demon’s power to bludgeon a human into submission was not, technically, what I was supposed to do, but I was through with finesse.
    Milo grimaced.  He’d broken into a sweat, and his face glistened.  He gagged and shuddered, but he finally forced the food down his throat.
    By now, the crowd had gotten into the spirit of things.  Guests scrambled to gather the scattered rice-and-nori weapons.  Chunks of sushi flew through the air.  One caught me in the ear.  Another struck the mermaid ice sculpture and clung like a barnacle to her shoulder blade.  The entire room smelled like spoiled fish.
    My upper lip quivering in disgust, I released Milo from my demon’s super-charged power.  The moment I did, the weight of all that unwanted sushi reached critical mass.  His eyes popped wide, and his mouth opened even wider.  He made a dash for the bathroom while I made a dash for the closest otherworld doorway.
     
    Within minutes, I was back in my kitchen.  The note that I’d left for William was gone.  In its place was a single, red rose.
    I held the flower to my nose and inhaled its sweet perfume.  So he’d come after all!  Although I hated to admit it, I’d been worried that he would stand me up.  According to the clock above the stove, it was a few minutes after ten.  Maybe if I hurried and cleaned up, I could still track him down.
    I didn’t even make it across the living room, however, before the apartment door opened.  Jasmine and Tommy walked in.  “Sorry to spoil your evening,” Jasmine said, “but Tommy can’t find his sketchbook.  We had to come back here to look for it.”  She turned on the living room lights.
    Seeing me, they stared.  I must have looked dreadful.  My robe was rather short and showed off a piece of sticky nori that was still attached to my thigh.  Drawn in by the odor of sushi, Drinking Tea suddenly appeared from under the couch and began licking my calf.  Red hot shame made my cheeks blaze.
    Tommy looked at his feet, embarrassed for me, but Jasmine continued to gape.  “You smell like fish,” she said, wrinkling her nose.  “And is that rice in your hair?  What on earth are you doing?”
     “I’m taking a shower and going to bed,” I said, and quickly left the room.  Forget meeting William.  All I wanted to do was bury myself under the covers and forget that the night had ever happened.

Chapter Six
    The next morning, Grace called me from France to tell me happy birthday, but the sound of her voice made me miss her even more.  As I hung up the phone, I realized another birthday also meant I was edging away from my most fertile years.  I couldn’t hit the snooze button on my biological clock forever.  I shivered as I wondered how long Helen would wait for me to become pregnant before she took matters into her own hands.  
    Despite my dismal mood, I dutifully went to my dad’s house at one o’clock.  Ari and I walked into the kitchen to find smoke billowing from the oven, and Jasmine and her mother arguing over a cookie sheet of blackened lumps.
    “You told me fifteen minutes!” Jas said.
    “I said five minutes,” Evelyn retorted as she pushed a lock of gray hair out of her eyes.
    My father’s wife is one of those women who are born to entertain.  Thanks to her, my father