Read Online Death Takes a Holiday by Jennifer Harlow - Free Book Online

Lombard movies.
    I settle into bed before calling. If I’m lucky he’ll be out and I can just leave a message. But alas, he answers at the third ring. “Hello, Trixie,” he says so I can practically hear the grin on his face. “How was your flight?”
    “Uneventful. How are you?”
    “Perplexed. Concerned. Despondent.”
    “And why is that?”
    “You departed without saying goodbye.”
    “You were asleep.”
    “You could have left a note.”
    “You are not my keeper, Oliver. I don’t have to get your permission to fly home for Christmas.”
    “This is your home.”
    Neither of us utters a sound for a few seconds. He always does this. He always says things that I have no response to. So I do what I always do: humorous deflection. “What? Are the others there picking on you now that I’m not there to defend you?”
    “I am being avoided, per usual.”
    “Then go hunting. I’m sure the bar girls are waiting with bated breath to succumb to your charms.”
    He doesn’t answer right away. “So I take it you have no desire to discuss what transpired last night? Because the last time I saw you, you were screaming as if under attack and now are fifteen hundred miles away without warning.”
    “You were worried?”
    “Of course. So tell me, Trixie darling, should I serve up William’s head on a platter or would you prefer it in a hat box?”
    “Neither,” I warn.
    “You were in his arms bellowing last night,” he says harshly. “He is lucky I did not rip his throat out there and then. I—”
    “Stop it,” I say. “ This! This is why I came home, okay? I’m sick of you two threatening each other. Did you not listen to a word I said last night?”
    “I did.”
    “Well, apparently not because we’re right back where we started. Have you apologized to Will yet?”
    He’s silent.
    “Then I have nothing to say to you until you two sit down and settle things.”
    “And if we do not?”
    “Then … maybe I’m not coming back in two weeks,” I find myself saying. “Goodbye, Oliver. Call me when you’ve grown up.” I shut the phone off.
    And now I have a headache. I hate tough love. I’m so not good at it, but it’s all he responds to.
    That man! Ugh! He drives me up a wall. He knows all my buttons and can’t help himself, not a good combination. No wonder I’m his only friend. Enemies he’s got in spades but friends … Heck, I think I’m the first in decades. One would think he’d treat me better. Okay, most of the times he does. Anyplace I want to go, he’ll accompany me without complaint. Movies, book readings, even shopping. Metrosexuals take their cues from him. Half the new stuff I’ve bought he picked out, and boy do I look good. Clothes aren’t his only forte. The man’s a millionaire, as are most vamps. Something about being alive for so long the trends become predictable. I’ve almost doubled my investments.
    There are some obvious perks to being buddies, but the drawbacks are wearing me down. Besides the ostracization by my fellow agents, there’s also the constant flirting, jealousy, conceitedness, and the fact that at least once a day I have the strongest desire to jump his bones. The guy is sex on a stick and boy do I want a lick. But he’s a walking dead man with serious commitment issues and the relationship would have the longevity of a ruler. No, friends is good. Friends I can handle. If he takes what I’ve said to his barely beating heart. Because as much as I value him, I value my sanity more. But honestly … I can’t imagine my life without him.
    And that scares the hell out of me.

FOUR
    THE BELLE OF THE BARBECUE
    “ N ANA, I ’M HOME!”
    I haven’t said that in awhile. She and Mrs. Ramirez stand in the kitchen talking and mixing something in a big bowl as “All Alone on Christmas” by Darlene Love plays on the radio. Both women grin as I walk in with my shopping bags. God, I love vacation. I slept until one, had Nana take me to get a rental car, then