Read Online Dirty Blonde by Lisa Scottoline - Free Book Online

afterwards, but since you busted me…” Graham pulled away, propped himself on one elbow, and dug in his front pocket. “I have something for you, Cate.”
    “I know you do, but you won’t shut up.”
    Graham chuckled, reaching for the bedside lamp. “You look like such a classy lady, but only I know the real you.”
    Suddenly the light came on, and she shielded her eyes from the brightness. When she moved her hand, Graham was holding a medium-sized box wrapped in robin’s-egg blue paper with a satiny white ribbon on top. Tiffany’s. Cate’s mouth went dry. “What’s this?”
    “You have to open it to find out.” Graham handed her the box, and she shifted up on the bed with it, bracing herself on her free hand.
    “But, a present? Why?”
    “Stop asking questions and open it.” Graham tugged on the ribbon, which slipped off like silk. “Cool, isn’t it?”
    Cate unfolded the wrapping paper and took it off. It was a medium-sized box of black velvet, and her fingers trembled as she opened its lid. Inside glittered a gold link bracelet with a heart pendant. It was lovely, which only made her want to cry. She didn’t know what to do. Graham took it out, unhooked it, and held it up to the light. The heart gleamed expensively, a rich, eighteen-carat gold. Finally Cate found her voice. “I can’t take this. It costs too much.”
    “Please, hush, give me your wrist.” Graham lifted her wrist, put the bracelet on it, and held her hand up, with obvious pleasure. The heart dangled prettily, and he turned it toward Cate. “If you want, we can get it engraved. But I like it the way it is. What do you think?”
    Cate winced.
    “I ordered this for you after our first date.” Graham took her hand, and Cate stiffened. She felt a sudden urge to move, but he was holding her hand, sitting only a foot away. “You might think it’s too soon to get involved, after my divorce, but I’m forty-two. I know what I want, and it’s you. It was right from that first night.”
    Cate heard the emotion in his words and couldn’t meet his eye. She looked away, and her gaze found one of the bedroom windows in this colonial town house, with bubbled mullions and thick wooden sills, two-hands deep. She had measured them last time, with her own spread fingers. Outside, the winter sun had set and its pinkish rays clawed the deepening blue, only reluctantly surrendering its stake on the sky.
    “You don’t have to feel the same way I do, I understand that. It’s still early.”
    Silence fell between them, and the temperature in the bedroom dropped a tick, chilling Cate in her bra.
    “You okay?” Graham squeezed her hand, and the gold heart glinted in the lamplight. “You don’t look happy.”
    “I’m fine, sure,” Cate said, though she wasn’t. She knew she should stay and she knew she would go.
    “Talk to me, would you?”
    Cate wished she could, but she couldn’t. She released his hand, stood up, and started buttoning up her blouse.
    “What are you doing?” Graham rose slowly. “You’re leaving ?”
    “I think I should. I’m sorry.” Cate tried to get the bracelet off but couldn’t undo the clasp, fumbling.
    “Don’t leave, baby.” Graham reached for her arm, but Cate withdrew it. She had to go. She couldn’t explain it to him, this wonderful man. She just had to. She hurried to the door, her bare feet cold on the floorboards. Her shoes and stockings were still downstairs by the fireplace.
    Graham followed her. “Wait, listen. I shouldn’t have sprung it on you. It just came out. I’m sorry.”
    “I’m sorry, too,” Cate said, but she hurried away.
    It took Cate less than an hour to find a good corner bar in a working-class neighborhood south of the business district, near the airport. It had stopped raining outside, and an increase in the temperature made the air unseasonably wet. It was after six, so the TV news wasn’t showing more reports of her courtroom, and she sipped her smudgy glass of Miller’s,