Read Online Full Blast by Janet Evanovich & Charlotte Hughes - Free Book Online Page B

teeth, and then we’re going to have arm-wrestling matches in the kitchen. Better place your bets while there’s still time.”
    Beenie looked aghast. “Do you realize the lieutenant governor is here?” he hissed.
    “Yeah, he’s the one taking up the bets,” Frankie said.
    Dee Dee patted her husband’s hand. “Well, I’ll put my money on you any time, sweetie,” she said. He kissed her lightly on the lips although it was obvious he would have preferred something more passionate. Twenty years of marriage had not dampened their desire for each other.
    Frankie looked at Jamie. “I’m especially glad to see you. Dee Dee has a dilemma.”
    “Frankie’s right,” Dee Dee said. “I need to find a cause.”
    “A cause for what?” Jamie asked.
    Dee Dee giggled. “You know, a cause. Now that Frankie’s the new mayor, I think I should make some sort of contribution to this town.”
    “That’s a wonderful idea,” Jamie told her friend. “You could volunteer at the hospital.”
    “Eeyeuuw!” Dee Dee shuddered.
    “Dee Dee doesn’t like being around sick people,” Frankie explained. “We wouldn’t want her to catch any germs.”
    “There’s a telephone number in the phone book for people wanting to volunteer their time,” Jamie offered. “You could call them and see what they need. I’m sure you’ll find something that interests you.”
    Dee Dee suddenly brightened. “I could work for a hotline service. You know, help people out who have personal problems. I’m a good listener.”
    Jamie and Max exchanged looks. Jamie couldn’t imagine Dee Dee trying to solve anyone’s problems. God bless her, but Dee Dee’s answer to everything was a new piece of fine jewelry or a shopping trip to New York.
    “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m hungry,” Frankie announced. “Let’s grab some grub.”
    A few minutes later, Max and Jamie carried their plates and glasses of wine to one of the love seats adorned in faux leopard. Dee Dee had decorated the room in a jungle theme, complete with animal-skin sofas, banana plants, and wooden giraffes. Max sat close enough so that their thighs touched. It didn’t go unnoticed by Jamie.
    “Max, we really need to talk,” she said, trying to ignore the tingling that started at her hip bone and spread right down to her painted toenails. Her stomach took a nosedive as she imagined his hair-roughened thighs touching hers without benefit of clothes. Lord, what the man did to her!
    “You smell nice,” he said.
    “Thank you.” She didn’t want to think about how good he smelled. She tried to remember what she had been saying before he’d touched her and her mind had taken leave. “I’m, uh, really concerned about Luanne Ritter’s murder and that the personals section may be connected to it. I told Lamar I’d pull the ads, but he disagreed. He’s afraid if the murder had something to do with the ads, we might lose the killer. I think it’s too risky.”
    “Give me a few more details,” he said.
    Jamie told him about her conversation with Lamar, trying not to leave anything out.
    “We’re going to have to work fast, Swifty,” he said.
    “We’ll have to work at night, after the office is closed. Nobody is supposed to know. Not even Vera.”
    “What about the production staff?”
    “They never come up front. Besides, even if they did, they’d have no idea what we were working on.”
    “You have records of the people who’ve written in?”
    Jamie nodded. “I keep them locked in my office for confidentiality’s sake. Vera pitched the fit of all fits when I told her she wasn’t privy to the information, but you know how she loves to gossip.” Jamie paused. “By the way, I lent her the red Mustang. Her old car gave out on her.”
    He grinned. “Does she drive it with the top down?”
    God, if only he wouldn’t smile like that, Jamie thought. She could handle almost anything but those bone-melting smiles. “Yes. She even got a new haircut so