Read Online NorthernPassion by Cynnamon Foster - Free Book Online Page B

robbery these days.”
    Desiree was more composed now. She almost had to fight back
laughter. “You don’t say?”
    “You mean you haven’t had any? Your girls are real?” The
woman slurred her words just a little bit. “I mean, those are some good-looking
boobs you got there.”
    Desiree blushed, unsure of what to say. “Thank you. Mother
Nature is the best surgeon.”
    The man guffawed with laughter and his wife stumbled forward
with her hand out, intent on putting her hand on Desiree’s breast now. Desiree
stepped to the side. She could go with most flows, but this was something else.
Letting a woman fondle her breast was just too much too fast. The woman
stumbled and almost fell. Her husband caught her just in time, but not before
she knocked over a small wooden table sitting to the side.
    A picture frame clattered to the floor. “I’m so sorry,” the
woman said.
    The room was deadly quiet now. Desiree blushed as every eye
seemed to be on them. “No, I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect you to reach out and
touch my—”
    “No worries,” the man said. “We’re all kind of friendly
around here. It takes some getting used to.” He set the table back up on its
legs and the buzz in the room resumed.
    The picture frame had skidded off to the side. Desiree
reached down and picked it up to return it to its place. Just as she was about
to put it back on the table, she glanced at it and stopped in her tracks. The
woman in the picture was eerily familiar.
    “Who is this?” Desiree stared at the picture. “I feel as if
I know her.” Her question was rhetorical. The woman’s face in the frame
actually confirmed the intelligence they already had.
    Her boobilicious friend squinted to make her eyes focus on
the small image. She held Desiree’s hand to steady the picture. “I’m not sure.
I think that’s GG.”
    Her husband held the two women’s hands steady so he could
get a closer look. “That’s not GG. That’s her sister. The one who lives in
Toulouse now. She used to come to these parties, but then just like that, she
up and moved to the French countryside all la-di-dah like.”
    “Oooh!” the wife exclaimed. “I do remember her. I think we—”
    Her husband cut her off. “Had dinner with them once or
something. Remember? She moved after the accident that killed that guy?”
    His wife looked confused but nodded. “Oh yes. GG was very
upset about that. We all were. I think it’s understandable to want to make a
change after a tragedy.”
    Desiree smiled. They had confirmed her and Sam’s suspicions.
The Jenilhams were connected to the dead groomsmen. She just didn’t know how.
She put the frame back in its place. “Who could blame her, really? The French
countryside is a lovely place.”
    The man was back to normal now. “Hell, lovely? I wouldn’t
know anything about that. Before we moved here, I’d never been outside the
United States. I’m still discovering Paris and haven’t had much need to go farther.
At least not yet. This neighborhood here is like little America. Almost all of
us on this block are ex-pats. Martin and his wife and her family are kind of
fancy. They travel all over Europe all the time.”
    Desiree smiled. “Do they?” She’d learned, if you just
listen, people will tell you everything you wanted to know.
    Boobilicious almost lost her balance in-between her drunken
nods. “Oh yes. They were the first among us to come over and then they started
their businesses and before you knew it, we were all here together.”
    Hmm , Desiree thought. That meant Martin and his wife
could be at the center of a lot of things if people followed them across
oceans. “Did you tell me your name?”
    Her husband interrupted her. He rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry,
we didn’t. But we usually use first names here. Please excuse my wife. The wine
goes right to her head. I’m Stan and she’s Kimberly. Can I get you something to
drink, Mrs. Comfort?”
    She nodded. So, they knew her last