Read Online Read It and Weep (A Library Lover's Mystery) by Jenn McKinlay - Free Book Online
Authors: Jenn McKinlay
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deepened when he grinned at her.
“How do you know I wasn’t just using my prodigious acting skills to see if you cared?” he asked.
“You wouldn’t!” she said.
“Wouldn’t I?” he asked.
He looked at her and for a second Lindsey was sure he could see all the way into her soul. She blinked and looked away. Then she shook her head and laughed.
“You are the only man I’ve ever met who would use an injury as an opportunity to flirt.”
He winked at her and Lindsey felt her face heat up. She was not going to succumb to his charm, she told herself, even as she realized that she genuinely liked Robbie as a person.
“Probably, you should sort out your wife-girlfriend situation before you try to add any more women to your life,” she said.
He sighed. “I’m not very good with the closure portion of relationships.”
“Clearly.”
He looked at her and grinned. “But I’m unrivaled at beginnings.”
Milton arrived at the side of the stage with two chairs, one for sitting and one for leg propping. As Lindsey helped Robbie into a chair, Beth arrived with the ice pack.
As Lindsey stepped away, she saw Sully had returned without Lola and was watching her with a frown. She felt a flash of guilt and then shrugged it off. Helping an injured man was nothing to feel guilty about.
As she went to leave the stage and go back to her worktable, Robbie grabbed her hand and raised the back of it to his lips.
“Thanks, love,” he said.
Lindsey felt her face heat up again, but only because she knew that Sully was watching them. She glanced back to where Sully had been standing, but he was gone.
When she turned toward Robbie, she saw a twinkle in his eye and said, “You like trouble, don’t you?”
8
“M e?” he asked. He blinked his green eyes innocently at her.
“Yes, you,” she said. She was not buying what he was selling.
Violet had rolled up his pant leg and was about to put the ice pack on his leg. When Lindsey glanced down at the knot forming on Robbie’s shin, she didn’t have the heart to be too mad at him. He could have been seriously injured.
Lindsey left Robbie to Violet’s ministrations and went back to her donkey to see how the drying process was going. When she got back to the table, she found the mask crushed as if someone had hit it repeatedly with a fist.
Beth and Mary joined her at the table as she picked up what was left of the mask and turned it over in her hands.
“What happened?” Beth gasped.
“At a guess, I’d say someone beat the hell out of it,” Lindsey said. “Probably, I should be grateful that it isn’t my face.”
“But who—?” Mary began and then she broke off. “Oh.”
“Oh?” Beth asked.
Mary looked at Lindsey and asked, “Wife or girlfriend?”
“Could be either, but I think Ian took Kitty out this way, so my guess would be that Ian left her and Kitty came back in and exorcised some misguided rage on Nick Bottom’s donkey head,” Lindsey said.
She glanced at the stage, where Violet was directing Robbie, who was still sitting, Ms. Cole and Milton through their parts in Act IV. She didn’t have a good feeling about what had happened with Robbie. And she really didn’t have a good feeling about what someone had done to her mask. Was it a warning? Were both incidents warnings? Or was she just being paranoid?
A movement in the shadows of the entrance of the theater caught her attention. Whoever was back there was carefully making their way to the door. If this was Kitty and she thought she was going to slip out after destroying Lindsey’s work, she had another think coming.
“Hey!” Lindsey shouted and she ran across the theater. “Stop!”
• • •
T he person in the shadows jumped and broke into a run. He was running flat out toward the emergency exit when he ran in front of a light that illuminated his particular body type: short and droopy. It was theater critic Harvey Wargus.
He slammed through the emergency exit before Lindsey
“How do you know I wasn’t just using my prodigious acting skills to see if you cared?” he asked.
“You wouldn’t!” she said.
“Wouldn’t I?” he asked.
He looked at her and for a second Lindsey was sure he could see all the way into her soul. She blinked and looked away. Then she shook her head and laughed.
“You are the only man I’ve ever met who would use an injury as an opportunity to flirt.”
He winked at her and Lindsey felt her face heat up. She was not going to succumb to his charm, she told herself, even as she realized that she genuinely liked Robbie as a person.
“Probably, you should sort out your wife-girlfriend situation before you try to add any more women to your life,” she said.
He sighed. “I’m not very good with the closure portion of relationships.”
“Clearly.”
He looked at her and grinned. “But I’m unrivaled at beginnings.”
Milton arrived at the side of the stage with two chairs, one for sitting and one for leg propping. As Lindsey helped Robbie into a chair, Beth arrived with the ice pack.
As Lindsey stepped away, she saw Sully had returned without Lola and was watching her with a frown. She felt a flash of guilt and then shrugged it off. Helping an injured man was nothing to feel guilty about.
As she went to leave the stage and go back to her worktable, Robbie grabbed her hand and raised the back of it to his lips.
“Thanks, love,” he said.
Lindsey felt her face heat up again, but only because she knew that Sully was watching them. She glanced back to where Sully had been standing, but he was gone.
When she turned toward Robbie, she saw a twinkle in his eye and said, “You like trouble, don’t you?”
8
“M e?” he asked. He blinked his green eyes innocently at her.
“Yes, you,” she said. She was not buying what he was selling.
Violet had rolled up his pant leg and was about to put the ice pack on his leg. When Lindsey glanced down at the knot forming on Robbie’s shin, she didn’t have the heart to be too mad at him. He could have been seriously injured.
Lindsey left Robbie to Violet’s ministrations and went back to her donkey to see how the drying process was going. When she got back to the table, she found the mask crushed as if someone had hit it repeatedly with a fist.
Beth and Mary joined her at the table as she picked up what was left of the mask and turned it over in her hands.
“What happened?” Beth gasped.
“At a guess, I’d say someone beat the hell out of it,” Lindsey said. “Probably, I should be grateful that it isn’t my face.”
“But who—?” Mary began and then she broke off. “Oh.”
“Oh?” Beth asked.
Mary looked at Lindsey and asked, “Wife or girlfriend?”
“Could be either, but I think Ian took Kitty out this way, so my guess would be that Ian left her and Kitty came back in and exorcised some misguided rage on Nick Bottom’s donkey head,” Lindsey said.
She glanced at the stage, where Violet was directing Robbie, who was still sitting, Ms. Cole and Milton through their parts in Act IV. She didn’t have a good feeling about what had happened with Robbie. And she really didn’t have a good feeling about what someone had done to her mask. Was it a warning? Were both incidents warnings? Or was she just being paranoid?
A movement in the shadows of the entrance of the theater caught her attention. Whoever was back there was carefully making their way to the door. If this was Kitty and she thought she was going to slip out after destroying Lindsey’s work, she had another think coming.
“Hey!” Lindsey shouted and she ran across the theater. “Stop!”
• • •
T he person in the shadows jumped and broke into a run. He was running flat out toward the emergency exit when he ran in front of a light that illuminated his particular body type: short and droopy. It was theater critic Harvey Wargus.
He slammed through the emergency exit before Lindsey
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