Read Online Red Roses in Las Vegas by A.R. Winters - Free Book Online Page A

much fun with all the strippers.”
    I smiled politely, and Ian said, “Yeah, even Adam was taken.”
    I would’ve given Ian a stern look, but I didn’t want to take my eyes off Sharon. She didn’t seem too surprised by the question; she must’ve guessed that we were steering the conversation that way.
    She smiled thinly. “And the irony of that is, his girlfriend doesn’t even live here, half the time.”
    “Sooo,” I said. “Adam must’ve gotten pretty lonely at times.”
    Sharon shook her head. “No. Look, I get that you’re trying to ask me if Adam and I–” she shrugged, twisted her lips, and waved her hands a little, “–if we ever got together. But believe me, we were just friends. The guy was loyal to his girlfriend, the annoying little twerp.”
    I smiled despite myself and said, “Why was she annoying? And a twerp?”
    “Please.” Sharon rolled her eyes. “The woman was full of herself. Sure, she was tall and skinny and blonde and had a perfect nose…” For the first time, I noticed that Sharon’s nose was little on the wide side. “And she looked like she’d had breast implants too–”
    “Hey,” I said, turning to Ian, “Sounds like your perfect woman.”
    We grinned at each other briefly and then I quickly turned to Sharon and apologized for the interruption.
    “No, it’s fine,” she said. “Anyway, what I was saying was, the woman was just… she thought she was so perfect, you know? With her perfect good looks, and her job as some barely-paid junior stylist at some tiny interior design firm. She barely paid any attention to Adam and the man worshipped her.”
    “How d’you mean, barely paid any attention?”
    “Well, for one, she didn’t care about Adam’s work. She was happy to live off his money, but she never bothered to show up to work events. Never made an effort.”
    “And other spouses came?”
    “Sure. And you know what?” She was on a roll now. “She never even bothered to give Adam a lift into work if his car wasn’t working, and if hers wasn’t working, she borrowed Adam’s. I had to be the one giving him lifts. The poor guy, stuck with that woman.”
    “Instead of you,” said Ian.
    This time, I really did give him a stern look.
    Sharon said, “What are you, good cop, bad cop?”
    More like good PI, stupid PI.
    “I’m sorry,” I said, “But it does sound like you’re a little jealous.”
    Sharon shrugged. “Adam was a nice guy. But he never saw me as more than a friend. Besides, his type’s like your friend’s.” She jerked her head at Ian. “He liked them skinny and hot.”
    I felt bad for her and didn’t know what to say. But even if I did, Ian would’ve beaten me to it.
    “So you killed him,” Ian said. “You got jealous and shot him.”
    Sharon rolled her eyes towards the ceiling and shook her head. “I don’t know where you get your ideas,” she told Ian.
    I did: TV shows and movies. Possibly comics, too.
    “So you didn’t kill Adam,” I said, “What–”
    “Hang on,” said Ian. “Where you that night?”
    “I don’t know.” Sharon looked at me. “Just after midnight? I was probably at home, sleeping.”
    “So nobody saw you,” Ian said. “You’ve got no alibi.”
    She frowned and I said, “Ian. Let it go . She didn’t kill him.” I turned to Sharon and added, “Ignore him. Tell me more about Adam’s girlfriend. How long had they been dating? What was her name?”
    “Cynthia Pruttley. They’ve been together for a bit over a year, I think? Before that, he was dating some other blonde bimbo. Don’t get me wrong, Adam’s a great guy, and I’m not judging him. He’s welcome to date whoever he wants. Was.” She looked somber again, but began talking before she could mist up again. “Anyway, Cynthia works for Petite Bijou Designs. The place is as pretentious as she.” Sharon paused for a second, pondering the perfection of their pairing, and then she pulled out her phone. “I assume you’ll want to talk