Read Online Snipped in the Bud by Kate Collins - Free Book Online Page A

I wouldn’t rule him out, either. He had the means and the opportunity, which would seem to make him the obvious suspect, wouldn’t it? So why would Reilly order me not to leave town? All I did was discover the body. If I were the murderer, would I hang around to alert the police?”
    Marco reached for more popcorn and tossed the kernels in his mouth. “So your question is, why would he throw you in the suspect pool? Well, let’s see. Did you give him straight answers?”
    I brushed a daisy petal off the table. If I said yes, I’d be lying, which I didn’t like to do. If I said no, there would be the inevitable question as to why I didn’t give Reilly straight answers, and frankly, I did it because that was my nature, and yes, I knew better. So I said, “Do you mean straight, as in linear?”
    Marco didn’t have to utter a word. His expressive eyes did the talking for him, and they said he knew I was dodging yet again. “Sunshine, you know Reilly likes everything quick and to the point. Why yank his chain, especially during a murder investigation?”
    “I wasn’t trying to yank his chain. I simply didn’t want to be pinned down to a specific answer for fear he might misconstrue what I said.”
    “In other words, you didn’t want to give him any information that might make him think you could have killed Reed.”
    “Bingo.”
    “But it happened anyway. Otherwise he wouldn’t have told you not to leave town.”
    Bingo. I plopped my chin in my hand and sighed unhappily. “What should I do?”
    “Nothing. You haven’t been charged, and the cops have a whole bunch of people to interview before they start narrowing down their list of suspects.” He wiped his hands on the napkin, crumpled it into a ball, and twisted around to make a perfect shot into the trash can in the corner. “I’d still recommend keeping a low profile. You don’t want to draw attention to yourself while the police are investigating. Capisce ?”
    “Yes, I understand.” Did he understand that he was the sexiest man who’d ever walked the planet, especially when he spoke Italian to me? Did he know how much I wanted to hop on his lap and nuzzle that hard jaw?
    “I’ll let you get back to work,” he said, ready to slide off the seat.
    “Wouldn’t you like some more popcorn before you go?” I dug in the bag and produced two buttery kernels.
    “No, thanks.” Clearly he was unaware of the passion he had inspired. “I’m going to talk to Reilly before he goes off his shift and see if he’ll tell me where he’s going with this case, what his thoughts are.”
    At that moment I didn’t much care what Reilly’s thoughts were because my thoughts had wrapped themselves around the hunk sitting almost knee to knee with me, in his leg-hugging Levis and tan T-shirt, stretched tight over those totally masculine pecs. I hopped off the stool, sidled up to Marco, and said in a seductive voice, “Are you sure you don’t want some?”
    He gazed at me for all of one second, then the left side of his mouth curved up slightly—and I knew I had him in the palm of my hand, right beside those kernels. “I might be persuaded,” he said in that low, rumbling purr.
    I fed him one kernel followed with the second, watching those taut throat muscles do their job. Then Marco curled his fingers around my wrist and brought my hand to his mouth. His smoldering gaze on mine, he used his tongue to flick away the last trace of butter, teasing every nerve in my body into a fever pitch of excitement, so that I had to lean against the table to steady myself. Then he put his other hand around my waist and brought me up against his hard chest, tilting his head so our lips could meet.
    At the very moment of impact Lottie burst through the curtain and went straight to the radio she kept on the counter. “Sorry, kids, but I think you should hear the latest report.” She turned up the volume to bring in the newscaster’s voice.
    “To repeat our breaking news