Read Online Too Darn Hot by Sandra Scoppettone - Free Book Online Page A

hafta put on a show about how tough they are, but Johnny never did that. I had no doubt that he
was
tough, but he didn’t have the need to act that way. I also liked his sense of humor, his smarts, that he read novels, and the way he treated me.
    We talked about the movie while we walked and before I knew it we were back at my apartment. He usually came in for a coffee or a nightcap, but he had an early-morning meeting with his captain.
    He saw me to the vestibule and we kissed for a long time. When we broke apart he said, “Faye, there’s something I want to say.”
    My heart did a jitterbug. After that kiss I didn’t think he wanted to split up, but you never knew. Marriage passed through my brain and that was worse. I wanted to tell him to save it for a rainy day but I knew I couldn’t do that.
    “What’s that, Johnny?”
    “I’m not quite sure how to say this.”
    “Then don’t say it.” Lily-livered, that was me.
    “But I want to.”
    “Okay.” Behind my back I crossed my fingers on both hands.
    “I think we should stop dating other people.”
    You coulda knocked me over with a cat’s whisker. What other people? Maybe he was dating, but I wasn’t.
    I knew I had to say something so after a mo I said, “I didn’t know you’d been datin a lot, Johnny.” That was dumb.
    “I haven’t. I thought you might be.”
    “Me? Me?”
    “You don’t have to sound like it’s an impossibility.”
    “It’s just that it’s so far from the truth. I never gave datin another guy a thought.” I didn’t add that they weren’t lined up around the block, cause in my heart of hearts I knew if someone had asked me I wouldn’t have gone anyway.
    “So what do you think?” he asked.
    Saying what he had out loud made our romance more serious. My knees knocking together told me I was scared, but I also knew this was what I wanted.
    “I’d like that,” I said.
    “Good. Now you’re mine.”
    Uh-oh. “And yer mine,” I said.
    “That’s what I meant. We belong together. To each other.”
    I hoped that’s what he meant.
    “You’ve made me very happy, Faye.”
    I smiled up at him. He leaned down and kissed me. A sweet kiss.
    “I’d better go now. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
    “Okay.”
    We said our good nights and he waited while I opened and closed the inside door. Once in, I turned and we waved to each other. I watched him go down the steps.
    When I got into my apartment, Zachary was there to greet me, mewing and winding himself around my ankles. I got rid of my pocketbook and picked him up.
    “Guess what, Zach? We’re goin steady.”
    The phone rang, Zach flew, and I went over to the telephone table and sat down before I answered. What if I picked it up to hear Johnny’d changed his mind? Then I realized there hadn’t been enough time for him to get home. I reached for the horn.
    It was Marty Mitchum.
    “I didn’t wake ya up, did I, Faye? I’ve been tryin ya all night.”
    “I just got in. What’s up?”
    “I heard ya didn’t identify your John Doe.”
    “Right.”
    “Here’s what I found out. All the clothes in the duffel fit Ladd. The stuff in the wardrobe, too.”
    “What about the clothes from under the bed?”
    “They probably belonged to the dead guy cause he was five eight and Ladd’s six feet.”
    “How d’ya know that?”
    “Powell talked to Ladd’s parents and they told him.”
    “So they know he’s missin?”
    “They’re on their way to town.”
    I hated having Powell in on this but at least I was off the hook on telling the Ladds about their son.
    “I think they gotta be upper crust cause they’re gonna be stayin at the St. Moritz.”
    “Pretty swanky.”
    “Ya gonna go see em?”
    “If I can. Who knows how hard Powell’s gonna make it.”
    “Yeah. But I heard even though he buzzed the Ladds, he’s a lot more interested in John Doe.”
    “Ya know if he’s gonna ask the Ladds to ID him?”
    “Don’t know that. But he probably will, don’tcha