Deadly Charm by Claudia Mair Burney Page A

opportunity comes up again.”
    â€œDidn’t you get enough at the station house today?”
    â€œApparently not.”
    â€œYou totally humiliated me.”
    He blew a burst of air from his cheeks. Brushed his curls with his hand. “I know. I came to say I’m sorry.”
    â€œWhatever! Just leave me alone.”
    He sighed. Looked away and back at me again. Then mischief appeared in those delicious brown eyes.
    â€œOr maybe I did touch you.”
    I let out an exaggerated sigh. “Did you touch me or not?”
    â€œDid your boy Rocky do that when he kissed you?”
    â€œAbsolutely not!”
    â€œMaybe I’m not the gentleman he is. Or is kissing another man’s wife gentlemanly? You tell me , baby.”
    I had no energy for Jazz’s Rocky barbs. “If you want to have a real conversation about Rocky, I’d be happy to talk. But if you’d rather keep stewing, I’ll leave you to do that alone.” I looked around the room. From the bedroom window, I could see it had turned dark outside. “What time is it?”
    â€œIt’s about eight.”
    â€œI can’t believe I slept that long. What time did you get here?”
    â€œMaybe six.”
    I pulled the comforter back over me. “Why are you here, anyway?”
    He reached over to the floor on his side of the bed and pulled up the shoe I’d left behind. He dangled it in front of me. “Cinder bell a?”
    I sighed. “Thanks.” I took the shoe from him and put it on the floor on my side of the bed. He gave me a mischievous look.
    â€œGuess who I am?”
    â€œI’d say the prince, but he was charming .”
    â€œAren’t you sweet , my dear wife.”
    For a moment neither of us spoke. I waited for him to say something about Rocky, but he didn’t, so the words “dear wife” hung in the air between us.
    Again I sighed.
    Jazz kicked me under the covers. “Hey.”
    â€œHey what?”
    â€œI really did come to tell you I was sorry. Will you accept my apology?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œBut you want me to forgive you your trespasses?”
    â€œI most certainly do!”
    He put his chin on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Bell. I disrespected you, and that was wrong. Will you please forgive me?”
    â€œAs long as you don’t do it again.”
    He slipped his arms around my waist. “I wouldn’t have done that today, but I had a little help from my friend Jack Daniels.”
    â€œI don’t think Jack is your friend, Jazz. Listen, I wanted to talk to you about—”
    â€œYou wanna tell me what you dreamed?”
    I thought about whether I should override his veto. Decided how futile it would be to force him to talk about the drinking when he clearly didn’t want to, and proceeded back to what my subconscious mind had dredged up.
    I told him about the dream, chills running through me as Irelived it. He listened, nodded. Touched my arm during the hard parts.
    His eyes searched mine. “Have you been listening to the news?”
    â€œNo. Not really.”
    â€œEzekiel Thunder’s kid really drowned today. At your boyfriend’s house.”
    â€œI know all about it. I just left…”
    Uh-oh. Suddenly I had myself a situation.
    â€œBell, if you tell me you were with…”
    I stayed quiet.
    â€œBell…”
    More quiet.
    â€œBell!”
    â€œ What? You never said a name.”
    â€œI didn’t have to.”
    He jumped out of bed, and I saw he had on a white undershirt and his skivvies. Whew! That man’s body made our vows, “with my body I thee worship” sound like a plan . I couldn’t stop gaping at him.
    â€œYou were in my bed half naked?” I hoped he didn’t hear the longing in my voice.
    â€œYou’re my wife ! I’m supposed to be in your bed. However , you’re not supposed to be going out with…”
    I didn’t fill in