04 - Shock and Awesome by Camilla Chafer Read Free Book Online Page B

a wealthy woman, living in a super cool neighborhood for a couple weeks, driving a fancy car, dressing up in nice clothes that wouldn't get dirty from hiding in bushes and trawling through trash, and dating an array of rich, handsome, albeit possibly criminal, men. As my arm ached some more, I had to remind myself there were worse jobs in the world... and I'd done most of them in my previous career as a serial temp.
     
     
       
     

     
           
     

     
           
     

     
          Chapter Four
     

     
           
     
          "For how long?" Lily's face crumpled as soon as I told her of Solomon's plan to install me in the house next to his. "Ohh!" Her face lit up. "Do you think he plans to tunnel from his house and ravage you in the night?"
     
          I pondered that. I pondered it for a whole one million minutes at light speed.
     
          "You live in hope, right?" Lily pressed.
     
          "No!" I pulled a face. Okay, it wasn't like it didn't cross my mind, but Solomon was the consummate professional. Plus, he already consummated this professional. Arf .
     
          "Not even a little bit?"
     
          "Not even. It's just convenient that his neighbors are vacationing and he can monitor the house from his, right next door."
     
          Lily gave me her skeptical face, but I ignored it as I returned to the rentals section of the current edition of the newspaper. Since Lily waylaid me the moment I opened our front door, a half hour ago, I scoured the section, hoping for an improvement on the previous edition's offerings; but, so far, very little caught my eye. Only the thought of having to move in with my parents while I searched for a new home, or begging Janice Markowitz to lease me her place, motivated me to circle some of the properties.
     
          "Besides," I said, returning to the original topic of the duration I'd be away while working the case, "it's not for too long, and we're moving soon anyway, and I don't know where I'll be. Think of it as training wheels for when we don't share the same building."
     
          Lily pouted. "You could still move in with Jord and me."
     
          "Nope. You need your couple time in the months before the baby arrives. Not couple time plus Lexi , third wheel."
     
          "Sometimes third wheels are good things. I mean, look at tricycles!"
     
          "And how many of them do you see on the mean streets of Montgomery?"
     
          "Not many," Lily conceded.
     
          "Exactly. Listen to this one. Apartment with access to garden and reserved parking. Large living room, separate bedroom, bath, kitchen with dining nook, video camera entry system. Harbridge . I know the building. It's near Maddox."
     
          "You want to live near Maddox?"
     
          I didn't particularly want to live near my ex-boyfriend, but it was a great neighborhood. Not that it was a viable option. I told Lily the price and her jaw dropped. "That's insane!"
     
          "I know. And that's a nice one. I just circled a place in Chilton. It costs the same as here."
     
          Lily leaned over and looked to where I tapped the newspaper with my forefinger. "That's not so... Oh. It's a studio. Its kitchen is a closet! There must be somewhere better." She took the newspaper from me and I reclined against the couch's pink pillows while she scanned the columns. "Maybe not," she decided a few minutes later as she returned the gazette.
     
          "If it's affordable, it's a pit. If it's nice, it's not affordable," I told her.
     
          "Maybe we should look at some anyway. Make friends with the rental agents. They might tell you if something better comes up."
     
          "It's either that or the bench in Fairmount Park." I shrugged.
     
          "It'll never come to that, Lex . Besides, we all know those benches are taken. Jord patrolled there last night. He said it was like a hobo sleepover with a gin tea party."