A Cut Above by Ginny Aiken Read Free Book Online

you, I don’t.”
    He gives another chuckle, then opens the front door. “Don’t bother, Max. I’ll walk home. It’s only a few blocks away. The walk’ll help me work out the cramp in my gut from all this laughing.”
    After Josh leaves, the house goes right to too silent. I steal a look at Max, and find him studying me. A blush starts at the base of my neck and slowly spreads up my face.
    “What?” I ask.
    “It’s not you.” He waves. “This stuff of Miss Mona’s doesn’t work for you. And I’m glad. You’re more . . . more fun, and what you need is furniture that’s more laid back, more fun, more you.”
    “Thanks. That’s a really nice thing to say.”
    “I do have my moments.”
    I flash him a nervous smile. “I know. You’re not all bad.” “Wow! What a rousing endorsement.”
    I shrug one shoulder. “It’s the best I can do on a day like today.”
    A puzzled look lines his forehead. “A bunch of old-fashioned furniture can bring you down like this? What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing’s really wrong,” I say, standing. “I just have a lot to do to get ready for the trip. The last thing I need is a houseful of Miss Mona’s castoffs I don’t want.”
    His eyes narrow. “The trip? What trip would that be?”
    “Miss Mona didn’t tell you?”
    “Not a word.”
    I close my eyes. “Great.” When I look at him again, I see he’s not happy. Fine. There’s not much I can do about it. “She’s sending me to negotiate the price on an emerald lot. In Colombia.”
    “No.”
    I snort—lovely, huh? “That’s what I said. But you know Miss Mona. It got me nowhere. She’s going to sell emeralds, and I’m going to buy them for her.”
    Silence drops between us like a pot’s worth of overcooked linguine. I twitch.
    Max shuffles.
    Where did the guy who kissed me that one night go?
    “Fine,” Max finally says. “When do we leave for Colombia?”
    “What do you mean ‘we’? There’s no ‘we’ in the Colombia trip. I’m just going to meet with Mr. Cruz, the vendor who brought some samples to Miss Mona’s office today. I’ll pick out the stones we’ll show, pay the man for them, and head back home. Piece of cake.”
    He crosses his arms. “I have just two words for you: Burma and Kashmir.”
    A shudder rips through me. I have more bad memories than good from those two trips. “That’s not fair, Max. This time is different. I’ve already met Mr. Cruz. Miss Mona knows him too. I’m not heading out to meet crazed miners I don’t know. I’m going to Mr. Cruz’s office to do business, no different than if his office were in . . . oh, I don’t know, Poughkeepsie, New York.”
    Max takes a step toward me, and if I were a betting woman—which I’m not—I’d wager those were angry flames in his eyes. “Might I mention that, unlike Poughkeepsie, New York, Colombia has hordes of gun-toting guerillas and a slight problem with the illegal drug trade?”
    Why, Lord? Why are you letting him use my own thoughts against me?
    “Believe me, Max. I want nothing to do with anything or anyone other than Mr. Cruz and his emeralds. He just didn’t bring any stones worthy of the price he set on them.” I start to pace. “Oh, they were good ones, all right. But not for $11,000 a carat. He told us he has better ones in Colombia, and Miss Mona insisted I go negotiate there.”
    “She insisted.”
    “Yes. She did. And you can ask her about it.”
    “Well, then, she’ll just have to send me too. I won’t let you risk your life like that.”
    Oooooh! “Excuse me?” I say in a voice dripping ice. “You won’t . . . what?”
    “I won’t let you flirt with danger again.”
    That’s what I thought he’d said. Not good. “You, Mr. Matthews, don’t have the power or authority to say any such thing. It’s not up to you to ‘let’ me do or not do anything at all. I would appreciate you taking your high-handed ways out of my living room before you say any more offensive things.” Or I go