Bonbons and Betrayal: Book 3 in The Chocolate Cafe Series by Valley Sams Read Free Book Online

stop herself from clapping her hands together with joy.
     
    “Oh my god…really?”
     
    Louis looked over his glasses at her. There wasn’t a trace of humor in his eyes. His eyes, the kind, brown pools she fell into on such a regular basis, really could be colder than she imagined.
     
    “They’re letting ME take part. Just me. That means no breaking in anywhere, no running up cliff sides after suspects, no provoking madmen for amusement.”
     
    “But…can I ride along with you?” She had missed the point completely. Louis’s broad shoulders dropped and he let his head fall slack with frustration.
    When he looked up, Mac was staring at him like a puppy someone had mistakenly said ‘walk’ to. She might as well have had a leash in her mouth and a furiously wagging tail.
     
    Despite his annoyance, Louis couldn’t help but feel a disconcerting flush of love for her. Her odd, elven little face that he could practically fit in one hand, her intimidating intelligence…her inability to take ‘no’ for an answer. He was the wary seagull to her oncoming storm.
     
    “Do you know anyone who can come watch Brie while we’re gone?” He mumbled, his tone resigned and weary.
     
    Mac practically leaped across the small Formica table, slamming her mouth against his in a grateful kiss. His glasses knocked off kilter; he was too shocked to kiss her back, his lukewarm tea spilling over his hand where it had been suspended between the two of them.
     
    Oncoming storm indeed.
     

CHAPTER NINE
     
    Louis’ colleague at the NYC police department had supplied him with the home address of Paul Creed’s old roommate. The phone on speaker, Mac had silently scribbled the street name and house number on the back of an old fast food napkin she had found in the glove compartment. It wasn’t the most sophisticated detective work she’d ever done, but at least it was something.
     
    As excited as she was to go along with him, she felt a little bit embarrassed that she had been so desperate to be asked. There was no way Mac would be so transparent in everyday life. She was far too guarded for that and after six months Louis knew that all too well. In a way, it was as if he had found her weak spot. Even Sabrina didn’t know where that was.
     
    They were parking in the perfectly clean driveway of a suburban dream home about an hour from the University. It was obviously a very affluent neighborhood, but one that was eerily devoid of character. Every sprawling mansion seemed to follow one of three basic designs. Every lawn was cut to the same length and every drive way housed the same, glossy SUV status symbols.
     
    Paul’s roommate had apparently enjoyed more than his share of success. His house was the largest on the cul-de-sac, situated at the end of the loop like a proud patriarch at the family table.
     
    Louis pulled up beside the white Cadillac escalade parked in front of the garage. His beat up Toyota looked like the country bumpkin cousin alongside of the shimmering vehicle. In fact, Mac had the distinct impression that if Louis took too long inside she’d find herself being asked to move along by a local rent-a-cop.
     
    Louis opened the door, one long leg already out of the car. He stopped and turned to Mac, as if in afterthought.
     
    “Would it matter if I said it or not?” he asked. Despite his tone, Mac could tell he was trying not to smile.
     
    “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Mac batted her long lashes fetchingly.
     
    “Stay…in…the…car,” he said. “No matter how much you want to snoop around, I need you to stay put. No wandering off.”
     
    “Can you leave the window open at least? Give me a bowl of water? You know how quickly the temperature rises in locked cars?” Louis rolled his eyes.
     
    “I’ll look for you in the pound should someone call the SPCA.”
     
    ****
    If someone had asked Louis what the man who answered the door was a professor of, he would’ve guessed it in a