Carrots: A Shelby Nichols Adventure by Colleen Helme Read Free Book Online

with a low whistle. It must have been the red lipstick. “Oh baby, oh baby,” he said with a smile. “Let’s go.”
    On the way to dinner, I told Chris about my trip to the police station. “I’m so disappointed they haven’t caught him yet.”
    “Yeah. I called Harris this afternoon and we talked. He said they were getting tips all the time, but most of them were bogus. He still hoped something would turn up.”
    “Did he tell you the other man who was shot died today?”
    “No.” He glanced my way, his brows arched in surprise. “It makes me sick to think that you could have died. It also makes me mad. Stupid people like that bank robber should be put away for good.” He was thinking of how much he would like to catch the guy and beat him to a pulp, then pump a few bullets into him, and rip off his arms and legs. Wow, he really was mad. It put me in a good mood.
    We were only a few minutes late to dinner. While Chris was talking to his co-workers, I scanned the room for Kate. I imagined her as the unattractive, serious, brainy type, who tried to be as tough and competitive as the men. That way, they wouldn’t even notice she was a woman. Or even better, she could be older, and a little on the heavy side. She was happily married, and had a matronly air about her.
    All my hopes were dashed when I actually saw the young, flirtatious redhead, who looked like a fashion model for Victoria’s Secret. Why did she have to become a lawyer? She wore a spaghetti strap green dress that hit her long legs just above the knee. Her auburn hair was long, and fell in perfect symmetry over her bare shoulders. I had a vision of her wearing clothes like that to work, and realized this was worse than anything I could have imagined.
    As Chris angled me over to meet her, she sized me up in one glance. “Hi Shelby, it’s so nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”
    “That’s nice.” I wanted to add that I hadn’t heard a thing about her, but she might take that as a compliment.
    “Chris just adores you,” she gushed. She was really thinking that I wasn’t bad, but Chris could do better. “He’s always talking about his wife.”
    I glanced at Chris. He was trying hard not to look at the swell of cleavage above her low neckline. He smiled at me, wishing he were somewhere else. He had been dreading this meeting, worried that I would read more into it than there was. Not because of his actions, but because of Kate. She was young, and attractive, and seemed to really like working with him. It was a little uncomfortable.
    He put his arm around me and drew me close. “Now that you’ve met her,” he told Kate. “You can understand why I like to talk about her. She’s an amazing woman.”
    “Well, I hope we can get to know each other better,” she smiled. “I’m always looking for new friends. Maybe we could do lunch sometime.” She could see how possessive Chris was, but it didn’t put her off in the least. Her desire for Chris fell over me like a slap in the face. She wanted him, and it didn’t matter that he was happily married.
    “That would be great,” I said. “How about Monday?” That took her by surprise.
    “Uh…sure.” Her smile was false, and full of pretense. Deep down, she had no desire to spend any time with me. It was Chris she wanted to spend time with.
    “I’m coming into the office to help Chris so that will be perfect.” Chris didn’t know what I was talking about, but decided to stay out of it. Kate’s active mind was already churning with possibilities of how she could use this to her advantage. Maybe she could arrange to be alone with Chris in his office when I showed up.
    “What time are you coming in?” she asked all innocent looking.
    “I’m not sure. Does it matter?”
    “No, just wondering.” She looked at Chris. “Chris and I might be in court, that’s all.”
    Chris was beginning to sense that there was some underlying conflict going on and quickly intervened.