Dirty Kiss by Rhys Ford Read Free Book Online Page A

kept it up, he’d draw blood in a few minutes. “It looks like he did, but I knew him. Not like this. He wouldn’t have done this to his family.”
     
    “People keep saying that. Your uncle included.” Resting an elbow on the counter, I picked up one of the mushrooms he’d left on the chopping board, sniffing at its aromatic meatiness. “I guess the question really is, how are you going to feel if I find out he did kill himself? What then?”
     
    My phone rang before he answered me, and I debated letting it go, but Jae-Min returned to his soup-making, leaving me with his back to talk to. Cursing under my breath, I checked the number and cursed again, louder and with more fire than the first spate. Jae spared me a flick of his attention, then ignored me as I answered it.
     
    “Yes, Claudia?” I took a look at the clock on the wall, frowning at the time. “What are you still doing over there? I thought you were going home.”
     
    “I was planning on it, but those people who hired you are here. You know, that man with the wife.” Claudia was good about keeping secrets, so I guessed that there was someone in the office with her. “They’d like to talk to you.”
     
    “They?”
     
    “Yep, both of them. The husband and the wife.” She paused, and I heard a murmur outside of my hearing range, then her speaking to someone else. “You go on down the street and get me something cold to drink. Here, get yourself something.”
     
    “What the hell?” There was silence, and then I winced. “Sorry. They’re both there?”
     
    “It’s okay. I understand that it’s probably been a long day for you, what with waking up so late and then driving down to Orange County.” Her voice was light, but Claudia’s sugar was laced with sarcasm. “And yes, both of them. They’re outside getting some air. I wasn’t sure if I should feel insulted or just glad they weren’t in the office.”
     
    This coming from a woman I pay to watch television for most of the day, I thought. Not being stupid, I kept my mouth shut until the urge to speak those idiotic words passed. When my mind finally saw some sense, and I could trust my tongue, I said, “I’m about forty-five minutes out, if the traffic gods love me. Are they willing to wait?”
     
    “I think so,” she responded smoothly, as if all was forgiven between us. “Both of them came in here as sweet as honey, asking if they can see you. And that’s not the type of woman you’d expect to be doing those things. Well, maybe doing, but not wearing that outfit.”
     
    I suppressed the laughter choking my chest. “You looked?”
     
    “Of course I looked!” Claudia snorted. “I’m human. I get curious. And that’s some sickness going on in that marriage.”
     
    “I could give you the ‘everyone loves differently’ speech you gave me,” I reminded her.
     
    “Yes, I know,” she replied. “Are you coming back here, or should I send them off?”
     
    “No, I’ll be out there in a bit. Just give me some time. Ask them to wait. Thanks, Claudia.” I hung up the phone and rested it against my forehead. My life was getting stranger by the day, too odd for even me to imagine. The Brinkerhoffs would have to be dealt with, and I wasn’t even sure where to begin.
     
    “Is Claudia your girlfriend?” Jae turned the flame off, covering the pot with a glass lid. It steamed up almost immediately.
     
    “No, she’s my office manager.” I smiled at the idea of dating Claudia. Her being a woman aside, she was a hard taskmaster, and I imagined my life would be even more strictly run than what she dictated now. “She keeps my life in order.”
     
    “So she’s your wife.” He grinned. His smile burned away any sadness left lingering in his face. Tucking a thick piece of hair behind his ear, he laughed when I grimaced.
     
    “Not a wife, but she bosses me around like one.” I should have told him I was gay. Opening up would go a long way in cementing a camaraderie