Holly and Homicide by Leslie Caine Read Free Book Online Page B

beautiful as ever, standing two feet away from me.” He kissed me passionately.

Chapter 5
    I n our bedroom later that night, Steve was deliberately keeping his distance from me. “I’m sorry about the kiss, Steve. It was just such a shock, suddenly seeing him again.”
    “So you said. More than once.” His voice was cold.
    Although I was trying my best to explain, I was failing miserably. Kissing a former boyfriend in front of Steve was something I’d have sworn I would never do in a million years. “His suddenly appearing after all these years just felt so surreal. There we were with our clients and everything, and the—”
    “Which
we
are you referring to?” Sullivan glowered at me. “You and Cammy Boy? Because you can’t possibly mean you and me. I obviously faded into the woodwork for you the instant he walked into the room.”
    “I only expected it to be a little ‘hello’ kiss. Didn’t you notice that I pushed him away?”
    “Eventually you did, yeah.”
    “Almost immediately!”
    He snorted. “You forgot I existed. Your eyes and your head were all full of Mr. Fix-it Man. Then you
eventually
broke off the kiss and introduced me. As your
partner.”
    “Cameron got my meaning immediately.”
    “Yeah, he did. I could tell by the way he glared at me. He seems to be a smart guy. But you could have slipped in that little phrase about our being partners right away. Maybe
then
he’d have settled for a handshake.”
    “I’m sorry, Steve. Deeply sorry. Letting him kiss me was thoughtless and inappropriate, I know. But, believe me, there’s nothing going on, other than my surprise at seeing a long-lost old friend.”
    “Friend?”
    “Yes. Cam’s and my romance ended nearly ten years ago. I feel nothing for him now except friendship.”
    “You’d better tell
him
that. That was no friendly peck on the cheek he was giving you.”
    “I
will
tell him that. And I’ll also tell him that I’m in love with you, just in case he’s slow on the uptake. He’s probably happily married, for all we know.”
    “Erin. Don’t be naive. No happily married man takes his old girlfriend into his arms like that. At least, not if he expects to
remain
happily married.”
    “Maybe he’s happily divorced, then. In any case, I’m flattered that you’re jealous, but you have nothing to worry about.”
    He looked at me with far more venom than Cameron could possibly have generated when he “glared” at Steve. “Is that supposed to make
me
feel better, or just you?”
    “You don’t need to be so harsh, Sullivan. I said I was sorry, and I am. I swear to you that I’ll never kiss an old boyfriend again, and anyway, there isn’t anyone else in my past remotely like him.”
    “Great. So in other words, you’re still holding a torch for him alone.”
    “No! I just meant that, out of all the guys I ever dated, he was the only one …This isn’t coming out right. The point is, I’m not holding a torch for him or for anyone except
you.”
    “How lucky for me.” Steve stripped down to his boxers and undershirt, then clicked out the light. “I’m tired and I’m going to sleep now.”
    “Fine. Good night.”
    “Night.”
    Although I turned out my own light and laid my head on my pillow, I silently cursed repeatedly while replaying the lowlights of the evening. I
had
honestly believed Cameron was going to give me a quick kiss hello. Sullivan was truly overreacting. Yes, I’d been wrong to let myself get so enthralled by seeing Cam so unexpectedly. But that’s the challenge of major surprises—you don’t get the chance to prepare for them; it’s impossible to react with intelligent forethought. My reaction had been the result of my happiness at seeing the long-lost man who’d oncemeant the world to me; it had absolutely nothing to do with my relationship to Sullivan—the man who now meant even more to me. Nothing on this earth could make me drop Steve and go back to Cameron. I weighed telling Sullivan that,