Lavender Lipstick Lies: A Mystery of Makeup & Mayhem by Mary Maxwell Read Free Book Online Page A

thanked them for their concern,
but held to my decision. I wanted to hear my husband’s voice. I wanted to
continue the dialogue about what had happened. And I wanted to get away from
the mad crush of conference attendees for a few minutes of peace and quiet. I
made my way out of the meeting room and up to our suite in no time at all.
    “Hi, honey,” Robert said after
answering my call.
    “Morning,” I said quietly.
    “How are you?” He sounded tentative
and restrained, not the same easygoing man I’d known for so many years. “Is the
meeting going well?”
    “It’s okay,” I answered. “I’m a
little distracted, so I’m not sure I’m soaking up all the great information
they’re sharing.”
    We were both silent for a moment,
letting the muted quiet buffer the unfamiliar tension between us.
    “I love you,” Robert said finally.
    My heart trembled in my chest and
the habitual waves of warmth and tenderness swept through my body.
    “And I’m sorry about what
happened,” he added. “Everything I told you yesterday is true, babe. I’ve never
seen that woman before in my life.” He paused to see if I’d respond, but I was
pressing the phone against my ear to listen. “And I would never do
anything like that, sweetie. I love you too much to hurt you, Abs.”
    I swallowed hard and caught my
breath. “I know that, babe. And I know there must be some explanation for…” Images
from the previous morning flashed in my mind: the sexy blonde in the skimpy
lingerie; her red lacquered nails reaching for my husband’s hand; and the icy
glower on her face as she ran from the room.
    “Abby?”
    “I’m still here,” I said. “I just
wanted to hear your voice, honey. I’m on a break from the conference. I need to
get back downstairs in a second.”
    “I’m glad you called. I’ve been
thinking about you nonstop.” He laughed softly and the warm sound brought a
smile to my face. “Hell, I don’t think I slept a wink last night. And we’ve got
a big meeting with a new client this afternoon.”
    “Better keep the coffee flowing,” I
suggested.
    “I will,” he said. “Oh, remember
that I told you I called Barney with the license number from the convertible
that woman was driving?”
    “Oh, right,” I answered. “Did he
find out who she is?”
    “Well, not who she is exactly,” my
husband said. “But the car’s registered to Kimberly Woodworth. Does that name
meaning anything to you?”
    I thought for a second. I didn’t
remember anyone by that name, but my mind was fairly frazzled so I couldn’t be
certain.
    “I don’t think so,” I told my
husband. “Did Barney have anything else to say about her?”
    “Not really. He offered to dig into
her background, but I told him to hold off until I’d talked with you.”
    “What do you think?” I asked.
    “I’ll do whatever will make you
feel better, Abby. I really don’t have a stinking clue who she is or why she
pulled that stunt. But if you want Barney to snoop around, just say the word.”
    “Let’s drop it for now,” I said
after a moment. “Unless she shows up on our doorstep again, maybe it was just a
random prank or she got the wrong address.”
    Robert laughed warmly. “Maybe some
poor bachelor somewhere was supposed to get an early morning strip-o-gram,” he
said. “And his buddies screwed up the instructions.”
    “Anything’s possible, but at this
point we should—”
    Someone knocked on the door to the
suite.
    “Housekeeping,” a cheery voice
called from the corridor.
    “Oh, sweetie,” I said into the
phone. “I should go. They’re here to clean the room, and I should get back downstairs
before the next session starts.”
    “You got it,” my husband said. “I
love you, Abby. Thanks for calling so we could talk.”
    “I love you right back,” I said.
“Call you tonight when we finish dinner.”
    After dropping the phone into my
bag, I hurried across the living room just as the door clicked open. A tall
woman