No Test for the Wicked: A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, Book Five by Julie Moffett Read Free Book Online

turn into something dangerous.”
    Jan snapped her mouth shut. “Jaime! Oh, I’m sorry, Lexi.”
    I glanced over at Slash, who didn’t seem perturbed or embarrassed by Jaime’s comments. I tried to think of a quick way to alert Slash to Jaime’s autism, but before I could say anything, he took two steps and knelt down in front of the boy.
    “True. But did you also know that kissing is a critical way to strengthen our immune system? The germs we exchange by kissing are usually so weak and varied that, instead of harming us, they help us build our resistance so when we encounter truly dangerous germs, our bodies are better prepared to fight them.”
    Jaime’s eyes widened. “You were making Lexi stronger?”
    “Exactly.”
    Jaime looked over at me. “I like Lexi. Can you do it again?”
    Jan stifled a laugh. “Not right now, he can’t.” She held out a hand. “Nice to meet you, Slash.”
    Slash rose and took her hand, lifting it to his lips and kissing it. “I assure you, the pleasure is all mine.”
    Jan shot me a questioning glance. As Slash returned to me, she fanned herself behind his back. I tried not to roll my eyes, but I couldn’t help the little smile that rose to my lips.
    “Lexi, we need to have coffee.
Soon
.”
    “Sure, Jan,” I called out as Slash and I entered my apartment.
    After he closed the door behind us, I turned to him. “Did you know Jaime was autistic?”
    He nodded. “
Si
, I’m familiar with autism.”
    “How?”
    He kissed my cheek. “That’s a story for another time. Are you ready for dinner?”
    I looked down at my outfit. “I’m not sure. Do I look okay?”
    He took a step back and studied me. Then he reached out and fingered the edge of my bra. “Pretty.”
    “Well, Ken said lingerie defined casual.”
    His hand dropped. “Ken?”
    “Kenji Kurisu. My assistant at work. I asked him to define casual dress and he said lingerie.”
    “Ah, I see.
Cara
, if you have any questions about what to wear for me, you can always come straight to the source.”
    “I know. I just...”
    “Just what?”
    “Well, this stuff doesn’t come intuitively to me. You’re my boyfriend now. I just can’t ask you about
everything
. In my own defense, I went online, but I couldn’t find out how many buttons were proper to unbutton and still be considered casual. Ken said I had to unbutton some of them to make it slinky...”
    Slash let out a low growl and pulled me into him again. “Let’s stop talking about Ken.” He glanced down at my unbuttoned shirt and then back up to my face. A smile touched his lips. “You look just right.”
    “I unbuttoned the proper number?”
    He started walking me backward, holding me in his arms the whole time. “You unbuttoned perfectly. So perfectly that we are going to be late to dinner.”
    I turned my wrist and glanced at my watch. “Actually, unless we’re going somewhere really far away, we should have plenty of time.”
    He started nuzzling my neck as he walked me into my bedroom. “Trust me. Dinner will be late.”
    I felt the edge of the bed behind my legs. I fell back on it when Slash released me. He shrugged out of his leather jacket.
    “Oh.” It took me a moment to get there. “Oh!”
    He unfastened his shoulder holster and set it and his gun on my dresser. “We’re going to have our appetizer first.” Reaching out, he unfastened another button on my blouse and then another.
    I looked up at him. “Okay. So, what’s on the menu for our appetizer tonight?”
    He smiled, lifting my chin with his fingertips. “Something delicious.”

Chapter Five
    We were two hours late. Totally worth it.
    Slash assisted me with re-dressing. He buttoned my blouse one higher than I had done myself.
    When I looked at him questioningly, he kissed the tip of my nose. “I have to maintain some level of decorum at dinner.”
    I tried to smooth my rumpled hair. “I had no idea that unbuttoning a blouse would lead to that. However, I believe that