Picture Me Dead by Heather Graham Read Free Book Online Page B

Don’t you dare insist we leave right now. And be nice.”
    â€œBe nice? He’s my friend. I’m always nice.”
    Karen sighed, her chest heaving with impatience. “I mean, be nice to all of them. Please…Jan may not admit it, but she’s saving all her quality flirting for Kyle, so just be decent to Mario so we can try to keep their threesome together. With us.”
    â€œI told you, I’ll be nice.”
    â€œAshley, you’re crazy. Have you ever really looked at your friend’s buns?”
    â€œNo, Karen, I haven’t actually stared at his butt, but if you say so, I’m sure his buns are great.”
    Karen shook her head again. “She’s crazy,” she told Jan.
    â€œNo, I understand her perfectly,” Jan said. “It’s either there or not. I can’t really explain what ‘it’ is, chemistry or whatever, but if it isn’t there, it isn’t there. So quit feeling guilty and checking with Ashley to make sure she’s really not romantically interested. She isn’t. And we’re wasting time here, discussing this all in a bathroom.”
    â€œRight, let’s get back there,” Karen said. “And you, Ashley, start talking to Mario. Talk shop if you have to.”
    â€œI’m in the police academy, not fire rescue.”
    â€œIt’s almost the same,” Karen insisted.
    Ashley discovered that she was actually able to have a nice conversation with Mario, who was somewhat shy and reserved. He was married and was just out with his single friends for the weekend because his wife was in Connecticut for two weeks visiting her folks. He was relieved to tell her about being a newlywed, since his friends had been afraid he was going to ruin a fun night for them.
    Ashley told him about the accident they had witnessed, and he told her stories about calls they’d taken on I-95, some tragic, some simply bizarre. When the others rejoined them at the table after dancing, she found herself repeating the story, knowing Len might be interested, since it had occurred in their neck of the woods.
    â€œAshley, you’re going to see things like that more and more often,” Len said. “Bad things happen on the highways.”
    â€œHey,” Karen said. “We all decided we were not going to focus on that awful scene.” She stared at Ashley, who hadn’t even realized she had a pen out, or that she was sketching the highway scene on a cocktail napkin.
    â€œAshley is an artist,” Karen announced. She kept her eyes glued sternly on Ashley and flipped the napkin over.
    â€œAn excellent artist,” Jan said. “Draw a face, Ashley. Draw Kyle.”
    Ashley obediently began a sketch of the firefighter. The others rose and stood behind her, staring over her shoulder as she drew.
    â€œWow!” Kyle said, looking at her with new respect. “That’s great. Sign it. I want to keep it.”
    â€œWill you do one for me, too, please?” Mario asked.
    â€œHow about Karen and Jan?” Len asked when she was finished, handing her a stack of napkins.
    â€œI’ve drawn them dozens of times.”
    â€œBut maybe Kyle and I would like to keep them,” Len said.
    Karen covertly jabbed her. “Of course,” Ashley said.
    She finished the pictures and passed them out. Kyle shook his head. “So…Len says you’re going to be a cop, right? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with being a cop but…these are great.”
    â€œAnd she has a photographic memory. Draw someone from today—show them,” Jan insisted.
    Karen placed a hand over Ashley’s. “ Not the highway,” she said.
    Ashley shrugged. “All right.”
    â€œYou go ahead, I’ll get the check,” Len said.
    â€œHey, Len, that’s not necessary.”
    â€œYou’ve fed me plenty of times, Ash, at Nick’s place.”
    â€œThat means my uncle fed you,” she