Skin Deep by J.M. Stone Read Free Book Online Page A

my voice
filled with regret.
    Luke grinned and said, “I’m not,” before
drawing me into his arms and pressing his lips to mine lightly.
“Don’t worry, sugar. We’re gonna fuck. Just not tonight.” With that
said, he kissed my lips softly once more and then was gone.
    I stood there gazing longingly at the door
for a minute until an animalistic snore broke through my reverie. I
walked over to my sister, nudging her with my foot, telling her to
get her drunk ass up. Leah is the youngest of us kids, just barely
25. She had a natural perkiness that had served her well as the
captain of the cheerleading team in high school, long, dark, wavy
brown hair like mine, and the jade green eyes that we all shared.
She was tiny like Jenna, worked as a hairstylist in a shop by the
mall, and had men follow her around in droves, all hoping to be on
the receiving end of her bright smile.
    I reached down and grabbed her under her
armpits, hefting her up into a sitting position. She opened her
eyes blearily and blinked at me before saying, “Emma? ‘Zat
choo?”
    “Yeah, Leah, its me. C’mon, lets get you to
bed.”
    It took some finagling, but I finally got her
up, down the hall, and safely tucked into my bed before crawling in
beside her and falling into a deep sleep. My last thought before it
was lights out was, “Calland is going to die.”

Chapter 5
    The rest of the week flew by. I was so busy
with work and fielding calls from Allie demanding details from my
date with Luke that I didn’t have time to dwell much on the fact
that I hadn’t heard from him. Okay, so I lied. Its all I could
think about. I could just shoot my brother for doing that to me,
and I probably would, once I could get my hands on him. He wisely
has been avoiding me.
    On the bright side? My boss, sweetheart that
he is, so kindly agreed without hesitation to bond me out of jail
after I shoot Calland. Of course, I didn’t tell him why it would be
necessary. He’s cool like that.
    On Friday afternoon, having spent most of my
morning fielding my usual ration of legal questions, phone calls
(quite a few were hang ups or heavy breathing in my ear; weird),
and client meetings, I answered my phone one last time as I shut
down my computer, prepared to once again explain why someone
couldn’t get their marriage annulled. That, let me tell you, is a
fascinating conversation: They say, “ I want to get my marriage
annulled .” I say, “ okay, have you consummated the
marriage ?” They say, “ what? ” I say, “ Did you
consummate the marriage? ” They say, “ What’s that mean? ”
I say, “ Did you have sex with your wife/husband on your wedding
night and/or any other night (or day) during the course of your
marriage? ” And so on, and so forth. My favorite was an older
woman who had called and we had the same conversation, but her
response to my last question was classic. She said, “ Well wasn’t
I supposed to? He told me it was against the law if we didn’t… ”
Poor woman.
    “Good afternoon, Floyd Grim’s office, can I
help you?”
    “Hey, sugar,” a deep, sinfully rich voice
said in my ear.
    Gah! “Hey,” I said breathlessly.
    “I’ll be there to get you at six. Be
ready.”
    Ummm…no? I mean, we’ve had one date. So who
collared me and made him master?
    “Sorry, Luke,” I replied in a clipped tone.
“Got plans with Allie. Another time?” I really did have plans with
Allie, but even if I didn’t, I would have made some. As it was, she
and I had a date with our fat clothes, junk food, and an Amanda
Seyfried movie marathon; we had Letters to Juliet, Mama Mia, and
Dear John. (Which we watch more for Channing Tatum. Yum. I mean,
have you seen Magic Mike? Heellooo!)
    “Cancel them,” came the quick reply.
    “No, Luke. And what gives you the right to
call me up out of the blue, at my job, no less, and dictate
what-”
    He cut me off mid-sentence. “Babe. I’ll call
Allie. Six. Be ready. Later, sugar.”
    I heard the phone click