Where There's Smoke by Karen Kelley Read Free Book Online

On the lapels were sparkly, black gems. The shirt beneath looked like any ordinary black knit. But the necklace caught her eye. The beads were a muted pink surrounded by clear pink crystals. Dangling from the end was a prism in the shape of a pink heart that captured the light and sent out brilliant shades of pink and gold.
    It sparkled. A lot.
    “A suit like this could make someone feel like a star. Sweet bling-bling, too.”
    “Bling-bling?” The woman was talking in a foreign language.
    “Yeah, the necklace. Bling-bling.”
    Bling-bling. Okay, Destiny would admit the necklace was nice. She’d never had bling-bling.
    The elevator suddenly jerked.
    They both grabbed the dubious metal railing. One thing Destiny totally agreed with LeAnn about was the state of the elevator. It banged and clanked its way to the third floor before coming to a jarring stop. If she wasn’t already dead, Destiny would have been afraid for her life. LeAnn was either courageous or really stupid for even stepping into the death box.
    As soon as the elevator door opened on Destiny’s floor, she hurried off. “Good luck with the singing,” she tossed over her shoulder.
    Once Destiny was safely inside the apartment, she breathed a sigh of relief. LeAnn wasn’t that bad, but Destiny never had a girlfriend and she didn’t want one now. Man, she would be in trouble with the demons if she did!
    She dropped her magazines on the coffee table and carried the bag into the kitchen. After taking the wine and ice cream out of the bag, she eyed her purchases.
    Decisions, decisions, decisions.
    She put the wine in the cabinet and grabbed a spoon out of the drawer. The wine would come later.
    When she was comfortably ensconced on the sofa, she began flipping through another magazine. Her third choice looked a lot more interesting than the other two. Not that she was against all the recipes in the first one. She loved to eat. But she was not a cook, and never planned to be a cook. Sandwiches were good enough, or sweet talking some guy into buying her a meal worked just as well, although someone coming through the sorting station mentioned women’s lib and fast food. She was all for equal pay and not having to cook. It was about time women wised up.
    Not that women having power helped her situation. Chance took control of each encounter. She was doing something wrong. Women with opinions had probably changed things in the bedroom, too. Not having sex since before she died put Destiny at a disadvantage. She could be doing everything totally wrong. A dark thought hovered over her. Maybe Chance had only felt sorry for her. She certainly didn’t want to become a pity fuck.
    No! She would not let her thoughts move in that direction. No fucking way was she a pity fuck. She’d checked herself out in the mirror and she was pretty damn hot. The world hadn’t changed that much! Any man would give up his soul to have sex with her.
    Her forehead puckered.
    Except Chance. So maybe she was doing something wrong, but she planned to change all that. Her next moves would be the right ones.
    She flipped to the next page.
    Destiny choked on the ice cream she’d scooped into her mouth as she stared at the page and tried to get her breath back. When she was capable of breathing without snorting ice cream through her nose, she set the carton on the coffee table and brought the magazine closer.
    Sex toys?
    Sex toys!
    Damn, they actually advertised sex toys in a women’s magazine. She was definitely born in the wrong time period. She quickly scanned through what they had listed. Vibrators, breast massagers, bondage kits and—oh, wow—a glow-in-the-dark dick. She could wake up in the middle of the night and there would be her dick, glowing like a beacon of light.
    She stared off into space, picturing the fluorescent green dick glowing on her bedside table, gently vibrating like a pet waiting to be loved.
    There was a sudden thud against her door. Destiny jumped, pulled out of