Breath of Scandal Read Free Page B

an easy job, you know."

    She snatched up her purse and stepped onto the pavement, closing the car door behind her.

    "Hi, Gary." Neal's tone was deceptively friendly. Matching it, Lamar and Hutch repeated him.

    "Hi, Y'all." Gary's smile was open and guileless. "What's going on?"

    "Nothing much," Neal replied. "You heard anything about your scholarship yet?"

    "Not yet. Neither has Jade. Could be any day now, though . "

    "Do you want nuts on those sundaes, Gary?" the waitress in the window asked.

    "Sure.  11

    "Sure," Neal drawled. He looked toward the car where Jade was sitting. "Jade loves nuts. Big ones."

    Hutch sputtered with laughter. Lamar snickered.

    Gary's smile vanished. "Cut it out, Neal," he said crossly. He glanced over his shoulder toward the car. Innocently, Neal raised his hands. "It was a joke. Can't

    you take a joke?" Playfully, he punched Gary's shoulder. Gary flinched angrily. "Not where Jade's concerned." "Here you go, Gary," the waitress said, sliding the two

    desserts through the window. "One butterscotch sundae and one chocolate. That'll be a dollar fifty."

    "Thanks. " Gary paid her, then pulled two paper napkins from the dispenser and took a sundae in each hand. He turned away from the window, but Neal blocked his path, flanked by Hutch and Lamar.

    "Which one's Jade's?"

    Missing the point of Neal's seemingly innocuous question, Gary shrugged. "The butterscotch."

    Each sundae was crowned with a bright red cherry. Neal took the cherry by its stalk and plucked it off the mound of whipped cream. He sucked it into his mouth, then, with a dramatic gesture, pulled the stem out. He rolled the cherry in his mouth before catching it between hig front teeth where it was visible. Looking directly at Jade, he suggestively sank his teeth into it, then chewed it with lascivious pleasure before swallowing it.

    Facing Gary, he smirked. "Tell your girl friend I enjoyed eating her cherry. "

    "You sorry son of a bitch. Eat this."

    Gary shoved one of the sundaes into Neal's smug face.

    16

    Sandra Brown

    Breath of Scandal

    17

    Neal, taken completely off guard, staggered backward, choking on the goo that covered his face. Gary seized the advantage. Hooking his heel around Neal's, he yanked hard, pulling Neal off his feet. He went down backward onto the pavement.

    Gary stood above him. "Keep your filthy mouth shut about Jade. " He dumped the second sundae into Neal's lap, then strode to his car.

    Neal leaped to his feet, sputtering threats. "I'll kill you for that, Parker. Nobody fucks with me like that and gets away with it." He became aware of the comic spectacle he was making of himself and diverted his fury. "Jesus Christ!" he shouted to his two friends, who were immobilized with shock over seeing Neal outdone. "Are you gonna just stand there with your thumbs up your asses? Help me out here."

    Hutch and Lamar sprang forward, offering handkerchiefs and paper napkins. As he wiped his face clean, Neal glared at Gary's retreating car. The farmer might think he had gotten the best of him, but he had another think coming.

    CHAPTER

    TWO

    "I should have beaten him to within an inch of his life." "You made your point, Gary." Jade laughed when she

    remembered Neal's flabbergasted expression as the soft frozen custard dripped off his nose.

    "Why didn't I give him what he really had coming?" "Because you're not a Neanderthal like him. A fistfight is beneath your dignity. Besides, you were outnumbered. You would have had to fight Hutch and Lamar, too."

    "I'm not afraid of them!"

    Jade thought that expending so much energy on machismo was ridiculous, but she did her best to stroke Gary's ego. "Please stop fretting about it. Neal's not worth it. " After a short silence, she asked, "What did he say to make you so mad?"

    "Something typical of him," he replied dismissively. "One of his sly innuendos. His mind is a septic tank. He insulted you." He slammed his fist into his opposite palm. "God, he's a son of a