Dead Between the Lines Read Free

Frustrated, I put a hand on each of their chests and shoved. Even though Jake was brawnier, Noah had a lean strength, so it was like pushing against twin statues.
    Lowering my gaze to their crotches, I threatened, “Don’t make me go for the family jewels.”
    Jake raised his hands. “Fine.” He tipped his head toward Noah. “But are you really dating this bozo?”
    Noah narrowed his slate gray eyes, shouldered his way in front of Jake, and said to me, “After not hearing from this jerk for weeks, you’re not thinking of seeing him again, are you?”
    Well, hell! This was truly a hot mess. I
so
didn’t want to have this conversation with either of them right this minute. Mostly because I had no idea what to say. Both men were gorgeous in utterly different ways. Mysterious versus familiar. Strikingly masculine versus classically handsome. A German shepherd versus a Russian wolfhound.
    However, both had significant drawbacks as well. While the sexual chemistry between Jake and me was off the charts, he lived in St. Louis, a good five hours away. There was also the troublesome detail that he worked closely—very closely—with his ex-wife, who happened to be his team leader and thus his boss. In fact, his most recent assignment had required that they pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend.
    So, Noah had the advantage of availability, but I had a painful history with him. Jake had a clean slate, but complications.
    Neither guy was a sure thing, nor was either one an obvious choice. With all that in mind, as well as the knowledge of my many previous romantic missteps, I figured that dating either man would probably be a lesson in candy-coated misery.
    What I should do was convince them that we could all be friends and keep both relationships platonic. Of course, I rarely did what I should. Still, I had to do something before they killed each other or shed someone else’s blood, namely mine. I’d detested being a suspect in a murder case, but I was pretty damn sure I’d hate being a victim even more.

CHAPTER 2
    I t had taken all my schmoozing skills to persuade Jake and Noah to leave without me. In the end, I’d had to promise to go out with each guy alone. Jake had insisted on Saturday night, and Noah had settled for Sunday afternoon. To be honest, I was curious as to why they’d both turned up at the dime store within minutes of each other, since I hadn’t had a date with either one of them, and I figured it would be easier to get the truth if I talked to them separately.
    Now, as I greeted the members of the Stepping Out Book Club, I put my man problems aside and concentrated on charming the attendees. They were all commenting on how nice the weather was for early May, and I agreed, subtly pointing out my gardening display as they passed.
    This was the first time they had met in my store, and I hoped the group would decide to use my place on a regular basis. When Xylia had approached me about having their meeting at the dime store, I was a little hesitant. I loved hosting the various craft groups, but most of them met during the day, and I didn’t want another evening commitment that would mean spending more time away from Gran. I couldn’t afford to hire extra help, so if the store was open, I had to be there.
    However, after Xylia had outlined the arguments in favor of her proposition, I’d had to admit it was a good deal. The club had agreed to order this month’s selection from me, which meant eighteen copies—one member already owned the book—of
Ode to a Small Midwestern Town
at twenty-five bucks a pop, which gave me a profit of a hundred and eighty dollars. I had also insisted that they had to clean up afterward and pay me to provide the refreshments.
    I was charging the members fifteen clams each for the wine, cheese, and crackers that had cost me less than a C note and taken only half an hour to set up. This little shindig would net me nearly four Benjamins for two hours of my time. It was as close