Kiss Me If You Can Read Free

upcoming birthday, her grandmother had aged well. She was still mentally fit and physically able. A healthy specimen, if Lexie discounted the older woman’s self-dyed red hair and decades-old housecoat adorned by the antique jewelry Charlotte always wore around her neck and on her ears. Hopefully, Charlotte wasn’t leaving this world anytime soon.
    â€œOh look, it’s five o’clock. Time for Eyewitness News! ” Charlotte reached for the television remote control and turned on the TV.
    â€œCan’t you wait another fifteen minutes? We’re almost finished with the basics of surfing the Net.”
    â€œThe news can run in the background. You know I like to keep up on local events.”
    Lexie nodded. She knew. If Charlotte Davis’s stories were to be believed, Lexie’s eccentric grandmother had lived a colorful life and had known many famous people. At the ripe age of seventy-nine and 330 days—Grandma Charlotte counted off the boxes on her Derek Jeter wall calendar—Charlotte watched television and read the paper to see who she’d outlived this week. Lexie had long since stopped reminding her that the TV news only broadcast the more sensational deaths. Her grandmother’s true interest in the Channel 7 news was—
    â€œBill Evans!” Charlotte exclaimed, pointing toward the handsome weatherman.
    Lexie bit the inside of her cheek as she saw her hopes for more lesson time slipping away. “Grandma, pay attention.”
    â€œAfter this segment. Check out the dimples on this dude.”
    A glance at the screen told Lexie her grandmother was no longer referring to the weatherman.
    â€œOf course he doesn’t hold a candle to Bill Evans, but he’s still hot.” Charlotte pointed a wrinkled hand toward the large television screen in the corner of the room.
    The words Crime Beat Reporter Foils Robbery caught Lexie’s mental attention, but the man captured her female imagination. Dark hair, longer at his neck, he was tanned, dimpled and sexy. She couldn’t tear her gaze away. His blue eyes showed his obvious discomfort as the store owner, whose jewels he’d saved, tried to reward him for his trouble.
    â€œWould you look at that? He’s too noble to take the reward!” Grandma Charlotte said.
    â€œA true gentleman,” Lexie said, impressed by the man’s actions as well as his handsome face and toned physique.
    An exasperated sound escaped her grandmother’sthroat. “A fool is more like it. Take the goods!” the older woman yelled at the screen.
    Lexie laughed.
    The man, whose name flashed on the TV as Sam Cooper, turned down a watch and a necklace before the grateful store owner shoved a tray of rings in front of him.
    â€œNot married,” he said in a deep voice that suited his rugged good looks. “I’ll take this,” he said at last, reluctantly choosing a ring from the assortment on the tray.
    The camera panned in for a close-up of the ring. A large, gaudy, flowery ring.
    â€œGrandma, look! That looks just like one of your necklaces!”
    Charlotte rose from her chair and peered at the screen. “You’re right! Holy shit-ake mushrooms!” her grandmother exclaimed.
    Lexie rolled her eyes. “You’ve got to stop watching Austin Powers movies.”
    Charlotte ignored the comment. Instead, her hand flew to her chest. She grasped not the necklace in question, but another one of her so-called treasures that she’d promised to leave to Lexie one day. Some of them were hideous, but in a world without her grandmother, Lexie would want any item that reminded her of Charlotte.
    â€œI wonder if it’s an exact match,” Lexie mused.
    â€œI hope Sylvia is watching this!” her grandmother said of her longtime friend and neighbor, Sylvia Krinksy, who lived down the hall.
    Lexie’s grandfather and Sylvia’s husband had long since passed away, but the women’s