3 Dime If I Know Read Online Free Page A

so cruel as to make me drive the Gray Beast. Everyone has already seen that car.”
    “It’s a survivor, and survival’s what I want for you.”
    At the scrape of a fork, I glanced over and saw Rafe’s plate was empty again. “More?”
    He sat back in his chair, patting his flat abdomen. “No, thanks. I’m good. It was delicious.”
    “I’ll say,” Charlie chimed in. “Marry me again, Cleo. I can’t live without your chicken and rice casserole.”
    Rafe glared at Charlie. As the testosterone level in the room ramped exponentially, I sought a way to diffuse the situation. A brawl between my lover and my ex-husband would ruin my day—and everyone else’s, for that matter.
    “Can’t do it, Charlie,” I said. The puppies starting yipping again. Their mother shot me a look of exasperation and slunk out of the room. “Chicken and rice comes with an expectation of fidelity.”
    He gave me his best my-shit-doesn’t-stink smile. “You can’t keep holding that against me. What do you say to forgiving and forgetting?”
    “Nope. I have a policy about that. No do-overs.”
    “Drat. I’ll have to change my name and romance you from scratch.”
    Before I could throw him out, Mama and her fiancé arrived. She’d met Bud Flook through Daddy, and Bud had been in love with her ever since. He waited throughout her long and happy marriage to my father, and now he’d finally gotten the girl of his dreams. I couldn’t be happier for them.
    “Hello, hello!” Mama breezed in, waving her diamond-clad hand through the air so that the stone flashed when it caught the light.
    Rafe stood to give her a kiss. Charlie lumbered to his feet and did the same. “That’s some rock you got there, Delilah,” Charlie said. “You found a sugar daddy?”
    “Better than that. I got me a husband-in-waiting. Bud and I are getting hitched at Trinity Episcopal in three Saturdays. Everyone here is invited to the wedding. No invitations will be sent.”
    Charlie nodded. “Gotcha.”
    Rafe inclined his head in Mama’s direction. “Congratulations to you both.”
    “You gonna dance at my wedding?” Mama asked, staring directly at Rafe.
    “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
    “Well, then. That’s all right.”
    After dinner, Rafe and I escaped to the porch swing while the kids did their homework and Charlie did the dishes. Rafe glanced at me under his lashes when I sat down in the far corner of the swing instead of snuggling up to his side.
    “Is something wrong?” he asked.
    “You tell me.”
    “Nothing’s wrong on my end. Why don’t you tell me what’s bothering you?”
    “You’ve heard the expression ‘once bitten, twice shy’?”
    He nodded.
    “Charlie’s adultery hit me hard. I’ve made no secret of the fact that you’re the first person I’ve seriously dated since my divorce. I learned my lesson. I won’t tolerate infidelity or lying in a relationship.”
    His expression sobered. Did he know where I was going with this? Did I know? Yes. I did. “You want to tell me why you cancelled our date last night?”
    “I told you. Something came up. It was personal.”
    “You went to the Catoctin View Motel.”
    His jaw dropped. “You know about that?”
    “I do. I can think of one very good reason a man would visit a motel known to be a hangout for prostitutes.”
    “It isn’t what you’re thinking.”
    “What is it?”
    “I went there to help a friend. I promise you, that was the extent of it.”
    “I want to believe you, but you’re holding back from me. Why does it have to be like this between us? Why didn’t you return my calls last night or this morning?”
    He rose and paced the porch. With his long legs, he was back in no time. “I was busy.”
    “Too busy to send me a text message?”
    “Drop it, Cleo. It doesn’t concern you. You’re crowding me.”
    I leaned into his personal space. “That’s what Sampson women do. We don’t back down from a messy situation. You want to sleep with me, you