Brody & Hannigan 02 - Grand Theft Lotto Read Online Free
Author: Paula Graves
said firmly, softening the words with a smile at her mother. "But I hate thieves a whole lot more. Especially thieves who share your name and your blood. Whatever I might think about the wisdom of entering the lottery, you did it in good faith and won it fair and square. I'll be damned if I let someone rob you of that money."
"Honey, I don't need that money—"
"I know you don't need it, but you could use it. Anybody could. God knows you deserve the chance not to have to worry about money ever again."
"So?" her mother asked with a burgeoning smile.
Hannigan grinned back. "So let's go find that ticket before one of those shiftless sons of bitches cashes it in."
Chapter Three
If Brody thought his partner's change in attitude about her mother's secret-keeping extended to him, he was mistaken. The look she shot him as they walked out to their cars was as frigid as the morgue.
"This wasn't some conspiracy to keep you in the dark," he began.
Her head snapped around so quickly that her bob of dark hair swept into her eyes, making her grimace. "Because you always keep secrets with my mother?"
He pressed his lips to a thin line. "She asked for my discretion. I gave her my word but I did try very hard to convince her she should tell you."
"I can't believe she thought I'd go all judgmental on her about buying a lottery ticket. It's not like she makes a habit of it." She stopped short of the car, finger-combed her hair away from her face and turned her gray-eyed glare on him. "Does she?"
"How would I know? I don't think so."
Hannigan slumped against her car door. "I'm sorry. I guess this is sort of a volatile subject for my family."
She looked worried and tired, making him wonder what other troubles she had on her mind. She'd been distant over the past couple of weeks, careful around him, as if she didn't trust herself—or him.
Ever since that damned make-out session at Magnolia Park Overlook.
"Are we never going to talk about it again?"
She looked up at his question, danger glittering in her sharp eyes. "Brody…"
"It's not going away just because you will it so."
Her expression shifted gears, became less formidable and more frustrated. "I don't know what to say."
He didn't like the sound of that. "If you regret it, say so. If you find me repulsive sexually, you can say that, too."
She looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "No heterosexual woman could possibly find you sexually repulsive, Brody. Don't even pretend you don't know that."
"Well, I like to think that's true," he admitted with a half smirk.
"Your slobbering pack of badge bunnies should have clued you in." She turned and opened her car door.
"They're not the ones who matter."
She froze with her back to him. "What exactly do you want from me?"
He wasn't sure how to answer. There was a part of him that wanted everything. Sex, babies, joint checking accounts and a big house on the east side with an enormous yard for the kids and the dogs—and those were the thoughts that made him freeze in terror and lose his ability to answer her very simple, very reasonable question.
"Go home, Brody. I'll let you know what my cousins had to say for themselves." She got behind the wheel of her car and started to close the door.
His tongue unstuck itself. "I wouldn't mind going to Magnolia Park Overlook with you tonight."
She looked up at him through the open door. "So, you want to have sex with me in a car is what you're saying."
He sighed. "You make it sound so tawdry."
With a glare that might have killed a weaker man, she shut the door and drove away, leaving him standing by his car, staring at her taillights and wondering how the hell things had gone so suddenly, terribly wrong.
"Sex screws up everything."
The voice carried across the beauty parlor, greeting Hannigan with a well-timed slap of wisdom the moment she walked under the tinkling bell. There were only four clients in the shop at that time of
"Honey, I don't need that money—"
"I know you don't need it, but you could use it. Anybody could. God knows you deserve the chance not to have to worry about money ever again."
"So?" her mother asked with a burgeoning smile.
Hannigan grinned back. "So let's go find that ticket before one of those shiftless sons of bitches cashes it in."
Chapter Three
If Brody thought his partner's change in attitude about her mother's secret-keeping extended to him, he was mistaken. The look she shot him as they walked out to their cars was as frigid as the morgue.
"This wasn't some conspiracy to keep you in the dark," he began.
Her head snapped around so quickly that her bob of dark hair swept into her eyes, making her grimace. "Because you always keep secrets with my mother?"
He pressed his lips to a thin line. "She asked for my discretion. I gave her my word but I did try very hard to convince her she should tell you."
"I can't believe she thought I'd go all judgmental on her about buying a lottery ticket. It's not like she makes a habit of it." She stopped short of the car, finger-combed her hair away from her face and turned her gray-eyed glare on him. "Does she?"
"How would I know? I don't think so."
Hannigan slumped against her car door. "I'm sorry. I guess this is sort of a volatile subject for my family."
She looked worried and tired, making him wonder what other troubles she had on her mind. She'd been distant over the past couple of weeks, careful around him, as if she didn't trust herself—or him.
Ever since that damned make-out session at Magnolia Park Overlook.
"Are we never going to talk about it again?"
She looked up at his question, danger glittering in her sharp eyes. "Brody…"
"It's not going away just because you will it so."
Her expression shifted gears, became less formidable and more frustrated. "I don't know what to say."
He didn't like the sound of that. "If you regret it, say so. If you find me repulsive sexually, you can say that, too."
She looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "No heterosexual woman could possibly find you sexually repulsive, Brody. Don't even pretend you don't know that."
"Well, I like to think that's true," he admitted with a half smirk.
"Your slobbering pack of badge bunnies should have clued you in." She turned and opened her car door.
"They're not the ones who matter."
She froze with her back to him. "What exactly do you want from me?"
He wasn't sure how to answer. There was a part of him that wanted everything. Sex, babies, joint checking accounts and a big house on the east side with an enormous yard for the kids and the dogs—and those were the thoughts that made him freeze in terror and lose his ability to answer her very simple, very reasonable question.
"Go home, Brody. I'll let you know what my cousins had to say for themselves." She got behind the wheel of her car and started to close the door.
His tongue unstuck itself. "I wouldn't mind going to Magnolia Park Overlook with you tonight."
She looked up at him through the open door. "So, you want to have sex with me in a car is what you're saying."
He sighed. "You make it sound so tawdry."
With a glare that might have killed a weaker man, she shut the door and drove away, leaving him standing by his car, staring at her taillights and wondering how the hell things had gone so suddenly, terribly wrong.
"Sex screws up everything."
The voice carried across the beauty parlor, greeting Hannigan with a well-timed slap of wisdom the moment she walked under the tinkling bell. There were only four clients in the shop at that time of
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