Bubbles and Troubles Read Online Free Page B

consider. It was just creepy, no matter how you cut it. And who knew what a creepy trespasser might do…?
    “Yowwwwrrrr?” a plaintive meow questioned from the closet.
    “You locked him in there with your cat?” Paul muttered in surprise.
    “I don’t have a damn cat!” Carmen retorted. “There’s been a stray around the place, though. It must have gotten in my closet.”
    Paul placed one hand on the closet doorknob.
    Carmen had an increasingly bad feeling about the whole situation.
    Paul nodded to her and threw open the closet door. He lowered his pistol to chest level, but no one was inside the tiny space. However, a huge, fluffy, grey tomcat emerged, purring heartily. It walked—strutted—into the centre of the room. The cat blinked its bright blue eyes at Carmen. To Carmen, its noisy purrs sounded exactly like laughter.
    Damn that Brock .
    “It seems that no one is here, Miss Graham. Do you think the intruder could have left the closet and replaced the dresser in front of the door?”
    Carmen scowled at the heavy grey cat that scrubbed his face against her shin. “No, Paul, I stayed in my room and watched the door until I heard your car drive up. I’d have heard the dresser move around if he’d gotten out.”
    Paul raised his eyebrows. “May I ask what time you came home tonight, Miss Graham?”
    “Please, Paul, call me Carmen!” she said in exasperation. She glared at the stocky cat by her feet. “I don’t know, I got home about one, I think. Maybe it was closer to two, now that I think about it.”
    Paul nodded. “Out with the girls at the Mine Shaft?” he asked. “Shooting some darts and drinking some beer?”
    Carmen felt blood rush to her face. The cat leaned against her leg like a sympathetic conspirator. “Yes, fine, I had some beer to drink. And we took an Aldridge cab home, in case you were wondering. And no , I wasn’t just imagining an intruder in my house because I had maybe a tiny little buzz from the beer. I saw him, Paul! He was in my bed, touching me!”
    Now it was Paul’s turn to blush. He turned a fantastic shade of crimson and stared at a spot on the floor. He tipped his hat and turned, not meeting Carmen’s eyes. “With your permission, I’d like to check around your property, Miss Graham, to be sure that your intruder isn’t, ah, lurking around. You might want to bring your dog in. I’m sure he’d make you feel safer.”
    “Yes, yes,” Carmen agreed. She gave the cat a hate-filled glare and let Dax in. He gave the cat a thorough sniff then settled to sleep on the rug in Carmen’s bedroom.
    Carmen brewed a pot of herbal tea as Paul investigated. He returned to inform her that he’d seen no signs of forced entry or damage to property. “You might want to hang on to that cat, you know,” he added as Carmen walked him to the front door. “Looks like he’d be a great mouser, and you sure could use one around here.”
    Carmen, fuming, sipped her tea and had a stare-off with the cat until the police car pulled out of her driveway.
    As soon as the sounds of Paul’s patrol car were gone, Brock appeared in place of the cat in all his bare-naked glory. He was laughing, damn him.
    “Can I have some tea, too?” he asked. “That smells great. And do you have a robe for me? It’s just a bit chilly.”
    Carmen rolled her eyes and fetched her robe from her bedroom. Dax groaned in his sleep and rolled over. “Some watchdog you are,” Carmen muttered.
    Brock tied the pastel robe around his waist and grinned. His corded forearms stuck out from the cuffs and his bronzed thighs and bulging calves were exposed below the hem. The robe was nothing more than a fuzzy mini dress on him, but at least it covered that deliciously muscled chest, sculpted ass, and heavy cock of his.
    He ran his hands through his wildly luxuriant ashen hair. “What about an early breakfast? I’m famished. Maybe some of those fantastic eggs of yours, Carmen?”
    Exasperated, Carmen poured a cup of mint