Covert Craving Read Online Free Page B

passersby.”
    “Yep. That’s it. Gosh, detective, you are so
smart. You close all your cases this fast?”
    They arrived at the front counter and she leaned
on it with both hands.
    “Frank? Frank! You here? I need to borrow a cart.”
    A short forty-something-year-old man with light
hair at his temples and a paunch exited a room to the left holding a box full
of cigarette cartons.
    “Hey there, Chloe. You buying stuff for Muriel
again?” The clerk put the container down on the floor behind the counter and
picked up the rum bottle. “I got a cart, but you know her daughter said no more
of this.”
    “Shit, she was here too?”
    He nodded and set the alcohol back down on the
counter.
    “Look, I need it. Or Daisy Mae is going to have my
ass. Please? I won’t tell if you don’t.”
    Frank smiled at her and shook his head. “Hey, you
wanna keep that crazy ol’ lady in booze, that’s your business. I just sell the
stuff.”
    “Thanks, Frank.” She shot the clerk a huge smile
and Greiff wondered what he’d have to do to get a grin like that directed his
way.
    He used his body to subtly move her aside and put
the milk on the counter. Frank flicked a look at him, then at Chloe, raised one
eyebrow, and started to ring up the items.
    “Hey, can I get a pack of—”
    “Oh no you don’t. You need to quit that crap.
Those things will kill you.” Chloe crossed her arms under her breasts and
glared at him. The gesture plumped the flesh up in a rather tantalizing way. He
looked back at her face and she frowned harder and cocked her head.
    “You sound like my partner. Last pack, then I’ll
quit.”
    “No,” she replied.
    “No?”
    “No. If you’re quitting, you’re quitting. None of
this namby-pamby stuff. Cold turkey, gorgeous.”
    “Really. Well, if you’re not going to let me have
my smokes, you’re buying me dinner.” He still had one cigarette in the pack in
his jacket pocket.
    “Excuse me?” she sputtered.
    “You heard me.” He took his wallet out and handed
Frank two twenty dollar bills. Her eyes widened and she intercepted the change
before he could take it from Frank. The store owner chuckled under his breath
and made himself busy putting the purchases in a small grocery cart. “And I’m
not satisfied with the answers you gave me earlier.”
    “I’ll buy you dinner. With your change.” She
crumpled the money in her fist and shoved it into her purse.
    “You have like eight dollars there.” Frank pushed
the cart out from behind the counter and he took it, giving the other man a
brisk nod. “It’s not possible in this city to eat on eight dollars.”
    “Watch me.” The tight, round globes of her ass as
she sauntered out the door ahead of him tempted the wrong head, and he
swallowed hard against the carnal nature of his thoughts. Cute butt or no, he
had to keep the blood in his body oxygenating the brain he used to think, not
the one that led him into one idiotic place after another. The woman might be
crazy, and he knew she’d been in the apartment today with the trussed-up
burglar. He figured if he went back to earlier scenes, he’d pick up her smell
there as well.
    Those facts did little to dissuade the growing affection
in his heart and genuine feeling of enjoyment he got from being around her.

Chapter Four
    They stopped at the steps leading up to her
apartment building and she grabbed hold of one gallon of milk and the bagged
items.
    “You going to help me carry this stuff inside or
just stand there staring?”
    “Think it’s okay to leave the grocery cart here?
It’ll grow legs and walk away the minute we clear the door.” He looked her over
from head to toe again; the sight of her shiny pink toes filled him with
amusement and wonder. Her pants seemed to be black and her top was an
indistinguishable grey, but her nail polish stood out. Maybe because it was
attached to her nails chemically. He didn’t know the reason but being able to
see it filled him with quiet happiness.