Flirting with Disaster. Victoria Dahl

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СКАЧАТЬ then thought of the other painting he’d seen in her home. The vivid realism of it. The beauty. And the very short signature in the corner.

      He typed in “I. West” and “anatomical painting” and hit the mother lode.

      “Bingo,” he breathed. Here was her career. She’d been telling the truth.

      There wasn’t much to get from the search results, other than that confirmation. Her work wasn’t meant for private buyers. The hits were all sites where posters and textbooks could be purchased. There was no author biography anywhere. No pictures or stories about her.

      Still, the morbidity of the whole thing niggled at his brain. Combined with her initial hostility, Tom decided he couldn’t ignore that prickling he’d felt on the back of his neck earlier.

      He signed in to the National Crime Information Center to do a quick check on her background. Two hours later, he was even more confused. Isabelle West didn’t seem to be a criminal. There were no warrants, no arrests, not even a traffic ticket as far as he could tell. So she wasn’t a criminal. But she also hadn’t existed before 2002.

CHAPTER FOUR

      “GOOD GOD, ISABELLE, you have got to be kidding me!”

      Isabelle stared in confusion at her friend. Lauren was standing on the front porch, wearing a tight red dress and heels, and she was glaring daggers.

      “What?” Isabelle asked.

      “It’s Sunday! I texted you this morning!”

      “It’s Sunday?”

      “Yes!”

      “Are you sure you sent a text?” She swiped the back of her hand across her forehead, trying to angle the paintbrush in her fingers so that she didn’t get cadmium green in her hair. “I didn’t get it.”

      Lauren sighed. “Have you been anywhere near your phone today? Is it charged?”

      Isabelle rolled her eyes. “I don’t know. I’m working. I guess you may as well come in.”

      “Nope. We’re going out. It’s girls’ night.”

      “I’ll have to cancel—”

      “No, you won’t. You canceled last Sunday, remember? Let’s go.”

      Now it was Isabelle’s turn to glare. “I’m not going anywhere. I look like shit.”

      Lauren nodded and made a shooing motion. “Wash your face and put your hair up. If you don’t have any clean jeans then put on a dress. Surely those don’t have paint on them.”

      Well, some of them did. But it was too cold for a dress anyway. Then again, Lauren was wearing one, along with high-heeled boots. Isabelle had cute boots that Jill had helped her pick out. She supposed she could throw something together.

      She looked over her shoulder toward her studio, but Lauren pushed past her and pointed to the bedroom. “Do it. Sophie’s not here to protect you anymore. It’s just me and my cruel demands.”

      “I think I read a book like that recently,” Isabelle muttered.

      “Yeah, well... Wear something pretty for me or you’ll be punished.”

      “Does this mean I’m not allowed to wear panties?”

      “Whatever it takes.”

      “Fine. Let me get rid of the brush first.” As much as she resented having to stop painting, she still smiled as she ditched the brush and hurried to clean up. She’d gotten in almost ten hours of work, after all. Even she could be satisfied with that.

      So she did exactly as Lauren instructed. She washed her face and pulled her hair up into a neater knot than usual, and she even put on makeup. Then she stared into her closet for five minutes before finally deciding that she just wasn’t into dresses right now.

      She settled on her favorite pair of skinny jeans and a gold top she’d worn only once before. It was sleeveless and low-cut and too sparkly, but what the hell. Tonight was girls’ night out. Plus, she’d found her last pair of clean underwear, and that was something to celebrate. Of course, that meant she’d have to do laundry tomorrow. Or just go commando. Probably the latter.

      “I’m ready!” she called out as she walked back into the living room, but her smile transformed into an O of surprise when she saw Tom standing there with Lauren.

      Isabelle fought down her alarm. She’d almost decided he wasn’t onto her the night before. But then he’d asked to search her house, and she was fighting that fear again.

      “Hello,” she finally said.

      “Hi.” His eyes swept down to her cleavage then back up so quickly she could’ve imagined it. But she hadn’t. Maybe he really had been interested in her internet porn.

      She relaxed enough to smirk. “Braving the house of horrors? This must be important.” She met Lauren’s questioning look. “He saw my work. He’s not a fan.”

      Lauren huffed, but he shook his head.

      “It’s not that you’re not talented. I just...” His gaze slid toward the kitchen and the double doors beyond. “Wasn’t expecting that.”

      “Want another look?” she asked.

      “No!”

      Isabelle laughed so hard that she snorted. “It’s funny because he’s a big strong US marshal,” she explained to Lauren.

      “Oh, that is funny!”

      They both grinned at him for a long moment while Tom frowned back. “I was just stopping by to check on you.”

      “Hey,” Lauren said, “are you here working on Judge Chandler’s case?”

      “Yes.”

      “I saw his daughter today at the library! She said she’s staying at her dad’s place for a while. It’s right around the corner, isn’t it? We should invite her over for a girls’ night in. We have to replace Sophie.”

      Isabelle’s smile fell. “We do?”

      Lauren nodded, and her voice went quiet. “I talked to her last night. She was tiptoeing around it, but I think she’s finally going to turn in her notice at the library. She’s living her dream.” Lauren nudged Tom. “Which is riding around the country on a motorcycle with a big tattooed guy. Isabelle, she’ll be back for a week on Tuesday. Don’t forget!”

      Tom cleared his throat. “I’d better let you get to your evening.”

      Isabelle remembered her wariness. “Did you need something?” she asked.

      “Not really. I was making the rounds of the area and decided to stop by.”

      Her paranoia made her want to snap at him, but she forced it back. She’d СКАЧАТЬ