Truly, Madly, Briefly: Truly, Madly, Briefly / Tried And True. Delores Fossen

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СКАЧАТЬ casually as she could. Which wasn’t very casual considering she was breathing heavily and trying to lick the taste of Aidan off her lips.

      “Yeah, guess we did.” Aidan was doing his own share of heavy breathing.

      “Maybe he’ll finally get the message that I’m through with him.”

      He nodded. “Maybe. And if this didn’t work, the picnic on Sunday will do the trick for sure.”

      She nodded. “It should help you with your kitty rescue woes too since just about everybody in town will be there to see us together.”

      Aidan nodded again. “This will help both of us in the long run.”

      Bobbie didn’t dare return the nod. She was starting to feel a little like one of those bobblehead dolls. Besides, all the nodding, breathing and bobbling in the world wouldn’t ease the awkwardness—or the startling reality—of the situation. With that kiss, they’d moved well past the faux-pas stage and had done a Full Monty-ish blunder. The only way she could save face was to brush it off as part of their plan to make their lives romance-free.

      But she didn’t have time to brush off anything. By the time she managed to gather some of her breath, Aidan had already gathered his.

      “Uh. How’d you ever get hooked up with Jasper anyway?” Aidan asked. “He doesn’t really seem your type.”

      Small talk. It was a good start while she tried to get her heart rate back under control. Bobbie stepped away from him, hoping a little distance would clear the pea soup in her head. “I blame it on Pavlov’s dog.”

      Aidan quit looking uncomfortable long enough to look thoroughly confused. “Beg your pardon?”

      “In hindsight, I think Jasper was just a conditioned response like Pavlov’s dog. I used to spend hours staring at all those posters in the window of his dad’s travel agency. Jasper was always there, sandwiched between the Parthenon and the Pyramids. I guess I just started to associate him with all those other feelings of wanderlust.”

      “Wanderlust, huh?” Aidan commented. He put some distance between them as well. He went to the other side of the room and gave the visitors’ chairs an unnecessary adjustment. “That’s certainly a powerful stimulus.”

      “Oh, yeah. Well, for me it is. And obviously for you too since you spend your life traveling around.” She checked her watch. Why, she didn’t know. Her vision was still too blurred to see the tiny numbers. “Where has the time gone? I really need to get back to the factory.”

      “You didn’t say why you dropped by.”

      She stopped midway to the door. “Didn’t I? Must have slipped my mind when I saw Jasper here.” And it was continuing to slip her mind.

      Bobbie finally snapped her fingers. “The missing Gigolos? That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. My assistant said you stopped by the factory this morning when I was in a conference call with our suppliers.”

      “I was just asking a few questions. No one seems to know anything about the merchandise, but I’ll keep digging.” He picked a manila folder from his desk and handed it to her. “I requested background checks on several of your employees. It’s routine procedure.”

      Bobbie thumbed through the papers in the file to find the names of all the supervisors and several newly hired warehouse workers. “You think one of these might be our thief?”

      He shrugged. “Maybe. But I want to add Jasper to that list. After all, the underwear vanished the very day he returned to Liffey.”

      Bobbie nodded and handed the file back to Aidan. “Good job. Maybe you’ll catch this person before they strike again.” She opened the door. “Don’t worry about picking me up for the picnic. I’ll ride over with my uncles and just meet you at the park.”

      “Sure.”

      Since there was no way she could hold onto her faux composure a moment longer, she issued an overly perky goodbye and went on her way.

      This was the last time she’d play kissy kissy with the studly Aidan. The absolute last. She had to be smart about this. No more Pavlovian conditioned responses. No letting wanderlust get in the way of common sense.

      But that left Bobbie with one burning question.

      Wanderlust aside, how was she supposed to get rid of this sudden bout of regular lust that she felt for Aidan?

      “AIDAN, we’re sure glad to have you with us here in Liffey,” Sheriff Cooper commented. He downed another half cup of coffee and tackled the remainder of his Blue Plate Special—a hamburger just slightly smaller than Aidan’s head and a platter full of thick chili fries.

      “I’m glad to be here. And I’m glad you’re feeling better.” Of course, with the volume of food the sheriff had just consumed, that feeling better status might not last much longer. After all, the man had only been out of his sickbed two days.

      Both Sheriff Cooper and Aidan sat in the window booth at the Chew and Chow, the tiny but bustling diner on Main Street. Since the sheriff’s return to work, he’d insisted that Aidan join him for the cholesterol-laden lunches that were the diner’s trademark.

      “You probably miss all the noise of the city,” the sheriff continued. “I guess you’re used to a little more activity than this, huh?”

      Aidan shrugged and sipped his coffee. “It depends. Each assignment is different. Some are quiet like Liffey. Others are nonstop.”

      And therein was the lure of his job in a nutshell. For him, different was good. Variety was even better. And in just four short weeks, he’d be gone from Liffey, and the Twango-Drifter Plan—and Bobbie—would be a dimming memory.

      Well, probably.

      She’d be as much of a dimming memory as he could manage to dim. Too bad he hadn’t had much success in dimming anything when it came to her.

      Even now, if he closed his eyes, he could see her. Bobbie, in one of those snug little business suits. Bobbie, smiling at him. Bobbie, her mouth poised for him to kiss. And Bobbie, as she made those sounds of pleasure as he did all sorts of things with her.

      Of course, that last part was pure imagination sprinkled with some fantasies, but he hadn’t been able to dim those raunchy musings either.

      “I’ve been giving all this stolen underwear business some thought,” the sheriff went on, pulling Aidan out of his sprinkles and fantasies. He waved at a couple of elderly ladies who strolled past the window. One of them winked at him, and then at Aidan. “My thoughts have been straying in the direction of Rudy Tate, the floor manager at Boxers or Briefs. Call me old-fashioned, but there’s just something a little unnatural about a man who likes being surrounded by butt-enhancing underwear.”

      Aidan nodded. It certainly wasn’t one of his top ten job choices. “Nothing came up on his background check, but I’m looking into his past employment records.”

      The sheriff grinned and stuffed some more fries in his mouth. “I figured you’d be right on it. My detective skills are a little rusty since we hadn’t exactly had a real crime here in a dozen years or so, but I’m hoping you’ll put this to bed before your time with us СКАЧАТЬ