Fool's Gold (A sexy funny mystery/romance, Cottonmouth Book 2) by Jennifer Skully

the hottest thing. Her mother wouldn’t get
the appeal. Prone to ripping out hair under duress, she’d be bald
within three minutes of learning about Simone’s venture.
    “Well, I’ve got a list of people for you to
contact,” her mother continued. “And please do try to make a
good impression. Don’t tell them you live in a trailer.” Simone
visualized her mother’s shudder from the sound of her voice. “Have
you got a pen and paper?”
    “Yes, MOTHER.” Simone had DSL, a
state-of-the-art computer system into which she could have typed
the information as quickly as the spoken word, and an Outlook
address book the size of which would rival the one in her mother’s
smart phone. She doodled on a nearby Post-it as her mother read
aloud.
    “Now, let me tell you what to say in the
initial letters. I think for Ambrose, that darling man, you should
tackle it this way—” Her mother suddenly sucked in a breath. “You are going to wear makeup and fix your hair properly, aren’t
you?”
    “It’s a letter. He’s not going to see
me.”
    “Well, a positive self-image creates a
positive attitude the recipient can sense even through the writing.
And you could be such a pretty girl if only you’d—”
    The doorbell rang. Oh thank you God above.
Thank you, thank you, smooches . “Someone’s at the door, I have
to run. I’ll call you later and you can tell me exactly what to
say.”
    She hung up in the middle of her mother’s
“But—”
    Brax stood on the outer doorstep, across the
expanse of the sunporch. Her heart gave a weird, scary little leap
at the sight of him. Then she reminded herself that according to
Maggie he was only here for a two-week vacation. And he’d asked her
if she was sleeping with his brother-in-law.
    “Peace offering.” He held the DVD case
against the screen door so she could read The Wizard of Oz on the front. “Drove all the way back into Bullhead to find
it.”
    She stayed on the threshold of her front door
and tried to be tough when what she really wanted to do was drag
him inside. “I’ve already got it.”
    He waggled the case. “But this is the
anniversary edition. With the jitterbug sequence they cut out of
the movie.”
    “Oh.” That sounded delightful. The sneak.
He’d already figured out her weaknesses. “Did you know they
considered cutting ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ because they
thought it slowed the pacing?”
    He opened the screen door and crossed half
the porch width. “Some bright guy must have saved their butts at
the last minute. So, are we betting on whether they’re
sisters?”
    “What do I win?” Which didn’t mean she was
letting him in. Brax was dangerous, the type to make her lose
control.
    “The question is”—his gaze dropped from her
eyes to linger on her lips—“what’s my prize?”
    Whoa, the man gave potent eye scan. Nothing
at all like the way Jason Lafoote did it. Maybe Brax could come in,
just for the movie, because he’d driven so far to get it. She could
always seat him on the other end of the sofa. And make him leave
after they watched the movie. She would definitely have to make him
leave before she did something embarrassing, like go into meltdown
if he touched her.
    “Since I’m going to win,” she answered,
holding the front door wide, “I want...” Well, there were those
very nice fantasies she’d been having all day, but she wouldn’t
clue him in. He’d never know, not in any infinitesimal way. They
were only fantasies. “I want ice cream. And you’ll have to
drive out and get it.” She backed up.
    He followed her into her living room. “Ice
cream. Sounds fair. But since I’m gonna win”—his voice
dropped, and he leaned in close enough to tickle her ear with his
breath—“I think I might like to have you lick the ice cream off my
cone.”
    Uh-oh. Now that was a euphemism for
tallywhacker she’d never heard before.
    And Trouble with a capital T.
     
     

Chapter Four
     
     
    He shouldn’t have read