Raspberry Tart Terror (Murder in the Mix Book 30) by Unknown (hot novels to read .TXT) 📗

as the band kicks off and Chad Harris begins crooning into the microphone.

Noah and Everett speed over and Noah is quick to whisk me in his arms.

“One dance?” His dimples depress as he asks.

“It’s more than fine by me,” I tell him.

He nods to Everett. “Come on, Everett. You get her all the time.”

Carlotta shuffles up with a couple of crab legs sticking out of the top of her dress.

“Carlotta,” I hiss. “Your horns are showing.”

“So are yours, Lot. Teddy just informed me you were trying to usurp my case.”

Keelie clip-clops her way over with a plate brimming with the best any aquarium has to offer and a long-dead koala bear swinging from her neck. Oddly, Keelie sort of looks as if she’s cradling him in the crook of her arm.

“I can’t believe all this food,” Keelie moans over her plate. “And the strangest thing is, it almost feels as if I’ve got little Bear sitting right on my hip. Oh, and Alex and Serena invited me to sit at their table, so if you need me I’ll be stuffing my face. By the way, Lottie, Suze slipped me a twenty to give her all the dirt I know on you.”

I suck in a quick breath. “How dare she.”

“Don’t worry. I told her I’m not selling you out for a mere twenty bucks. She’d have to shell out a fifty at least.” She cranes her neck toward the tables. “Hey, wait. I think I see Suze waving Ulysses S. Grant in my direction. Gotta run.”

“Keelie!” I call after her. “Aren’t I worth more than a fifty dollar bill?”

But it’s too late. My former bestie has been swallowed whole by greed and the crowd.

Noah doesn’t miss his opportunity. He whisks us into the deep end of the dance floor, and soon we’re rocking to the beat. But the song ends abruptly and I look to the stage to see Chad winking at me as he starts in on that weepy country song he promised.

Noah pulls me in close. “Lottie Lemon, you are a vision. Motherhood becomes you. I vote we have a dozen kids.”

A laugh bubbles from me at the thought.

“Easy for you to say. My hips have been killing me, and have I mentioned the leaky boobs? And then there’s the little detail about not being able to see my feet. Half the time my shoes don’t match.”

“Trust me, Lot. With a face like yours, no one is looking at your feet.”

“You’re too kind.”

“And you’re too crafty. What did you glean with our suspect?”

I quickly recant the strange conversation I shared with Chad, and Noah takes a deep breath as he tries to process it all.

“He called her a cheap floozy the night she died,” he says. “And he wants to minimize the fact she was poisoned. The worst part? Just saying that he’s relieved she’s not here so that she could always belong to him makes him sound like an obsessed psychotic.”

“I hate to say it, but you’re right.” We move to the music and the baby gives Noah a solid kick over his side, and we both share a warm laugh.

“Someone is either glad to see me or trying to give me the boot, in a show of loyalty to their father.”

My mouth falls open. “Noah, that’s the first time I’ve heard you even hint that this baby might be Everett’s, at least seriously.”

“I guess there’s always a chance.” A mournful look takes over his face. “I think a part of the reason I’ve been so staunch in my conviction is because, well, at the risk of sounding like an obsessed psychotic, it was my way of holding onto you a little bit longer.”

“Noah.” My body bucks with emotion as I reach up and give the scruff on his face a light scratch. “Even if this baby is Everett’s, you will never be able to evict me out of your life. I care deeply about you, and yes, I still love you.”

His eyes close a moment, and he looks as if he is genuinely drinking down those words.

“Thank you, Lot. I guess I needed to hear it.” He leans in and lands a careful kiss to my cheek just as a shadow appears behind him.

Everett gives Noah a tap on the shoulder, and soon I’ve traded partners.

“Lemon.” Everett’s lids hood, and his lips curve at the tips. “There’s something about you and me at a wedding that just feels right.”

“Agree,” I tell him, pulling him a notch closer by the tie. “You know, in a month from now, we won’t be able to go anywhere for the next decade solid without hiring a babysitter.”

“Why do you think the universe sent us Noah?”

“Everett!” A laugh squawks from me as I give him a playful swat on the arm. “I say we cherish every free minute from this moment forward. Especially our nights. According to the war stories from the frontlines, Lainey says we won’t sleep for six months solid. Just FYI, Josie is six months old, and her rebellion against the night is still going strong.”

“That sounds rough. Then we most certainly had better take advantage of our last few baby-free nights. How about we take a page from Mr. and Mrs. Fisher’s playbook and do a little role-playing tonight? I’ll be the felon awaiting conviction, and you can be the hot baker I can hardly wait to take a bite out of on my last night on the outside.”

The smile glides right off my face. “You’re hilarious. But I’ll go along with this fantasy, and it is a fantasy, Everett. I may not hold a law degree, but I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you don’t spend a single day behind bars.”

His chest expands as he holds me tight, but Everett doesn’t say a word.

Everett isn’t going to prison on my watch. At least I pray he doesn’t pay for something foolish I led us into. I rest my head over his shoulder as I try