Sinister Shorts

That made Juliette send Neal a visual promise that said, Later, honey, you will make me believe he is mistaken or this lovely evening that started out so well will be spoiled. “That guy must be new, Le

“You betcha.” Below the table, he had her hand in his and had to repress a sudden desire to crush her knuckles until they cracked. She had married a musician, an artist, for Chrissake, not some poor slob with a routine job. She needed reminding. His fingers were strong. No doubt one hard squeeze would take care of anything further she might care to remark if he wanted to stop her.

But Carol interrupted his thoughts with a surprisingly welcome suggestion. “How about a movie? There's one at the Y I'd love to see.”

Juliette brightened, withdrew her hand from his, and ran for the newspaper to check for times. Le

“Aw, Le

“Go without me. I have some paperwork.”

Le

“Nothing that won't wait,” Carol said to her husband.

See, now, this was exactly the kind of thing a man could not let pass. This was direct confrontation. Le

“You girls will have a better time without us,” Neal said. “Go salivate over Brad Pitt. I'll give Le

Token protests, but eventually the girls drove off in Le

“Stay for a drink,” Neal said, pouring Le

“Yeah,” Le

“Another?”

“You're driving,” he said.

“Oh, thanks for reminding me,” Neal said. “But don't let that stop you. Have a drink for both of us.”

Neal managed to get three more stiff ones down Le

“See, here's the thing,” Neal told him then. Le

“I knew it,” Le

“Oh, Le

“But this is terrible,” Le

Well, he didn't really anyway, hadn't for a long time, but Le

Le

Neal laid it on thick, so thick, he had his wife and him living out on the streets within the next month.

“Then you'll live with us,” Le

“That's a very kind offer, Le

Le

“This will kill her,” Le

“I have thought of something. It's-an unusual opportunity. Only it involves you. You've got a lot of guts, Le

“Anything for Juliette. Count me in,” Le

But the details of Neal's plan shocked him. It took the rest of the evening and some careful manipulations before Neal eventually wore down Le

“Got to make it look good, Le

“You're good at that,” Le

“What do you mean by that?”

“You got my sister, didn't you?”

Neal laughed, even though inside he was fuming. He hadn't acted to get Juliette. She loved him for who he was, not who he pretended to be. All the smoldering fireworks between the two men flared up at that point, and it took Neal's return to cold logic to convince Le

“It's dangerous, Neal. You realize you could be badly hurt.”

“I won't let that happen.”

“You won't be able to control it!” Le

“Quit worrying. That's my problem. And whatever happens, Juliette will be set for life.”

Those words worked like magic. Le

Even so, Le

“Le

Le