Enticing the Enemy
Page 12
She took it, careful not to brush fingers with him. The universe hadn’t been sending her a gift, but rather a reminder, in placing him back in her path. “What’s this about?” she asked.
“Just tell her to call me.” He turned away to leave but hesitated before turning back to face her. “It was good to see you again, Priya,” he said. The smile transformed his face.
He walked away like a man with purpose, head high and broad shoulders back. Unfortunately that purpose was probably to arrest her cousin.
She crushed the business card in her palm. “Universe, why do you have to be such a dick?” she muttered. She pushed her half-eaten basket of fries away.
“Sorry, Priya. I don’t want any trouble. If Sara shows up...” Vinnie shrugged his massive shoulders.
“It’s okay. I’m going to take care of this.” She fished her phone out of her messenger bag. Her call to Sara went straight to voice mail. She tapped out a text. CALL ME. URGENT. SERIOUSLY. CALL ME.
She pulled money from her wallet and dropped it on the bar next to her unfinished fries. “Can you do me one favor, though? If Sara shows up can you call me before the cops?” Vinnie nodded.
She stepped out of the dimly lit bar and squinted into the late afternoon sunlight. The August heat slapped her in the face along with the smell of rotting garbage. She marched down the street to her North End apartment breathing through her mouth, with her fingers crossed that Sara would be there waiting.
But after climbing the steps to her fourth-floor studio, the smell of garlic from the Italian restaurant downstairs wafting up the stairwell, she unlocked the door to reveal only an unmade bed and a pile of laundry. She resisted the urge to collapse. Instead she opened the window and propped up her ancient fan. But when turned on, the whirring of the blades only pushed the oppressively hot air around, offering zero relief.
Every year, Boston experienced a late August heat wave where temperatures soared into the nineties, yet somehow she’d been caught off guard by it. Even the knowledge that in just a few short weeks Labor Day weekend barbeques would give way to sweaters and pumpkin-flavored coffee failed to render the current sticky temps bearable. But the heat affected Boston’s most vulnerable populations the most. She’d seen way too many heatstroke victims, especially among the elderly or impoverished, come through the ER door. Boston was an old city and most of the buildings reflected that. Central air hadn’t been a concept at the time of their construction. And then there was the uptick in the number of shootings, stabbings and assorted violence. The heat brought out the animal in people.
She picked up her phone. No messages on her voice mail. As a doctor, she was one of the last people she knew who still had a landline. Not that she expected Sara to have called. She wasn’t even sure that Sara knew the number. It was mostly for the hospital to always be able to get in touch with her.
She dialed her aunt, stabbing the numbers with more force than necessary. Her aunt picked up on the second ring. “Hi, Auntie. Is Sara there?”
But her aunt didn’t know where Sara was and didn’t seem worried. After all, Sara no longer lived at home. There was no reason for her to be there and it didn’t seem as though the cops had called. She kept the news about Sara’s latest brush with the law to herself, but she wasn’t able to hang up until after she’d promised to come to dinner tomorrow night. She crossed her fingers that her aunt wouldn’t be inviting any nice Indian boys. Her aunt had mostly given up on her own daughter and was pinning her romantic hopes on her niece. It was hard to tell her she’d backed the wrong horse.
Priya didn’t do relationships, with nice boys or otherwise. She couldn’t be trusted not to burn down their houses or slash their tires.
But she had no time to worry about her aunt’s matchmaking tendencies. Not when Sara needed her. She had to find her before Detective Brian MacGregor did.
Don’t miss HOT IN THE CITY by Jules Court.
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Copyright © 2017 by Jules Court
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my awesome editor Mackenzie Walton, who spins straw into gold.
Also available from Jules Court
and Carina Press
Hot in the City
And stay tuned for Tease Me Tonight, coming Summer 2017
About the Author
Jules Court is a Boston area native currently living in Oregon with her husband and dog, where the coffee more than makes up for the nine months of constant rain. She’s a recovering attorney who wrote her first romance novel while she was supposed to be studying for the bar. When not writing, she enjoys reading, running, hiking, watching movies, playing with her neurotic dog, and baking vegan cupcakes. You can follow her at her website, www.julescourt.com.
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ISBN-13: 9781488024535
Enticing the Enemy
Copyright © 2017 by Jules Court
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