A.R. Winters - Tiffany Black 03 - Red Roses in Las Vegas
Page 20
“Well,” my mother said, “I’m looking forward to meeting him. When are you bringing him over?”
“We just had two dates.” I frowned. “Or maybe it was three. I forget.”
“You don’t want to move too soon,” Nanna cautioned. “And remember, just because you’ve hooked him, doesn’t mean you’ll keep him.” Stone and my father stared at their plates, and Ian watched Nanna, fascinated. “Beauty comes from inside,” Nanna went on. “It’s not just lipstick and nice dresses, you need to focus on what’s underneath. You need nice underwear, and some of that newer, sexy stuff.”
Stone choked on his food, and Ian hurried to pass him the water jug.
“I think we should, uh, talk about this later,” I said. Or maybe never again.
Thankfully, Nanna’s advice-dispensing was stopped by a knock on the door.
“I’ll get it,” I said, jumping up and racing to the door.
Ian followed me, with Nanna and my mother close behind.
I turned to my mom when I was almost at the door. “You didn’t invite any other guys over to meet me, did you?”
She shook her head, no. “I’m not trying to set you up, as long as you keep dating this Jack person. But you need to bring him along to prove that he exists.”
“He does exist,” I said, and opened the door.
Elwood was standing outside, wearing a blue-ish grey shirt and black trousers.
“Hi,” I said, “What’s up? Do you want to come in?”
“Nah,” he said. “Just stopped by to tell you,” he peered around me and noticed Nanna standing there. “Oh, hi, Gwenda, sorry about that mixup.”
“It’s ok,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Niagara always did say you were a big disappointment to her, what else could I expect?”
“Uh.” He looked at the ground uneasily, then looked up again after a few seconds. “Anyway, I just stopped by to say that we’ve officially dropped the case against you. Ballistics matched up with the gun found in Claire’s house.”
“Poor Claire,” Ian said. “She just wanted to help people out.”
“She was nuts,” I said bluntly. “She and that whole gang she hangs out with.”
Ian said, “You’ll still have to see those people, you know. If you keep dating Jack.”
“Um, I should go,” Elwood said, and looked at Nanna. “I’d appreciate if you’d tell my aunt, uh, that I was just doing my job?”
Nanna nodded. “I guess she knows that. How’re things with you and your wife?”
“They were getting better, and then…” Elwood frowned at me. “Tiffany suggested I give her red roses. Stupid roses. I hate roses.”
Ian said, “I suppose Claire does too, now.” He noticed Elwood’s scowl and added, “Did you get your wife jewelry, like I told you to?”
The scowl disappeared. “Yeah, I got her a gold-plated heart locket, like you said. She liked it.”
“Well, that’s great.”
“Thanks, I’m still keeping my fingers crossed on it all.”
We watched Elwood leave, and Nanna said, “I guess it all worked out in the end.”
“Yeah!” Ian said, as we all trooped back to the dining room. “And I helped! Wasn’t I a great partner?”
“Huh.” I looked at him doubtfully. “I suppose so.”
“Ian says he helped you speed through interviewing all those people,” Nanna said, as we sat down and picked up our forks again. “And he helped save your life once again, when Claire pulled a gun on you.”
“Maybe you should reconsider quitting your PI work,” my mom said. “If Ian invests in your firm, you can quit the casino work and go full-time.”
“It does sound like a good idea,” my dad added. “You’ve been talking about how you’d like to stop being a dealer.”
“I’d love to invest!” Ian said. “We should head straight back home and talk to my trustee. I can get him to come over tomorrow.”
Stone raised one eyebrow and watched as I made a face.
“I don’t want you investing,” I told Ian. “Not quite yet.”
“Why not?” Ian said. “It’s not like I’m a bad partner. I’ve helped you out.”
“He’s right,” Stone said. “He has been a help. You could use a partner.”
Ian beamed and I shook my head. I had a strong premonition that if Ian tried to be my partner, he’d get into all kinds of ridiculous trouble.
Later on, I turned out to be right. Ian would get into trouble, and I’d find myself feeling responsible for him. But I had no idea, just then, exactly what kind of trouble it would be.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
About The Author
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If you enjoyed this third book in the Tiffany Black humorous mystery series, make sure you check out book four, LOST KITTEN IN LAS VEGAS, which will be out in the middle of this year.
About The Author
A.R. Winters loves books, TV series and movies about mysteries, crime capers and heists. She also enjoys a good laugh, so she writes light-hearted, humorous mysteries.
When not writing, she’s usually eating too much cake.
Connect with her online:
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http://www.arwinters.com
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