The Mane Attraction
Page 12
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Dez
Then we have the fresh fruit and the dark chocolate waterfall. Of course its all dark chocolate. At least seventy-two percent cacoa. Theres chocolate fondue and twelveyes, twelvedifferent kinds of chocolate cakes. Then there are the brownies and pies
Desiree! Sissy cleared her throat. Just. Pick. Something.
Covering her mouth with her hands, Dezs eyes went from one end of the table to the other. II cant! Im in chocolate overload!
Good Lord.
Darlin, you know I love you, but there is a table of unsuspecting males playing Texas Hold Em, and its calling my name.
You cant, Dez said offhandly, reaching for a plate. Maybe Ill take a little of everythingexcept the fruit. I can do without the fruit. Why screw up chocolate with fruit?
Why cant I?
Last time I was in there, so was your mother.
That woman is everywhere.
Should I mention she was in the Karaoke Room belting out
No!
All right then.
Dez walked over, her plate piled with bits of this and that from the available chocolate selections.
Desiree.
What? I wanted to be covered.
Your thing for chocolate is unhealthy.
And theres still the wedding cake. That thing is dark chocolate. Wish my wedding cake was like that.
Your cake was chocolate.
Not dark chocolate. Not like that.
I cant have this conversation with you anymore. Sissy turned to walk away.
Im sure you could have this conversation if I were Mitchell. And we were outside in the gardenunder the romantic moonlight, she taunted.
Sissy squinted. Youre armed, arent you? Dez kept her service weapon on her at all times. She even had a small pistol on her at her own wedding. Yup. A full-human predator all right.
Every day, Dez confirmed.
Damn. There went that potential beating Sissy had been all ready to give.
Mitch sat alone at a big table and picked at his slice of wedding cake. It wasnt that the cake wasnt delicious. It was. In fact, the cake wasnt just chocolate; it was dark chocolate with seventy-two percent cacao. He knew this because the bride had announced it before cutting the cake and a collective ohhhh had come from the wild dogsand Dez. To Mitch, chocolate was chocolate.
Nah. It wasnt the cake. It was him. His family was right. He was getting thin. He simply wasnt hungry these days. Must be the overall fear of death that had screwed with his appetite.
It had been, what? Five years ago when hed used his old high school connections to dig his way into the OFarrell crew.His department had made him look like a dirty cop, and his old history of being the high school football star had greased the wheels.
But after all that work and risk, it mostly wasnt for shit. Almost all the charges against the OFarrell crew had been dropped after more legal wrangling than seemed possible. In fact, this whole situation should be over now. Except for the one charge that wouldnt go away. The one that had blown Mitchs cover, that he couldnt bring himself to tell his family about, and that still gave him nightmares.
First-degree murder against Petey OFarrell, head of the OFarrell crew. Mitch was the only witness to what that sick old fuck had doneand Mitch was now the only thing between freedom and life for OFarrell.
If Mitch didnt testify, the case would crumble. If Mitch was dead, OFarrell would be out of jail faster than he could spit.
Bottom linehe needed Mitch dead.
Not a very comforting thought. No wonder Mitch no longer had an appetite.
Sissy dropped into the empty seat beside him, undoing her shoes and kicking them off her feet. Funny, her mere presence soothed him. Hed never noticed that before.
Turning the chair around, Sissy pushed her feet into his lap, ignoring the fact he was still eatingor in this case, picking.
Rub my feet.
Mitch placed his fork on the table and looked down at her feet. Dont I need a veterinarians license to handle hooves of this size?
She lifted her foot a bit and brought it back down onto his groin, causing him to grunt.
Rub them, she ordered.
Liking his balls in working order, he did what she told him to do. How are you holding up?
So far, so good. Ive avoided her. Shes on one side of the floor, I make sure Im on the other. If she starts looking above the crowd like shes trying to find me, I run like Im going for the gold in the Summer Olympics.
Thats your plan for the rest of the evening? Dodging your mother?
Yes. Thats my plan. And since youre insistent that killing your parents is so wrong, I really have no other choice.
Good point. Its almost over, though. A few more hours of New Wave music and bad wild dog dancing, and this all will be a distant memory.
Sissy stared out over the dance floor. Lord, that is some bad dancin.
But its exuberant.
She shook her head and looked away.
I have to say, Sissy, I thought you had a few more brothers. Sissy followed his gaze to Smitty, who stood talking to one of the cousins whod bothered to attend, and hed come from Smithville or Smithburgone of the other Smith places the States were apparently littered with. It seemed that many of the family from Smittys hometown were woefully absent.
Then we have the fresh fruit and the dark chocolate waterfall. Of course its all dark chocolate. At least seventy-two percent cacoa. Theres chocolate fondue and twelveyes, twelvedifferent kinds of chocolate cakes. Then there are the brownies and pies
Desiree! Sissy cleared her throat. Just. Pick. Something.
Covering her mouth with her hands, Dezs eyes went from one end of the table to the other. II cant! Im in chocolate overload!
Good Lord.
Darlin, you know I love you, but there is a table of unsuspecting males playing Texas Hold Em, and its calling my name.
You cant, Dez said offhandly, reaching for a plate. Maybe Ill take a little of everythingexcept the fruit. I can do without the fruit. Why screw up chocolate with fruit?
Why cant I?
Last time I was in there, so was your mother.
That woman is everywhere.
Should I mention she was in the Karaoke Room belting out
No!
All right then.
Dez walked over, her plate piled with bits of this and that from the available chocolate selections.
Desiree.
What? I wanted to be covered.
Your thing for chocolate is unhealthy.
And theres still the wedding cake. That thing is dark chocolate. Wish my wedding cake was like that.
Your cake was chocolate.
Not dark chocolate. Not like that.
I cant have this conversation with you anymore. Sissy turned to walk away.
Im sure you could have this conversation if I were Mitchell. And we were outside in the gardenunder the romantic moonlight, she taunted.
Sissy squinted. Youre armed, arent you? Dez kept her service weapon on her at all times. She even had a small pistol on her at her own wedding. Yup. A full-human predator all right.
Every day, Dez confirmed.
Damn. There went that potential beating Sissy had been all ready to give.
Mitch sat alone at a big table and picked at his slice of wedding cake. It wasnt that the cake wasnt delicious. It was. In fact, the cake wasnt just chocolate; it was dark chocolate with seventy-two percent cacao. He knew this because the bride had announced it before cutting the cake and a collective ohhhh had come from the wild dogsand Dez. To Mitch, chocolate was chocolate.
Nah. It wasnt the cake. It was him. His family was right. He was getting thin. He simply wasnt hungry these days. Must be the overall fear of death that had screwed with his appetite.
It had been, what? Five years ago when hed used his old high school connections to dig his way into the OFarrell crew.His department had made him look like a dirty cop, and his old history of being the high school football star had greased the wheels.
But after all that work and risk, it mostly wasnt for shit. Almost all the charges against the OFarrell crew had been dropped after more legal wrangling than seemed possible. In fact, this whole situation should be over now. Except for the one charge that wouldnt go away. The one that had blown Mitchs cover, that he couldnt bring himself to tell his family about, and that still gave him nightmares.
First-degree murder against Petey OFarrell, head of the OFarrell crew. Mitch was the only witness to what that sick old fuck had doneand Mitch was now the only thing between freedom and life for OFarrell.
If Mitch didnt testify, the case would crumble. If Mitch was dead, OFarrell would be out of jail faster than he could spit.
Bottom linehe needed Mitch dead.
Not a very comforting thought. No wonder Mitch no longer had an appetite.
Sissy dropped into the empty seat beside him, undoing her shoes and kicking them off her feet. Funny, her mere presence soothed him. Hed never noticed that before.
Turning the chair around, Sissy pushed her feet into his lap, ignoring the fact he was still eatingor in this case, picking.
Rub my feet.
Mitch placed his fork on the table and looked down at her feet. Dont I need a veterinarians license to handle hooves of this size?
She lifted her foot a bit and brought it back down onto his groin, causing him to grunt.
Rub them, she ordered.
Liking his balls in working order, he did what she told him to do. How are you holding up?
So far, so good. Ive avoided her. Shes on one side of the floor, I make sure Im on the other. If she starts looking above the crowd like shes trying to find me, I run like Im going for the gold in the Summer Olympics.
Thats your plan for the rest of the evening? Dodging your mother?
Yes. Thats my plan. And since youre insistent that killing your parents is so wrong, I really have no other choice.
Good point. Its almost over, though. A few more hours of New Wave music and bad wild dog dancing, and this all will be a distant memory.
Sissy stared out over the dance floor. Lord, that is some bad dancin.
But its exuberant.
She shook her head and looked away.
I have to say, Sissy, I thought you had a few more brothers. Sissy followed his gaze to Smitty, who stood talking to one of the cousins whod bothered to attend, and hed come from Smithville or Smithburgone of the other Smith places the States were apparently littered with. It seemed that many of the family from Smittys hometown were woefully absent.
