Free His Firm Hand by Shelly Douglas Page B

loudly as she eyed the bottle from the hallway. “I hate the taste of that stuff. I thought smokers always carried mints.”
    Denise watched her sister rinse her mouth and spit in the sink before whispering, “Hey, Michele, do you remember when dad caught me …”
    “For God’s sake, this is not the time to take a stroll down memory lane. Smell my breath, does it stink?” Michele whirled around and exhaled into her sister’s nose.
    “Your breath smells like mouthwash, but your clothes and hair might be a problem.”
    “Shit, I thought there would be time to shower and change before he got home.” She looked up at the ceiling. “I know—I’ll tell him I was talking with some students on my way out of school, and they were smoking. Do you think he’ll buy that?”
    Denise shrugged her shoulders. “It’s weak, but I guess it’ll have to do. You’d better get downstairs, I just heard the front door close.”
    Michele took a quick peek at herself in the mirror. At least the panic had forced a return of some color to her face. She smoothed her skirt and blouse, then took Denise’s hairspray off the shelf and spritzed her curly locks. “Wish me luck,” she mouthed as she opened the bedroom door.
    Denise grinned, nodding her head in amusement.
    “I was beginning to wonder if you were home,” Paul said, placing the mail on the table as Michele hurriedly came down the steps.
    “Sorry, I was just upstairs chatting with Denise and didn’t expect you home so early.” Michele was breathless as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
    “A patient cancelled at the last minute. Is my girl feeling alright? You’re out of breath and look a little pale.”
    “I’m okay, just tired from work, as usual.”
    As Paul loosened his tie, she stared into his eyes, sensing a modicum of suspicion lurking behind the ribbons of color.
    “Before I head into the kitchen to start dinner, why don’t you tell me about your day?” he asked, removing his suit jacket.
    “It’s really not a very interesting story. I just told it to Denise and she practically snored.” Michele’s head fell downward in an attempt to hide her guilty expression.
    “Good, Denise is home, too. I was wondering if she called Macy’s today about that opening in merchandising.” As Paul got closer to her face, she thought his nostrils flared. Was he trying to smell something?
    Michele laughed nervously and took one step backward. “S-she called first thing this morning and has an interview set up for tomorrow.”
    “Great.” Paul nodded and reached out to touch her face. “Kitten, I saw the strangest thing when I pulled into the driveway.”
    “Really? What did you see?”
    “I know this sounds crazy, but I thought I saw smoke coming from the window upstairs. At first I worried something was on fire, but then it stopped.”
    The pupils in Michele’s blue eyes dilated as her brain scrambled for a plausible explanation. “I-I had some things in the dryer. You probably noticed smoke coming from the vent.”
    Paul’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t think so. Unless you and Denise moved the dryer upstairs this afternoon.”
    Where in the hell is my sister ,she thought to herself then quickly decided to change the conversation. “If you’re going to start dinner, maybe I’ll head up to the shower. I was talking to a group of students today, and they were smoking. The smell in my hair is driving me nuts.”
    Paul took a step forward, putting his nose in her thick curls as he tried to run his fingers through it. “It smells like cologne and why is it sticky?”
    “That’s Denise’s hairspray. I was thinking about buying a bottle.”
    He nodded absentmindedly while turning to pick up the mail from the table. Flipping through it, he spoke in a soft tone. “If you’d like, I can go downstairs and bring up the laundry from the dryer.”
    “Don’t be silly. I’ll get it after my shower. It’s all my stuff anyway.” Michele smiled and nervously bit