Free No Nice Girl by Perry Lindsay

roast chicken from the icebox. Then she mixed a green salad, very efficient and brisk, declining Terry’s offer of assistance. But Terry didn’t want to sit on the couch and watch her. The silky stuff in the pajamas clung to the ripe curves of her posterior as she moved before him; and as she bent to straighten the cloth, the little hollow between her breasts drew his eye. Yet when she looked at him, her eyes were so wide and innocent that Terry almost— almost —thought himself a cad and a bounder to be looking at all. To say nothing of what her little act was doing to his pulse and his bloodstream.
    â€œPoor Cousin Phyllis,” said Anice when they were seated at the table. “Slaving away in that old office—or do you suppose she is?”
    Terry put down the chicken drumstick he had attacked so happily and said sternly, “If you say ‘poor CousinPhyllis’ just once more, or hint that she is anything but a queen among women, I shall give you the spanking of a lifetime. And the thought occurs to me that I have seldom seen anyone more fittingly attired for a spanking.”
    Anice stared at him, wide-eyed and deeply hurt.
    â€œWhy, Terry,” she gasped, shocked beyond endurance. “How can you possibly hint that I’m not simply mad about Cousin Phyllis? Why, I’m devoted to her—I adore her. I owe her so much, I shall always be grateful to her.”
    â€œThen, for the love of little green pussycats, stop throwing a barb into her every time you mention her name!” snapped Terry wrathfully.
    â€œWhy, Terry —”
    â€œLook, kitten-face,” said Terry grimly, “you’re cute. You’re as cute as the dickens. But you’ve got the malicious mind of a juvenile delinquent who pulls wings off flies to see ’em squirm. You think you’re putting it over—you’re quite sure nobody sees below that baby-faced innocence of yours. You put on a damned good act. But I’d like you to get this straight—you’re not fooling me worth a damn. I know you’d stick a knife into ‘Cousin Phyllis’ at the drop of a hat—if you thought you could get away with it.”
    Her big blue eyes were full of tears and her rose-red mouth was tremulous, and her round, babyish chin quivered a little.
    â€œOh—” she was cut to the heart “—how can you possibly say such awful things? They’re not true! They’re all lies. Why, I wouldn’t do anything in the world to hurt Cousin Phyllis, not for a million dollars! Why—why, how would you think such a terrible thing?”
    â€œBecause, kiddo, I’ve been around a bit and I’ve run up against ‘nice girls’ before—and I don’t trust ’emworth a damn! They’re nice at the expense of other people, especially other women,” said Terry grimly. “You’ve moved in on Phyllis here, and you’re doing everything you can to make her miserable, and you’re tickled silly because you are succeeding. You twit her because she drinks a cocktail now and then, because she smokes cigarettes. You hold yourself above such things.”
    â€œI also hold myself above taking lovers,” snapped Anice sharply, and was instantly aghast that her mask had slipped so far.
    Terry grinned at her, though his eyes were cold.
    â€œYou hold yourself above taking a lover, my pretty, because so far no man has ever wanted you badly enough to make the effort to convince you,” he drawled infuriatingly. “No man is lured by a girl who is cold and calculating and completely in love with herself.”
    Anice was scarlet with anger now and her blue eyes were blazing.
    â€œSave it, pal, save it.” Terry held up his hand, stemming any possible outburst on her part. “We are not impressed, nor amused.”
    Anice stared at him for a long moment, her blue eyes narrowed, controlling her fury with a strength that