The couple engaged in a heavy make-out session on the front steps before the guy finally got the door open and they disappeared inside.
“Lights on,” Nick murmured, noting the time in his log.
“This guy really needs to invest in curtains,” Riley observed as clothing went flying in the large front window.
A teenager walking a small dog in a sweater stopped on the sidewalk and gawked at the scene unfolding inside.
The nearly naked couple hit the stairs. The lights on the first floor went out, and the ones on the second floor lit up.
Nine minutes later, the townhouse went dark.
“And lights out.” Nick snorted as he noted the time. “Amateur.”
“Not everyone is as gifted in the libido as you are,” Riley reminded him.
“You’re damn right they’re not.” He checked the time. “Wanna go watch a kid piss his pants?”
She grinned at him in the dark. “You sure know how to show a girl a good time.”
28
6:55 a.m., Tuesday, October 29
Even after the late night of celebration at the diner with Josie and Brian, Riley woke early thanks to a creepy dream about a finger that kept pointing at her and a creature with glowing eyes. Nick was snoring softly, curled around her in a hot, hard, naked ball of sexiness.
She lay there for a few moments, enjoying the quiet before her brain demanded caffeine.
Knowing it was futile to go back to sleep, she slipped out of bed and dressed quietly.
“Wanna go out?” she whispered to the dog, who yawned at her from his king-sized dog bed. Burt stood up, but instead of following her to the door, he slunk to the side of the bed she’d vacated and climbed in.
“Fine. You two sleep in. I need coffee.”
Thankfully there were no signs of life—or sex—coming from Sesame and Tommy’s room.
She padded into the kitchen, noting that the stove top now gleamed and all the fingerprints had been erased from the cabinets. There was already a fresh pot of coffee waiting for her. Tommy Hemsworth was proving himself to be an excellent guest. No wonder Sesame was enamored with the man. He was the perfect househusband.
Riley yawned and grabbed a mug out of the cabinet. She was just pouring the first glorious cup when she heard a polite knock on the mudroom door.
It was barely 7:00 a.m. There were only a handful of people who thought that was an appropriate time for a visit. And only one of those people was polite enough to knock.
“Morning, Gabe,” Riley said when she opened the door and found her friend standing on the stoop outside. He was dressed in what she thought of as his fall uniform: black sweatpants and a clingy long-sleeve top—also black.
She felt instantly guilty, knowing he was about to be very disappointed in her. But she needed to own up to her mistakes and hope that Gabe would not only forgive her but help her get her powers back.
“Good morning, Riley. I am very sorry,” he said.
She frowned. “You? No. I’m sorry. What are you sorry for?”
“For this,” he said and held up his phone.
Elanora Basil, Riley’s crabby psychic medium grandmother, scowled back at her from the screen.
“Well, isn’t this a…surprise?” Riley said. Forget the guilt—now she was just bracing for her punishment.
“It has been brought to my attention that you are failing in your duties,” Elanora huffed.
Behind the phone, safely out of frame, Gabe shook his head to let her know that those were Elanora’s words and not his own.
