“If Anthony left here of his own free will, then who is haunting this house?” Elijah asked.
“That’s what we’re going to find out,” Lyric replied.
He and Memphis headed upstairs to the attic to begin their EVP session while the rest of us went outside to enjoy the nice evening. It looked like we were finally going to get a break in the heatwave we were experiencing. Andy and Elijah talked about their upcoming softball game with Milo weighing in about the likelihood they’d have an undefeated season. I mostly listened to them talking because my mind was stuck on the information that Lyric told me at dinner. Were Anthony and Wallace lovers? Had they planned an elaborate escape to live out their lives together on the West Coast?
“I better go make sure they’re not locked in the attic,” Milo said, rising from his chair dramatically.
“Don’t cause any more trouble,” I cautioned.
“I’m only heading in to see if I hear them banging on the door. I promise I do not have ulterior motives.” Andy and I snorted, earning a narrow-eyed glance from Milo that would make any cheesy television villain proud.
He was back in a few minutes with Memphis and Lyric following close behind him. “The gang’s all here,” Milo said dramatically. “What happened up there?”
Lyric opened his mouth to answer, but Memphis spoke up first. He talked so fast that I had a hard time following. It sounded like, “Elevated EMF readings…shadows moving…boxes knocked over…EVP session.”
“I’m going to upload the session into my computer to see if our ghostly friend had anything to say. I’d like to come back and set up some video equipment in the attic tomorrow morning. Maybe try another session tomorrow evening? Is that okay with you guys?” Lyric asked us.
We agreed, and he assured us he’d be over early enough not to interfere with our work schedules. I offered them dessert, but I could tell by their swollen lips and dazed gazes they were eager to get back to Memphis’s house to do more than play back the EVP session. Milo and Andy left immediately after them, giving me my first moment of quiet with Elijah since we left for work that morning.
“Alone at last,” I said when he pulled me into his arms. The scent of tobacco wafted through the air.
“Bug off, Anthony,” Elijah said. “I need some alone time with my woman.”
“You still think it’s Anthony’s ghost after what Lyric found out?” I asked.
“I’m a cop who believes in hard evidence and not speculation, Freckles. Until I have proof that tells me otherwise, I believe it’s Anthony’s presence.” A wide smile spread across his face. “I also believe Anthony got an eyeful up in the attic.”
“You noticed their swollen lips and dazed expressions, huh?”
“Freckles, Inspector Gadget wouldn’t need Penny’s help to figure that one out.”
I hugged his neck tighter and giggled against his chest. “Could I possibly love you more?”
“I’ll let you give it your best shot. You’re not coming with us, Anthony. You’ve seen enough action tonight.”
“Guess what arrived a few days early in the mail?” I asked, waggling my brows.
“What’s inside?” he asked, eyes blazing with lust.
“I didn’t have time to open it.”
Elijah stepped out of my embrace and headed to the table by the door where I place the mail each night. He picked the box up and just stared at it for a few seconds. Then he lifted it by his ear and shook it. “Sheer baby doll negligee with matching lacy thong and a pretty lace bra and panty set,” he said as he returned to my side.
“What colors?” I asked, playing along with his monthly fun.
Like normal, he hoisted me over his shoulder and carried me off to our room where he would wait naked, hard, and horny for me to model my newest acquisitions.
WHENIMOVED TOBLISSVILLEearlier in the year, I had worried the transition from undercover work to small-town detective would be difficult. Of course, I had no idea I’d meet Maegan and fall in love so hard and fast it stole my breath. Adapting to my new life was amazingly easy and waking up at seven in the morning never felt so damn good. Of course, some days Maegan was up and out the door to open Books and Brew before my alarm went off, but it wasn’t one of those mornings. Milo opened on Tuesdays, so I stayed in bed with my girl as long as I could, knowing she’d nudge me awake if I fell back to sleep with her tucked up against me. Once Maegan’s eyes opened, her brain fired to life, and she never went back to sleep.
“Shit! Elijah, wake up! We fell back to sleep. Lyric and Memphis might be here any minute.”
I jackknifed into a sitting position in time to see her sprint into our bathroom. So much for Freckles never falling back to sleep, but who could blame her after the night we had. I wanted to boast and brag that my bedroom skills kept her up all hours of the night, but it was the damn ghost. I mean, I rocked her world well and good, but I was considerate enough to let my lady get plenty of rest. Anthony didn’t give a fuck. He slammed doors, shifted boxes in the attic, and chain smoked his pipe in our room when we didn’t pay him any attention. Finally, at about three o’clock, Maegan sat up in bed and calmly said, “Anthony, I won’t be responsible for my actions if you don’t shut the hell up right this minute. Lyric doesn’t want to hurt you. He only wants to find out if you and Wallace made it to San Francisco, so why don’t you be a good ghost and cooperate with him.” Anthony’s response was to slam our bedroom door shut, but he stayed quiet for the rest of the morning.
“I wonder if they heard anything interesting in their EVP session,” I asked when I entered the bathroom. Maegan was already in the shower, and we’d leave Memphis and Lyric waiting on our porch for quite some time if I so much as looked at her wet, naked body.
“Jesus, even the way you scratch your balls in the morning is sexy,” Maegan said.
Wait? I was scratching my nuts in front of her? I looked down. Yep, I was brushing my teeth with my right hand while my left hand was definitely between my legs scratching my sac. “Huh, it’s a little soon for me to be doing that in front of you. I should act like I have a shred of couth until I can convince you to marry me.” That remark woke me the fuck up. After Brandy’s betrayal, I never thought marriage was something I’d ever risk again. It turned out I was wrong. I wanted every part of me, itchy morning nuts and all, to belong to only Maegan for the rest of my life and even beyond.
