‘There you have it.’ After a moment’s thought, he asked, ‘You okay with us calling you Bob? Up for yes, down for no.’
The banana bobbed up.
‘Bob it is.’ Robbie pressed a kiss to my forehead and headed for the door to get us some breakfast rations.
‘Robbie!’ I protested. ‘You really don’t need to go to any trouble. I’m fine with a banana.’
He hesitated, his back still to me. ‘You got attacked yesterday, Stacy, and I need to take care of you. Every urge in me is telling me to stick to you like glue and pile you under bodyguards, but I know you’d hate that, so I’mstifling that instinct. But I need to dosomething.Let me feed you, Inspector. Please.’
‘I … Yeah. Sure. Whatever you need to do,’ I said weakly.
He nodded and walked out the door.
This relationship stuff was tricky.
The banana still hovered in front of me, and my resident ghost, the newly named Bob, pointedly pushed it towards me.
‘Right,’ I muttered. ‘I still need to start my day right.’ Dad had always said that. Start the day as you mean to go on.
I took the damn banana.
I’d taken a headache potion and I was dressed in my uniform, with hair and teeth brushed, by the time Robbie returned carrying the biggest stack of pastry boxes I’d ever seen in my life.
‘Robbie!’ I said, half-laughing. ‘I can’t eat all of that.’
‘I know,’ he replied, a shade sheepishly. ‘I couldn’t help myself. Any you don’t want you can take to work with you. I just wanted to make sure you had your favourite.’
‘Did you get one of everything from the bakery?’ I asked, half-joking.
He simply nodded.
I tried not to gape at him. ‘Well, thank you.’
He set the boxes down and pulled back the lids so I could examine the array of buttery goods he’d brought me. The pastries were a smorgasbord of icing sugar-dusted perfection, each item looking as golden and perfect as the next. My eyes zeroed in on one treat.
‘For future reference,’ I said as I picked up the custard slice. ‘Thisis my favourite.’ I bit into the slice and hastily caught some of the custard as it oozed out of the side. Layers of thick puff pastry, topped with thick vanilla custard and fancy fondant. Was there anything better?
Robbie watched me, indulgent and smiling as I valiantly battled my way through the slice.
‘It’s messy,’ he rumbled when I was done. He caught one of my fingers and licked off the dab of custard lingering there.
‘It is,’ I agreed, a shade breathlessly. ‘Messy but worth the clean-up.’
His eyes heated and I could tell he was thinking fun thoughts.
‘Hold that thought,’ I commanded. ‘I’m dressed, ready to go to work.’ My smile faded. ‘And we need to talk about my latest case.’
Robbie sat and snagged an apple turnover for himself. ‘All right. Tell me.’
‘The case I was called to yesterday evening? It was Ash Aspen.’
My ogre paused mid-bite. ‘Why that little fucker.’
‘Yeah. Jingo’s jumped ship, and I don’t know who to. He orchestrated the death of Ash Aspen, and now he’s in another host.’
‘Do you want me to shake up Reed? He’ll talk by the time I’m done with him.’
It was tempting. That alone told me the answer to his offer. I was a by-the-book girl. I had to be. If I joined the ranks of the corrupt, then I didn’t deserve my badge. ‘I appreciate the offer, but no. I need to do this by the book.’
