I sucked in air and wiped my face off. “Then she started dating Aiden, and while he was nice, she was just mean to me. Acted like it was a pain to have a ten-year-old around.” Which, frankly, it probably was. But Aiden was always kind, and so were his friends. “Seeing her at his place today…”
Georgiana sighed. “We should put off our trip and take this wench out.”
Humor bubbled up through my heartbreak, and I leaned over to hug her. “That’s kind of you, but you deserve a vacation, and I have another murder to solve.” Before she could offer to help, I held up a hand. “I’ll call you if I need backup. For now, tell me which plants to water and how much. I’ll be careful.”
Georgiana brushed back her dark hair that normally was streaked liberally with gray. Today the highlights were a bright pink.
I gulped, really taking her in. “Did you let Thelma do your hair?” There was no doubt the pint-sized Thelma was a little creative. Or a lot creative, actually.
“Yes.” Georgiana blushed and patted her head. “It’s wild vacation hair.” She sighed. “Let’s bury ourselves in a pound of brownies as I go over the directions. I find that chocolate always helps a broken heart.”
Chocolate could help anything.
She went to grab a huge dish of brownies with homemade chocolate syrup, and I dug in as if I could ease all pain with sugar. Frankly, it helped. We went through the litany of different plants and flowers I’d need to water while they were gone, and I tried to explain that I’d do my best not to kill them, but I wasn’t good with plants. Double checking that the outside flowers had gotten enough water from the automatic sprinklers was my best chance at success.
Finally, she wound down. “Let’s have more brownies.”
I didn’t have the energy to fight the idea, and besides, it wasn’t like anybody would see me naked any time soon. So we dove into the brownies again, and it was getting dark by the time we finished. Her hug was comforting as she let me go, walking me to my car.
“Have a great time,” I said, feeling better after letting it all out. And eating copious amounts of chocolate.
She smiled. “We will. Forget that Aiden Devlin. You should be with a nice Italian boy, anyway.” Of course, Georgiana was a Lambertini, so she might be a little biased.
“Maybe.” I waved to her as I drove away, wondering where I could find the same indoor replacement plants if I accidentally killed some of theirs. The ladies were so kind, and I didn’t want them coming home to dead plants.
I sighed, heading home, feeling much better. Kind of like I was floating. As I reached Tamarack Lake, her words kept drumming inside my head. A nice Italian boy would be a good thing, at least for half of my family. It wasn’t a terrible idea, and once Tessa had told me that the best way to get over a man was to find another one. That thought totally made sense right now. So I skipped the turnoff toward my cottage and kept driving around the lake, stopping at the luxurious Blueridge Condos overlooking Bear Bay. A warning ticked in the back of my head, but it didn’t make sense, so I ignored it.
Then I strode up the stairs and knocked on the first door.
The door opened almost instantly, and Nick Basanelli stood there in a tank top with jogging shorts. A military tattoo spread across his left bicep. His chest was broad, his muscles corded, and his legs very nice for a man.
So I leaned up right into him and pressed my lips to his. The world spun. Gasping, I stumbled back, turned, and puked right into his potted hydrangeas by the door.
To his credit,Nick tangled his hand in my hair and held it back from the flowing chocolate. No hesitation, no surprise—just full on helping me out like he’d been expecting me to show up, try to kiss him, and throw up. When I was finished, he lifted me, turning and kicking the door shut behind us.
His hold was solid as he moved into the living room and then the kitchen to place me on his cool marble island. “How much chocolate did you eat?”
“A lot,” I gasped, trying to lean away from him because no doubt I smelled horrible.
“I’ve never seen that much chocolate come back up from anybody, and we had a dog that got into my mom’s Valentine’s stash one time.” He stepped back as if sensing I needed some space.
The room spun around me, and I dug my hands into my bare thighs. Embarrassment competed with a light-headedness. “I am so sorry about this.”
His upper lip quirked. “About killing that nice pot of flowers my neighbor gave me or about trying to kiss me first?”
Oh God. “Both. Definitely both.” Aiden’s face swam across my mind, and I pushed thoughts of him ruthlessly away. Whatever we’d had was now over. “I may not have thought all of this through.”
“Maybe not.” Nick leaned in again and then paused. His brows drew down, and he stepped closer to me. “What’s going on with your eyes?”
“My eyes?” I blinked, and my stomach rolled over. What was happening?
“Yeah.” He leaned in. “They’re bloodshot, glassy, and dilated. Did you hit your head?”
Just then, my phone buzzed, and I jumped.
In one smooth and rather cool motion, Nick reached behind me and drew my cellphone from the back pocket of my cutoff shorts. He clicked the speaker button to answer, sliding the phone onto the marble. “Anna’s phone.”
“Oh my. Oh my goodness.” Thelma’s voice came over high and panicked. “Oh my. Who is this? Is Anna okay? Oh no.”
