She gave a soft chuckle that sent sexual fission flashing up his spine.
Schitz. He wanted this assignment done so he could take her back to his cottage and make love to her for at least a week nonstop. Maybe longer? The implications of that knocked him offbalance. He needed to look into exactly why he wanted Joy in his afterlife.
Joy found Holly floating above Ethan’s desk, frowning at him.
“You look confused.” She had to remember not to be subtle. Malcolm was so much better at this, but she was learning.
“Is Ethan drunk?”
She gave Holly a sad smile. “Yes.”
Holly shook her head. “Why? Did the woman he loved reject him? Oh, poor Ethan. Ineed to be a better friend to him. Maybe if I do that, I can keep this from happening.” Holly floated to where Joy was. “I can influence the future, right?”
Malcolm floated behind her, his bayberry scent letting her know where he was. He was close. His deep voice came over her left shoulder. “Aye, you can, but you have to remember, most of what you see tonight are scenes that are most likelyto come true.”
“But that’s only if I don’t change, right?”
Holly’s hopeful look was hard to dismiss, but Joy ignored it. “That will only increase the probability that they won’t come true.” At Holly’s crestfallen face, she forced herself to continue. “There’s still a chance they will.”
“This is so unfair to Ethan. He’s such a good man. And look.” Holly pointed at the man who sat at his deskin a t-shirt and gray sweats, his brown curly hair a mess, his green eyes blurry. The almost empty bottle of single-malt Scotch was next to his elbow, the glass in his hand, half empty. “He’s handsome, too and well built.”
Holly paused, her gaze running over Ethan’s chest and arms. “Wow, he’s really built. I never noticed that before. Probably because he’s always in a collared shirt and a pairof trousers. He’s smart. He manages his family’s money. He went to the university with Cameron and Brody. He’d be a great catch for any woman. I’m so pissed a woman did this to him.”
Joy glanced at Malcolm before addressing Holly. “Does Ethan rock climb like Cameron and Brody? He looks to be in good shape.”
Holly shook her head. “Oh, no. He’s the opposite of Cam and Brody. While they were impetuousand risk takers, Ethan always had to plan everything in advance and he was all about safety first. Sometimes it drove Cam crazy.” Holly smiled at the memory.
“But this man.” Malcolm opened his arm toward the drunk Ethan. “Tried to keep Cameron from going. He was the only one who took your side. He was the best kind of friend and now look at him.”
Holly turned back to Ethan who was in the processof throwing back the rest of the Scotch. “Oh Ethan, I’m so sorry. I’ll make this change. I swear.”
Joy floated to Holly and took her hand to bring her away from Ethan. “It won’t be that easy.”
“Why not? All I have to do is reach out to him in my time.”
“Watch.”
The front doorbell rang, but Ethan just poured himself another shot.
The bell rang again.
Holly frowned. “Where’s his mom? Or butler?Or whatever a place this big has?”
“As Malcolm said, Ethan’s parents live in town now and he won’t have any employees living with him. Everyone must go home by five so he can drink himself into oblivion.” Joy stopped talking at the loud banging on the door.
“Well, someone obviously wants in pretty badly.” Holly’s observation was shared by Ethan since he stood, swayed, then staggered out of thestudy.
They all followed him.
It took him four tries, but eventually he managed to open the door.
