"He's going to have to ride in the back," she said, giving Garrett the once-over. "He's too large to sit in the front seat. He's some sort of Viking throwback. "
"I'm not riding in the back of the hearse," Garrett said stubbornly.
"There are straps," Lilith said with a slight smirk.
"No," Garrett said flatly.
"We can squeeze," I told them.
"Honestly, how many pumpkin-spice lattes and donut Danishes have you had this week?" Morticia asked as she scooted over next to her twin.
"Not that many," I grumbled as I climbed onto the bench seat.
Garrett placed his hand on my ass as I climbed in. He gave it one caress, then he sat next to me. I was pressed next to him. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder.
"You really are a big dude," I told him.
"Like some sort of Visigoth mercenary," Morticia sniffed as she pulled the car onto the road.
I was very aware of Garrett's body pressed right next to me in the car.
"Don't forget, we're coming over to your house tomorrow to start setting up for the party," I reminded Garrett when we pulled up in front of the Svenssons’ estate. As payback for the hand on my ass and just because I wanted to, I lightly caressed then squeezed his crotch as he opened the door. I smirked when he hissed in a breath.
He kissed me hard after unfolding himself out of the hearse. "I'm looking forward to it."
After Garrett was back in the house and I had scooted over to his spot that was still slightly warm, Morticia raised a thin black eyebrow. "I suppose the Romani queen came through."
The call from my mother came flooding back. I put my face in my hands. "Oh, I don't know. I think it's all worse!"
"What are you going to do?" Lilith asked after I told them about my mother's request for a sample article.
Lilith's angular face seemed even sharper. She and Morticia were the ones to put the pieces back together every time my mother let me down. I knew they didn't approve of my dealing with her.
"Garrett's going to be furious if I give her anything about his family," I said with a groan. "I can't stall for much longer."
"Just tell your mom you still need a chance to snoop through the house in order to put together a really nice package to attract a lot of marketers," Lilith said. "Maybe by then, the Romani queen will figure something out."
"Or the ghost could drop a tree on Garrett's car with you inside it, and then all your problems would just disappear," Morticia added.
"That’s morbid."
"Happy Halloween!"
34
Garrett
Penny was coming to our house the next morning to start decorating for the party that weekend. My little brothers were on fall break and were bouncing around, excited that they didn't have to go to school.
"Isn't this overkill?" Archer asked with a yawn. Hunter had forced him to wake up early.
"We have guests coming over," Hunter said, not looking up from the paper. "You can't be lounging about asleep. It's rude."
"When is Olivia going to start designing our cottage?" Archer complained to Hazel.
"She's busy with all your brothers' companies’ other projects," she said.
"And those take precedence," Hunter added.
