by Emmy Grace
I shall call him Mini.
I nod. “I’m here for the termite inspection.” I tap the goggles riding my forehead with one hand and hold up my sprayer filled with water with the other.
Mini flicks his head for me to come in, which I do. I’m very discreet about looking around; just giving the posh place a generic scan. “Nice place.”
Mini grunts.
Beyond where I’m standing in the three-story foyer, there is a formal living room and dining room. To the left of that is what I’d guess to be the kitchen, and to the right is where I see a small wedge of activity. It looks like several men gathered, watching an enormous screen, hooping and hollering. I don’t know what they’re watching and I don’t care. Just as long as they all stay put while I do my snooping.
“I’ll start down here, but do that room last,” I tell Mini as I snap my goggles down into place, tipping my head toward the room with all the commotion. Everything turns green instantly, which is fine since I don’t need to see all that well until I get to the study or office, or wherever it might be that Ari Jameson conducts his business.
I walk slowly along, staring at the ground, sweeping my head back and forth like I’m checking for bugs. God forbid I find one. Bugs aren’t my favorite things.
I make my way through seven spacious rooms on the first floor. I should’ve known by the size that there would be more down here than just living, dining, kitchen and den.
It’s at the back of the house, in one corner, overlooking a big pond with a spitter, that I find the office. I glance right, in the direction that I left Mini, and when I don’t see him, I step casually into the office.
I quickly push up my goggles and close the door before hurrying around to the desk. There’s a laptop in full view. It’s open, but sleeping, so I press a button to wake it. As it’s coming on, I rifle through the drawers.
None of them are locked. Not that it’s very surprising. The number of people who have access to this area yet are dumb enough to cross a guy like Ari Jameson are probably zero. I suspect most high level criminals likely only keep their most trusted confidantes close.
When the computer screen lights up brightly, I click through folders and menus, looking for anything suspicious or something that I might be able to use as a lead. I find nothing. Maybe Ari’s not as comfortable as I thought. Maybe he carries a thumb drive around his neck. Or maybe he has it keestered.
Ew.
I grab a pen and write the IP address of the computer high up on my arm under my sleeve before I put the laptop back to sleep and finish making my way through the office. It’s as I’m walking by the desk again that a stack of papers pushed to one side catch my eye. The one on top is a tax bill for a property with an address I recognize.
It belongs to Leia Flynn.
Well, clearly it doesn’t belong to her. She just lives there. But that begs the question: Why is Leia Flynn living in a house that Ari Jameson is paying for?
I’ll tell you why.
Because she’s involved.
Just as I suspected.
She is without a doubt Princess Liar.
Ha! I knew it!
And the plot thickens.
Now to find out how the two are involved. And the only way I can figure getting to the bottom of that is through a girl I’m beginning to think is a frenemy.
Felonious.
The Torturer.
The Fibber.
The Wicked.
Unfortunately (or in some cases fortunately), she’s also extremely useful.
Dang it.
I’ve just put my goggles back down and am nearly at the door when it bursts open. Reflexively, I grab the sprayer wand. As weapons go, it would make a terrible one, but as ruses go, it makes it look like I was getting ready to spray.
Lucky’s luck strikes again.
I glance up, my insides jittery as I set down my sprayer and raise my goggles to stare at Mini. “Something wrong?”
I’m so proud that my voice doesn’t sound like I’m three seconds away from pee running down my leg, although that is precisely my current situation.
“Why is this door closed?”
I point to the area behind it. “I was fixin’ to spray that area until you came rushing in here.” When Mini only stares at me, I raise my brows. “You mind stepping aside?”
He does so grudgingly, and I spray tap water along the baseboard behind the door all the way to the wall. When I turn back to Mini, I nod and reengage my goggles to make my way past him like I have not a care in the world other than termites, which I wouldn’t be able to identify if I woke up covered in.
My knees are shaking as I “sweep and treat” the remainder of the house. Turns out that’s a lot of space. I figure it’s more walking than I usually do in an entire week, but it’s worth it for the tiny nugget of information I was able to score.
Back at the front door, I tell Mini that I’ll be sending the bill along at the end of the month. He grunts and practically slams the door the moment I’m on the other side of the threshold.
I descend the front steps with jelly legs, climb into the burnt van, and head back to the fortress gate.
The only thing I know for sure at this very minute is that I need a nap.
14
I don’t even bother taking the van back to Chester’s yet, mainly because I don’t trust my lower half to carry me all the way home. I park in front of the carriage house and head inside to collapse, face first, onto the bed. Within two minutes, pets surround me.
Mr. Jingles hops up on the bed and paws at my calf. Gumbo follows suit, but he makes his way toward farther up to root his nose into my armpit. Lucy-fur is the last to appear. She’s a haughty devil cat for sure, appearing almost by magic right in front of my face where she lays down to stare into my eyes. I don’t know what she’s trying to convey, possibly how unhappy she is with my decision to rescue animals, but after a few seconds of futile efforts, her eyes slowly close and she goes to sleep.
With no provocation that I can discern, my would-be road kill parrot, Squishy starts squawking. “Big bear! Big bear! Big bear!”
It’s only when there’s a knock at the door that I recognize as Liam’s angry pounding that I raise my head and stare at the bird. “Are you the harbinger of all things grouchy?” I ask.
Squishy doesn’t reply.
And, honestly, I might be a little freaked out if he did.
I move as quickly as I can, which must not be quickly enough for Liam, because he knocks again, this time with enough force to rattle the mugs on my mug tree.
“Hold your horses,” I snarl as I make my way to the door. I yank it open. “What’s your problem?”
He’s wearing his thundercloud, which I find oddly comforting. In a world that occasionally wants to go sideways and tilt in directions that keep me off balance, Liam’s grumpiness is like a surly north star. It’s the one thing I can count on.
“Do I even want to know what you’ve been up to?” he asks as he pulls open the storm door to step inside. Problem is, I haven’t yet moved, which puts him right on top of me. So close I could pucker my lips and kiss his chin if I angled my head just right.
Wonder what he’d do if I did exactly that?
I’m staring at the sexy cleft in said chin when the lips right above it thin even more, drawing my gaze upward.
“Keep that up and this day is going to take a very unexpected turn for both of us,” he growls.
It appears that my mind is as sluggish as my legs. “Huh?”
“You’re staring at my mouth like it’s dessert.”
Heat erupts from my chest up into my face like Mount Saint Helen’s on a particularly wicked day of PMS. “Was I?”
Can a blonde play dumb and get away with it when she’s wearing a black wig and matching moustache?
I guess we’ll see.
“Weren’t you?”
His blustery expression is dissolving right before my eyes, and something about what’s taking its pla
ce is making my stomach swim with anticipation.
“I…I…” I have to close my eyes and shake my head. He makes my brain go to mush sometimes. And this is one of those times.
“You what?” His voice is so soft.
“I…I found out Princess Liar really is a liar,” I blurt.
When in doubt, focus on work.
Or at least that’s my motto.
Starting now.
Liam’s brows drop back down into a frown. “Explain.”
I take a step back from Liam, mainly because all the hormones rushing into my bloodstream are making me lightheaded. “Come in. I’ll make some coffee.”
“For once you actually look like you could use some.” Liam closes the door behind him and follows me into the kitchen.
As I’m measuring coffee grounds into the basket, a loud scream makes me jump and spill them all over the counter. I hear Liam mutter, “What the—”
I don’t have to turn around to know what’s happening. I know Fred is poking his head through the dog door and I know that, out in the yard somewhere, Ethel is passing out.
My lips curve despite my fatigue. Life is never boring with animals.
“Have you forgotten about Fancy’s gifts?”
Liam was the one who told me that the folks from Fancy Fishman’s Flying Circus were leaving two goats with me to find a home. Little did they know, when I rescue animals, I usually end up keeping them.
Even if one screams and one faints, and they both give me a heart attack.
Liam just grunts.
I get the coffee on and then turn my attention to Liam. “So, as you might’ve guessed from my outfit, I did some recon today.”
“You mean you don’t routinely dress like a middle-aged hobo and drive a serial killer van?”
“No, smarty. This is my termite man costume.”
“Is that like a superhero name or something?”
“No. I posed as an exterminator that Dahlia hired to come and check Ari Jameson’s house.”
“You what?” he booms.
It’s amazing how quickly Liam can go from tropical storm to category five.
“Calm down, calm down,” I say, holding up my hands. “My luck was at its peak, thankfully, and it went off without a hitch. And you’ll never believe what I found.”
“That Leia’s living in a house that Ari Jameson is paying for?”
“Leia Flynn is living in a— What? How did you know?”
“Because Dahlia told me.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I asked you to stay out of this.”
“And I told you to bite me.”
“Lucky,” he begins, breath rushing out his nose like his patience is on its last leg.
I narrow my eyes on Liam and jerk up a finger to point at him. “Don’t you ‘Lucky’ me! You’ve known me long enough to know that I’m not going to sit on the sidelines while someone accuses you of foul play.”
“I can take care of myself. You don’t need to get involved.”
“Maybe you can, but I’m not willing to just sit back and not even try to help. I ca—”
I stop myself.
“You what?”
Here comes that rush of heat again. “I… You… It’s just not who I am.”
“That’s not what you were going to say.”
I stand helplessly rooted to the kitchen floor as Liam moves slowly yet steadily closer. “You confuse me. I don’t know what I was going to say.”
Lord, please don’t strike me dead for lying.
“Liar,” Liam whispers when he’s practically on top of me, staring down into my face with all his gorgeousness.
“I’m not—”
My words are cut off when he dips his head and presses his mouth to mine.
The first thing to go through my mind is sheer panic, mainly because of my curse-slash-blessing. But that only lasts for a few seconds. All of those thoughts and reservations evaporate in the fiery heat of Liam’s kiss when he tilts his head to the side and slips his tongue between my lips.
Sweet.
Mary.
God save all womankind from the kiss of a man like Liam Dunning. Or maybe just from the kiss of Liam Dunning himself.
If there was ever such a thing as a brain-scrambling man with the face of an angel and the lips of the devil, he’s standing in my kitchen, turning my world upside down.
Liam kisses me silly.
Granted, that’s not a very far trip, but Lord in heaven, it’s a fabulous one.
When he finally raises his head, Liam’s eyes are a bright calm greenish-gray, like the sea under a pale evening sky. I could drown in them and be the happiest girl in the world.
“You were saying?” he asks.
“Huh?”
One dimple at the corner of his mouth deepens. “I’ve never kissed someone deaf before,” he says with a trace of humor in his voice. “Then again, I’ve never kissed a woman with a moustache either.”
That dimple gets even deeper as he raises his hand to gently peel the offending strip of hair from my face.
“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” I reply lightly.
“And hopefully a last,” he declares. “With the moustache, I mean. Not the kiss.”
Pleasure floods me. I can’t help it. I wish I could control the way I feel about this man, but he’s made it impossible to resist him. Why does he have to be so hot and so strong and so dang grumpy? It’s like crack to a girl like me.
Or chocolate.
“So, you’re saying you plan to do that again?”
Please, please, please do that again.
“I’d like to do it many, many more times. That okay with you?”
“Can I ask you one question?”
“Shoot.”
“Why?”
“Why?” he repeats.
“Yes. Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why do you want to kiss me again?”
Liam’s eyes drop to my mouth and he uses the pad of his thumb to stroke the sensitive skin above my upper lip where the moustache was. “Because sometimes kissing you is all I can think about.”
Oh Lord.
Oh Lord.
“Really?”
“That can’t possibly surprise you.”
“Why wouldn’t it? Most of the time, you act like you can’t stand me.”
“That’s just how it looks when a man is fighting as hard as he can to resist you.”
“It is?”
He nods. “And this is what it looks like when he stops trying.” He dips his head and brushes his lips over mine again.
I take it back.
Liam Dunning is worse than crack. Or chocolate.
Much worse.
He’s chocolate crack.
“How long have you felt this way?” I mutter as he teases my mouth.
Liam leans away to look at me. “Before I kissed you the first time, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Relief spreads through my chest. “Okay, good.” Then something else pops into my mind. “Does this mean you don’t have feelings for Leia Flynn?”
“I never felt this way about Leia Flynn, not even when we dated.”
I want so much for him to label that feeling, to explain what “this way” means, but something stops me. I don’t want to be disappointed if he doesn’t say what I want to hear, and I’m enjoying this too much to risk that, so I hold my tongue. There will come a time when that conversation will need to happen, but today is not that day.
“So, why were you at her house?”
“I was doing some polite and discreet digging.”
“And?”
“She knew about Dahlia. Her death, I mean.”
I gasp. “How do you know?”
“Leia’s reaction when I mentioned the way we found her. I think she knew Dahlia would be killed, minimum. She may not have known the details. Probably didn’t want to. But I told her every bit of it. I figure if I have
to go through life with that image in my head, she ought to, too.”
“She really is a tramp.”
Liam gives a huff-like laugh. “So eloquent.”
“Right? This brain is full of two-cent words. I could show you a thing or two.”
“By all means, show me whatever you like.”
Merciful goodness. How am I ever going to concentrate now?
Or ever?
How will I ever, ever be able to get my head in the game?
I take a step away from Liam. “I think we need to set some ground rules.”
“Ground rules?”
“Or maybe ground rule. Singular.”
Liam just watches me. “Okay.”
“No kissing while we’re working a case.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I can’t think straight when you’re…you’re…”
“When I’m what?”
That tone… Good grief! It’s like auditory foreplay. I can’t decide if I want to plug my ears or rub ’em.
“When you’re like this.”
“Like what?”
“Like…this. All sexy and nice and interested.”
“I’ve been all those things for quite a while now. It’s never bothered you before.”
“But I didn’t know you were all those things. Especially not the last one.”
“You’d rather I be ‘mean’ as you call it, while we’re working a case?”
I snort. “Let’s not get ridiculous. Let’s just keep the kissing and stuff to a minimum until we catch criminals. Unless you just want me to sit in the passenger seat of your truck and drool.”
Liam sighs. “I guess I can do that.”
He’s just standing here, watching me, like he’s done many times before. But this time is different. He’s looking at me in a way he never has before. In fact, he might as well be kissing me.
“Don’t do that either,” I warn, taking another step back.
“I’m not doing anything.”
“Oh, yes you are. You can’t kiss me or tease me or toy with me or look at me like that.”
“I’m not looking at you any particular way.”
“Lies. All lies,” I declare suspiciously. “You know exactly what you’re doing, and I’ll thank you kindly to stop right this instant before I do something rash.”
