His features sober up as he nods and he’s right back to being the old ornery version I fell in love with.
Hey, did I just declare my love for him? Privately, of course. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. If I spill the L word here and now, he might just trot right back to Regina where times were easy and so was she. Not that I don’t want to make things easy for him. But we’re moving slowly in that department—enjoying ourselves one hot kiss at a time.
“And”—he tips his head down a notch as he bears those eyes into mine—“do you have another secret you’d like to share with me?”
My mouth opens, and I take a breath in lieu of spilling the supernatural beans. Oh heck, maybe I do want to spill those supernatural beans with Shep. After all, he has my heart, so he might as well have the rest of me, too.
“All right,” I say, running my fingers along the length of his tie. “I will tell you my secret.”
“You will?” He pulls back, and a lopsided smile builds on his face. It’s a rare event, so I take a moment to ogle at it.
“Yeah. What the heck. If Opal can crack open her wallet and let me do an overhaul on the café, I can tell you my silly little secret.” I wince. “Except it’s not so silly.” My lips twist. “And it’s not so little. Exactly how big of a guarantee do I have that you won’t be in the market for a new plus one once you hear the news?”
He inches back a notch, his grip over my waist tightening ever so much.
“Tell me when you’re ready. I’m not leaving, Bowie. If that target on your back from both the feds and mob isn’t spooking me, I’m unshakeable.”
A silent laugh bucks through me.
“Unshakeable,” I say.
He nods. “I promise.” Shep crashes his mouth to mine, and we indulge in a kiss that says the two of us are inseparable, immovable as stone, unshakeable.
Soon, Shep will know my secret, and everything we’ve built so far will be put to the ultimate test.
A car horn beeps its way up the street as that bright yellow cab we just sent Stephanie off in comes screeching to a halt, and my sister barrels her way back, suitcase and all. The cab takes off without her like a bat out of the hot place, and I groan at the sight.
“What’s going on?” I ask as she makes her way past us. “Forget your toothbrush?”
“I’ve changed my mind. I’m taking you up on your offer to stay as long as I want. See you kids in the morning. We’ve got a remodel to plan. And I might take Mud out to Scooter Springs tonight for a beer, so I’ll have to borrow Wanda. And maybe I’ll hang out at his place the rest of the night—you know, to celebrate my return. Go on”—she motions to the two of us—“as you were. Put a little more life into it, Bowie, would ya? You’re giving our family a bad name.”
I scowl as she disappears out of sight.
“Well that was a short-lived relief,” I say, wrapping my arms back around the wall of muscles before me. “Don’t tell her, but I’m really glad she’s staying.” I shrug. “I love her.” My lips press tightly. “And I think I’m falling in love with you, too.” So much for taking it slow in that department. I never was good at waiting things out.
A dark laugh builds in his chest but never makes it farther.
“I can safely say, Bowie Binx, that I am falling in love with you, too.”
His blue eyes dance over mine, and I would swear on everything good that they’re smiling at me all on their own.
Shep and I land our lips as they were a few moments before, and we say with our kisses what our words just professed, with nothing but the moon up above and every star in the universe watching over us.
It’s heaven like this with Shep in Starry Falls.
The clip-clop of heels heads back this way as Stephanie runs past us with a casserole dish in her hands.
“Hey!” I shout. “Stop, thief. That’s my lasagna.”
“You snooze, you lose,” she shouts back, tossing the tray onto Wanda’s passenger’s seat before hopping behind the wheel. “I’ve got to work my way into Mud’s stomach. See you sissies later!” She speeds off, and I shake my head.
Pixie traipses out and wraps herself around my ankles before jumping up onto the porch railing.
“I was just thinking, Starry Falls is turning out to be a little bit like heaven,” I say, giving Shep a firm embrace. “And now I’ve got Stephanie here to add just the right amount of hell on heels. It’s going to be a wild ride. Do you think you can handle it? Two Santinis with a twist of lies?”
“I say bring it on.”
And I do.
I bring on some serious kisses.
**Thank you so much for reading! We hope you enjoyed the ride! Need more Starry Falls? Hop on over and pick up the next book in the series! Click here—> A Candy Cane Cat-astrophe
It’s beginning to look a lot like murder. The snow is falling and so are the accusations. The mob is growing far more brazen, the people from my past refuse to stay there, and Shep is on the verge of learning every last bit about me. My life—and all of Starry Falls may never be the same.
Living in Starry Falls is proving to be deadly.
Living in Starry Falls is proving to be deadly. Click here—> A Candy Cane Cat-astrophe
***Love your books with humor, sass and murder? You’ll devour the Murder in the Mix Series!
Start at the beginning! Cutie Pies and Deadly Lies (Murder in the Mix 1)
Enjoy this preview. Happy reading!
I see dead people.
Okay, so I don’t see dead people—at least not on the regular—I see dead pets. Yes, pets. At first, I had no idea what these hologram-like beasts were up to until after an unfortunate run of something akin to trial and error that I concluded each dead pet was some sort of a harbinger for its previous owner, a very, very bad omen if you will. Sometimes I see them floating around willy-nilly in a crowd and it’s hard to decipher exactly who the bad luck is coming for. But on occasion, I see them attached firmly to the side of whomever the incoming disaster is set to strike. I’m not sure why this is my lot in life. In fact, my lot in life hasn’t been so stellar in general. My birth mother thought it was a brilliant idea to leave me on the floor of a firehouse, and that’s where a brave and thankfully curious firefighter spotted me, swaddled up and squirming. It just so happens that I was adopted by that sweet man, Joseph Lemon, and his wife, Miranda, and gifted a book-loving big sister, Lainey, currently Honey Hollow’s lead librarian, as well as a feisty and shenanigan-prone younger sister, Meg, who is also known as Madge the Badge on the Las Vegas female wrestling circuit. And being that Las Vegas and all of its glittery wrestling venues are a good distance from Honey Hollow, Vermont, we don’t see her very often.
But back to that strange gift of mine, or curse as it more often than not feels—I have zero clue where it came from or why, or even the major significance of it. A part of me has always believed that something alarmingly supernatural occurred around the time of my birth, and that’s exactly why my birth mama decided she so desperately needed to offload a seven-pound chunk of bad luck.