Freaky Deaky Tiki Page 11

  “I think you’re going to be late for work.”

  Instead of jumping out of bed, he slid his arm around my waist and tugged me to his side, his blue eyes searching as they locked with mine. “How did you sleep?”

  “Hard. Did I snore?”

  “If you did, I didn’t hear it. My snoring drowned out your snoring.”

  “Yeah, well ... it was nice.” I felt a little ridiculous saying it, but I couldn’t stop myself. I almost wanted to gush. The events of the previous evening would be seared into my memory for a long time to come.

  “Really nice,” Galen agreed, his lips curving. “So nice I think we’ll need a repeat.”

  “Now? I thought you had work.”

  “I’m the sheriff around these here parts.” He adopted an adorable southern drawl. “That means I call the shots.”

  “I guess I could be persuaded.”

  WHEN WE FINALLY ROLLED out of bed, Galen headed straight for the shower. He seemed happy, relaxed and in no mood to get clean on his own. “Come on.” He crooked his finger for me to follow. “I’m not done with you yet.”

  My cheeks heated as I watched him. “You’ll never make it to work at this rate.”

  “Work is highly overrated.”

  I couldn’t argue with that.

  EVENTUALLY WE MANAGED TO get dressed and head downstairs. I immediately went to the refrigerator so I could do something with my hands — other than run them over his muscled chest — and he set about making coffee. He whistled as he worked, something that amused me. We were both feeling chummy when we sat on the stools at the kitchen counter and started talking about the day ahead.

  “I’m assuming you’re going to do more research on your tiki mask project,” he said.

  I bobbed my head. “That’s the plan.”

  He handed me a mug of coffee and leaned forward to kiss me before I could sip it. “Try to stay out of trouble ... and no breaking and entering.”

  “That’s also the plan.”

  “If you run into your buddy Aisling, make sure she knows that breaking and entering isn’t allowed on this island. Apparently she forgets.”

  I nodded as I gulped the too-hot coffee. “I have to wonder how many homes she’s broken into over the years. She seemed totally comfortable with it.”

  “My guess is that it’s part of the deal with reapers.” Galen sobered, but he kept his hand moving up and down my back. “She probably has to break into places to collect the souls, and she has to do it on the down low. I heard reapers have rings that make them invisible.”

  That was interesting. “Invisible? She can make herself invisible? That’s a neat superpower.”

  “It’s the ring, not her. Reapers don’t have special abilities, other than seeing souls, but a lot of paranormals have that ability.”

  “You can see souls,” I mused. “So can I. Is that normal in paranormal circles?”

  “Actually, it is.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “I don’t want to be a demanding man, but I thought you were making breakfast.”

  “Oh.” I hopped to my feet. I’d completely forgotten my task after moving the eggs and hash browns to the counter. “I guess I got distracted by how pretty you are.”

  “I think that was supposed to be my line.” He followed me to the stove and grabbed a frying pan from the rack hanging over my head. “I’ll help. You shouldn’t have to do all the work.”

  “I think you just want to stay close.”

  “I think you’re right. In fact ... .” His mouth was over mine again. I didn’t have a chance to sink into the kiss, though, because the swinging door that separated the kitchen from the hallway opened to allow Wesley entrance. He didn’t look remotely happy.

  “Oh, geez.” He slapped his hand over his eyes. “It’s almost noon. What are you people doing in here? I can’t even ... . Somebody shoot me now.”

  “My gun is locked in my truck,” Galen replied evenly. “I can get it if you really want me to shoot you.”

  “What I want you to do is stop groping my granddaughter in front of the stove,” Wesley complained, banging his shin on a stool when he refused to uncover his eyes and watch where he was walking. “Dagnabbit!”

  I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing. Technically, it wasn’t funny. In a slapstick movie way, though, it was downright hilarious. “Are you okay?” I choked on the words.

  “Oh, don’t bother.” Wesley slowly lowered his hand, his eyes mutinous as he glanced between us. “I take it you’re going to be a regular fixture around here both night and day now, Galen.”

  “I was always going to be a regular fixture around here, Wesley,” Galen replied calmly. “Your protective grandfather routine was never going to change that.”

  “Yeah, well ... I wasn’t really trying to keep you away.” My grandfather plopped himself on an open stool and regarded us with dark eyes. “I simply wanted to make sure you were serious. You have a certain reputation around the island.”

  “That reputation wasn’t exactly earned,” Galen argued. “Some people assumed I was a ladies’ man when I really wasn’t.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Wesley waved off the comment and focused on me. “Are you going to start calling me ‘grandpa’ now?”

  I wasn’t expecting the question. “Oh, well ... .”

  “I figure now is the time to ask because you’re so embarrassed you’ll likely agree to anything.”

  He wasn’t wrong about that. “I’m going to try,” I said after a beat. “It’s new for me. I want to get to know you, spend time with you. I figure it will happen when it’s supposed to happen.”

  “Just like everything in life,” Galen teased, poking my side.

  “Oh, good grief.” Wesley made a face that bordered on comical. “You guys are fluttery flirts this morning. I don’t want to watch this. Where’s May?”

  “She disappeared when we came home last night,” I replied. “I haven’t seen her since.”

  “I believe she wanted to give us some privacy,” Galen supplied pointedly. “You might want to consider that, too. Maybe, I don’t know, call ahead before stopping by to make sure we’re not busy or something.”

  “It’s almost noon,” Wesley pointed out. “How was I to know you’d still be lazing about?”

  “I guess that’s fair.” Galen dumped the entire bag of hash browns into the skillet. “How have things been with you otherwise? How are you getting along with May?”

  “That woman ... I swear she’ll be the death of me.”

  He said it with a certain fondness that made me realize he was fine if he went during the middle of an argument.

  “I don’t understand why you two divorced, because you’re clearly still tipped over one another,” I said. “I mean ... why not stay together? Work it out and the like.”

  “Because we realized we both needed our own space,” Wesley replied, nodding his head in thanks when I delivered a mug of coffee to him. “I love my farm. I like working out there and enjoy the solitude. Your grandmother always loved this lighthouse. I loved it, too, but I was fine walking away from it. She never could.

  “We were better splitting our time with each other, spending a few days together and then a few apart,” he continued. “The rest of the people on the island didn’t get that, thought there was something wrong with us. It was simply easier to divorce, separate our finances, and then date. I guess that would be the best word for it.”

  I could think of a few other words, but I wisely kept them to myself. “Well, if you guys were happy living your lives that way, more power to you. Still, it might benefit everyone if May occasionally visited your farm.”

  My cheeks heated as I held my grandfather’s gaze. I needed to get the words out — and now — if there was ever going to be any peace in the lighthouse.

  “I like having you here and getting to know you, but ... sometimes it’s a little weird,” I admitted. “Maybe we should come up with a schedule.”

  Instead of being offended, Wesley
merely sighed. He rolled his neck until it cracked and then nodded. “This is your home now. May gets that. I guess I’ve still been thinking of it as her home. You have a right to your privacy.”

  “I still want to see you,” I said hurriedly. “I want to spend time with you, get to know you. It’s just ... I want a balance. I don’t mean to hurt your feelings, but we have to find a compromise that works for everybody.”

  “And we will.” Wesley patted my hand. “I never got to see you when you were young, so it’s hard to shake the idea that you’re a little girl. I know in my head that you’re an adult. My heart just needs to catch up.

  “As for May and me, I’ll talk to her about visiting the farm more often,” he continued. “She prefers the lighthouse, but she needs to give you some privacy, too. The good news is, she likes messing with some of my workers. That will keep her busy at least four or five hours a day.”

  I smiled. “We’ll figure it out.”

  “We will,” Galen agreed as he flipped the hash browns. “We’re all in this together. We’ll come up with a solution that works for all of us. I mean ... how hard can it be?”

  He probably jinxed us with the question, but I was in too good a mood to call him on it. “How does everyone want their eggs?” I asked, moving up beside him. “We can have a big breakfast together and then start making plans. How does that sound?”

  “Sounds great,” Wesley nodded. “I like my eggs basted.”

  “You’ve got it.”

  12

  Twelve

  I felt as if I was walking on air when I headed downtown, navigating my purple golf cart with ease. I headed to Lilac’s bar, parked in the tiny lot designed with golf carts in mind, and took a few extra minutes to collect myself before entering.

  I couldn’t stop smiling. That would be a dead giveaway to Lilac, who was seemingly more invested in my sex life than I was. Okay, that was an exaggeration, but there were times it felt like that.

  Instead of smiling, I adopted what I hoped she would take as a distracted expression. I wanted her to think I was busy, that I had a million things to do, and answer the questions I intended to pepper her with as quickly as possible. With that in mind, I squared my shoulders and walked through the door ... only to practically trip over my feet when I realized Aisling and Griffin were sitting at the center table with Lilac, the three of them laughing so hard I thought there was a possibility the walls might tumble thanks to the echoes.

  “That is hilarious!” Lilac swiped at the tears freely running down her cheeks. “I mean ... hilarious. What did your father do when he picked you up at the police station?”

  Oh, good. Aisling was telling stories about her multiple arrests. That would naturally be of interest to Lilac. She wouldn’t ask about my night with Galen if she was focused on Aisling. Whew!

  “He didn’t say much,” Aisling replied, playing with her straw wrapper as she stretched out her legs. “Griffin was there — that was essentially the first time they met — and my father didn’t want to let his anger show in front of a police officer.”

  “What did you think?” Lilac asked Griffin as I took one of the open seats at the table. “Did you think she was crazy?”

  Griffin slid Aisling a look as he cupped her hand in his. “I don’t know what I thought at that point. I barely knew her, but I was attracted to her. I think the attraction started the second she opened that sarcastic mouth of hers. Her father is a scary guy, though. At least I thought he was on that first meeting.”

  “What are we talking about?” I asked brightly.

  “Aisling was telling the story about how she was arrested for getting in a hair-pulling contest with the worst woman in the world and how Griffin met her father for the first time at the police station after the fact,” Lilac replied, giggling. “Her brothers were arrested, too. Apparently her father keeps several thousand dollars in cash at his house just in case his children are arrested.”

  I smiled. “That sounds kind of ... freaky.” I tried to imagine my father bailing me out of jail. He was a lawyer, but he didn’t handle criminal cases unless they were of the high profile variety. “My father probably would’ve left me to rot.”

  “My father threatens that all the time,” Aisling offered. “He’s never once done it. I doubt your father would either.”

  “My father is very by the book.”

  “My father wears a three-piece suit to work every single day and has a butler. He still bails me out of jail. Of course, I’ve ended up behind bars at least three times because he was the one who called the cops on me.”

  “Aisling has a habit of stealing his vehicles,” Griffin explained.

  “Hey, if he hadn’t treated me differently because I have a vagina rather than a penis none of those things would’ve happened.”

  “Fair enough.” Griffin stroked his hand over her back. They were lovey-dovey, slightly facing each other, and again I was struck by their bond. Griffin was a police officer, and they were telling stories about Aisling’s arrests. Their bond had to be absolutely unbreakable to survive something like that.

  “Why are you so late getting here?” Lilac asked, flicking her eyes to me. “You’re usually out and about before ten. In fact ... .” She trailed off, her eyes narrowing. “You had sex.”

  I was mortified. “W-what? I ... w-what?”

  “That was a really poor comeback,” Aisling shook her head. “You need to work on your poker face. You definitely had sex. You’ve got that whole glowing all over thing going for you.”

  I was desperate to get all three sets of eyes off me. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. In fact, we should definitely talk about something else. Let’s go back to Aisling getting arrested. That was a fun story.”

  “No way.” Lilac shook her head, vehement. “I want to hear how your first night with naked Galen went. I hear he has magical hands.”

  I slapped my hand to my forehead and averted my gaze. “I can’t even ... .”

  Aisling was more pragmatic with her approach. “I didn’t realize you guys hadn’t done the deed. I thought you’d been dating for a bit.”

  “Only a few weeks,” Lilac said on my behalf. “I would’ve jumped him after the first date, but people say I have impulse control problems.”

  “People say that about me, too,” Aisling said. “When they say it, I just punch them in the face.” She mimed letting loose a short jab. “Not that it’s any of my business ... .”

  “Which has never stopped you before,” Griffin interjected.

  Aisling ignored him. “Not that it’s any of my business,” she repeated, “but how could you wait that long? I pretty much slept with Griffin on our first date. My father had a meltdown when he heard the next day.”

  There was far too much to absorb in what she seemingly thought a simple statement. “You told your father?”

  “I told my brother ... who told my other brother ... who told my other brother ... who told my father. By the time Griffin swung back around they were all calling him Detective Dinglefritz and threatening to bury him alive.”

  “Ah, fun times.” Griffin grinned at the memory. “And we didn’t sleep together on our first date. We technically didn’t have a first date. I threatened to arrest you, you got arrested by someone else, I checked on you, then I saw you kill a wraith and thought I was losing my mind. Then we fell into bed.”

  “And then you disappeared the next morning,” Aisling reminded him.

  “I needed to think. I hate it when you tell that story.” Griffin made a face. “I didn’t disappear. I needed to think because I didn’t know the paranormal world. I don’t think that’s uncalled for.”

  “Of course not.” Aisling’s tone was placating, but her expression was full of mischief. “It wasn’t uncalled for in the least.”

  “Besides, it wasn’t as if I was gone very long,” Griffin added. “I couldn’t stay away from you. You hooked me from the first, and I was a goner after that.”

  “Yeah.
I kind of liked that part.” Aisling grinned as she poked his side, her eyes drifting to the door as it opened. She didn’t recognize the figure strolling into the bar, but I did. Still, she seemed impressed by what she saw. “Hello,” she muttered under her breath, causing me to smother a smile as Booker headed toward our table.

  Griffin slid her a sidelong look. “What did you just say?”

  Aisling managed to regain a modicum of control over her mouth. “I didn’t say anything. You’re hearing things.”

  I shared an amused look with Lilac as Booker grabbed a chair from a nearby table and slid between Aisling and me. “Hello,” he drawled, greeting me with a wink. “You look all ... shiny ... today.” He tilted his head to the side as my cheeks started to burn.

  “She finally got up close and personal with Galen,” Lilac explained, making things worse. “She’s embarrassed and doesn’t want to talk about it.”

  “You’re embarrassed?” Booker didn’t bother hiding his amusement. “Is that because he’s bad in bed? Don’t answer that. I’m going to tell him you said he was no matter your response.”

  I found my voice. “Don’t you dare!”

  “Oh, chill out.” He waved a hand and focused on Aisling, who was watching him with a moony look. “Who’s your friend?”

  “This is Aisling.”

  “Ah, the reaper.” Booker’s smile widened. “I hear you have a mouth like a sailor, and suck souls for a living.”

  Aisling didn’t immediately respond, instead lifting her nose to scent the air. I found her reaction strange. Apparently, so did Griffin.

  “What are you doing?” Griffin asked, annoyance bubbling up. “You realize I’m sitting right here, right? If you’re going to check out another guy on our honeymoon, you should at least be subtle about it.”

  Something occurred to me, and my mouth dropped open as I shifted my eyes back to Booker. “Is this because you’re ... you know?”

  Booker scowled. “I thought we agreed not to talk about that.”