Peril for Your Thoughts (Mind Reader Mystery) (13 page)

“Yeah, good thing,” I replied, standing my ground even though my knees were shaking, “because neither of us wants that kind of distraction right now.”

“True,” he whispered, his face a few inches from mine now, “distraction would be really bad right now.” He cupped my face and leaned in,
But I bet it would feel so damn good
, he thought seconds before his lips pressed against mine.

I froze, but I didn’t move. Part of me squirmed with the thought of the exchange of germs that kissing involved. Before I could read minds, kissing wouldn’t have been an option. But now that I could hear his every thought, my mind was so full of his seduction, it couldn’t hear the part of me screaming to pull away and gargle with…

You smell so good, baby. Like wildflowers in a meadow. And your taste…my God, it’s like pure spun honey. Your lips are so soft, and your skin is like silk. Oh, baby, your body fits so perfectly against mine, I can’t take much more. I want to
—

“Nik and Kalli standing under a tree, K I S S I N G. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes baby in a baby carriage,” sang a feminine voice as it circled around us, followed quickly by peels of giggles. “Or maybe the baby comes first.” More giggling ensued as she skipped circles around us.

Sure,
now
Frona shows up. We broke apart and noticed that all eyes were on us.

“Kalli?” came a familiar male voice. “I thought you said you didn’t date.”

I turned to the side and couldn’t believe my mother had invited Max of all people. “I don’t,” I said weakly.

“Could have fooled me,” he said and then stormed out.

I looked back at Nik, and we just stared at each other in shock and awe and wonder. Part of me was glad I never got to hear what he wanted to do to my body. I was still shocked over the fact that his thoughts could seduce me, allowing his body to do things to mine that once would have never been possible. I was terrified. What was I supposed to do with that? He might want me physically, and it might actually be a possibility now, but he’d made it clear he didn’t want a relationship or a distraction right now. Would that be enough for me?

I suddenly realized the answer was a resounding,
Hell yes
!

What if I woke up and my gift went away? I might not ever have the chance to satisfy my urges. Oh, good Lord in heaven, I just realized I wasn’t so different from my mother after all, because one thing had just become perfectly clear …

I had spring fever too!

Monday morning I made my excuses and slipped out before Detective Stevens could see me. After that kiss, I needed to think of him as a detective rather than Nik the sweet sexy Greek who had swept me off my feet just one day ago. Don’t get me wrong, I still had spring fever in a big way. I just had no clue how to go about taking care of it. And even though he wasn’t the one who could read minds, I was mortified to think everything I was feeling might be written plain as day across my face. While his charming smile and gentle touch made me think anything was possible, that little voice in the back of my head warned me that Detective Stevens might be far more than I could handle. So my answer for now …

Avoid him at all costs!

Rumor had it Sully Anderson—aka Jaz’s UPS guy—was back in town. My cousin Eleni’s boyfriend’s sister Marigold—the one who put the voodoo curse on Jaz—was friends with Sully’s sister Val. Turns out Marigold likes Sully and was jealous of Jaz, even though Jaz had made it perfectly clear that Sully wasn’t her type.

Clearview wasn’t that big. I was bound to run into the UPS delivery truck at some point. I drove around for the next hour in the rain until finally I got lucky. I was stopped at a stop sign when the truck drove right by me. I ducked and then popped my head up just enough to see what was going on. The truck pulled over and the driver got out.

He made several trips to deliver packages to my yiayia and papou’s dry cleaning business. Then my aunt’s hair salon next door, followed by my cousin’s bakery down the street. By the time the driver—who was most definitely the curly caramel-haired Sully—climbed back into his vehicle, I had nearly fallen to sleep. The soft pitter-patter of rain on the roof of my car tended to do that to me. And the sleepless night of tossing and turning hadn’t helped.

Most UPS drivers were quick, delivering their packages promptly and efficiently. Not Sully. He loved to talk. Mix that with my family, and he could spend half a day on just one block. Lucky for him the citizens of Clearview loved him, or he’d probably get fired. Finally, he pulled away from the curb and headed to a different part of town. I followed, careful to maintain enough distance without losing him as I squinted through the swipe swipe swipe of my windshield wipers.

He made a stop by Sinfully Delicious. Once again, he chatted forever with Maria, then he stepped back outside. He stared across the street at Full Disclosure for what seemed like forever. Finally, he got back in his truck and drove away. Again I followed. This time he pulled up at Vixen’s
,
but he didn’t park out front like he had at all the other places. He pulled out back. I waited for a while, but when he took even longer than at any other place, I parked down the street out front and then ran out back, minus an umbrella. I peeked around the corner, but he had already gone inside. I briefly wondered what the ever-worsening ozone could have done to the rain and what long-term side effects might be occurring within my body at this very second.

Pushing down the panic attack that was threatening to take over at any second, I thought about what I was supposed to do. If he came back outside right now, he would see me. There were no bushes to hide in like there had been at the funeral home. I couldn’t risk him seeing me, but I needed to hear what was going on, if anything. I spied a dumpster and knew in my gut this was going to send me straight to therapy. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that Jaz was worth it.

I slowly made my way over, swallowing hard and feeling my stomach churn with every step. I came to a stop by the edge and felt my pulse. Yup, racing like the first-place car in the Indy 500. Slipping on the rubber gloves I carried in my purse before I could freak myself out even further and change my mind, I opened the top of the dumpster. Grabbing onto anything I could, I climbed to the top.

Oh, God, the trash hadn’t come yet!

Rain, rotting garbage, and Lord knew what else … I was going to be sick. There was no way I could do this, I thought and started to back my way down when I heard the unmistakable sound of a door being opened. With nowhere to go, I squeezed my eyes shut and jumped. I tried to catch my breath as dumpster materials squished around me and rationalized how doing things that terrified me would only make me stronger. And getting stronger was exactly what I needed if I was ever going to do something about my spring fever.

Stifling my gag reflex, I pushed through the rancid trash and peeked through a crack in the corner of the dumpster but didn’t see anyone yet. It finally stopped raining and the sun broke through the clouds, causing a brilliant rainbow to arch across the sky. I couldn’t even enjoy it because the stench of my surroundings turned even the most beautiful things vile. Something crawled across my shoe and I screamed, then I slapped a hand across my mouth. The smell of latex was a welcome distraction.

The back door of Vixen swung open.

“What was that?” Ana asked, her sharp gaze darting about the back lot of her store.

“Probably just a cat,” Sully responded with a shrug as they both faced the dumpster, providing me with a perfect view. “You’d be surprised the things I encounter on my route.”

“Darling, I can only imagine.” Ana reached out and squeezed his hand. “Why don’t you quit and come work for me? You’re so good at servicing people. My customers would love you.”

“You drive a tempting bargain, Ana, but alas I can’t.” He pulled his hand from hers and rested it on his heart. “Your customers already love me, as I probably have serviced most at least a time or two.”

“That’s my point. You’re so popular.”

“I do what I can.”

“And you do it so well.” Her laugh trilled through the air.

He bowed gallantly and then winked. “Well, duty calls. Guess I better head out.”

“Oh, here.” She looked around suspiciously, then handed him a note. “I trust you know what to do.”

“Honey, I always know what to do.” He took the note and slid it into his back pocket.

She laughed again, waved, and then went back inside. He walked to his truck, whistling along the way. The note slipped out of his back pocket, but he never noticed. I stayed in the dumpster until I heard the unmistakable sound of his truck start up and then drive away.

Hoisting myself up, I scrambled out of the dumpster, stripped off my gloves and tossed them back over the edge. Thank goodness the heaping mound of trash had made it possible to escape relatively easily. If I had gotten stuck in there, I would never have survived. The thought of that alone caused perspiration to dot my forehead. There wasn’t enough hand sanitizer on the planet to rid me of the filth covering me. It would take three hot showers, minimum. But first, I had a note to fetch.

Using stealth moves like I’d seen on TV, I skirted over to the side of the building, snatched up the note, and then sprinted to my car, not stopping until I was safely ensconced inside—which took a bit of time, considering I had to cover the seat with the paper towels I had conveniently in the trunk. Like my yiayia says, you never know when there’s going to be a big mess to clean up and I didn’t want a single speck of dumpster doo-doo touching anything else that belonged to me. Finally, I opened the note and read it.

Meet me at the same time same place: Lakeshore Heights, tonight at ten pm. Ask for Stacy Walsh.

Lakeshore Heights was a small motel just across the line in the next town over. Bits of Ana and Sully’s conversation came back to me:
so good at servicing people, drive a tempting bargain, so popular, do what I can, you do it so well …
Sully had pulled his truck around back, instead of the front. He’d spent the most time in Ana’s store. They’d flirted and then she’d acted all shady, looking around and giving him a note. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on.

Anastasia Stewart was having a secret affair she didn’t want anyone to know about, and her lover was Sully Anderson.

“You did what?” Jaz asked as we sat around the dining room table having lunch. More like Jaz was having lunch. I didn’t have an appetite. I’d taken three hot showers, scrubbing my skin nearly raw, and I still felt dirty. Not to mention, the smell seemed to be permanently adhered to my nose hairs and no amount of blowing cleared it out. I might need to see a doctor.

I set down a crystal dish filled with only the best tuna for Prissy, before I answered Jaz. “I tailed Sully to see if he was up to anything suspicious and then dove in the dumpster to spy on him.”

“I heard that, I just can’t believe it.” Jaz stared at me in shock and awe, crossing her arms over her warm-up suit and leaning back in her chair. “You’re changing.
He’s
changing you.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I dusted an imaginary piece of lint off my yoga pants and then pushed my bowl of salad away. “Can you smell it? I think I can still smell it.” I extended my arm toward her face.

She set the legs of her chair back on the ceramic tile with a resounding thud and pushed my arm away. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. Nikypoo is the kind of man you need, just like I’d hoped he would be.” She grinned.

“He’s not changing me. My
gift
is.”

“True, but it’s
his
thoughts that are working their magic.”

I tossed my hands in the air. “Yeah, well, none of that matters if I don’t have a clue what to do about it. I’ve had issues my whole life, so needless to say, I’m not exactly experienced in the art of seduction.” I picked up my bowl and carried it to the sink, rinsing it out thoroughly with soap and hot water before putting it in the dishwasher.

“No worries, babe,” Jaz said as she followed me. “That’s what you have me for.”

“No offense, but that terrifies me.” I laughed, then frowned as I leaned against the counter, facing her. “Speaking of seduction. Sully is a good-looking guy and highly respected around town. Why would Ana act all secretive if she were dating him?”

“Good question,” Jaz said in all seriousness as she wiped down the counter. She’d learned to spray it three times with a disinfectant because she knew if she didn’t, I’d follow right behind her and do it anyway. “Who knows with that woman? She’s so uppity. Maybe she thinks he’s beneath her or something. Their affair does surprise me, though.”

“Why’s that?”

Jaz waved the sponge about as she talked, nearly giving me a heart attack when it almost came in contact with me. The last thing I wanted to do was take another shower. I preferred paper towels, but Jaz refused to cave on that one. She had no idea I threw the sponges out daily, replacing them with brand new ones when she wasn’t looking. “Sully was just flirting with
me
right before he left.”

“But you always turn him down,” I replied, taking a big step back, well away from the deadly sponge. Lord only knew what germs it harbored. I could practically see the multiplying bacteria. “Maybe Ana’s easy.”

Jaz tossed the sponge beneath the sink, then popped her head up, her eyes going wide. “Or maybe he’s the mole.”

Her words made me forget the sponge. “He does deliver to both of you. If you kept turning him down, maybe Ana said yes on purpose. If he delivered your trade secrets to her, she would agree to sleep with him, but only if he kept the affair a secret. That way you’d never make the connection.”

“Exactly. They just didn’t count on you going all Veronica Mars on them. Man, I can’t wait to see Ana’s face when we blow her little secret right out of the water. I’ll show her what happens when someone messes with me.”

“There is no
we
, Jaz. I agree with Detective Matheson on this one. You need to stay out of this. You’re not helping the situation any by getting all up in Ana’s business. You’re just going to make yourself look crazy and capable of killing someone.”

“Detective Matheson is the one I’d like to kill,” Jaz grumbled.

“All in due time. But first, we have a murder to solve.”

“I thought there wasn’t a
we
?” she threw my words back at me, sarcasm dripping from each syllable and a big ole pout spread across her face.

“We’re still a team, it’s just I will be the one to check out the motel while you hold down the fort here.”

“And do what?” she sputtered. “There’s nothing more I can do.”

“Then do something else, like spring cleaning or something.”

“Puh-lease. Like this place isn’t already spring cleaned 24/7.”

I rolled my eyes. “Then do some spring planting.”

“Um, you’ve already planted, pruned, and picked just about every spec of this yard already. There’s not a single spring anything I can contribute to.” Suddenly she got a look in her eyes that could only mean trouble.

“Oh, no. What are you up to?”

“Just coming up with a new recipe.”

“A new recipe for what?” asked a familiar male voice from the doorway.

Jaz and I both jumped. Prissy looked up and hissed, then pranced away with her nose in the air.

“Sorry, door was open,” Nik said through the screen. He had on his typical work attire of jeans, sport jacket, and tie. “May I come in?”

“The door’s always open for you, Detective,” Jaz fairly purred. “Isn’t that right, Kalli?”