Death and Relaxation (Ordinary Magic #1)(49)

He stood there. I stood there. We stood there. One of us was going to have to do something. The ever-present wind tossed his dark hair, sunlight highlighting the stubble along his jaw. I wondered what his scruff would feel like against my lips.

“We lost Jean.” He waved vaguely at the door, his gaze on me. He hadn’t moved. Hadn’t looked away.

“She knows her way around.” He was wearing that nice cologne again. Just strong enough that, standing this near to him, I could catch a hint of it on the breeze.

I wanted to kiss him, taste him. Wanted to run my fingers over the curve of his lip and bite at the soft skin near his ear. A knot of ache, of desire filled my chest. This felt right. The idea of Ryder being mine, even if it was only for a short time, felt really right.

“Ryder, do you think—” I started, then shut up as a door slammed.

Jean jogged over to us. “Hey, Ryder,” she singsonged. “Hey, Delaney. How’s it going?”

Better before you butted in. “Swell,” I said.

Ryder exhaled, then rubbed his palm over his hair to smooth it. He looked off to the horizon for a moment, and I thought his breathing was a little faster than it should be. I thought mine was too.

“Did I interrupt something?” Jean asked. “I sure hope I didn’t interrupt anything.”

“Were you going to ask me something, chief?” Ryder met my gaze again.

I nodded. “Do you think it’s stupid to work with your siblings, or do you think it’s super stupid?”

“No comment,” he deadpanned.

“Good answer.” I walked toward Jean’s truck. “Ryder, head on back to the station and see if Roy or Myra need a hand with anything. Jean and I will be back in a bit.”

“Roger that.” He strode over to his truck and swung up inside.

I got into Jean’s truck and slid on the seatbelt. She hopped up into the driver’s seat, but immediately turned to me. “You two were standing in the middle of the sidewalk mooning over each other.”

“We weren’t mooning.”

“You were mooning.” She glanced at the rearview mirror, watching Ryder as he pulled out of the parking lot. “Tell me you kissed him.”

“I did not kiss him.”

She groaned. “Why won’t you just do something? Can’t you see that you two were meant to be together? Seriously, Delaney, glaciers move faster than you.”

“We have a date.”

She whooped. “About time!” She held up her palm. “High five, sister! C’mon. Don’t leave me hanging.”

I shook my head. “It’s just a date. You and I still have work to do.”

She grabbed my wrist and smacked my palm into hers. “You can’t have fun for two seconds in a row.”

“You can’t stay serious for one.”

“That’s because my two older sisters are serious enough for the entire town. Did Dan pan out?”

“I don’t know yet. I think we need to go find us a gill-man.”





Chapter 14


THE VAMPIRE was waiting for us outside the bar. Ben Rossi wore a canvas jacket, dark red beanie, tight jeans, and boots. He looked more like a dockworker just out of college than a hundred-year-old firefighter. The shadow from the roof overhang kept him out of the spotty sunlight as he leaned against the warehouse and tipped two fingers to his forehead in greeting.

“Good day, officers.”

“Ben,” I said. “What’s down?”

He pushed off the wall, hands still in his pockets. “Old Rossi heard you hired Ryder Bailey on to the force. That right?”

Was there anyone in town who hadn’t heard that news? And why was everyone making such a big deal out of it?

“That’s right.”

Ben bit at his bottom lip and raised his eyebrows. “You might want to rethink that.”

“I don’t think I do.”

“All right. Old Rossi would like you to rethink that.”

“Why?”

Ben shrugged. “He was cleansing his chakras or fluffing his aura or some such bull. Didn’t go into details. Just told me to tell you: fire Ryder.”

“I don’t allow vampires to dictate my human resource decisions.”

Ben flashed a bit of fang in his smile. “I figured you’d say that. You know I’m just the messenger.”

“I know. Do me a favor? Tell Old Rossi that if he has a problem with Ryder, he can come talk to me himself.”

“I’ll let him know, chief. Say…come on by our place next Saturday. Jame and I are having a housewarming party.”

“Do you want me there as a friend or in an official capacity?”

“Yes. I figure we’re gonna have a lot of family stop in.” He grinned again, then pushed off the wall. “See you around, chief. Jean.”

“Bye, Ben,” Jean said. “Think we should be worried?”

I didn’t know if she meant about Old Rossi’s warning, the housewarming invite, or us hiring Ryder.

“Probably,” I said, just to cover the bases.

We found Chris right where I expected him to be: upstairs at the bar.

We found him in a state I didn’t expect him to be: drunk.