LOL: Laugh Out Loud (After Oscar, #2)(59)

I swung it open to find Officer Flirt waiting on the other side. I half stepped in front of Scotty, blocking him from view, and crossed my arms. “What do you want?” I asked.

Scotty elbowed me and ducked out from behind me. “He means, hi, Trevor, any news on the stolen car?”

Trevor lifted a bushy brow. “Which one? I’m here to take a report for a second stolen car, and I’m wondering what the hell kind of crime ring the two of you brought to our sleepy town.”

“Oh thank god, the police are here!” Larry bellowed from the staircase. “Fucking finally. I called you people last night.”

Officer Beardy swiveled his upturned eyebrow to little Larry, who stomped toward the door, followed elegantly by Lolo in a long, flowing white robe.

“Larry, darling, don’t forget your heart condition,” Lolo warned.

“What the fuck? I don’t have a heart condition,” Larry stammered.

“Shame,” Lolo murmured under his breath as he floated past me. When he caught sight of Trevor, his entire demeanor changed. “Well, well. Who have we here?”

“This is Officer…” I realized I didn’t know Trevor’s last name.

“You can call me Trevor,” he said to Lolo with a thousand-watt smile. “Nice to meet you, beautiful. And you are?”

Larry sputtered up at Trevor. “He’s none of your goddamned business is what he is. You’re here about the car.”

Trevor studied Larry with narrowed eyes. “Are you the owner of the vehicle?”

Larry’s face turned an unhealthy shade of red. “Not, uh, technically…”

“The car is rented under my name,” Lolo said, strolling past Larry to offer a pale, slender hand for Trevor to kiss. “I’m Lloyd Lovegrove,” he purred. “But you can call me Lolo.”

Scotty and I stared at him. I thought I heard a slight breath from Scotty that sounded like, “Wow.” I reached for his hand without thinking and threaded my fingers through his. I liked having someone to share this insanity with.

“Why don’t we move into the kitchen?” I suggested.

Before we even got away from the open front door, headlights flashed and a car fitting the description of Lolo’s rental pulled to a neat stop in the circular drive. A familiar woman got out. Marigold caught us all staring at her slack-jawed.

She waved. “Thanks for the loaner! There’s an extra dozen donuts in the front seat for you. Cheers,” she added happily before turning and setting off in the direction of the spa with two boxes of donuts under one arm and a handle of vodka dangling from her other hand. After a beat, she called back over her shoulder, “Oh, and the keys are in it. Don’t worry, no one would steal a car around here, so it’s safe.”

No one said a word until she’d disappeared into the wintry Vermont night.

“Anyone know who that was?” Trevor asked.

“Oscar’s sister,” I said.

“Well, fuck me,” Lolo said with a laugh.

“Yes, please,” Trevor muttered under his breath.

“Other way around, doll,” Larry said proudly.

Scotty made a soft gagging noise beside me, and I bit back a laugh. “Well, now that that’s solved… Okay, everyone. Party’s over. Good night.”

I tried to nudge Trevor out the door, but he dug in his heels, resisting. “You need anything else or have any problems, feel free to give me a call.” He said it to all of us, but he handed his business card to Lolo.

Lolo took the card, his eyes holding Trevor’s as he slowly ran the tip of an elegant finger along the edge of it, before slipping it into what looked like an intricately laced bra.

“What the—” Larry gurgled in rage.

But Lolo ignored him. “Come along, Pom Pom,” he said, pirouetting elegantly on the ball of one foot and hooking a finger in the collar of Larry’s shirt, tugging him along behind him as he glided to the staircase.

“Sweet dreams, Officer,” he called over his shoulder. “Unless they’re of me, in which case I hope they’re very, very naughty.”

Trevor let out a laugh and started toward his car. I quickly closed the door behind him, making sure to lock it. Then I turned and met Scotty’s eyes. “Can you help me push that big table in front of the door?” I teased. “I’m not sure we can handle any more surprise visitors.”

“No shit,” he said with a snort. “Although you… or maybe Oscar… get extra points for being entertaining. I’m not sure the last time I laughed so much.”

I agreed wholeheartedly. Being with Scotty was so much fucking fun. I couldn’t imagine our time together coming to an end.

Maybe it doesn’t have to, a small voice in my head said.

I let the thought linger in the back of my mind as I led him up the stairs to our room and curled around him in bed. I fell asleep to candy-coated daydreams about making Scotty mine, about bringing him back to the city with me and setting him up in my brownstone. I’d help him get another job at the stables if that was what he wanted or even tell him he didn’t have to work if he didn’t want to.

It was all so perfect and easy, so when a high-pitched screech hit my ears and an elbow clocked me under the chin, it shoved me face-first into a very different reality.