Page 69 of Ice Lord Incognito

I kissed her deeply, putting my heart and soul into my touch. When I lifted my head, she gave me a smile that melted everything still frozen inside me.

I stroked her face. “Soon.”

“Soon,” she said with a nod.

I drove out to the coffee place and waited in line before placing my order, then waited some more to pick my order up. Twenty minutes or so later, I parked my truck in the lot across from Monsters, PI. With a coffee and a bag holding a muffin in my hand, I jogged to the front door, opened it, and strode inside.

“There you are,” Katar’s wife, Bailey, said with a smile. “She’s waiting in your office.”

Oh, good. “This took longer than I thought it would.” I held up my purchases.

“I’m sure she won’t mind. We told her you weren’t here but she said she was happy to wait.”

“Great. Thank you.” I walked past her and down the hall, waving to Katar sitting at his desk as I passed.

“Hey Elrik,” Tuvid called out, and I stopped to poke my head into his open doorway.

“You’re back,” I said. “I hope you and Angie had an amazing honeymoon.”

“The best.” Tuvid grinned so wide, his face must hurt. “I wish we were still in Europe, but I guess we had to come back sometime.”

“I imagine.”

His smile fell. “Did Katar tell you someone’s waiting in your office to speak with you?”

“Yup. I was just heading that way.”

“Then I’ll talk with you later.”

With a wave, I continued to the last door on the right. The office opposite mine would soon be occupied with our newest hire, a dragon shifter detective. Another guy with wings like Tuvid who’d joked about being able to reach a job quicker than those of us who had to travel on foot or in a vehicle. Still, it would be cool to work with him. I bet he had some amazing stories to tell about his past job as a detective.

My office door was shut, but I opened it and strode inside.

My welcoming smile dropped fast.

“Brittney?” I snarled at my ex. “What are you doing here?”

29

MELLY

Ibrushed my teeth, took a shower, and dressed, then walked out to the kitchen on bare feet.

As I was taking eggs from the fridge to make an omelet, someone knocked on the door. I peeked around the curtain covering the window, seeing someone dressed in a blue uniform with a patch on her right chest statingGriffon Express, the name of Mystic Harbor’s courier service. The griffon held a manilla envelope and a welcoming smile on her golden lion face.

I opened the door. “Hi.”

“Melinda Brandt?”

“Yes.”

She held out the envelope. “This is for you.”

As I took it from her, I noted my name scrawled on the front. “Thank you.”

“We aim to please.” She clambered up onto the railing surrounding my small, second-story deck, and jumped off, her wings snapping out.

I watched in awe as she soared above Grannie’s backyard and continued up over the building beyond.

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