Page 1 of Death and Donuts

CHAPTER ONE

My phone buzzedon the counter beside me. I set aside my rolling pin and wiped my hands to check it.

Cross: Do you have time to meet at the property today before your shift?

“Which of your boy toys is it this time?” Vena called from the living room.

“It’s Cross. He wants to know if we can come over.”

I heard her pop up from the couch.

“Does that mean he closed the deal on the club?” she asked.

“Probably,” I said.

In the weeks since Anchor’s rescue, Vena had been using Cross' business as a distraction from her non-existent sex life. After Cross got his identification papers, Vena had been right there to help him start a bank account and set his password–as if he had no clue what she was up to. When it had come time to tour the club formerly known as Juicy as a potential property to purchase, she’d volunteered us to go with him. Ifher involvement kept her happy and distracted from Anchor’s absence, I was fine with it.

She appeared in the kitchen and leaned her athletic body against the counter. Her long brown hair swayed to the side as she moved. I always envied her trim body but loved baking and desserts more than running. Thelma and Louise, as Vena likes to call my girls, weren’t made for cardio.

“What do you mean, probably?” She gazed at me with her dark blue eyes. “Don’t you talk to him every night?”

“We do talk. I just don’t pump him for information like you do.”

She snorted. “How else will we know if he’s spending our money wisely unless we pump him?” She wriggled her eyebrows at the innuendo.

“You’re lucky he puts up with you.”

Her expression fell a little. “Like Anchor, right?” she mumbled.

“Hey, you know he’s crazy about you. Didn’t he just take you out for a treasure hunt last week?”

“Last week. How many times has he come overthisweek?”

“They’re still cleaning up the vampire issue,” I said. “You know he’s out searching with everyone else now.”

“Exactly. He’s constantly gone. Why is Doc on our couch at night instead of Anchor?”

“Probably because you kept trying to molest Anchor in his sleep.”

“I was cuddling!”

“He was fighting to keep your hands out of his pants.”

“That was for research. I needed to check what his unimpressively loose jeans were hiding.” Her gaze grew wistful. “His merry mama maker is impressive as hell, Everly. I grazed it. It was hot and hard and–”

“This is why he’s keeping his distance, Vena. You’ve only got one thing on your mind lately.”

“Can you blame me? I thought we’d have sex once we found him, Ev. Happy reunion sex. Instead, I’ve been denied his fun funnel. So, yeah, I’m a little upset about it. But if I can just get my mouth on his peace pipe, I know we’ll both feel a lot better.”

My phone buzzed again.

Tank: Can you please remind her that I can hear everything?

Me: That’s why she’s saying it.

Vena smirked at me. “Tank whining again?”

I nodded, and she turned to shout to our guard sitting outside, “Tell Anchor to stop running then!”

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