Page 31 of Fluffed and Folded

Mack snorted. “Probably can’t find anyone who cared about Asher enough to notify.” As soon as the words were out, he pressed his lips together, regretful. “Sorry. I didn’t hate the guy, not at all. Something about him bugged me, though.” He stared into the middle distance, and they let him stew, hoping he’d offer more. When he didn’t, they let it go. It was enough for Tristan to realize someone in the world had a grudge against the guy. If a neighbor was able to come up with something negative so quickly, it boded well for the remainder of his investigation.

“Anything I should know about anyone else?” Tristan asked, nodding his head in the direction of the complex.

“Watch out for our landlord,” Mack said. His tone was somewhere between joking and serious.

“Darby? Why? She seemed nice,” Josie offered, tilting her head in curiosity, encouraging Mack to continue.

“Yeah, I’m sure she was to you. She doesn’t like men,” Mack said, crossing his arms.

Josie chuckled, albeit gently. “No offense, but that sounds a little like a guy who got shot down and is slightly bitter about it.”

“Ha, maybe so,” Mack agreed. He smiled, but it looked a little brittle. “But I’m not the only one who feels that way about our ice princess landlord. She’s weird and standoffish, a total snob. Except…” He trailed off, but it was the sort that wanted to continue.

“Except what?” Tristan prodded.

This time when Mack smiled, it looked fully amused. “Except our boy Asher, your apartment’s former tenant. I think the two of them got alongreal well,if you know what I mean.”

“They went out?” Josie said. She tried to say it casually, but her voice had a little tremor.

Mack shrugged. “I don’t know what you want to call it, but I saw her leaving his apartment a few times at, uh, an unusual hour. If you know what I mean.”

The fake plants probably know what you mean,Tristan thought, but he remained silent, allowing Josie to put an endcap on the conversation.

“Drama, drama, drama,” she said, shooting Mack a smile.

He tipped his sunglasses down so he could look her in the eye before he said, “Josie, you have no idea.” Then he stood, pushed his glasses back up, and sauntered away.

Across town, Eli had a hard time keeping his focus on Sheena, and he didn’t know why. Perhaps it was because he hadn’t slept well the last few weeks. Maybe it was because one of his neighbors was recently murdered. Or maybe the reason was because Darby kept intruding, her eyes bigger and more imploring in his imagination than in real life. Why was she so alone, so vulnerable?

“Something wrong with your ice cream?” Sheena asked, alerting him to the fact that he had zoned out, allowing his cone to drip onto his hand.

“Gah,” he said, uncertain for a second if he should lick it away or use a napkin. The napkin was obviously the more polite way to go, but it would leave behind a sticky residue. And why did his mind send him those helpful thoughts in rapid fire succession but hadn’t been able to provide one witty rejoinder the entire evening? He’d probably been the most boring and distant date in history tonight.

“No, it’s me. I’m sorry. I haven’t been sleeping well, and I’m afraid I’m not one of those people who can fire on all cylinders when I’m sleep deprived.” As if to prove his point, he felt the urge to yawn and had to use herculean effort to push it back, literally and with his hand. “Sorry.”

Sheena smiled with no hint of irritation or resentment. “Can anyone actually perform well when they’re sleep deprived?”

“Pilots, hopefully. Surgeons,” he suggested, resisting another jaw-popping yawn. Now that he wouldn’t allow himself to have one, he felt the need for it with increasing desperation. In one night he’d become a yawn addict.

Sheena chuckled. “Hey, life happens. It’s all right. You didn’t have to come out tonight, I would have understood.”

“I wanted to see you,” he said and felt guilty because he only half meant it. What he actually meant was that he wanted towantto see her. She was so very normal and nice, as proved by the fact that she was letting him off the hook for being a miserable date. Remorseful and irritated with himself, he shoved the rest of the cone in his mouth. It was a too-big bite, and he felt immediate regret when he once again had to put a hand to his mouth, this time to stop his waffle cone from re-emerging. When he noticed Sheena watching him, his cheeks heated with embarrassment. He waited until he swallowed thecone and wiped his lips before he spoke again. “I swear I’m usually better company than this. I’m sorry I’ve been boring and standoffish and, apparently, gluttonous.”

Her brows rose. “Throw in pride and murder, and you’ve covered all the deadliest sins.”

He barked a harsh laugh that cut off halfway when Asher’s face popped into his head. The abrupt sound was like a seal choking on a sardine. He closed his eyes and took a cleansing breath. “Can we forget this whole evening and start again some other time? I amsooff my game tonight.”

Sheena gave another gentle laugh, then leaned forward and pressed her lips softly to his. “I like you off your game,” she said, when the kiss was over. He must have missed some ice cream on his face, because after she leaned back she used her napkin to dab at his cheek.

“Thanks,” he said lamely, then groaned and pressed his hand to his eyes. “Please tell me I did not just respond to a kiss with ‘thanks.’”

“You did,” she said, but she was still smiling the gentle, encouraging smile.

He waved his hand between them. “There, memory erased. Trying this again.” He rested his hand gently on her waist, used it to tug her closer, and gave her what probably ranked as one of the better kisses he’d had. When they parted, they both smiled, and he felt better, as if the good kiss actually had worked to clear things between them.

“Why don’t you go home and get some rest?” she suggested.

He gave a little nod. “I should quit while I’m ahead.”

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