Page 94 of Midnight Secrets

I chuckled. “He’s not wrong, though. With everything going on, Ozzie didn’t want me to be alone at night. Ellis is here until Ozzie comes back.”

A slow, knowing smile spread over Mina’s face. “We’ll come back to that part about the nighttime in a second. But first”—she turned to Ellis—“don’t you have a job? I’ve seen you in uniform in my shop. Did you take time off from the Coast Guard?”

“I’m separating from the service. Other than going in for paperwork and a few training sessions for my successor, I’m done. I had nearly a month of leave saved, so I decided to split it and use some so I could take it easy at the end. The rest will get paid out in my final paycheck.”

“Makes sense.” She beheaded another carrot, then slid both across the granite counter toward me. “Peel those, would you?”

I opened a drawer and took out the peeler, then picked up the first carrot.

“What would you like me to do?” Ellis asked.

“Scram.” Mina smiled, softening her words. “No offense, but I came to interrogate Claire.”

Ellis chuckled and held up his hands, backing up. “No offense taken. Claire, I wish you luck.”

I sent him a wry grin. “Gee, thanks.”

“Holler if you want more help. I’ll be over there.” He pointed toward the living room, then walked away.

Mina cast a couple of quick looks his way as she peeled an onion. “He’s just as cute as his brother.”

“And very single,” I hinted.

She let out an inelegant snort. “I do not need a boyfriend at this time. I barely have time for my cat.”

“I’m just saying. Ellis is single.”

Mina waved her knife, then sliced into the onion. “Forget him. Tell me about his brother. The one hereat night.” She waggled her eyebrows.

My cheeks heated. “There’s not much to say. He’s been sleeping here.”

She hummed. “In your bed, by the looks of it.” She gestured to my face.

The blush staining my skin deepened. I cleared my throat. “Yes.”

“Ha!” She grinned. “Good. I’m guessing he’s no slouch, either.”

“No.” The rest of my body heated, remembering how I woke up this morning. He’d slipped into bed sometime during the night and I hadn’t realized it. Near the time my alarm was set to go off, what I thought was a delicious dream had turned out to be oh so very real. I’d awakened to his wandering hands driving me to the brink of heaven.

“I’m glad. You deserve a man who makes you happy. It’s been a long time since you dated anyone seriously. Or at all.”

“I could say the same about you.” I picked up the second carrot.

“True. It’ll happen eventually. I’m not worried.” She picked up the cutting board with the sliced onion and scraped it into the stockpot. “And that is not an invitation for you to ‘make it happen’.” She aimed a pointed look at me.

I offered her an innocent smile. “But he’s so cute.”

Mina laughed. “Maybe so, but he’s not really my type.” She cast a quick look toward the living room as she picked up a batch of parsley and washed it. “Nor is he looking for a relationship.”

As much as I would love to see my best friend with Ozzie’s brother, so we could be one big, happy “family,” I knew Ellis wasn’t the type of man for her. Mina preferred quieter, more introverted men. Someone more like Ozzie, actually. Despite her sunny disposition, Mina was an introvert at heart.

And I agreed with her that Ellis wasn’t in the market for a commitment. I had a feeling he’d been badly burned once and hadn’t yet fully healed.

“Fine. I’ll behave.”

“You will, or there will be no stew for you.” To emphasize her point, she chopped the ends off the parsley stems. “So, tell me more about things with you and the handsome detective. And I don’t mean the bedroom stuff.” She waved her knife. “I mean the relationship stuff. Are you guys seriously serious?”

I let out a loud sigh as I took another butcher knife from the block and slid out a cutting board from the small stack behind it. “I think so. But we haven’t really talked about it too much. It’s been a whirlwind of feelings this past week. All I know is, I really like him. Pebbles adores him. Actually, that’s mutual. He didn’t seem to at first. I think it was more of that caution cops and postmen get around dogs, you know? Where they’re not sure if the animal’s bite is as big as its bark?”

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