Page 30 of How to Flirt with a Hellhound
“What spooked you?” I asked.
He chuckled nervously then, starting to unload the groceries again. “It’s probably nothing. It’s just that Mrs. Dillinger told me that Edna told her that Patricia got an offer on her house this morning.”
I had no fucking clue what he was talking about. Was I supposed to know these humans?
I grunted in response.
“And I’m sure it’s not a big deal,” Toby went on. “Patricia has been wanting to move south to be closer to her grandkids for a while—she’s always talked about it. It’s just that I didn’t know she’d even listed the house. I mean, I didn’t see a for sale sign or anything.”
I grunted again. Did Toby want to buy the house? Was that why he was concerned? Did he want to move away from me? I growled a little at the thought, and Toby looked at me.
“So you think it’s concerning?” he asked, closing the fridge and staring at me across the kitchen.
“You want to move into Patricia’s house?” I questioned, trying to maintain my composure.
“Why would I want to do that?” he asked, looking confused. “I mean, her house is nice, and it’s a little more private than mine, being further back in the woods, but I like my house. I can’t imagine moving all my stuff just to be your neighbor on the other side.” Toby went over to the bags and grabbed some stuff for the pantry, adding, “And her house isn’t as close to yours as mine is. Not that it matters or anything, because obviously I wouldn’t choose a house based on how close it was to yours. Because that would be, like, stalkerish or something,” he laughed, hiding his head in the pantry.
Ahhh. “Patricia owns the house on the other side of me?” I asked.
He picked his head up and looked at me. “Um, yeah. I thought you knew that. I’ve seen you talk to her.”
“Yes. Of course,” I mumbled. At least Toby wasn’t trying to move away. “Wait, someone offered to buy her house?” I asked, finally catching up to things.
Toby was worried because he had a stalker and now someone was buying a house close to his. I had a feeling it wasn’t his stalker who had put in the offer, though.
“Yeah, that’s what Mrs. Dillinger said. She works at the supermarket and knows all the gossip. Anyway, you don’t think it’s anything, right?” he asked, looking at me.
“No, I don’t think so, but I’ll look into it. I have to make some calls on the emails, as well,” I said. I guess there was no putting it off now—I definitely had to call Liam.
I walked over and wrapped my arms around Toby, nuzzling my nose by his ear and sniffing. He smelled so good. I wanted to lick him all over, but now wasn’t the time. I leaned back and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. He looked a little shocked—no idea why—but also pleased. Humans were an odd bunch sometimes.
“I’ll be in touch. And promise me you’ll holler if you needanything, ok?” I demanded.
Toby flushed but nodded, and I turned and walked out before my hellhound decided that it was a good idea to bend him over the kitchen counter. Or lay him across the table. Either would work.
I made my way across to my own porch and pulled out my cell phone, heading inside as I pressed the call button for Liam’s number.
“Yeah,” Liam answered distractedly, keyboard clicking in the background.
“Don’t you ever get off the computer? You know we have jobs to do, right? Pretty hard to send hellbound souls on from behind a desk,” I teased.
I heard the clacking stop, and Liam gave a huff. “You know, I find a ton of hellbound souls through the computer. You wouldn’t believe some of the depraved shit that people post…” he trailed off, keyboard clacking again.
I humphed in reply. I actually did know, and if he wanted to find his hellbound souls online as opposed to smelling them out the old fashioned way, I guess it did give him further reach. Still, it seemed like a real pain in the ass.
“Is this a social call?” Liam asked.
“Did you put in an offer on the house next to mine?” I responded, not wasting any time.
“Wait a minute, aren’t I the conservative computer nerd? Would I make such a big decision without even checking out the town?” Liam joked.
Fuck. It wasn’t like Liam to do something like that, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t told Wilder or Corbin or even that Jude hadn’t done it. Still, I didn’t have time for guessing games. If there was an offer and itwasn’tfrom a hellhound, then it was something to worry about.
“Liam, I need to know if it wasn’t one of us, and if it wasn’t, I need the fucker who did put an offer in tracked down,” I responded.
The clacking of keys stopped, and Liam asked, “Is everything ok?”
“No,” I grumbled. I sat at the kitchen table and opened my laptop, holding the phone in the crook of my shoulder while I went to the emails and forwarded them to Liam. “I need you to look into what I’m sending you,” I muttered as I typed.
