Page 34 of Apple of My Eye
Jack yanked the cover off and looked inside, but then his scowl turned to a puzzled frown. "What is this about?"
"What is it?" I was afraid to ask, but I needed to know.
Jack looked up at me, his eyebrows raised. "It's three logs from palm tree trunks."
"No body parts? No jewelry?"
He shook his head.
I looked into the box myself, unable to resist.
Huh.
"My stalker sent me a box of swamp cabbage. This is getting weirder and weirder."
"Andnothow I wanted to end our date," he growled. "Calling the sheriff. Again."
I sighed and unlocked my front door. "Well. Like you said, it's going to be hard to top this for our second date."
He followed me inside and put the box down on a side table and then gave me a steady look. "Are we going to have a second date?"
I didn't even hesitate for one second. "Absolutely. Now call the sheriff while I run to the bathroom to change clothes."
Actually, what I really needed was to make it to my bathroom, fast. I hadn't quite been able to bring myself to ask to use the palace bathroom.
When I was washing my hands, I suddenly stared at myself in the mirror. It felt like I should look different. I wasn't only Tess of Dead End, now, I was Tess who'd met the king and Prince of Atlantis and Tess who'd just had the best kiss in her entire life.
To heck with the stalker.
Life waswonderful.
9
Iwoke up Monday morning in a fog of tiredness but still feeling happy. It took me a few moments to remember why, and then I smiled and glanced down at the rug next to my bed, where Jack had slept in tiger shape the night before, after Andy had come out to my place to retrieve the box.
I'd been careful not to get too close to Jack after that, because I was afraid if he kissed me again I'd go up in flames and rip his clothes off, which would put our relationship at a very different point than where we actually were, after only our first official date.
Also, I was scared to death.
What if we took that next step, and then he disappeared again? Or decided he didn't really like me that way, after all? I had a feeling that it was too late for me to survive breaking up with Jack without being devastated.
I sighed, my good mood evaporating, and then Jack, casually gorgeous in jeans and a black T-shirt, pushed open my door and held out a coffee mug. "Wake up, sleepyhead. You're going to be late for work, and I don't want to suffer the wrath of Mr. Holby and the GYSTers if they can't buy their souvenirs."
"Thank you," I said sincerely, reaching for the pumpkin-spiced goodness. "I so need this."
My fingers touched his when I took the mug, and I bit my lip against the shiver that went sizzling through me. This was ridiculous. I was not a teenager with her first real crush. I was a grown woman who owned a business.
Jack flashed a lazy grin, and my heart thudded in my chest. Okay, maybe I was a grown woman with her first real crush.
"I have some things to do this morning, so I'll see you at work later," he said. "Okay?"
I rolled my eyes. "Jack. I'm not afraid of a stalker who gives me swamp cabbage."
"It wasn't swamp cabbage the first time," he said flatly. "Maybe this is a clue, and Andy will find the body in the palm tree grove."
I took a long sip of coffee. We'd discussed the possible meanings of the clue with Andy, and he'd promised to go out and look around the grove. I picked up my phone and glanced at it.
"Missed call from Shelley, but nothing from Andy or Susan."
