Page 12 of Trick or Treat with the Mountain Man
There were a lot of dust bunnies down here.
There was also a tiny notch I’d never noticed before.
“Look right there. Isn’t that odd?” I muttered.
I didn’t need a crowbar for this. I needed something small with finesse. Like my pocketknife. I went to pull it out of my back pocket, then realized I wasn’t wearing my jeans. I was in my pajama bottoms.
Fucking hell.
I hadn’t even thought about what I was wearing.
Gruffly I said, “Hon, would you mind grabbing my pocketknife out of my jeans? They’re in the hamper next to the closet. And, uh, would you grab me a t-shirt, too?”
Her eyes scampered right down to my chest, a slight flush forming on her cheeks. “Yeah. Sure.”
She rummaged around for a minute in my laundry basket, and then in my closet, and came back with both prizes in hand. She tossed the t-shirt to me first, and watched with a certain breathless excitement as I slipped it on over my head. Then, she handed me the pocketknife.
I dragged my finger across the notch. “See right here? I think this board’s been lifted before.”
Wedging the tip of my knife into the notch, I slowly eased the board up.
Then we both leaned forward, peering down into the darkness.
“Huh. It’s like a false bottom. I didn’t see this from under the house.”
“What’s that?” she asked as she pointed down.
I looked closer, then reached in, pulling out… a book.
No.
A diary of some sort.
“This looks old,” I said as I put it down on the floor between us, then peered to see if there was anything else.
There was.
I dug around one more time and pulled out a wooden box. It looked like a jewelry box.
“If this is some kind of lost treasure, I’ll split the profits with you,” I told Ava.
“Why would you do that?” she asked as she eyed the box keenly.
“I don’t know that I ever would have gotten curious enough to pry up this board without you. It took a half-naked cat woman to make me do it.”
“I’m not half-naked! I’m dressed more thanyouwere up until a few minutes ago.”
I glanced down at the swell of her breasts peeking out of the top of the leotard. “Do you dress like thisallthe time?”
She put on an act of mock indignation. “And would it matter if I did?”
“I might ask you to move in if you do,” I joked back.
Her cheeks flushed even brighter, and she got a shy look on her face. If I were reading her signals right, Ava Appleton was attracted to me.
The attraction ran both ways.
I thought again about leaning over and kissing her.
