Page 71 of Crazy In Love (Secrets of Suburbi 3)

I didn't bother to look at the glass shards all over the floor again. "I hate family heirlooms." At least, I hated those. They were Noah's grandmother's or something and they were hideous. Good riddance.

He nodded.

I was right before. There were definitely no smiles reaching his eyes today. He looked...pissed off about something. I just wasn't sure what exactly he was upset about. He pulled off his coat, like he was planning on staying a while.

If only he was as easy to get rid of as bad china. "So..." I let my voice trail off. I knew I'd asked him to come here today. He was probably waiting for me to tell him my important news. But Noah wasn't here right now. So I didn't have to do anything I didn't want to. Besides, Detective Torres said he had news for me too.

He looked back in the dining room as he hung his sunglasses on the neckline of his shirt. "Were you looking for something?" he asked.

"Hm?" I tried to keep my voice even, but I knew I sounded guilty.

"It looks like you were searching for something..." He started to walk into the living room.

"Do you want a drink? I'm parched from my walk. All that fresh air and exercise always makes me uncomfortably warm. Let's get some water."

He hesitated in the entrance of the living room, a frown on his face. "Yeah. Sure. That would be great." He followed me down the hall toward the kitchen. "But if you're overheated, you should probably start by taking off your winter coat. It's pretty hot in here."

I swallowed hard. I was wearing a Mrs. Claus outfit under my coat. A sexy Mrs. Claus outfit. There wasn't a chance in hell that I was taking off my jacket in front of Detective Torres. "I'm not hot actually. I lied." Don't admit to being a liar. "I'm just...parched. Exclusively parched."

"Gotcha." He looked at the Christmas tree that was lying forgotten in the middle of the kitchen floor.

For the love of Christmas. No, it wasn't even a Christmas tree. It was some kind of ugly bush. A shrub maybe? God, I was so high last night. The hack job on the trunk was as hideous as the bush. It looked like the wood had been eaten by rabid raccoons. How could you let me bring that in the house, Snuggle Muffins? For all I knew it was actually filled with rabid raccoons. I placed Snuggle Muffins on the ground, hoping that he'd attack anything that jumped out of it.

Snuggle Muffins just blinked, annoyed that he'd been awakened from his nap, and went back to sleep.

"Um. What is that?" Detective Torres asked.

"That?" I pointed to the shrub, stalling. "Well, that is a...Christmas bush."

"What the hell is a Christmas bush?"

I laughed. And then laughed some more, shaking my head like Detective Torres was an idiot. "I'm an environmentalist," I said. Oh, nice one. Being a hippy was basically an excuse to do weird stuff. "Christmas trees are bad for the environment. So Noah and I always decorate a Christmas bush."

"I thought you said you and Noah always pick out a Christmas tree together every year?"

I shook my head. "God, Detective Torres. If I had a nickel for every time I had to explain this to someone...I'd have several dollars. I just didn't want to have this conversation explaining the pros and cons of real Christmas trees for the umpteenth time. You wouldn't understand."

He nodded, but it didn't look like he believed me. "Right. Because you know me so well?" He smiled at

me.

How flirtatious, Detective Torres. I smiled back and shrugged my shoulders.

"Did you get this Christmas bush before or after you drank too much wine and made all those snow angels?"

So maybe not flirting. "Fair enough. It was after. Usually I'd make a much cleaner cut through the trunk." Oh, no. Don't say that either. I didn’t want him to know I was experienced with an axe. "Well, Noah does. Speaking of Noah...you said you had some news?"

He ignored me as he looked over at the kitchen sink. "It looks like you were feeding a whole army this morning."

God, Noah. He was such a slob. There were dishes everywhere. Hadn't he just tried to force-feed me toast and orange juice? There was no excuse for this much of a mess. "I'm still trying to figure out the perfect blend of nutrients for Snuggle Muffins."

"You make homemade dog food?" He nodded like he was impressed.

"Yup. Of course. Let me get you that water." I knew that every second I didn't hear the garage door was a blessing. Noah could show up at any moment. There wasn’t time to have casual conversations and beverages with Detective Torres. But the house was warm and I was starting to sweat in my winter jacket. I poured us each a glass and guzzled down half of mine before I handed his to him.

"Mmm, those brownies sure look good."

I turned in horror to see the dish of weed brownies still sitting on the counter. "Those are dog biscuits," I blurted out. "And they're gross. A total failure."

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