Page 19 of Sinful Seduction
“Folks are saying on the radio that the power grid ain’t gonna be able to handle demand.” The driver looks into the rearview mirror, his thick Boston accent piquing my interest. “They said we’re gonna be in a world of hurt in a couple of hours, ‘cos there ain’t enough power to go around.”
“Here’s hoping that’s not the case.” I bring my can up again and roll it across my forehead. “Not sure Cato will survive the night if there’s no cooling.”
“We’ll sleep at the Waterfalls if we have to.” Archer drapes his arm over my shoulders, stroking my arm with the tips of his fingers. “And if Cato can’t read the room and shut his mouth when shit gets tense, then he can sleep with the fishes. It was his destiny.”
I snort, and because it’s right there, lying over his heart, I slide my finger through his wedding band, the one he wears on a chain around his neck. “You don’t think the power will go out, do you? It’s like an oven in our apartmentwiththe crappy air conditioning. There are people just as old and frail as Steve and Mrs. Mayweather all over the city. If the grid goes down, my workload is gonna go up.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.” He turns and presses a breathy, hot as hell kiss on my brow.
I don’t remember last summer being this brutal. But then again, I spent a nice chunk of it lying on a yacht in Jamaica. It’s entirely possible, in a last-ditch effort to save my sanity, I’ve blocked out the worst of last July and focused only on the best.
Grinning, I pull back and meet his eyes.
“What?” His gaze flickers between mine. “What happened?”
“It’s our wedding anniversary month.” I push up and drop a kiss on his lips. “Happy anniversary, Detective. We made it.”
ARCHER
Minka walks into Lori’s two steps ahead of me, faux-enthused for the wedding preparations she hardly tolerates, and into a bevy of noise and excitement. Women pecking and giggling, fabrics flying, and a little girl standing on a table amongst it all, with hearts in her eyes and Disney birds flapping over her shoulders.
“Aubree Grace!” Eli Emeri, Aubree’s older, gay brother, waves his hands in her face and burns her with an unimpressed scowl. “Look at this luggage under your eyes! You shouldnothave been working in the middle of the dang night. It’s your wedding week, but it seems you’d rather visit the dead than get an appropriate amount of sleep.”
“Oop.” Minka turns again, guilt smeared all over her face. “That’s my cue to leave.”
I grab her and spin her back. “Pay the piper, Chief. You had the authority to send her home, but didn’t…”
“She was already awake! She’d already gotten dressed. Sending her home after that would’ve been disrespectful.”
“And you!” Eli turns on my bride, pointing a threatening finger this way. “You, Chief Mayet! You should know better. I understand you’re toxic workaholics, and you, especially, have no patience for the trivialities of a wedding, but my sister will do this just once in her life. I expect her to do it right.”
Minka laughs, slapping my hands away and freeing herself from my grip. “Just once, you say?”
“Oh, look! Here’s your dress!” Aubree tosses a massive pile of purple fabric over Mia’s head and into Minka’s face, then she scoops Mia off the table and sends her running through the horde. “Go help Auntie Minka with her dress, Moo. She’s not very good at this stuff, so she needs you.”
“I’ll help you, Auntie Minka!”
“Looks like I’ve delivered the goods, so I’ll?—”
Minka turns with a ferociousness that brings me up short, her hand slamming around my wrist and her short nails digging into my flesh. “Do. Not. Leave. Me. Here.” She burns me with dark brown eyes, the skin around her lips turning white under the pressure of her gritted teeth. “You made vows that covered this stuff.”
“My vows mentioned sickness and health. And something about loving you forever.” I peel her fingers back, one by one, then I cast my eyes over the crowd and lock onto a quietly amused Fletch, whose focus remains on an oblivious Seraphina’s backside, draped in a low cut, almost backless dress with criss-crossy straps and a cute little bow painting a target for any man who may be thinking about her in such a way.
Not me. But my partner…
“Fletch?” I swing Mia onto my hip, tickling her neck and aiming her flying feet away from my seething wife. “We’ve gotta head out. Ya know, active homicide case and all that.”
“There’s gonna be another active homicide case here if you don’t put that little girl down and lock in for an afternoon of dress fittings, Detective.”
“Oh my gosh, Minnnka. I love you, too.” I thrust Mia into her arms and jump back,like she’s a bomb and I’ve just successfully detangled myself from its hairy clutches.
Clear.
“I’ll stay in contact, and I’ll tell Officer Clay you asked after him. Cato’s on Steve duty, and Mia…” I look to the sweet, honeycomb-eyed kid who, not so long ago, was just a toddler. Now she’s a big girl who goes to big school. “You’re on Minka duty, Moo. You make sure she stays here and tries on the pretty dress, and if you’re smart, you might consider taking her somewhere after this and feeding her. She’s always in a better mood when she’s got something in her belly.”
“We could get hotdogs on a stick, Auntie Minka!” Mia twists and cups Minka’s face in her palms. “It’s been way too hot to eat them lately, but I fink if we go to a fancy restaurant that has fancy air conditioning, then maybe it’ll be cold inside. Then we can eat and not be hot.”
“Well—”