Page 93 of The Haunting of Lockton

“You don’t have to.”

“It’s not far from here. It’ll be nice to stretch my legs.”

The two of us then left the bookstore, the bell above the door jingling on our way out. He was right about my work beingwithin walking distance. After grabbing my outfit from my car, we headed down the sidewalk.

Stores advertised sales on fall clothes, probably to help make room for the upcoming winter collections. We passed a café bustling with the lunch crowd, and my rumbling stomach reminded me I hadn’t actually eaten anything since breakfast. Hopefully, Val’s husband baked some treats I could snack on to hold me over until I could grab a proper meal.

“When do you get off work?” Skyler asked. The day was on the cooler side despite the bright, cloudless sky. Leaves rustled from nearby trees, and some detached with a strong gust of frigid wind. He shivered and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“Five. No night tour tonight.” Thankfully. I was exhausted, thanks to a certain sexy someone. A someone who flashed me one of his mischievous grins, as if knowing the direction of my thoughts.

“Great,” Skyler said, that grin transitioning to something softer. “It’s a date.”

“A date?” I halted in step, shifting the hanger with my outfit over my shoulder so the bottom of it didn’t drag across the ground.

“Yeah.” That grin went a bit lopsided. “You. Me. Dinner. Maybe some fun afterward.”

“That fun will depend on what you feed me.”

He breathed out a laugh. “Whatever you want. I’ll even treat you to a super-fancy meal of burger and fries too.”

“Wow. Really breaking the bank there.” The center of my chest prickled. “It sounds perfect.”

Skyler’s expression softened before he looked away. “Yeah, it does.”

“Let me know before you return to Lockton,” I said. “I’d like to tag along if that’s okay.”

He beamed at me. “I thought you were too scared to go back.”

“Well, Iamyour tour guide. I’d be slacking in my duties by letting you two go without me.”

“Nothing more romantic than exploring an abandoned asylum, right?” He withdrew his hand from his pocket and let it hang by his side. The backs of his fingers brushed mine.

“About as romantic as making out in a graveyard.” I pressed my fingers closer to his and smiled as he linked our pinkies. It was such a small thing, our linked pinkies, but a flutter of warmth started low in my belly and rose to my rib cage.

“I bet the ghosts roll their eyes when they see us coming. Like, great, here come the two dudes who can’t stop groping each other.”

I lightly laughed.

“Paxton dear,” Valentina greeted me as she opened the front door to welcome me into the store. Her smokey eyes landed on our joined pinkies, a smile surfacing in them. “And welcome back, Mr. Knox.”

Pleasure built in my chest when he didn’t pull away. Some of the guys I’d been with in the past had hated showing any sort of affection in public—not that any had stuck around longer than for us to have more than one or two dates.

“Sorry I can’t stay long,” Skyler said, returning her friendly smile. He tipped his head to me. “Just making sure this one gets to work on time. Would hate for my favorite tour guide to be fired.”

“Val loves me too much to fire me.” I gently squeezed his pinky before letting go.

“This is true,” Val said with a sharp nod. She then ushered Skyler toward her office despite him saying he couldn’t stay. “Any updates on the investigation? Have you learned anything else about that poor soul Roy Daniels? Oh, how he breaks myheart. And that Samuel Howard! I was telling Miguel that just the thought of him gives me quite the fright—”

They went into her office.

Poor guy had been kidnapped.

“Afternoon, cutie pie,” Madison said from behind the counter. She wore a red mini top hat and a black lacy corset over a bustling skirt. “I saw that hand holding just now. You’re practically married.”

“Says the one who fell in love after like five seconds,” I countered.

She snorted. “Can you blame me? The dude saw me without makeup and looking like I’d just crawled out of the swamp, and hestillcalled me beautiful. If I don’t put a ring on it soon, some other woman will. And I’ll cut a bitch.”