Page 45 of You Can Make Me (Carnival of Mysteries #28)

A car squealed into the parking lot with a horrendous stereo system booming bass so obnoxiously loud, my teeth rattled.

The rideshare lights in the windshield had me rolling my eyes.

Those companies were squeezing out the cab drivers who had carted tourists around for decades in this glitzy city, with its mirage of luxury that merely camouflaged the desperate and needy, the dreamers and scammers, and made everyone think that becoming wealthy and famous was just the touch of a slot machine button away.

Las Vegas was never what it seemed, and always what you knew to be true just under the surface.

The back door opened and a dark-haired guy slid out with a Jansport backpack over his shoulder.

He wore obscenely tight, faded Levis, a Black Sabbath t-shirt, and an unrepentant mullet.

He leaned back in the door and yelled something about opaque windshield tinting being against the law for a reason, and the car took off before he’d shut the door, nearly catching his foot.

He held up a middle finger, then turned around.

And I experienced that yanking feeling like the carnival ride.

Mullet Man looked around the parking lot and rested his hands on hips I recognized oh so well.

The ass was a bit meatier. I didn’t think I’d ever seen the thighs hugged quite so well by a pair of pants.

And I’d forever laugh at the high-top Reeboks on his feet, despite the fact that I was beyond elated to see him.

“I’d ask if you’re lost, but it’s obvious you’re not only lost geographically, but also, perhaps, chronologically.”

He swung his head around and frowned at me…

Recognition hit, and he stumbled back a step. “You.”

Tears filled my eyes, but my smile was so wide as I approached him, I thought my scar might open up. “Me. Hello.”

He blinked a few times, and his apparent confusion slowed my approach.

I knew it was Denny. But he didn’t appear to totally recognize me .

My smile shriveled up, and my heart sank just as quickly as it had buoyed.

“Wait. I know you.”

I smiled again, but it wasn’t the full Cooper treatment that I’d used on him years ago. This whole truthseeker bullshit meant any hopes I ever had for a poker face were gone. I couldn’t hide my disappointment. “You do know me.”

He stood still for several long beats. Only three feet separated us, but perhaps we were decades apart.

The man was Denny for sure, but he wasn’t my Denny. He was young . Not as young as he was dressed. Jesus, he looked like he’d stepped out of a 1980s hair metal video on MTV. If I wasn’t so terrified, I’d have fallen over laughing.

He reached for me so quickly, I gasped and stiffened.

“I know you. I…I love you!”

He pulled me in fast and kissed me as I yelped in surprise.

It was definitely Denny. I’d know him by his kiss, even if all my other faculties had deserted me.

His arms caged me, and after two glorious sweeps of his tongue, I melted into him with a whimper. He moaned against my lips and pulled me flush against his body. His hard body. This was not fifty-two-year-old Denny. This was Denny in his prime .

But how?

Dane and Kal hadn’t told me much about the workings of the carnival.

I’d made them swear not to. If I was a truthseeker, it was my duty to share that truth, and I knew I could never, ever divulge the secrets of such a sacred place.

Not only were the two men who’d fast become the best friends I’d ever had tied to the carnival’s magic, but I’d felt its ancient power as the man they called Pokey carried Denny across the threshold and out of sight.

Something primal was contained within its borders, and Mr. Errante Ame was the only being who could ever know the full truth of its power.

I did know that my two friends hadn’t aged while they were there, despite the decades that had passed in our timeline, but if this was Denny, he’d physically regressed to a much younger age.

He had more mischief in those green eyes, fewer lines on his face, and his hair, which had been fully silver when he’d been taken from me, was now a rich brown so dark, it looked black against his tanned skin.

He kissed me with the vigor of a Marine who’d just returned from leave.

Could it be?

“Baby, I missed you so much! I can’t believe I found you after all this time.

You’re right where he said you’d be.” He dug his fingers into my hair and held my head in place so he could devour my mouth.

He must have sensed my confusion, though, as he slowly pulled back and gazed into my eyes. “Are you okay?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but what was I supposed to say?

“Yes. Or…maybe.”

He laughed, and it was so unlike the jaded, crotchety old man laugh I was used to.

“Maybe? Hmm, I must not be doing this right then.”

He leaned in to kiss me again, but I put a hand on his chest.

“What’s wrong, baby?”

“Denny?”

His face lit up. “Yeah, baby, it’s me.”

“Do you know who I am?”

He dropped his head back and laughed. “Of course I do. Cooper, it’s me . Aren’t you happy to see me?” His smile slipped the tiniest bit, and I wasn’t having that.

I cupped his jaw and kissed him with all of the hope I’d bottled up, letting it go into him, letting it fill him with the same joy that was awakening inside me.

“ I’d say you were happy,” he said, reaching down to cup my ass. “Did you miss me?”

“With every breath,” I murmured. “Like a severed limb. What happened?”

He wrinkled his nose and scratched at his hair.

”I’m not really sure? I got off work on my last day and the big guy said it was time.

” He shrugged. “Wouldn’t say time for what, just led me to the gate, slung this bag over my shoulder, and said, ‘Go find your truth.’ That car pulled up, and he took off so damned fast I couldn’t even get my seat belt on.

All I knew was that there was somewhere I needed to be, someone I needed to find—and when I got here, I found you.

God, I’ve missed you. I thought about you every day, dreamed about you, though I wasn’t totally sure you were real or if I’d made you up. The perfect man for me.”

That confused look was back, and with it, a little bit of fear.

I remembered Kal and Dane telling me that when they left the carnival, they had very little memory of where they’d been or what happened to them, but as they made connections with people who cared about them, it started as a trickle, and then everything came hurling back to them, and they remembered.

I needed to distract Denny before he grew more anxious.

“Now that you’re here, we better get a move on if we want to catch the guys’ opening set.”

That excited spark inside him fueled his smile, and he took my hand. “Rad. Let’s do this.”

I snorted and shook my head as I pulled the Mustang keys out of my pocket. Rad. What was next? Bitchin’? “Want to drive?”

He licked his lips and reached for the keys, but then he hesitated. “How ’bout you drive?” He frowned a second, and then he laughed. “You still owe me that tour, so it’s better if you drive.”

Oh, yes. He would remember. I just had to make nice with my frenemy, Patience.

“Then let’s get out of here.”

I walked him to the Mustang and opened his door. Instead of climbing in, he held my face once more, his expression serious.

“I want you to know, I came for you . You’re all I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember. I’m so grateful I found you.” He blew out a breath. “I’ll figure out the rest, okay? I promise. As long as you’re with me, everything is as it’s meant to be.”

I sighed with relief and kissed him once more. He tasted like my Denny, but more. And I wanted to find out all about this more.

“Everything is as it’s meant to be. Let’s go.”

I hopped into the car and closed the door. I put on my seat belt, pushed the pedals in, and started the car. The roar of the GT made Denny give a playful growl. He was looking all around the interior of the car like a horny teenaged boy in his dream car.

“You ready?”

He gave me a full-bodied once-over and groaned.“Hell yeah, I’m ready. Ready for anything…as long as I can get you alone real soon.”

I revved the car, and he adjusted himself.

“Anything you want, baby. It’s yours.”