7. Melly

7

MELLY

T he next morning, I was finishing setting up the cute, white-painted cast iron tables and chairs in front of Creature Cones when I spied Elrik striding across the street from the parking lot. Sunlight hit his dark hair just right, making it rival the wings of a raven soaring across a moonlit sky.

"Hottie alert," Carla breathed from beside me.

I'd explained that Elrik was coming by today.

Carla watched Elrik approach with a slight curl of her lips. " This is the investigator helping you with Grannie's case? If so, I take it back. I'm not irritated that he wants to question me any longer. In fact, maybe he and I could go get coffee or take a drive along the coast. While he's questioning me, that is. I promise." She flashed me a mischievous smile. "I won't be gone too long."

"He's not interested in a relationship," I barked before lowering my voice. "That's the impression I get, that is." There was no way I was going to share what he told me about his ex .

"Maybe he can be persuaded to change his mind." As he strode down the sidewalk, she sauntered toward him, her hips swaying and her long red hair swaying across her back. When he'd nearly reached her, she held out her hand. "I'm Carla Whitten." Her voice came out smooth, yet breathy in a way only Carla could pull off. I envied the ability and assumed this was the voice that had roped in Walter. "I understand you'd like to . . . talk with me?"

"Yes, I would." As his fingers touched hers, his gaze sought mine, and I swore it softened when he found me. Or the sunlight hit them just right, and I was mistaken. His hand dropped to his side. "Why don't we go inside? This won't take long." He eased around her.

"I'm happy to help in any way I can." She stared at his backside before grinning at me and sashaying after him.

He paused by me. "Good morning, Melly. Nice to see you."

There was nothing better than the drawl of a hot ice lord.

"Morning," I croaked. My face overheated. This wasn't a competition, but couldn't I just once sound sultry when I wanted to instead of coming across like a frog lounging on the muddy bank of the river?

He gave me a full smile that made everything inside me slide away like an avalanche tumbling down a hillside. When I nearly toppled against the brick front of Creature Cones, his hand snapped out to hold me steady. "Careful there. Did you trip?"

Only my heart. "I think so."

Carla watched us from inside, her lips thinning. "I thought you had questions for me, Investigator . "

"Oh, I do," he said. "Have a seat. I'll be with you shortly."

With a huff, she banged the front door closed and moved across the room.

A group of eight people, a mix of humans and monsters and of various ages, smiled as they passed us, going inside for ice cream. Carla would handle them until I could join her. I wanted to spend a few seconds with Elrik.

"Did everything go alright last night?" he asked.

I'd slept horribly. I kept dreaming of him, something I suspected wouldn't go over well if I mentioned it. "Fine," I said instead. "Grannie's doing okay. Now that you're on the case, she feels much better about the future." And that was the most important thing, not my crush on Investigator Ice Lord.

"I tossed and turned all night," he said, releasing my arm. He frowned at his hand, flexing his fingers and turning his hand this way and that.

"Is your hand alright?" I didn't see a cut there or any reason for concern.

"Yes." He tucked it into his jeans pocket and flashed me a smile. "Let me talk with Carla and then we can leave."

At my nod, he went inside. I followed, taking over from Carla, who sauntered over to sit at a table across from him.

While I helped the rest of the customers, I kept my ears cocked in their direction, trying to listen in on their conversation. My insides kept twisting into a knot and releasing. I wanted to rip out all of Carla's pretty sunset hair. Claw her face.

Jealousy didn't taste any better than dirt ice cream.

I served a basilisk a double scoop waffle cone and rang up his order. Smiling, I took care of the next customer, an older woman with bright pink hair.

Elrik asked Carla some basic questions about the church social. She'd arrived not long after Sue and Alfred, though she only knew they were there because their jackets had been hung on the peg by the door. She'd placed her crockpot full of barbecued mini weenies on the table near Grannie's punch. And no, she hadn't seen anyone doing anything suspicious with the drink.

"Everyone else arrived after me," she said, laying her hand on the table near his. Her four-karat diamond ring flashed in the sunlight streaming in from the big window beside them, the sparkle nearly blinding me.

I ran the last customer up and held my smile until they'd left. The door had barely closed before a yeti family of four came in and placed their order. Like usual, this place was hopping. With the sun shining and my location on Main Street, it wasn't uncommon to have a line out the door and partway down the street. This was why I'd opened Creature Cones in this building, though Grannie gave me a great deal on the rent. Long ago, she'd run an accounting office here, but she let me renovate the space and open my own business.

Fortunately, I was doing great. I could not only make the decent rent I insisted on paying, but I was also able to put some of the profit aside for business savings. Cape Cod was busy in the summer, and almost everyone loved ice cream. I even offered ten different dairy- and gluten-free varieties for those who were intolerant.

Elrik finished with Carla, and it didn't sound like he'd obtained much information from her. While he remained seated, she rose and came over to stand with me as the next customers, a human couple in their sixties, strode toward the counter.

"Are you sure you're okay with me leaving you here alone?" I asked Carla. "It's busy."

"Nothing odd about that, right?" She smiled at the woman. "What can I get you, hun?"

The woman studied the offerings. "How about a double cone with a scoop of coconut and a scoop of chocolate?"

We served thirty-two different flavors, and I purchased our stock from a small local supplier who also crafted a few exclusive blends solely for me. Everyone loved what we served at Creature Cones; there had even been a write-up about us in the Boston Globe. Business was even steady during the off-season.

"Coming right up." Carla opened the sliding glass door and grabbed a scoop, nodding my way. "Go. I've got this covered." She crooked her finger, and I bent close for her to whisper. "That guy only has eyes for you. I envy you, hun. He's gorgeous, nice, and rich from what I saw."

"What makes you think he has money?"

She placed a generous ball of coconut on the cone and aimed for the chocolate. "I'd recognize designer clothing and shoes anywhere."

"Maybe he's a savvy thrift store shopper. People dump stuff like that there all the time." Especially on Cape Cod where many of the wealthy retired.

"Did he thrift a home on the ocean?"

"He has a place on the water?"

"He casually mentioned it—when I asked." She squished a scoop of chocolate on top of the coconut and handed the cone to the woman, smiling toward the man who was still studying the chalkboard listing all the flavors we offered. "I know the place. It's gorgeous," she said softly to me. "A real estate friend told me the new owner paid cash for it."

Stuff like that didn't matter to me. I cared more for the person behind the money or the lack thereof.

"He's a nice guy," was all I said.

Her smile grew. "I trained you well."

"I thought you married Walter because you loved him."

Tears filled her eyes, and I swore they weren't fake. "I did. The money was just a bonus." She pinched her eyes shut before opening them again. "I still miss him. I hear him calling my name, but when I turn, he's not there." Her long sigh rang out. "He's never there. I was cheated. I deserved more than four years with the love of my life."

"You did."

After wiping her eyes, she flapped her hands my way. "Go do some investigation with Elrik. You take your time, hun. Have coffee if you want, since he turned me down. I bet he'll say yes to you." She leaned into my side. "You deserve to find a good guy, and I suspect that's him."

"I told you he's not interested in a relationship with anyone. "

"Then he shouldn't look at you like he'd like to kiss you."

Before I could reply to that, she nudged me around the counter and spoke to Elrik. "Have her back before dark or I'm coming after you." She pointed her finger playfully at him before lifting it and blowing off the pretend smoke from her finger weapon. "I mean it, you hear?"

I cringed.

Elrik laughed and got up, opening the door for me to step outside while she took a customer's ice cream order.

We crossed the road.

"Ride with me," he said, going around to open the passenger door of his enormous truck parked next to my car. "There's no need to take two vehicles."

"Okay." Before I could figure out how I'd crook my leg up enough to place my foot on the running board, Elrik spanned my waist with his big hands and lifted me into the seat. He stepped onto the running board and buckled me in, frowning at me after the buckle clicked.

"Thank you." My skin still burned where he'd touched me, and the fabric of my sundress had been between us. Flustered, I smoothed the skirt across my thighs.

"No problem." His gaze remained on my mouth long enough I began to wonder if my lipstick was smeared or if . . . Nah, he didn't want to kiss me. He'd made a promise to himself, and while he might be reconsidering it, the desire to do so had to come from him. I was going to do all I could to keep from tempting him into doing something he might not be ready for yet .

"Are we going to leave?" I finally asked.

He shook his head and jumped to the ground. "Sorry."

"No problem."

He shut the door, and my hungry eyes tracked him as he moved around the hood and climbed into the driver's seat. After staring forward for a moment, he buckled and started the vehicle with a roar.

"Who do you plan to interview first?" I asked.

"I called the church and got permission to go inside the function room adjacent to the church. They told me where they hid the key. I want to look around before we head to the hospital. Sue's going home today, but when I called, she said she and Alfred expected they'd be there until late morning. They want to check her lab work one more time before releasing her."

"Do you think we'll find anything in the function room that Detective Carter hasn't already seen?"

He shrugged as he turned the vehicle onto the road with the church at the end. "We're going to find out."

We parked in the empty lot and went inside, turning on the lights.

"Look around," he said. "Call out if you see anything interesting."

I nodded. "They confiscated the church's punch bowl. I think Grannie was as pissed about that as the fact that they arrested her. Since she's used it so often, she considers it hers."

"When this is over, we'll get it back." He rounded the table where the food and drinks were always set up and bent over to look in the trash bucket behind .

I hoped this would be over with soon, that we'd discover who put the Xylitol in the punch and why they'd tried to frame my grandmother for the crime.

"Nothing in the trash." He waved to the door on the back wall. "What's through there?"

"A kitchen. If someone comes early, like they often do around the holidays when they need to decorate, they can prepare their food there rather than bring it ready to serve."

"Six is a small group for something like that." He strode toward the door, and I followed. I'd found nothing suspicious so far, but the place would've been cleaned by the janitor—who we could also question.

"The church congregation is much larger, but only a small group gets together weekly for the social club. This group of six have been meeting here every single Saturday night for years."

"Amazing." He opened the door to the kitchen and waved for me to enter ahead of him.

I stepped inside, taking in the water-stained wooden table, metal chairs, and a green vinyl counter that looked like it had been there since the 1970s. "Do you play poker?"

"I don't."

I grinned up at him. "Maybe once this is over, we could come to a social and give it a try. I've only joined them a few times. When she wins, which is most of the time, Grannie crows and hops around—as much as she can with her walker, now—and Sue snarls. Sue hates losing. She swears Grannie cheats, though in a good way. They're besties, so she really isn't pissed off at my grandmother."

"It sounds like a lot of fun. Maybe I will join the group."

"You'd be more than welcome."

He stroked my hair off my face. "I believe I want to kiss you."

My breath caught. Maybe he was interested in a relationship. "That's a switch."

"I've been thinking."

"Sometimes, thinking's a good thing. Other times, not so much."

"Would you like me to kiss you?"

"Very much. I assume you're speaking of only one kiss?"

His eyes smoldered. "I think I'd like to do a lot more than kiss you, Melly."

I wanted to tug up his shirt, lean against his chest, and nuzzle my face in his skin. I resisted and put distance between us, turning toward the kitchen cabinets.

"No kiss?" he asked.

"You're the one who promised himself he wasn't going to start anything new."

"So much for that," I swore he muttered.

"What?" I asked over my shoulder.

His gaze was focused on my ass. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."