18. Tuvid

18

TUVID

F lying Angie to her home was almost anticlimactic after the exciting tail tying ceremony.

"You did well," I said as I landed lightly beside her car waiting in her brewery's parking lot and lowered her to her feet. "You were amazing. My mom was thrilled. My dad kept grunting. And everyone adores you as much as me."

"My tail needs to be recalled."

"I think you're right." I unwound the belt from my own waist where I'd secured it and handed it to her. "We can do some repairs before you have to put it on again tomorrow."

"Please tell me I won't have to wear it when I walk down the aisle."

I didn't point out that if this was a fake engagement, there would be no walking down the aisle. All I could picture was me standing near an arch on a ledge by the sea—another gargoyle tradition—waiting for her to walk down the aisle to join me .

Then kissing her after a gargoyle elder pronounced us mated.

"I'll talk to my mom about it." Surely Mom would compromise about something like that.

"Phew. I appreciate it. I love the color, but I can't imagine it sticking out of the back of a white dress."

"You looked amazing wearing a tail." I stroked the hair off her gorgeous face, wishing I could kiss her. But after the look she gave me when we landed in my parents' backyard, I wasn't going to push it.

"I'll fly to my place and meet you at yours with my bag," I said instead. Tonight, I was going to follow up on some leads online. I needed to do more research into her uncle's ex-business partner, as well as her former boyfriend to see if either of them was the type to hold a grudge big enough to sabotage her business like this. Jasper was pretty much a given, but I hadn't yet learned much about Benjamin Piles other than that he was entering a stout in the brew-off and that he and Angie had broken up a year or so ago. The latter I found on FaceSpace where everyone shared gossip.

"Thirty minutes?" I asked, and she nodded.

She got into her car and drove out of the lot while I took care of my errand. It took me less than thirty minutes to join her at her home. Anticipation had a way of making a gargoyle hurry.

She was waiting in her driveway, watching as I landed beside her vehicle and walked up the path to the front of her house, where she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

"Nice place," I said, following her into the small foyer and studying the living room on the left and a dining room on the right.

"It's tiny. My uncle left it to me along with the brewery. I love this house, though. As you saw when you were investigating the gnome theft and ended up in my backyard, I have enough room out back to indulge my love of gardening. From the time I was little, I'd either follow my uncle around the microbrewery, learning how beer was made, though I never tasted it, or I was here, helping him plant things in the flowerbeds he adored as much as me."

"Would you show them to me sometime? I was distracted the last time I was here."

"Yeah, there was that little bit about gnome theft." Humor bubbled in her voice, and I'd never heard a more welcome sound.

"I really wish I hadn't done that." I lowered my bag to the floor inside her living room.

"If you hadn't swooped down like Batman ready to solve the crime, I might not have met you, so I guess I'll excuse you for your accusation. Would we be where we are now if a spark hadn't been lit between us in my backyard?"

I stepped close to her and stroked her hair off her face again, adoring how it draped around her shoulders. I rubbed some of it between my fingers. Silky soft like her skin. "I'd like to think we would. You came to Monsters, PI. If we hadn't met in your backyard, we would've met then."

"I doubt you would've laid me across my desk this soon. "

"I believe I would've. I wanted to lay you on your grass the moment I met you."

"While you were accusing me of theft or after I chewed you out and showed you that my gnomes were homemade ceramics?"

"Both times." I stepped back before I proved it to her again on her comfortable-appearing sofa. "Are there any rooms upstairs?"

She shook her head. "It's all on one level. One bedroom, which . . ." She released a breath, making her bangs shoot up off her head before resettling. "We could probably share. It's big. A king, though even a king isn't big enough for a gargoyle. I should've mentioned that earlier when you offered to stay."

"Do you want me on the couch or in your bed, Angie?" My voice was husky with unspoken emotion.

"The bed." She held up her finger. "We don't need to rush this. There's no harm in sharing the blankets. My sofa's not comfortable enough for anyone to use for one night, let alone three."

"Alright." I could behave.

She strolled into the living room. "I've thought of adding an addition to the place with a few more bedrooms, and I suppose I should one of these days for resale value if nothing else, but it's only me here, so why bother? I like it cozy." She waved for me to follow her as she showed me the rest of the house.

We walked into the small hallway beyond the living room, and I tucked my head into her bedroom on the left.

"One bathroom," she said, waving to the room in the hall as we passed. "And my kitchen." Her arms snaked around her waist. "I'm sure whoever stole the beer isn't interested in threatening me, but it's nice to have you here just in case. It's reassuring."

I wasn't convinced they'd stop with just the beer theft, but I nodded and tugged her close, wrapping my arms around her.

Finally, she slid away, and I didn't push this because I didn't want it to be awkward between us.

"I brought my laptop," I said. "I'm going to do some research tonight."

"We have a long list of potential suspects, right? No solid leads."

"I should have things narrowed down soon." The clock was ticking, but I was on the case.

We sat on the sofa, and while I did research on my laptop, Angie watched a show on TV, sobbing while the characters cavorted on the screen.

Finally, she started yawning, and I couldn't stop dreaming about lying in bed beside her.

"Do you want the bathroom first?" she asked, rising from the sofa.

I stared at my screen. "You go ahead. I'll join you in a bit. I have a few more things to look into online."

"Alright." She got ready, and I tuned my ears to her bedroom as she settled beneath the covers.

There wasn't anything I wanted more than to join her right now. Hold her. Do a lot more than just hold her.

But she'd set the ground rules, and I'd be the last one to break them.