Page 50 of Made to Be

She had actually sent me thirty-two messages and six missed calls. But who was counting? If she ended up on my front porch, getting her to leave would be a whole other problem. Especially once she met Cam.

Cam laughed as he unbuckled and climbed out of the car. I followed and went to grab the box of dishes from my back seat, but he beat me to it.

“Thank you,” I told him with a smile and rounded the car. Then, for good measure, I propped myself onto my tiptoes and kissed his cheek.

He blushed a deep pink, likely recalling our activities from the night before. I certainly was.

And I wanted very badly to do it again.

We headed for the main entrance Alice had told us to use because it was more convenient. And, seeingas we weren’t smuggling out a body, we didn’t have to be discreet with our visit. I stopped next to the little gray intercom box identical to the one at the employee entrance and pressed the button, holding it down just to annoy the shit out of Alice. A fuzzy voice crackled through the incessant buzzing before an irritated man sounded through the speaker,

“Okay, okay, stop with the button.” I jumped and dropped my hand as I heard a long, drawn-out sigh, “Briarwood Town Morgue, how can I help you?”

I hadn’t expected anyone other than Alice to be here seeing as it was the weekend.

“Uh, Vic Grimsley here to see Dr. Monroe,” I began then cringed. “Ugh, it’s still so weird calling her that.”

“Right,” the man replied. “She’s expecting you. Come on in.”

The door beeped as the lock unclicked, and we strolled in.

“Victor, why do they keep security locks on the morgue?” Cam asked as we strode through the main lobby toward the reception desk.

“Deters people from coming to steal bodies,” I told him.

“So that they don’t use necromancy to bring them back to life?” he snarked, a playful gleam in his eyes.

I grinned right back, “Exactly.”

As we approached the desk, I caught sight of a young man in a security officer’s uniform sitting behind a wide computer monitor. When he noticed us, I watched his eyes slide over me before landing on Cam. They widened, head tilting back as he took in Cam’s tall, muscular form.

I only stopped for a brief moment to tell him, “I know the way,” before offering him a mock solute as we passed. He remained sitting there too stunned to speak. I couldn’t blame him; Cam had that effect on people. He was tall and handsome with a strong physique, a charming smile beneath beautiful eyes, sexy tattoos and piercings, feather-soft raven hair, and the best laugh. He was witty and smart, loved nerdy things, had a great sense of humor... Wait, where was I going with this?

We reached Alice’s office fairly quickly and, per my usual fashion, I didn’t knock before sauntering in.

“What the hell are you doing here on a Sunday you workaholic?” I asked by way of greeting as I strolled into her office. Well,Idid. Cam remained hesitantly polite in the doorway. “And what’s with the guard dog?” I added, referring to the young man who’d let us in.

She jumped violently, clutching her hand to her chest, “For fuck’s sake, Vic, you’ve got to stop doing tha...”

She trailed off as her eyes settled on me. No, not me, but behind me to where Cam was standing. Herviolet hair was pulled up into its classic messy bun, and she slowly reached up to push her thick-rimmed glasses up her nose.

“Well, I’ll be a great witch’s aunt,” she said then pushed her chair back to stand. She rounded her desk and stopped just in front of me and Cam.

She was shorter than me by a full head, so her neck had to crane back and back, hair flopping as she stared up at him with hands shoved in her lab coat pockets.

Awkward silence stretched for a few seconds in our standoff. Was I supposed to... introduce them? That was my job, right? But why was I... kind of nervous? I'd never really done the whole “here’s my boyfriend” thing, even with Ron. We’d had mutual friends in school and college, and my dad had known him when we were just friends. There’d been no awkward introductions needed. Plus, it wasn’t like Cam was my boyfriend or anything. Yet. I shuffled to the side as Cam stepped into the room.

“Ali Cat, this is Cam,” I told her, not bothering to fight the dreamy lilt to my voice.

She gave him a broad smile then pulled her one hand out to offer it to him. I took the box from Cam’s arms to set it on the desk.

“Alison Monroe but my friends call me Alice. Ali Cat if you’re feeling naughty,” she told him with a wink as they shook hands. “I see dead people. Everyoneis dying to meet me. I’m dropdeadhilarious. You get the gist. Best damn coroner in town.”

“You’re the only coroner in town,” I said smartly, earning a solid punch to my shoulder.

“Ouch,” I flinched, rubbing my sore arm. “Tiny but mighty gremlin.”

She flipped me off and I stuck my tongue out at her like the mature adult that I was. She then proceeded to ignore me as she looked back at Cam, scanning him up and down once more. It wasn’t a look of judgement, but one of appreciation and mild bewilderment.