Page 67 of Love Expert

“He did?”

“Mm.” Another gentle kiss on my lips. “He did. So I need you to relax. Take a breath, straighten your shoulders, and walk out of here like the fuckin’ goddess you are. Everything is gonna be okay.” He pulls back and wraps his hand around mine. “On a scale of one toabsolutely don’t fucking touch me, how okay would you be with me making you share my seat when we go out there?”

Stunned, my eyes flare wide.

“Pull you onto my lap,” he snickers. “Kiss you anytime I want.”

My cheeks drain white. Ifeelit. “Uh…”

“Too soon?” Grinning, he lays one last kiss on my cheek, then he releases my hand and opens the door. “You’re a pain in my ass, Ramone. Jesus. Have a little patience.”

Ramone’s eyes, slate gray and entirely too smug, stop on mine. He looks me up and down, his smirk growing wider for every second our trio remains silent, then he stops on my face again and nods. “Good.”

“Zip it.” Billy pushes his partner back and clears the doorway. “Magnolia?”

“Yeah.” I dart forward, squeezing between the duo so, for a single moment in time, my shoulders touch both detectives at once, then I skid into the hall and simply… well, I melt down a little. I press my hand to my thundering heart and groan. “Oh my God,” I wheeze. “Oh, God.”

“You’re okay.” Billy’s fingers come to the small of my back and lead me away from the bathroom. “You want another drink?” He walks me straight into the kitchen, and since there are others out here, eyes that may be interested in the things we do or don’t do, he stops touching and opens the fridge instead. “Beer? Soda?” He glances across and grins. So freakin’ satisfied with himself! “Magnolia?”

“Soda.” I drag the sleeves of my sweater over my hands and bring my thumbnail up between my lips. “Please.”

“Such lovely manners.” He grabs two cans of raspberry soda and straightens his back, slamming the door and facing me again. “You done with your crisis yet? Wanna go outside and socialize?”

“Dad!” Jeremy strides through the doorway with an angry little scowl and a wrinkle already lining his forehead. “I was looking for you, but I couldn’t find you.”

“Sorry, buddy.” Just as easily as pulling on a favorite shirt, or slipping into a pair of comfortable shoes, Billy steps away from me and transforms from the man he is when it’s just us, into the dad he must be when his son is around. “I was in the bathroom. Everything okay?”

“Yeah.” His eyes narrow to suspicious slits, but as he peeks past his dad and stops on me, they soften like melted butter. “I couldn’t find you either, Maggie. I was looking everywhere.”

“I’ve been around.” I paste on my most convincing smile and extend my hand. “Wanna walk out with me? Do you think there’s any food left over? I’m kinda hungry, but Ramone turned the barbecue off hours ago.”

“There’s food.” He steps around his father and latches onto my hand. “I stole an entire bag of chips earlier.” Grinning, he shows off enough gaps in his teeth to tell the world exactly how rich he is now. He’s got tens of… tens of dollars to his name. “I thought maybe I would be hungry later, and Molly always eats all the good stuff, so I swiped a bag and hid them under the porch out back.” He leads me out of the kitchen and into the fairy-lit yard. “I’ll share them with you, Maggie.”

“You really would?”

“Yuh. Did you bring your swimsuit? After we eat, we could go into the hot tub. It’s toasty warm, but I knew I wouldn’t be allowed to go in unless my dad was watching.”

“Is that why you were looking for him?”

He leads me down the steps, carefully holding my hand so I don’t stumble, and turns right the instant my feet touch grass. “Yep. I wanna make human soup?—”

“Human soup?” I wrinkle my nose. “Ew!”

He cackles and brings me to the corner of the porch. Looking left, then right, he scouts for watchful eyes, and when the coast is clear, he shoves his hand into the dark depths beneath and comes out again fisting a party-sized bag of chicken crinkle-cut chips. “Hot tubs are basically human soup, ya know? Warm water, people, boiling. We’re practically melting the meat off our bones like we do when we make chicken soup.” He looks up at me with condescending eyes. “You’d know that if youactuallycooked children in a cauldron.”

“You’ve just ruined hot tubs for me for the rest of my life, you know that? So gross.”

“I think if we’re only in there for maybe twenty minutes and the water doesn’t get too hot, we’ll probably be okay.” He tears the bag open and presents the fruits of his hunting and gathering. “You get first pick.”

“Oh, well, thank you.” I dip my hand into the packet and take out a special curled chip. “I’m kinda starving.”

“Wait!” He stops me from shoving it into my mouth. “You should make a wish. Curled chips like that are rare, so if you make a wish and then eat it, it’s kinda the same as wishing on a star.”

“Really?”

“Mmhm.” He pokes through the bag and searches for his own. “Bump them together, like when adults do with their drinks, eat the curled chip, and for extra chances, I reckon you should look up at the stars.Thenmake your wish. That’s triple luck, which probably means your wish will for sure come true.”

“Your logic is sound. Are you ready?”