Page 27 of Dark ’N’ Deadly

A sign on the far wall got her blood pumping faster. Stangl. “I knew it.” She hitched her bag higher to avoid knocking anything off the shelves that were crammed with the beautiful dishware. The few pieces in her cupboard she’d gotten on sale because they were either chipped or cracked, but she loved them nonetheless.

“Oh, my. Look at all the Stangl.” Her heart beat faster. It was a joy to see so much of it and so many patterns in one place. Blue cornflowers. Yellow lilies. Pink thistle… Every pattern was stunning, and she vowed one day—when her business raked in enough cash—she’d buy an entire set.

Eric’s shoulder bumped hers. “They’re not bad.”

“Told ya.” She batted her eyelashes and was rewarded with the subtle narrowing of his eyes, but she took it as a good sign.

Next, she moved on to a brightly colored collection of beaded silk scarves hanging from several hooks on the wall. “Ohhh,” she breathed, sliding her fingers along a particularly eye-catching pink, purple, and mauve scarf. “I love beaded scarves.” Eric’s huge hand plucked the scarf from the hook and draped it over her shoulders.

“It looks good on you.” He tugged the edges of the scarf around her neck, and she had to agree.

“I’m sure I can’t afford it.” Sure enough, when she checked the price tag, even on sale it was far more than she could afford. When she tried slipping it from her shoulders, the dangly beaded fringe caught in her curls. “Ouch.”

Eric’s deep voice came from behind her. “I’ve got this.”

That phrase—I’ve got this—she’d quickly come to learn was used by all the guys in Nick’s K-9 circles. It was their way of taking charge of a situation, no matter how small, and making it better. Making it right.

With the gentlest touch, he began extricating the scarf from her hair, and as he did, his fingers repeatedly grazed her cheek and neck. His brows bunched in consternation as he finished untangling her hair. He was so close, she breathed in his freshly showered scent. Soap, shampoo, and a hint of woodsy aftershave. When his hands stilled, she looked up to see him watching her intently, a muscle in his jaw working. Heat flooded her face.

“Get. A. Room.” Jesse covered his eyes as he walked past. “I’ll wait outside.”

Ignoring her brother’s snark, Eric tugged on the scarf until it slipped free, then turned and headed for the cash register.

“Wait.” She hustled after him, but by the time she caught up, he’d already shoved his credit card into the machine. The elderly woman behind the counter neatly folded the scarf and slipped it into a bag. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” He signed the charge slip then handed her the bag containing the scarf. “Let’s go. I’m hungry.” He gave her an odd look then practically charged down the aisle and out the door. From his rigid posture, she could swear he was angry.

Men. Maybe one day she’d develop a better grasp of what testosterone did to the male brain. Today isn’t the day.

“Thank you,” she said to the woman. The doorbells tinkled again as other customers entered the shop. “Your store is so beautiful. I could spend all day in here.”

“I could, too.” She looked lovingly around her shop. “I’ve been here for over twenty years.”

“Forgive me if I’m being too nosy, but why are you going out of business?” Tess asked.

She sighed. “I’ve been thinking it’s time to retire, so when the owner of this building put the place up for sale, I took it as a sign. There are no guarantees the new owner would want to rent out the bottom floor anyway.”

Tess took one last look around. “It’s lovely.”

The woman smiled. “Thank you, dear.”

She went outside to find Eric checking his phone and Jesse with an impatient look on his face.

“Can we eat now?” her brother asked.

“Yes.” This time, it was her turn to roll her eyes. “We can eat.”

They stopped at a brewery for an early lunch, and from there to a superstore for extra clothes and toiletries she and Jesse would need, and some kind of food she could eat that hadn’t been packaged in a slaughterhouse.

Eric pushed the cart to the register line and began unloading. She smiled as he hastily tossed her boxes of tofu and herbal tea on the conveyor belt, as if touching them would give him a bad case of the cooties. He’d been only slightly less horrified by the cans of beans and lentils she’d added to the cart. She didn’t know who was more of a carnivore, Eric or his dog.

When it was time to pay the cashier, she pulled a stack of cash from her wallet. Granted, it wasn’t a thick stack, but it was enough.

Before she could hand over her money, Eric shoved his credit card into the reader. “I’ve got this.”

“No, you don’t got this.” She tried yanking his card out before the chip reader did its thing, but his hand shot out, closing over hers. His grip was firm, yet gentle, and she wished his fingers didn’t feel so good closed around hers. “We aren’t your charity case,” she insisted, not wanting to be beholden to him. By letting them stay with him, he was being generous enough as it was.

“Just go with it, Tess.” Her brother nodded to the line of customers behind them. “People are waitin’.”