Page 26 of Live Love Lasso

“You don’t smell like lemons,” I say softly.

She looks coyly at me over her shoulder. “No? What do I smell like, Furyon?”

I bury my nose in her hair and take a deeper whiff, not giving a fuck who around us might be watching with interest. It’s a small town, after all.

“Sunshine. A little bit like mustang slobber.”

She snorts and spins against me, slapping my chest. “Stop it this instant… I do not. I fully bathed and reapplied antibacterial cream and everything.”

I flash her a smile as I take her hand and guide her away from the table. We head back down the steps, and I slip her hand through my elbow. “You wanna do a little tour of the garden? It’s a must-see, and we can mark something else off your list.”

She beams at me, and it’s breathtaking. Those tiny white fangs. The way the smile pulls little wrinkles to the outside edges of her eyes. I love what a deep ruby red they are and those silver and gold specks spiraling out from the center.

“Have dinner with me tonight.” The words are out of my mouth before I’ve even realized I’m gonna ask them. “Please.”

She shrugs playfully, acting like she’s about to tell me no. “Oh, I don’t know, Furyon. Are you any good at cooking? Do you happen to have bags of blood on hand? I could kill for a bloodtini, you know.”

I laugh as I drag her to one of the maze’s many entrances. “I’m a better cook than you might think. Even Echo says so, and she’s picky as hells.”

Lemon looks down at her outfit. “I need time to go home and freshen up.”

I shake my head. “You don’t. You look gorgeous, and it’s Saturday. I’m stealing all of your time unless you get tired of me.”

She stops in place, planting both hands on her hips with a wry look. “Furyon, what are we doing? I mean…surely this is a conflict of interest or something, unless you’re planning to drop the investigation.”

“Naw.” I drag my knuckles along her jawline. “I gotta do my job, Lemon, but in my heart of hearts, I believe you. And nobody’s interested me in decades. To be honest, I think you had me with them pink boots. I just can’t get ‘em outta my damn head.”

She snorts and slaps my chest. “Don’t blame the boots for your behavior. You told me they weren’t practical.”

“They ain’t,” I say with a laugh. “But they’d look good on the floor in my bedroom.”

“Stopppp,” she says, cackling. “Just stop.”

Shrugging, I join her in laughter. “I’m a little outta practice with pickup lines, Lemon.”

Her laughter slowly dies as I lead her to the maze’s entrance. I pause right inside, pointing above us.

Ahead is a long tunnel fashioned of wood and wires. Olive-green gourd vines climb up both sides and the top, turning it into a leafy, shaded hallway of sorts. At the end, it branches off in three different directions.

“Okay, so the maze garden holds sixty-two varieties of gourds and pumpkins. Nearly half are homes for our pixie community.” I shoot Lemon a quick look. “Speaking of which, Pine Gulch has the largest pixie community in the entire haven system, and it’s thought that the garden is a huge reason why. Lotta options to pick from.”

Lemon stares ahead. “Damn, it’s beautiful. Is there a gnome village here as well? I noticed the stall where they were selling gnome homes.”

“Center of the maze, and there’s a secondary neighborhood in the far west corner. Wanna see?”

She nods excitedly. As we start along the hallway, she’s all oohs and aahs, pointing at the beautiful gourds. At the end of the hall, the gourds have holes for front doors. Pixies in their small form flit between the row homes, waving and talking, their voices tiny. Like this, they could fit in the palm of my hand.

Lemon looks a tad fretful as pixies zip around our heads.

“Letitia don’t live here,” I say into her ear. “In case that’s what’s got that furrow between your brows.”

She shoots me a thankful look. “Am I that transparent?”

“Dark elf,” I remind her. “My literal power is reading others and understanding how they feel. I learned a lot from my family before I declined to be employed by them.”

There was a time I thought I’d get into the family business, but as it turns out, I don’t love answering to clients. My work with animals is far more fulfilling. Animals are easy…they make sense.

By the time we walk through a few more hallways and across swirling terraces of vining pumpkins, she’s fully enthralled. “Okay, so specific hallways are homes, and some are just for growing the produce. I see. So is that future expansion or…” She smiles up at me.