AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I took a hot bath. It helped me unwind. I should do it more often.” She brought the plates of sandwiches to the table, skipping the bologna on hers. “So, how was Ringo’s tonight?”
“The usual. I won ten bucks shooting pool. That Larry Norton thinks he’s Minnesota Fats, and I kick his butt every time.”
“Maybe you should let him win once in a while. Then he’ll have more confidence and raise the ante,” she said with a devilish grin.
“Boy, you really are in some kind of mood. I like it.” He chomped down on his sandwich, squirting mayo out of the sides and all over his hands. His demeanor suddenly became dark. “Damn. Can you please go easy on this stuff?”
“Sorry, hon. Here, let me take care of that.” Tori got up and grabbed a paper towel, reached in the fridge, and pulled out another beer. He had downed half of the first one before his first bite. She was determined to help him pass out. She wasn’t in the mood for anything except peace and quiet. She topped off his glass and handed him the paper towel. His attitude shifted back to being less surly.
“Got enough for tomorrow?” He spoke with a mouthful of food. She tried not to look at him gnashing his teeth on the artery-clogging combination.
“Yes. I can make you two sandwiches if you’d like.” She was still being perky. Not for his sake, but for her own sanity. “And I’ll even throw in a few pickles. How does that sound?”
“Sounds good to me.” He wiped his mouth, crumpled the napkin, and tossed it onto the plate. He pushed back his chair and guzzled the rest of the beer, draining what was left in the can. “I’m bushed.”
Mission accomplished, Tori thought to herself. “Go on to bed. I’m going to clean up in here.”
Without a word, he stood and shuffled toward the bedroom. If she had played it right, he would be snoring in less than ten minutes.
Tori slowly wiped off the dishes, removing the crumbs one at a time. After rinsing the plates and glasses, she looked around the kitchen for something else to occupy herself. When she heard the first snore emanating from down the hall, she knew it was safe to go to bed—except for the peace and quiet part.
Chapter Seven
Buncombe County
Later that evening
Luna could not settle down. Wiley’s eyes kept following her walking back and forth. He sighed several times. “What?” Luna squatted and looked at him. He nudged her arm. “What?” He let out another sound, but this time it was almost a groan. She sat down next to him.
“Yeah, I know, pal. Something’s gotta give with me and the marshal. But I don’t know what to do.” His ears perked up. “Sure, he’s kissed me several times, but as soon as I feel the heat and the sexual tension, I freeze up.”
Wiley got up and went for one of his tennis balls and brought it over to her. “You want to play while we’re having this important discussion?” She talked as if he were a person. To her way of thinking, they were on the same wavelength but spoke different languages. He let out a soft yelp. Then it hit her. “Play.” She needed to be more playful with Gaines. Sure, she flirted, but obviously not enough. Not enough for him to make the big move. Even a small move. They had been in each other’s “personal space” many times, feeling each other’s breath on their neck. Just thinking about it made her giddy. But tonight—the brush of his lips on her fingers—that was much more intimate than any of the kisses they had exchanged in the past. Too bad he had to get over to Cullen’s. But maybe it was better this way. She vowed she was not going to let him leave the county again without a big make-out session with her. “What do you think about that? Big make-out session next time?” Wiley gave an affirmative woof.
Now that she had made that decision, she was confident she could finally go to bed and fall asleep. Maybe even do a little soul traveling in her dreams. Some people called it astral projection. An out-of-body experience. This area of metaphysics fascinated Luna—she often felt as if she were hovering over someone when she would do a reading. It was a sense of floating.
She once had a dream about Cullen when he was on a camping trip. She was “viewing” it as if she were in one of the trees when she saw Cullen’s sleeve get singed on the campfire. It startled her to the point where she shot up in bed. She checked the clock. It was only a quarter after eleven. Maybe he was still awake. She had to call to see if he was all right. She hoped there was cell service where he was doing his rugged man thing.
An alarmed voice answered. “Luna? Is everything all right?” Cullen knew Luna wouldn’t track him down unless it was an emergency.
“Cul, areyouall right?” Luna asked in return.
“Yeah. Fine. What’s going on?” he asked in a very heightened manner.
“I had a dream. You singed your sleeve on the fire. Are you OK?”
Cullen froze for a moment, then he looked at his sleeve. “Yes but, but, how? . . . how . . . did you know?”
“I told you, I had a dream.” Luna gave a sigh of relief.
“I don’t know what you’re taking before you go to bed, but either figure out a way to make millions or stop doing it. You’re freaking me out.”
“You should be used to it by now.” She snickered.
“Yeah, but it generally doesn’t involve me.”
“OK. What-ev. You be careful. I need to get a good night’s sleep. Sweet dreams.” Luna clicked off the phone.
Luna smiled, thinking about that incident. Maybe she would focus her thoughts on Gaines while drifting off to sleep. During one of her classes at the New School for Social Research, a discussion had come up about soul traveling. The professor explained they should think of it like Bluetooth or WiFi. You can’t see it, but you know it’s there, and you’re sharing the same frequency. It sure sounded like an episode ofStar Trek, but they used to think the world was flat at one time, too.
