Mayhem & Mistletoe, стр. 52

Oh, well, that was the most insulting thing he could’ve said to me. “This isn’t funny.”

He ran his thumb over my cheek. “It’s a little funny.”

“No.”

“Try watching from where I’m standing.”

“I’m good, thanks.” I pulled away from him and shuffled toward the door, doing my best to decide if I was angry or relieved we hadn’t indulged in a big blow-up. “I’m still not sure I’m onboard with this.”

“Of course you’re not.” His grin widened. “When called on anything like this, you feel the need to dig your heels in. I’m hoping this phase of your development won’t last long and you keep ahead of schedule.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You’re enjoying this.”

“Messing with you? Yes. Looking forward to the future? Definitely.”

“No, you’re enjoying torturing me.”

“That, too.”

I shook my head and yanked open the door. “I haven’t decided yet, but I might torture you later because of this. I need to think it over.”

“I need to think over some things too. Like how we’re going to get the information you need. Hopefully, after a few hours of thinking, we’ll come up with acceptable answers.”

“That would be lovely.” I turned on my heel and flounced toward the door, shooting Mario a glare. He was standing in front of the mirror Eliot kept in the corner in case people wanted to try certain items on. He wore a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses and held a rustic rifle across his chest. He also looked to be wearing an antique necklace featuring a chunky ruby.

“Who are you supposed to be?” I asked, baffled.

“My mother.”

“Since when does she carry a gun?”

“I’m thinking about getting it for her for Christmas.”

“Good choice.” I sent Eliot one more haughty look as he wandered into the showroom and then pushed open the door. I refused to engage in the conversation a moment longer. I was so focused on maintaining my facade that I wasn’t watching where I was going and collided with a passing pedestrian. We crashed into each other hard enough that I was knocked back against Eliot’s door. Thankfully the glass was reinforced so I didn’t fall through it.

“I’m so sorry,” I offered as I readjusted my stance. “I didn’t see you there. I apologize. I ....” Whatever I was going to say died on my lips as I met a pair of familiar eyes.

Tad Ludington, the man I was accused of trying to murder, stood directly in front of me. He seemed as surprised to see me as I was to see him. “Um ... hello.”

As far as greetings went between us, it was downright warm. “Hi.” I straightened my shoulders, debating how much snark was allowable when dealing with a man who had been out of the hospital only a few weeks. “I see you’re not dying of a staph infection or anything. That’s good. I’m still hoping you get hemorrhoids or something.”

Under different circumstances, Tad might’ve picked up the challenge. Instead, he remained subdued. “I was going to stop in and see you at the newspaper, but then I thought better of it.”

“That’s wise. They have a photo of you at the front desk with instructions to throw hand grenades if you try to enter the building.”

Not even a hint of a smile met the jab. Of course, I wasn’t expecting him to be amused. “I have some things to say to you, but I didn’t think they were appropriate for a work setting.”

Oh, well, crap. I should’ve expected this. He was going to blame me for what happened with Fawn. He hired her to mess with Eliot and me, yet he was going to blame us.

“You don’t have to say anything,” I offered. “I don’t really care if you blame us. We didn’t do anything to you.”

Eliot picked that moment to slip through the front door, his gaze bouncing between Tad and me. He’d obviously been watching from inside ... and he didn’t look happy. “Do we have a problem?”

Tad gave him only a brief glance. “I have something to say to both of you. I guess it’s best that we ran into each other now, before I’m back at the county building full time and you’re ... doing whatever it is that you do to disrupt the government process.”

“Sometimes I do dirty mimes when I’m bored,” I offered, earning a smirk from Eliot.

“Can we just get through this?” Tad challenged, agitation coming out to play. “I really don’t want to spend any more time than I have to with the two of you.”

“Well, we don’t want to spend any time with you,” I shot back. “How about we split the difference and say goodbye?”

“I would like nothing more,” Tad acknowledged. “I believe I owe the two of you a few words of gratitude. It’s the least I can offer after what happened.”

I blinked several times in rapid succession. He couldn’t be serious.

“If by least you mean very least, then you’re right,” Eliot acknowledged. “That’s the least you can do.”

Tad shifted from one foot to the other, clearly uncomfortable. He was paler than usual, which wasn’t saying much because he was the poster child for pasty white dudes the world over. He was also thinner, and almost seemed a bit delicate. “I didn’t know when I hired her that she was crazy.”

Eliot’s hand landed on my back, and even though I was still annoyed with him, it was a steadying presence.

“I didn’t know she was crazy when I hired her either,” Eliot offered. “I guess we’re even on that one.”

“Except you didn’t hire her to mess with anyone,” I muttered.

Tad nodded in agreement. “I did hire her to mess with you. I’m pretty sure I’ve already been punished for that. I’m not here to make some grand gesture. Too many things have happened for that. I’m here to thank you for making sure she didn’t get a chance to finish the job.”

I stood rooted to my spot, dumbfounded. “Wait ... are you actually thanking us?”

Tad looked pained at the prospect. “I am. Several people