We had to have this situation cleared up before then. Last year’s Full Moon Festival had brought the town back from the brink of financial ruin. But this year’s could destroy us if tourists began to turn up without their hearts.
“Where are you?” I asked.
“The basement of town hall.”
“I hate it down there.” The place was downright eerie.
“Girl.”
I remembered the times my dad had used the same insult, which really shouldn’t have been an insult.
“Oh, that always works.”
“Sorry.”
“Forget it. I’ll need to bring someone along.” I wasn’t letting Ian out of my sight.
“You two are attached at the hip, huh?”
“Pretty much.”
“Good. I like him.” She hung up.
Claire wasn’t a man hater, but she wasn’t much of a fan, either. She’d had some trouble in the past, and only Malachi had been able to reach through the wall she’d erected between herself and the world. Maybe having a son had helped. It was hard t
o condemn all males when you had such an adorable specimen at hand.
“I should go to my place and translate the rest of your great-grandmother’s papers,” Ian said. “We need to know everything she did.”
“I’ll tell Claire I can’t make it.”
“You don’t have to. You do your thing; I’ll do mine. We’ll meet later.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“It’s daytime.” He put his hand on my thigh. “The Raven Mocker can’t hurt you in the sun.”
“I wasn’t worried about me.”
“Me?” He paused as if to think about that. “I’ve never had anyone worry about me before.” His fingers tightened; then he slid them higher, stroking the inside of my leg until I shuddered. “I think I like it.”
“I don’t.” He removed his hand, but I caught it and brought it back. “That I like. It’s the worrying I don’t.”
His fingers continued to stroke. I drove down Center Street with his hand between my legs. No one could see, which only made what he was doing all the more exciting.
“You don’t have to worry,” he said. “As you’ve told me several times, I can take care of myself. Going after evil spirits is my job, and I’m pretty good at it.”
“I don’t like being separated. Two are stronger than one, remember?”
“We’ve got a lot to do and not much time to do it in. Separating in the daytime makes sense.”
I parked in front of the clinic. “I know.”
Ian got out of the truck, then leaned in through the open window. “Come back as soon as you’re done. Maybe I’ll know something by then. We can start pounding sticks into the four corners of houses. Tell people they’re squirrel repellents or something.”
With a quick grin and then a wave, he disappeared inside. Seconds later he reappeared on the second floor, moving toward his office. My body still hummed from the touch of his. I exited the vehicle. This wouldn’t take long.
He’d left the front door open, so I locked it behind me, checked the back door and locked it, too, then climbed the stairs. He turned, surprised, when I came in the room, but when he saw my face, he dropped the papers onto the desk and drew the shade over the window.