That Thing You Do (Whispering Bay Romance 1)
The crick that had begun in his neck last night seemed to have settled there permanently. He rolled his head from side to side trying to loosen it up. Did he want to move to Tampa? Not particularly. If he’d wanted a big job with big bucks he could have stayed in Atlanta. He’d moved to Whispering Bay to take charge of his personal life. Moving to Tampa seemed like a step backward.
On the other hand, Tampa had something Atlanta and Whispering Bay didn’t. It had Allie Grant. Of course, if she got the job she wanted at Florida! magazine, chances were she wouldn’t be in Tampa anyway. She’d move on
with her life. Just like he needed to.
I’ve had lots of sex. With lots of guys.
He’d wanted to call her out on that spectacular piece of bullshit, but what would have been the point? He needed to get that out of his head. Get her out of his head.
“Thanks, Steve, I appreciate your confidence in me.”
“But you aren’t interested?”
“Didn’t say that,” he said, not wanting to burn any bridges. “But it’s definitely something I’d have to think long and hard on.”
*~*~*
Allie decided to consult Jen on séance protocol. She’d spent most of the day on the Internet without much success. There was simply too much conflicting information out there, and Jen always seemed to know something about everything.
Jen answered on the first ring. “What’s up? You didn’t forget to the pay the electric bill, did you?”
“Is the electricity shut off?”
“No.”
“Then I didn’t forget to pay,” Allie said.
“True. So, why did you call? Make it quick ‘cause I don’t have much time to talk. Sean and I are kind of in the middle of something.”
“Oh, um, should I call back later?”
“Not that kind of something, silly! I wouldn’t have answered my phone if we were having sex.”
“Who’s having sex?” Sean yelled in the background.
“Allie thinks she interrupted us having sex,” Allie heard Jen explain to Sean. He gave a loud Tarzan yodel that made Allie momentarily forget why she’d called.
Jen giggled into the phone. “We’re playing strip poker and we’re both down to our socks.”
“And…that’s it?”
“That’s it.” More giggling. This time, from Sean.
“Okay, I’ll make this quick. There’s going to be a séance in the building tonight and I want to know what I should look out for.”
“Ooh! I’m jealous! I’ve never been to a séance, but I’ve used a Ouija board. Same concept. There’s going to be a professional there, right? Like a medium?”
“Her name’s Madame Gloria, and yeah, I’ve been told she’s the area’s premier expert.”
“Cool. Don’t worry. You don’t have to do anything, doll. Just take your cues from her.”
“All right. Um, there’s one other thing. We were told that the building was supposed to remain empty until the actual séance, to keep it pure, or something like that, but someone did kind of accidentally go inside.”
“You didn’t break in through a window again, did you? Who are you and what have you done with Allie Grant?” Jen asked playfully.
“I was kind of dragged inside. Well, picked up and carried in, really. By this guy I used to know.”
“Guy you used to—this isn’t the guy in your high school prom picture, is it? The one you keep hidden in the bottom drawer of your nightstand. What’s his name, Tim?”