by Renee George
However, a size fifty shoe cannot outrun a size thirteen shoe, and Ford quickly managed to catch the clown and tackle it to the ground. A haze of glitter flew in the air as a distinctly female voice cried out.
Oh, crap. This clown was a girl.
“Get off her,” Lincoln shouted. “Dude. Not cool.”
Ford stood up and pulled the clown to her feet. He popped off the nose and pulled off the wig. “Becksy?”
Wow, the clown was the waitress from Lolo’s.
Lincoln was extricating the teenage witch from his brother’s grasp. He checked her over, a profoundly worried expression on his young face. “Are you okay?”
“I'm all right,” she said, her eyes dreamily gazing into his.
“What the hell did you think you were doing?” Ford said, his anger still at the surface.
I realized exactly what was going on. I took Ford’s arms. “Points to the witches.” Thanks to the help of a smart Shifter in love. I leaned into Ford’s body. “I bet she smells like spring flowers to him, and he smells like peach pie.” I smiled.
He looked startled for a moment and said, “You think?”
“Oh yeah,” I said. “Good one, Becksy.” I suspected Lincoln and some of his other friends had been the previous two clowns. I winked at the teenager, a small part of me envying all the years they would have that I missed out on with Ford.
My father showed up with Tanya on his arm, and I was proud of how well I kept my gag reflex under control.
When I got a moment alone with Lily, I told her about the name and address in a town called Moonrise, Missouri. Using the information Baba Yaga had given me, I’d done some groundwork. Turns out that Lily’s father had a brother, one that Lily hadn’t met. He’d moved away from Paradise Falls before she was born. I’d vetted him through my contacts at the FBI. He moved around some, but he never caused problems anywhere he went. Lily’s new ability was making her less than popular around Paradise Falls, and the small town where her uncle lived in Southern Missouri seemed like a great place for Lily to get a fresh start.
“His name is Daniel,” I told her.
“You mean…”
“Yes, your brother was named for him. He must have meant a lot to your dad, even if they didn’t keep in touch.”
I hugged her, and we both cried a little. Lily for the loss of her brother and the possibility a new life would bring, and me, because I was going to miss my best friend. It had been difficult to part with her seventeen years ago, but this time around, our goodbye would be even harder.
After we had all the finishing touches done on the haunted house, Ford put his arm around me. “We have a few hours until sundown. Can I show you something?”
“Sure,” I said.
Tizzy, who happened to be close by said, “She’s seen your ween before, bearface.”
Blessedly, he ignored her. “Come on.”
****
FORD DROVE AROUND for twenty minutes. I think. Being sure with my eyes closed was hard.
“Don’t peek,” he said for the bazzilionth time.
“I’m not peeking!”
Soon, the truck rolled to a slow stop. “Keep ‘em closed.”
“I am.”
I heard his door open and close, then my door opened, and he lifted me out of the truck. My heart fluttered in my chest. He set me down and turned me once and said, “Okay, open them.”
I blinked. Then I blinked again. I was staring at Agatha Milan’s Victorian house. But why? “What’s this?”
“It’s ours,” Ford said from behind me. “Not my house. Not your house. Ours.”
“Wait? What?” My brain wasn’t keeping up with the conversation. “We can’t afford this.”
“I was a bachelor for a long time. There wasn’t a whole lot to spend my money on. And now I can do this for you. For us,” he said.
I turned to face him, and he was on one knee.
“I…”
He looked up at me, his blue eyes shining with purpose. “Hazel Marie Kinsey. You are sarcastic, mouthy, and a general pain in the ass.”
“So romantic.”
“But you are also vivacious, caring, wonderful, and beautiful. You are the love of my life. You make me happy. I never thought I’d have a chance at a life with you, my mate.”
“This is more like it,” I said, blinking back the tears.
He opened the velvet box in his hand, and the diamond ring looked full of stars. “Will you marry me?”
“You bought me a house. My dream house.” My chest squeezed with joy. “I’d be a fool to say no.”
“Is that a yes?”
“That’s not only a yes, that’s a hell to motherfluffin’ yes.”
He stood up and put the ring on my shaking finger.
“Do you have the keys?”
“Yeah,” he said, “Why?”
I pressed my body to his and wiggled my hips against him. I yanked his head down and kissed him hard with the entire weight of my possession. He was mine. Ford Baylor was mine forever. When I let him up for air, I said, “I need the keys, because I want you to carry me across that threshold and bang my brains out over the hand carved oak banister. Then after, I’ll suck your—”
“Haze!” my father shouted.
“What the…” I looked around and watched my dad, Anita, Baylor, Tizzy, Lucreature, Lily, Tanya, and Lincoln come out from hiding. Anita held a video camera and had it aimed at us.
“I’ll erase that last bit,” she said. “Congratulations.”
“You could have warned me,” I said to Ford through clenched teeth.
Ford grinned, his scent taking on a snickerdoodle aroma. “What were you saying about sucking—”
“You suck.”
“As often as I can, darling.” He picked me up in his arms. “As often as I can.”
The End
About the Author
Renee George is a USA Today Bestselling author of cozy mysteries, paranormal romance, erotic romance, contemporary romance, and romantic comedies that highlight varying themes. She lives in the Midwest with her husband, man-child son, two sweet dogs, and a senile cat.
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