Peril for Your Thoughts (Mind Reader Mystery)

by Kari Lee Townsend

  Two hours and two margaritas later, I was ready to call it a night as I sat across from Nik. He sat next to Jaz’s big blond Nordic God, Darrin, who had arrived shortly after she’d delivered her bombshell. I could tell by the look in her eyes she’d known the detective was the “Nik” my mother had been trying to fix me up with. I’d ordered a drink immediately, and awkwardness had set in. Meanwhile, her Darling Darrin was going on and on about himself. Nik, on the other hand, wasn’t any happier than I was to realize I was the nice Greek girl his “ma” had been trying to fix him up with since she’d found out he was moving to Clearview.

  I should have had a clue.

  Greeks weren’t anything if not thorough. She’d done her homework and had found out which Greek women were of age and single. Since he was only half Greek, most of my cousins had said no. But since my parents were as desperate as she seemed to be, they’d been in cahoots ever since.

  Neither one of us wanted anything to do with having two Greek families to deal with, not to mention we weren’t ready to settle down. Only one problem. It didn’t matter what we wanted. When Greek mamas got involved, weddings were being planned from the get-go.

  “No offense, Kalli,” Nik said, “but I just arrived in Clearview. I only said yes to Jaz because she seemed nice enough, and she offered to show me around town. I really need to focus on my career. You know how it is.”

  “No offense, Detective, but I hardly remember asking you to focus on me,” I pointed out. “And I only said yes because I owed Jaz a favor. You’re really not my type.” I smirked. “You know how it is.” It frustrated me that I let him get to me. That normally never happened. I liked being in control. There was just something about him that unsettled me.

  He narrowed his eyes. “Good to know. And just so you know, you’re not exactly my type, either.”

  “Fabulous.” I wiped off the outside of my water glass where the waiter had touched it to refill, and then I rearranged my napkin three times before I took a sip.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t bring your own glass, too.” He smirked back at me, and then those unnerving blue eyes of his studied me intently.

  I cleared my throat. “I always carry my own silverware. You have no idea what sort of sanitation device they use in places like these.”

  “It’s called a dishwasher. Last time I checked they kill 99% of bacteria. Most likely cleaner than the inside of your purse.”

  “Ah, yes,” I held up my finger, “but they don’t kill the bacteria on the waiter’s hands, now do they? And you obviously don’t know me. You could eat out of my purse it’s that clean.”

  “The scary thing is I actually believe it.” He snorted, then sighed as his leg bumped into mine beneath the table.

  I looked down and frowned at my purse when I heard, I’m usually always the perfect gentleman. What is it about you that brings out the worst side of me?

  My eyes whipped up to his and I gaped at him, shocked that he would ask me that. “Excuse me?”

  “Never mind.” He turned to focus on Darrin, and I did the same.

  Normally I didn’t care what people thought of me or my quirks, and it made me so angry that it actually mattered to me what he thought. I repeat … Jaz was so dead when this night was over. I tried to give her “the look” so she would know I was more than ready to go, but she clung to every word that came out of Dingleburg Darrin’s mouth.

  “And then I traveled to Europe and closed a forty-million-dollar deal all before lunch. It was a good week.” A smug look seemed permanently plastered to his handsome yet annoying face.

  Nik’s leg bumped mine beneath the table once more, but no matter how much I discreetly squirmed, there was no room to move away.

  That is such bullshit.

  “Well, that was rude.” I looked away from Darrin and shot Nik a surprised look. He was a lot more vocal than earlier, like he suddenly had no filters.

  “What?” He scratched his head, his brows puckering together as he stared at me.

  “I hear ya, man,” Darrin said to Nik. “Those bean burritos will do you in every time. Word of advice. That’s not cool in front of the ladies.” He snorted, laughing at himself. There was nothing appealing about him except for his admittedly amazing body and looks, but I knew Jaz. That was all she cared about. Same as me, she had no interest in getting serious. Yet unlike me, she was more than ready to be seriously seduced.

  “But I—” Nik started to say with a slightly flushed face.

  “I can’t believe you live such an exciting life,” Jaz purred to Darrin, cutting Nik off and drawing my attention back to their conversation as she played him like a violin.

  “It’s no big deal. Maybe I’ll take you some time if you want,” he purred back to her, and she gave him a look that said, Yeah, baby, I most definitely want!

  Take her where, to the shed? Because you’re obviously a tool. International businessman my ass; you’re a car salesman. I saw your slip-up on eRomance.com Why don’t you take Little Miss Designer instead? Maybe she can design you a new life. Then again, you’re probably not her type either.

  I gasped, completely stunned as I focused on Nik and didn’t even try to hide how appalled I was. “You’re the tool,” I said to him, then hissed, “What are you doing?”

  “What are you talking about?” Nik asked, looking at me warily. “What did I do this time?”

  “You know what you said, and so does everyone else.” If he didn’t care, then I didn’t either. I didn’t even try to lower my voice this time. I might not like Darrin, but I wasn’t about to ruin things for Jaz if that’s what made her happy. “I just can’t believe Darrin is being so gracious.”

  Darrin gave him a look of sympathy. “Sorry, man. Some of us have a way with the ladies, and some of us don’t. Better luck next time.”

  Jaz shot me a look as though I were the one ruining things for her. “You’ll have to excuse her, gentlemen. She took a bit of a spill this morning.”

  I sent her a questioning look back.

  Her expression changed to one of worry and concern as she studied my pupils again. “Honey, are you sure you’re feeling okay. I still think you should have gone to the doctor. You’re, um, not quite yourself.”

  “I’m fine,” I said, confusion knitting my brow. I crossed my arms and stared at Nik. “Just know that I’m watching you.”

  “You do that,” he responded, staring right back at me. Mothers aren’t the only crazy species around here.

  “Aha!” I pointed at him. “See what I mean?”

  Jaz glanced at Nik and then back to me, shaking her head no and looking more confused than ever.

  I stared at his mouth when it suddenly hit me. I’d heard him speak, but his lips hadn’t moved even a smidgen. “I think I, um, was mistaken,” I said as my breathing picked up and my heartbeat started pounding in my chest.

  “You were saying?” he asked with that damned eyebrow of his arched sky-high as we reached for our water glasses at the same time and our hands touched. You might look like an angel on the outside, sweetheart, but you sure are one odd woman on the inside.

  Before, it had sounded like he’d muttered, but now it sounded like he had raised his voice and was speaking right next to my ear. I jerked my hand back.

  He frowned. Now, what the hell did I—

  I jerked my leg away from his until we weren’t touching at all, and the voice in my head stopped.

  As much as it would kill me, I had to know. I reached out and grabbed his hand with mine.

  His eyebrows crept all the way to his hairline, but he didn’t say a word, yet I heard, Oh yeah, someone has been watching one too many episodes of the Looney Tunes. He gently pulled his hand away from mine, and the voice stopped once again.

  “Sorry,” I said, whipping out my hand sanitizer and scrubbing my hands, which didn’t help my case any, judging by his expression. “You’re right, Jaz. I’m not myself today. In fact, I think I’m going to be sick.” I bolted to the bathroom wit
h Jaz hot on my heels.

  Nothing had changed? Ha! Apparently everything had changed, because somehow, someway I was hearing voices in my head, but I wasn’t crazy. Oh, no no no. Crazy was treatable, and that would be too easy. What I had was much worse.

  I could read people’s minds.

  “Thanks for giving me a ride home,” I said to Nik.

  Jaz had cornered me in the bathroom, refusing to let me drive home. I’d explained what had happened, and she’d been ready to call 911, but I convinced her it was just the margaritas after a head injury talking. She’d finally capitulated, but only if I agreed to let Nik drive me home. She had plans with Darrin. She swore she wasn’t in on my mother’s scheming; however, she did think Detective Dreamy was exactly what I needed. And I let her know exactly what I thought of that.

  She so owed me!

  “No problem,” Nik said, glancing at me with a frown as I hugged the door, not chancing a random touch. After gaining way too much information from Jaz when she’d held my hand in the restroom—information that I’d yet to recover from—I hadn’t said a word since getting in the car.

  I had always thought if I could just read people’s minds, my life would be so much easier. Not so. Reading people’s minds was scary, giving TMI—too much information—a whole new meaning. I’d heard of dog whisperers, cat whisperers, horse whisperers, and even ghost whisperers. What did that make me … a people whisperer?

  “What was that?” Nik asked.

  “What was what?”

  “I thought you said something.”

  Oh, God, had I? I couldn’t be sure. It was all so confusing. “No, yes, maybe … I don’t know, did I?”

  “Kalli, it’s okay. Really.” He took a deep breath and glanced at me with a smile. “I think we got off on the wrong foot. Hi, I’m Nik Stevens.”

  “Kalli Ballas,” I responded, still a bit wary.

  “Did I tell you I’m half Greek? I hear you’re Greek by association. That’s Greek enough for both our families, apparently.” We laughed, and his voice lowered an octave to a husky soft tone. “Look, our mamas have made us a bit crazy. You’re not alone, okay? Not to mention, you took one hell of a spill from what I hear. Are you sure you don’t want me to take you to the hospital?”

  “I’m sure.” I smiled at him and meant it this time. The stranger I’d met outside the restaurant was back, and once again, I relaxed. “Thank you for not making me feel like a freak. I’ve had enough of that in my life.”

  “Nobody’s perfect,” he said quietly. “Believe it or not, we all have our quirks.” He shot me a wink.

  Oh, boy. Not good. Nikos the argumentative, sarcastic, smug Greek I could deal with, but Nik the sweet, sympathetic, gorgeous nice guy was way too dangerous to be around. Time to change the subject. “So, tell me, is Darrin a decent guy? I mean, you didn’t find anything bad on his profile, did you?”

  Nikos and Nik disappeared as Detective Stevens took over, sending me a sharp look. “How did you know I checked out his profile?”

  Crap. He hadn’t said that out loud. I’d read his mind. I would have to pay closer attention to what information I revealed in the future. “You’re a cop, and knowing Jaz, I assumed she asked you to check him out before she agreed to the date. I don’t know. Something about him seems off. I just want to make sure she’ll be okay alone with him.”

  He relaxed a bit, but his features were still guarded and unreadable. “You assumed right. Jaz did ask me to check out his dating page. Nothing too invasive, just look it over. Far as I can tell, he seems okay. Other than lying about what he does for a living. He’s a car salesman, not an international businessman. He’s harmless, just a total player.”

  “Exactly how Jaz likes them. She likes to meet them, love them, and leave them. Why do you think she had to move on to men from out of town?”

  “Interesting. That would explain why she’s not the most popular person in town with the ladies, yet the men seem to love her.”

  “Exactly. Except some of them don’t know how to let go. That’s why I don’t date.”

  “Really? Again, interesting.”

  “Okay, so it’s not the only reason, but it’s reason enough. Relationships cause complications, and lately, my life has gotten complicated enough.”

  He glanced at me as we pulled up to the house Jaz and I shared and said, “You are just one big mystery, Miss Ballas.”

  “The power of a woman, Mr. Stevens. Gotta keep the other half guessing.” I winked at him this time. Why not end the evening on a playful note. It wasn’t like I would have to see him on a regular basis, so what was the harm? Our town was small, but it wasn’t that small. If I could avoid running into him, we would be just fine. “Wait a minute. You don’t have to pull into the driveway.”

  “Actually, I do.”

  “Seriously, I can get out by the curb.”

  He ignored me and pulled in anyway, then climbed out of the car.

  I scrambled after him. “Wait. You really don’t have to walk me to the door.” Oh, God, please don’t tell me he expected a good-night kiss. He had to know I was fooling. This wasn’t a real date. Besides, he’d seen enough tonight to let him know kissing was not an option.

  “Again, I do.”

  I walked beside him, fishing in my purse for my keys. The quicker I got this over with, the better. I practically tore the doorknob off in my haste to jam the key in the lock. The door finally swung open, and Miss Priss stuck her head out, purred at me, took one look at the detective, and then stuck her nose in the air as she walked away.

  “I missed you, too, Prissy,” I said to her retreating back, welcoming the feel of something normal. She was a beautiful calico cat, and her name was Priscilla, but everyone insisted on calling her Miss Priss because it fit her to a tee. “Well, Detective, it was nice meeting you. I hope everything goes well for you in fitting into this town. And I apologize ahead of time for anything my family might put you through.”

  “Please call me Nik. It was nice meeting you, too, Kalli. And don’t worry about your family. I’ve had enough practice to know exactly how to deal with them.” He smiled, but made no move to walk back to his car.

  A loud whining noise sounded from the door to the other half of the house. When I’d gotten my big break with the store in New York, I’d stopped working in my parents’ restaurant, moved out of their house, and moved in with Jaz. She owned a big old colonial house with a huge fenced-in backyard on Picture Perfect Drive—a dead end road just off of Main Street.

  She’d had carpenters split the house into two halves, insisting she didn’t need that much space. I couldn’t afford to rent the other half by myself yet, and I was determined not to take charity from anyone, so I paid to live with her. So far the other half had remained vacant. She insisted she hadn’t met anyone nice enough to rent it to yet.

  I had been away in New York City for the past week, meeting the people at Interludes and firming up plans for my spring line. Everyone had been there except my PR representative, whom I would be meeting with for dinner right here in Clearview. I had gotten home late last night, excited yet exhausted. By the time I had left this morning for Full Disclosure, I hadn’t noticed a thing.

  Someone had obviously changed her mind and moved in. By the sounds of it, they had a dog. A rather large dog. Why hadn’t Jaz told me? My insides knotted, and I suspected that was why. Cats I could handle. They were self-sufficient and as clean as me. Dogs … not so much. Her mission was to help me come out of my shell. Was this part of her plan? I swallowed hard.

  “Wh-What’s that?” I asked.

  “That’s Wolfgang,” he answered.

  “What’s a wolfgang?”

  “Not what … who.” Nik grinned like a schoolboy and pulled out a set of keys from his sport coat and then proceeded to unlock the door.

  My jaw hit the floor.

  A humongous St. Bernard leapt out the door, stood on his hind legs, and slammed his front paws onto the detective’s broad shoulde
rs, standing nearly as tall as his six-foot-something frame. The canine’s enormous tongue tried to reach every inch of the detective’s face, slobber flying everywhere, and the detective just laughed.

  Laughed!

  I convulsed and gagged, trying not to vomit. That was all it took for “Wolfgang” to notice me. His eyes grew huge and focused on me. I didn’t have to be a dog whisperer to know his thoughts: Fresh meat.

  He dropped down on all four paws and lunged.

  I screamed.

  Prissy appeared out of nowhere and hissed, her hair standing straight on end.

  Detective Stevens grabbed the dog’s collar and yanked. “Heel, Wolfgang.”

  The dog stopped immediately and sat, though his tailed thumped rapidly and his hind end kept fidgeting. He whined in a high-pitched, pathetic wail.

  “I know, buddy. It’s okay.” Nik patted the top of the beast’s head.

  “I-It’s not okay. What’s he doing in there?”

  The detective shrugged. “Checking out his new home, I guess.”

  “Wh-where is his owner?” I knew the answer, but I just couldn’t wrap my bruised and battered brain around it.

  “You’re looking at him.” Nik the nice guy was gone, Detective Stevens the cunning cop was on break, and Nikos the smug Greek was back in full force.

  “Good night, Detective,” I said stiffly as he stood there grinning like a fiend over my reaction to his beast. I quickly squeezed through my door and slammed it shut behind me, then leaned against it, thinking, Great, just great!

  I hated chaos, I hated unpredictability, I hated change. What more could possibly happen to upset the peaceful, steady order of my life?

  CHAPTER 3

  * * *

  Maybe it was all just a dream.

  I woke up the next morning and stretched, feeling the back of my head. No bump. I listened for sounds from next door, but there was no sign of the beast—man or canine. I padded over to the window and glanced outside. No car except mine, which if last night had happened, my car would still be at the restaurant.