Dyed and Gone to Heaven (Curl Up and Dye Mysteries, #3)

by Aimee Nicole Walker

  I had several errands I wanted to run before I went home because I knew I wouldn’t want to go back out once I got there. I stopped by Marabeth’s first to see if she had a bath oil or something that would help Josh sleep. It was adorable how he played off sleeping well that morning, but I knew better. My guy was many wonderful things, but an actor wasn’t one of them. I didn’t get all pissy when he lied to me because I knew his reasons were well-meaning. Besides, it was more of an exaggeration than a lie.

  Marabeth recommended a chamomile and spice bath oil that I thought Josh and I would both like. I wasn’t much of a bath guy until he came into my life. I enjoyed any activity that included Josh naked against me. My next stop was Harry’s Hardware. He’d been in business for forty years, and I did my part to make sure he wasn’t gobbled up by the large chain home improvement stores that were close. I was pretty sure I saw some loose screws at the base of Josh’s pole where it screwed into the floor in the attic. Not only that, I found the perfect trees in Josh’s—our—back yard to hang my hammock.

  I had grabbed what I needed and was headed to the front of the store to pay when a guy stepped out of another aisle and nearly collided with me. Emory Jackson clutched his chest and offered me a sheepish smile.

  “I’m sorry, Gabe. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” A husband and wife walked by us and gave Emory the once over. Oh, how well I remembered being the new guy in town.

  “No problem, Emory. How’s it going?” I asked. “You getting settled in okay?”

  “It’s going to be an adjustment,” he admitted, “but it feels right to me. Josh’s cookies and thoughtful invitation helped to make me feel welcome.”

  “Josh? My Josh?” I asked in surprise. “An invitation to what?”

  “Um, dinner,” Emory said uneasily. “On Sunday.”

  “Sunday dinner? This Sunday, as in Easter?” I asked in surprise.

  “Is that a problem, Gabe? I don’t want to cause any trouble.” Emory said, backing up as if I would snap at him like a dog over a favorite toy or a steak. His reaction broke through my shock.

  “No, there’s no problem,” I told him. “It’s just that Josh’s Sunday dinners are very sacred. They’re very important to him, which means that you’ve made a good impression on him.” Perhaps better than I realized. I wasn’t going to stress about it, and I surely wouldn’t ruin Josh’s good deed.

  “I think it’s more like pity, Gabe, but I appreciate what you said. If you’re sure it won’t be a problem…”

  “You’re more than welcome to join us for dinner, Emory. I mean that.” Before I could say anything else, Mrs. Miller from two doors down stopped and introduced herself to Emory. “I’ll see you Sunday,” I said firmly, letting him know I expected to see him there.

  I stopped by Brook’s Pets to pick up more of those dog treats Buddy liked so much, a tug-of-war rope, and more catnip mice for Diva because Buddy kept stealing them. Jazzy got a big red sea creature that had tunnels running through the tentacles and a huge mouth as an extra opening and exit. She was going to love that thing. I knew I would probably regret it, but I bought a multi-leveled perch with a bell at the bottom that I could suspend from the top of the cage for Savage. He could curse and ring his little bell for hours.

  I checked the time after I loaded the pet toys in my trunk and noted that it was close enough to dinner time to stop at the diner and order takeout. I sent Josh a text to let him know I was bringing food home and settled in on a stool at the L-shaped countertop bar.

  “Mind if I have a seat?” Kyle asked from behind me.

  I twisted to look over my shoulder and offered him a smile. “Pull up a stool,” I replied.

  “How’s it going?” I asked.

  “It’s been a really interesting week thanks to your boyfriend,” Kyle said then grinned.

  “He told me about the vet visit with Chaz,” I said. I leaned forward and lowered my voice when I asked, “Did you two really have a ‘moment’ like Josh said you did?” I left off the part about them staring into each other’s eyes and such.

  “It was… something,” Kyle said. I grinned broadly then because it sounded awfully damn familiar to me when I met Josh.

  “Something, huh?” I asked.

  “Definitely.” His blue eyes took on a faraway look for a few seconds then he looked back at me. “You won’t believe what happened at the salon,” he said. I would expect just about anything where Josh was concerned.

  I listened and laughed at what happened in the salon that morning, even though I felt horrible for Chaz. Kyle must’ve been blind to it, but the rest of us saw how much Chaz blushed whenever Kyle was near. My ex-boyfriend seemed to have his radar honed in on Chaz too, so I was pretty sure Josh was right about the potential there. I also knew that you couldn’t force it, and that they’d need to find their way at the pace that worked for them.

  “Then Josh invited me to dinner and…”

  “Wait! He did what? When?” I asked.

  “Um, Sunday,” Kyle said hesitantly, a lot like Emory had.

  “This Sunday? Easter Sunday?” I asked. Kyle nodded to confirm, and my eyes narrowed in speculation. What the hell was Josh up to? He probably did feel bad about Emory being alone for the holiday, but why invite Kyle? Then it dawned on me. He was playing matchmaker. Of course, with Emory thrown in the mix, there could be trouble. What would Josh do if Kyle and Emory hit it off right in front of his best friend? Oh man, it could get ugly. “Did you accept his invitation?”

  “Should I not accept his invitation?” Kyle inquired. “Is that going to be a problem for you or something?”

  “For me? No. I have no problem with you being there. I was just surprised is all,” I assured him. “Be on time,” I warned him. “He runs a tight ship, my guy.”

  Daniella placed my carryout order on the counter in front of me. I ordered the meatloaf dinner for Josh and the cabbage roll dinner for myself. I patted Kyle on the shoulder, told him I’d see him Sunday, and went to the register to pay for my food. I gave Daniella a tip—even though we didn’t eat in—because she had started back to college and could use all the help she could get.

  Josh was already upstairs when I got home. “Honey, I’m home,” I called out. He came out of the bedroom chewing on his lip, looking like he had been beating himself up all day long. “What have you done?” I was certain to keep the scorn out of my voice because he wasn’t a child, he was my equal. “Kyle and Emory?”

  “You know already?” Josh asked. I told him about running into Emory at the hardware store and Kyle and the diner. “And you still brought me home food?”

  I set the bags of food and my purchases on the dining room table and opened my arms to him. “You shouldn’t feel guilty about extending an invitation to our home to enjoy a lovely dinner.”

  “Yeah, but those nights are just supposed to be for the four of us,” he said.

  “Sunshine, it can’t just be the four of us forever. Chaz and Meredith will find their soul mates like we found one another and they’ll be joining us. Families are made to expand, that’s just what they do.” I ran my thumbs over his cheeks, and I saw the tension drain from him. “As long as you extended the invitations for the right reasons and you don’t have Hallmark Movie Channel expectations, then I’m perfectly fine with what you did.”

  Josh snorted and rolled his eyes. “I have yet to see an LGBTQ couple featured in one of their shows, nor many people of color for that matter.”

  “I think you get my point, don’t you?” I asked.

  “Yes, dear,” he said snarkily. I slapped his round bottom for his sass and began to unload the food and the loot. “What’s this?” he asked, holding up the bottle of oil from Marabeth’s. He read the ingredients and what it was intended to do then looked up at me. “Having trouble sleeping?”

  “I thought we could both take a hot bath after dinner and the kids had a chance to play with their new toys,” I suggested. “So we both sleep well.”


  Josh’s eyes softened like they did when we made love. “I love your considerate heart, Gabe.”

  “I love you, Sunshine.”

  The ballgame played in the background while we had fun playing with our critters. It didn’t hurt my feelings that Buddy wanted to play tug-of-war with Josh instead of me. I was busy splitting my attention between Jazzy and Diva while I tried not to regret getting Savage that ringing bell.

  “Fucknugget!” Ding. Ding. Ding.

  “Cumguzzler!” Ding. Ding. Ding.

  “Dirty Bird!” Ding. Ding. Ding.

  “Fire in the hole!” Ding. Ding. Ding.

  “That’s new!” Josh and I both said at the same time, followed by, “I didn’t teach him that.”

  “Roger’s boy!” Ding. Ding. Ding.

  “That must be his previous owner,” Josh said. “He’s only said his name a few times in the few years that I’ve had him.”

  “Big Daddy’s boy,” I said to Savage.

  “Big Daddy,” Savage repeated back.

  “Big Daddy’s boy,” I tried again.

  It took several attempts, but he eventually said, “Big Daddy’s boy” to me. It made my entire night—well, that was until Josh pressed his wet, naked body against mine. As much as I loved the bird, it was nowhere close to the way I felt for his owner.

  Once I had him spread and pinned beneath me in our bed, it was his turn to yell out who owned him—heart, body and soul. After we finished making love, we both fell into a deep sleep tangled up in limbs and love.

  IT WAS NICE HAVING Gabe home later in the morning, and not just because he made me breakfast. Watching him cook our omelets reminded me of the time I’d gone to his house for a physical release—or so I had convinced myself at the time—and ended up accidentally staying the night. After sex, Gabe pulled me to him to cuddle before I could bolt from the bed and get dressed. He promised to wake me up, but I wasn’t smart enough to nail down the details before I closed my eyes and fell asleep against his chest. He woke me up the next morning, not in a few hours like I had intended.

  I ran around his bedroom cursing him and everyone he knew while I dressed. The echoes of his laughter still bounced around in my heart. I knew then that I was crazy about him, even though I wasn’t ready to acknowledge it. Once we started dating, Gabe had told me about the omelet he had planned to make me that morning, and I demanded that he show me what I had missed. Gabe didn’t cook a lot, but it was always tasty when he did, especially his omelets.

  It felt more like a Sunday morning than a Friday with Gabe reading the newspaper and drinking coffee after breakfast. I hoped that his sting operation didn’t run too late and I tried hard not to get jealous of him meeting with a sexy guy in a hotel room and touching his naked chest while affixing a wire to his body. I hated the images that my overactive imagination created and talked myself down by reminding myself that strip searches and lingering touches weren’t part of the process. It wasn’t like Gabe was going to be wrapping the wire around the guy’s cock. Right? I reminded myself that Gabe was just one of the guys on the task force and that he wouldn’t be alone. Okay, then my mind headed straight to terrifying threesome images of Gabe with Jonathon Silver and Paul. Nope! Not going there!

  “What’s going on in that mind of yours, Sunshine?” Gabe asked, startling me back to reality. One corner of the paper was turned down, and he was peering at me over the top of it. “The hamsters in your brain are running so hard I could hear it over here. You might need to squirt some WD-40 on that thing too. It’s starting to sound a bit squeaky.”

  “That’ll be the sound your balls make when I… never mind.” We both knew I wasn’t going to withhold sex from him as a form of punishment. “You better not be implying it’s rusty and squeaky from underuse.” I pinned him with my best threatening glare.

  “Quite the opposite. That thing never shuts down and needs a rest,” Gabe reached across the table and covered my hand with one of his. “Seriously, what’s bothering you?”

  I wasn’t about to tell him where my mind had gone because I knew my worry was unfounded. I trusted Gabe with all my heart, and I wouldn’t ruin our happy morning over problems that I had to work through on my own. “I’m just worried if I have enough ham to feed all the extra guests.” I had been worried about that before I worried about Gabe engaging in hot, sweaty cop porn.

  “That’s what put that frown on your precious face? Or maybe you’re thinking about how you need to tell Chaz about Kyle coming to Easter dinner and how it’s not a good idea to wait until Kyle shows up to eat,” Gabe recommended.

  “Chaz won’t show up then,” I said worriedly.

  “Chaz isn’t going to skip dinner with us, but he can at least show up looking rested and have his hair styled.” I knew Gabe was thinking about Chaz’s ruffled appearance the previous week. I thought it was adorable that he wanted Chaz to look his best. Hmmm, had he finally joined the matchmaking bandwagon? I still suspected there was more at play than just video games with Chaz, but I wasn’t sure what the hell I could do about it. He was, in fact, a grown-ass man and could make his own decisions.

  “I’ll tell him,” I said to Gabe, but I didn’t promise when.

  “Today,” Gabe added firmly, not falling for my shenanigans. It was okay for him to be vague with time and make up his own rules, but apparently, I didn’t have the same freedoms. Lucky for him he was so fucking sexy with his dark scowl and demanding tone of voice or I might’ve put up a bigger fight. Of course, it helped that he was also right.

  “Fine,” I said like a petulant brat. I rolled my eyes at the huge grin that spread across Gabe’s face. My mind skipped past being jealous and insecure and started plotting strategies to make him suffer.

  “I know that look too,” Gabe said smugly. “You going to cuff me to a chair again and fuck my brains out? That’ll teach me.” The sarcasm rolled off his tongue so naturally, it was like he was born to snark. Damn, that would make a great coffee cup.

  “You’re one more wisecrack away from wearing skinny jeans,” I told him.

  “Never going to happen,” he said shaking his head. “I’ll stick with my relaxed fit.”

  Here’s the thing, I had zero plans of turning Gabe into a more muscular version of me. I just liked to rile him up. Although, I did feel that a dark wash denim in a straight leg fit was a good compromise between skinny and relaxed. I thought about buying them and slipping them in his drawer to see if he noticed. I knew what would happen when I saw those sexy, long legs in that dark denim, which would cling tighter to his thighs and delicious ass than his preferred fit. I loved jeans with a button fly because I could take my time kissing each inch I revealed as I unbuttoned them slowly.

  “Oh, baby, I know that look too,” Gabe remarked gleefully. He looked at his watch then back at me. “How much time do you have?”

  I stood quickly from my chair and replied, “Enough to give you a proper send-off and remind you who loves you.” I turned and made a dash to the bedroom.

  “As if there’s ever a doubt,” Gabe said following hot on my heels.

  It was still amazing to me how much emotion and love Gabe could pack into a quick, hard fuck. It wasn’t about me presenting my ass to him in the middle of our bed and making myself available just to please him. He was completely devoted to getting me off at the same time. Beyond the physical aspect, there were the kisses he placed on my neck and the loving way he caressed my chest as he told me how much he loved me and that he could never get enough of me. Never, not even when I wanted him just to use me, did Gabe ever make me feel like I wasn’t valued.

  I decided that days that started out with grunting, groaning, and coming were absolutely the best. I had just enough time to clean up and give my man a long, lusty kiss before I headed downstairs to start my day.

  I was surprised to see Chaz was already downstairs waiting for me. Hell, he even beat Meredith in and that was no easy feat. He was sitting kind of primly in my salon chair with his legs crossed sippin
g a cup of coffee. The expression on his face looked like a combination of anger and admiration. “I know what you did,” he said gravely.

  “Oh,” I said, feeling my cheeks flush with mortification. “We would’ve tried to be quieter if we knew you were down here already. Sorry, man.”

  “Not that,” Chaz said in a voice that clearly stated how aggravated he was with me. “It’s nice to know that someone got their morning started off the right way,” he added snidely. “You know what you did.” I did know what he was referring to but wasn’t sure how he knew.

  “Who told? Meredith?” I asked.

  “Kyle called me,” Chaz said flatly.

  “Oh! Did he? What did he say?” I had to know. “Is he coming to dinner?”

  “Josh, do you have any idea how humiliated I was by the encounter yesterday? Or, are you so blinded by your happiness that you’ve lost sight of how others might be feeling?” Chaz asked.

  I gasped and took a step back as if he slapped me. “I did it for you,” I told him. “There’s just so much,” I made wave motions with my hands that were meant to be vibes, “going on between the two of you and I thought that…”

  “No, you did this for you, not me or Kyle. You weren’t thinking either. You, of all people, know that these things can’t be rushed or forced. You didn’t see Meredith or me interfering with you and Gabe when you were trying to find your way. We encouraged you to be brave and take chances, and we even called you out on your bullshit…”

  “Like you’re doing now,” I interjected.

  “…when you needed it. We never put you in a situation where you were made to feel uncomfortable,” Chaz continued as if I hadn’t interrupted him.

  “I’m sorry, Chaz, I truly am. I overstepped, and I’m not sure how to fix it. I can’t uninvite him to dinner. Besides, it’s a holiday, he shouldn’t be alone.”

  “Kyle has his parents, three sisters, and two sets of grandparents living in this town. Do you honestly believe he has no place to eat ham and deviled eggs?”