the Day of the Dead miniatures. “Only if you want it to be, Rosa.”
Rosa? Every bit of this woman was sweet and feminine, even her name. Rosa dimpled and shivered. “I do. I do!” She faced Mollie with a bright expression. “Now where do you hide these ghosts? I am terrified.”
Janson wrapped his arms around her. “How is that? Better now?”
She made a face at him. “I am more terrified, but I must do this. I love the creepy.” It was clear that Janson had been forced into this by a pretty face. He’d never have bothered darkening her doorway at all if it had been up to him. “Oh look.” Rosa’s hand brushed the flyer someone from the city had brought by and taped to their register. “There is a Zombie Crawl tomorrow afternoon. What is this Zombie Crawl?”
Only the most fantastic event that Eureka Springs ever put on. Mollie took in a deep breath and tried to contain her enthusiasm. “It’s a parade where everyone dresses up like a zombie or a zombie hunter—usually the rednecks around here don’t bother finding a costume. They just come as they are and bring their biggest pickup trucks.”
“I want to see this Zombie Crawl!” Rosa glanced up imploringly at Janson and he gave in with a nod of his head.
Trying not to feel cast aside like an old glove, Mollie studied the bodyguards from the corner of her eye. The tallest one surveyed the room like he’d expected the walls to close in on them like an Indiana Jones trap. Having done these tours since junior high, she’d learned to recognize the signs of real terror and decided to take it easy on the big man. The shorter one seemed like the brain of the operations, and his intrigued eyes were on her. That was a surprising development. Perhaps he enjoyed a good ghost story. She smiled at him and he returned it with a leer.
Janson pushed between them, seeming annoyed. She stepped back to avoid colliding with him, waiting for an explanation for his latest odd behavior, and he quickly gave her one. “You do have ghosts on this tour, right? Let’s see them already. We’re growing cobwebs here.”
Well, rude! She’d show him just what kind of ghost tour he was on... and even though she’d planned to take it easy on his nervous bodyguard, she’d let Janson bear the brunt of her storytelling. She’d make up for that lost date. “Why don’t you sit down in the drawing room first and I’ll tell you... the rules.”
Those dark eyebrows of his drew in, but he did what Mollie asked at the tugging hands of his lovely girlfriend. He stalked through the curtains into the room they’d designated as the “drawing room,” giving her suspicious looks as he went. For good reason. She’d make sure he’d never forget this night.
CHAPTER FOUR
Janson hunkered down on the bench seat in the drawing room. He’d known he’d made a mistake coming here the moment he’d latched eyes with Mollie. She was as fiery as he remembered, the blueness of her gaze sparked with light and energy. The woman was like a flame he couldn’t resist. Every time their hands had brushed, he’d felt the charge between them.
And wow! What am I thinking? Stop that! The division between his heart and head made him grumpy. He wasn’t the kind of man to drop a date at the first sign of a pretty face. Rosa was kindhearted, safe, not dangerously... irresistible. He groaned. If it wasn’t for Rosa’s arm slipped into his, he’d walk out of this ghost tour now.
He sighed, staring around a “drawing room” that was just as creepy as he’d thought it would be. The walls were cement; two of them painted purple and the one behind them bare and covered in nicks and scratches. Rugs covered up flood stains, which must be where the musty smell came from. Was that the loud beat of a bass playing? It sounded like a dance club was across the way.
His phone rang, and he fumbled with it, seeing his stepmother was calling. Katherine had somehow found his personal number—she could be a secret agent in another life. With a nimble flick over the buttons, he put the phone on vibrate. His father was due to fly into town tonight. Let his family figure out their own drama. Without an ounce of regret, he slipped the phone back into his pocket. Mollie messed with the speakers