Ghost Mortem (Ghost Detective #1) - Jane Hinchey Page 0,3

Red and black checkered shirt over a black T-shirt, the dark denim I loved, boots, five o’clock shadow to die for. A red mark forming on his square jaw where we’d connected. His grey eyes—surrounded by long, thick lashes—narrowed as he studied me in turn.

“Audrey, you really do need a keeper.” Ben Delaney, my bestie, stepped around the man, shaking his head at me. Launching myself at him, I wrapped my arms around his neck and squeezed him tight.

“It’s good to see you!” I declared, turning my head to drop a kiss on his bristled cheek.

His chest rumbled as he laughed. “Still getting yourself into trouble I see. You’re a menace.” He disentangled himself from my embrace and slapped the other man on the back.

“You okay?” he asked.

Tall, Dark, and Handsome eyed me distrustfully, but nodded. “I’ll live.” His voice was deep and gravelly and did funny things to my insides.

Ben grinned. “This walking disaster zone is my best friend, Audrey Fitzgerald. Audrey, meet Kade Galloway. Detective Kade Galloway.”

My heart sank. He was one of them. A cop. My eyes darted between Ben and the detective. Ben gave a slight nod as if to reassure me that I could trust this one, that he was okay. Tentatively I held out a hand.

“Pleased to meet you,” I offered.

He looked at my hand and with what I could only call reluctance, gave it a quick shake, then slid his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.

“Pleased to meet you too, Audrey,” he smiled and I blinked in surprise. The smile was genuine and revealed a drool-worthy dimple. He was the best thing I’d seen in forever…why did he have to be a cop? Ben used to be on the force. He’d had a promising career ahead of him. Until he didn’t. Until they turned their backs on him and shunned him and forced him out. Now he ran his own PI business—one I helped set up.

But I’d learned something from Ben’s time on the force. Cops couldn’t be trusted. They twisted things to suit themselves, and they weren’t above bending the law to cover their own asses. I sighed wistfully. Such a shame.

“What are you doing out here anyway? Get off early today?” Ben asked. Then he looked me up and down, eyes narrowed, and he snorted.

“What?” I did a quick inventory, checking I hadn’t spilled lunch on my T-shirt or had my skirt on backward or anything else equally mortifying.

“You got fired,” he deadpanned. “Again.”

I shrugged. “I was at the end of my contract anyway. Two days!” I held up two fingers in a rude gesture and he swiped my hand down, wrapping my fingers in his.

“What am I going to do with you, Fitz?” He chuckled.

“Buy me a beer?” I suggested hopefully.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Detective Kade Galloway drawled, one brow arching over steel grey eyes. “Seems you can barely walk in a straight line sober.”

I ignored him. Linking my arm through Ben’s, I urged us forward. “What are you doing here anyway? On a job?” The detective fell into step behind us and I couldn’t help but be acutely aware of his presence.

“Business meeting,” Ben muttered, glancing down at me. We stopped at the light and he placed an arm protectively in front of me, as if expecting me to cross against the red light.

“Ha ha.” Slapping his arm away, I folded my arms. “Oh? A runaway cat? Cheating spouse?” Those had been Ben’s typical cases since opening his doors a couple of years ago when he left the force.

“Actually, this is a good one.”

“A step up from a cat then.”

“Indeed.”

“If you’re finished with your meeting, how about joining me for a drink? I’ve got a couple of hours to kill—you can tell me all about it.”

The blaring of my alarm jerked me out of my torturous slumber the following morning. Groaning, I reached out a hand, fumbling to silence the headache-inducing screech emerging from the device I usually loved but at right this minute held in extreme contempt. Finally, my fingers landed on my phone and, peeling my eyelids open, I blearily peered at the screen, focusing around the cracks.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I’d forgotten to cancel the alarm. Punching angrily at the red cross, I eventually managed to silence it, tossing it back onto the bedside table, listening as it slid across the surface and fell off the other side and onto the floor with a thunk. I pulled the covers