Flirting Under a Full Moon - By Ashlyn Chase Page 0,36
getting enough vitamin C, and it comes with a lime.”
They laughed.
“Hey, it’s always a good idea to prevent colds.” Kurt ordered one too.
“Would you get one for me too, sweetheart?” Nick asked.
“Vitamin C all around then.” Brandee smirked as she made her way to Angie at the bar. When she caught her friend’s attention, she ordered, “Three Coronas with limes.”
Angie nodded.
As she waited, Phil, another semi-regular, asked, “Is Nick going to be your bodyguard from now on? Doesn’t he have a job or something?”
Brandee spoke a little louder than usual because Phil was hard of hearing. “I imagine his workload is just light right now.” She leaned closer to speak directly into his ear. “He’s not my bodyguard.”
“Could have fooled me.”
Brandee thought about it and realized Nick hadn’t mentioned taking any more cases. She hoped he wasn’t turning them down just to keep an eye on her. I’ll ask him later. He’ll probably be here after my shift. That thought was both comforting and annoying.
***
A couple of hours later, Kurt and Tory had left, and Nick wanted to check out one thing. It would satisfy his curiosity and get him out of Brandee’s hair. She was beginning to look at him as if she didn’t appreciate his hanging around.
He slid into the booth opposite Sadie. She was shuffling her cards as usual.
“Can I ask you something? I don’t need a reading—well, not exactly.”
“Did you meet the one-drink minimum?”
“I nursed a beer for an hour or so. Does that count?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Barely. But since you’re a friend of Anthony’s, I’ll allow it. What’s on your mind?”
“Is this building haunted?”
“Yes,” she said matter-of-factly and stopped shuffling. “Does that bother you?”
“Not unless the spirit is unfriendly. Do you know any details about the haunting?”
“Like?”
“Like who? How many? Why they’re here?”
“I don’t know any of that. He, she, or they have never given me any sign of wanting to make contact.”
“What if he, she, or it doesn’t know you’re a psychic?”
“More likely he or she is shy and stays out of the bar when there are people here. Why are you interested in this, Nick? Are you concerned about Brandee?”
“Bingo.”
“I don’t think she’s in any danger. I would have mentioned something to Anthony if I was worried.”
Nick remembered Anthony telling him that Sadie had mentioned it to him. Maybe her nonchalant act was just that—an act.
“Sadie, if I can get you into Brandee’s apartment when she and Angie are out, would you try to make contact and see what the story is? I’d feel better knowing everything is okay.”
“What makes you think it isn’t?”
Nick glanced over at Brandee. She seemed sufficiently busy and wasn’t paying any attention to them. “Brandee said she hears moans, growls, banging…”
“Oh, dear. Is she sure it’s not the Balogs?”
“What she described didn’t sound human.”
Sadie stared off in the distance for a few seconds.
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t say for sure unless I make contact, but it doesn’t sound like the spirit is hanging around because it’s comfortable here.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
Sadie began to wave Brandee over.
Nick pulled down her hand. “What are you doing?”
“I was going to schedule a time to go upstairs and check it out.”
“No. I don’t want to alarm her.”
“Too late. She saw me wave to her.”
“Then just order a drink. I’ll pay for it if you don’t say anything to her about ghost busting.”
Brandee wove her way through the crowd to their table. “Hi there, Sadie. What can I do for you?”
“Nick generously offered to buy me a drink. I’ll have the usual, please.”
“You got it. Anything for you, Nick?”
“All I want is to see your beautiful smile.”
Brandee rolled her eyes but couldn’t suppress the blush invading her cheeks—or the smile.
Nick snapped his fingers. “Hey, I just thought of something.”
Brandee tipped her head. “Yeah? What’s that?”
“You mentioned you were having car trouble. I’m bored out of my mind just sitting around and waiting for my phone to ring. Why don’t you let me take a look at it?”
“My car?”
“Yeah. I’m pretty good with older models. I thought about becoming a mechanic before I became a cop. I might be able to figure out what’s wrong with it if I can hear the motor turn over. Why don’t you bring me your keys along with Sadie’s drink?”
“I, uh…I guess I could do that. It’s not like I have to worry about you voiding the warranty.”
He laughed and mentally congratulated himself when she went off to get her keys. She called out the order to Angie as she