Miss Frost Ices The Imp: A Nocturne Falls Mystery (Jayne Frost Book 2) (2 page)

“You know who.” I sighed. “I don’t have any choice if I want to get this stuff home. He’s the only one I know with a truck.”

“You could call an iRyde.”

“After all the money I just spent, you want me to spend more?”

Juniper raised her brows. “You’re going to owe him.”

“Don’t remind me.” I pulled out my phone and dialed one of Nocturne Falls’ hottest citizens, Cooper Sullivan. And I wasn’t just making a pun because he was a fireman. And an incredibly good-looking one. He was a summer elf, the opposite of my kind. Heat and fire were the calling cards of summer elves, just like cold and ice belonged to us.

Cooper was also my ex-boyfriend from college. We’d broken up due to a shady third party (my former best friend Lark, who really ought to be known as She Who Shall Not Be Named) and her lies, but Coop and I had recently made up. Meaning we were friends again, but not really dating. Well, sort of dating. But not in a serious way.

It was hard to say exactly what Cooper and I were doing now. Casually dating maybe? We’d been totally into each other in college, but the years between then and now had been filled with a lot of bad feelings and unhappy memories. Moving past all that was further complicated by the fact that I’d come to Nocturne Falls in a magical disguise that hid who I really was. It was all part of my attempt to uncover why employees at the toy shop were going missing.

During that attempt and in that disguise, I dated Cooper. Just a few times. But, hey, I was on a fact-finding mission and Cooper was dialed into the town, being a fireman and all. It was just part of doing my job.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that some of the dates had included kissing. Really good kissing.

I’d since come clean about who I was, having solved the missing-elves business, so Cooper knew the truth. We were doing our best to be friends now, though we hadn’t seen much of each other the last few weeks. Mostly because I’d been avoiding him. I know. Not the nicest of me. But I was so torn about how to feel when it came to Cooper. I liked him. But we had some strange history. And we were different people now than we’d been in college. Who wasn’t?

Juniper thought I should be friends with him but move on romantically. She liked Cooper as a friend, too, but after I told her what had happened between us in college, she was convinced that if he had really loved me then, he would have fought harder.

Not that she was so fond of the other man in my life. Greyson Garrett. Dark, mysterious, handsome and a little dangerous, Greyson was everything my mother had ever warned me about in a man. And then some. He was also a vampire with the most delicious Irish accent. I could listen to him talk all day. But more on that tasty hunk of fanged goodness later.

Cooper answered on the fourth ring. “Jayne?”

“Yep, it’s me.”

“Hey, what have you been up to?”

“Work mostly. Getting the store back on track and bringing new employees in, getting them trained, all that stuff. It’s been crazy busy.” That wasn’t a lie, but I’d had some time to hang out with Juniper and Buttercup, the other store employee I’d become friends with, so it wasn’t as if I’d been working non-stop.

“I’m sure you’ve been swamped. How do you like being manager?”

“I love it, actually.” It was the first job I’d had that felt right.

“Good.” He paused, and I could sense him leaving the small talk behind. “Any room in your schedule for lunch?”

And there it was. “Oh, I always make time to eat. You know me.” I made a face at Juniper, who made an I-told-you-so face right back at me.

He laughed. “I meant lunch with me.”

I knew that. But I was all about avoidance. Sadly, that wasn’t going to get the rug and the painting and all this other paraphernalia back to my apartment. And if Cooper was willing to help, I’d make it worth his while. Because that was the right thing to do for a friend. “I’ll tell you what, if you can do me a favor today, I’ll fix you dinner tonight. At my place. I have some work to do when I get back, schedules to write up and inventories to run, that kind of stuff, but maybe around seven, you could come—”

“Done.”

Okay, he was more eager to see me than I’d anticipated. “You don’t know what the favor is. Or what I’m making for dinner.” Spaghetti and meat sauce, because that was easy, yummy and the perfect excuse to have tiramisu for dessert.

“Whatever you make will be fine. What’s the favor?” There was a smile in his voice. “Should I be worried?”

I hoped not. “I need help getting a rug and a painting from an estate sale back to my apartment.”

“I see. You’re just interested in me for my muscles.”

He had no idea. Or maybe he did. I played it off. “If muscles is what you call your pickup truck, then you’ve figured me out.”

He laughed. “Let me throw on some clothes, and I can be there in ten. So long as you aren’t miles away. Where is this place?”

Throw on some clothes? What was he wearing now? Or not wearing? I reined my thoughts in. “Not far. We’re over on Phantom Lane.”

He whistled. “The ritzy part of town.”

“Yeah, we’re at a big Victorian that’s having an estate sale. Nasty divorce is the scuttlebutt. Anyway, there’s lots of cool stuff.”

“I’ll find it. Call you when I get there if I don’t see you first.” He hung up.

I tucked my phone into my purse. “He’s on his way.”

“And you’re making him dinner? Sounds like a fun evening.” Juniper’s knowing wink wasn’t helpful.

“I like him.” I really did.

“I know. But you also like Greyson. Or are you throwing him aside? Which would be fine with me.”

“I’m not throwing Greyson aside.” I liked him, too.

“Then do you like Cooper enough to give him a second chance? Because that’s probably what he thinks this is.”

“Yeah, I don’t know.” Is that what I’d just done? Told Cooper I was ready to start something again? I couldn’t very well back out now. And frankly, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. There was no rule that said I couldn’t date two guys. We were living in liberated times. And I was the Winter Princess! I could date around if I wanted to. “This could be like a test to see how we do together now that he knows who I really am.”

She nodded, then tipped her head. “Are you going to let him kiss you if he tries?”

“I’ll only tell you that if you make those cookies.” Really, I had no idea if this was going to be that kind of evening. Probably not. It kind of felt like Cooper and I were starting over, and I wasn’t sure if that’s the direction we should be headed in. Not when I was already having feelings for Greyson.

Although I had loved Cooper once. Thought I’d be married to him, actually. There was a time when I’d had my whole future planned out, and all of it included Cooper. Funny how things change. The thought made me a little melancholy.

Juniper poked me.

“What?”

She tipped her head. I looked in the direction she’d indicated.

Bryn walked up to us, bill in hand. She presented it to me. “How does this look?”

I took the paper. She’d given me an extra twenty percent off. “It looks great, thank you.”

Bryn smiled. “Will that be cash or credit?”

“You take credit cards?”

“We do.” She took out her phone and plugged a card reader into it. “Don’t you love technology?”

By the time Cooper was due to arrive, I’d found and paid for a few more things. A set of pillows for the couch, a fancy gargoyle robe hook, a picture for the bathroom and a waffle iron. Because who doesn’t love waffles? Especially with ice cream and hot fudge. I also never turn down sprinkles. Which could be my life’s motto.

Speaking of tasty things, Cooper was walking toward Juniper and me looking way too good for this early on a Saturday morning. I took a breath, realizing I’d forgotten just how perfect the man was. Or maybe I’d blocked it out.

The whole sun-kissed surfer vibe was sort of a summer elf trait, but Cooper took it to a different level and made it look effortless with that athletic gait of his and that perfectly tousled dirty-blond hair.

I suddenly wished I’d at least put lip gloss on. Instead, I was standing here in cut-off jean shorts, a Howler’s tank top (free because I’d caught it while standing in the crowd of the Panic Parade in May) and some recently purchased rubber flip-flops. My real effort today had been hauling my carcass out from under the covers early enough to avoid the blizzard Juniper had threatened me with if I didn’t wake up in time. She might not have been the most skilled of winter elves, but I was sure she wasn’t kidding about the avalanche.

I never should have given her a key to my apartment.

The clothes Cooper had thrown on were a ragged pair of khaki shorts and a faded T-shirt. Not much of an effort either, but on him it worked. Overtime. The clothes did nothing to hide his tall, muscular frame. His hair was, at best, finger-combed, and the sandy stubble covering his square jaw made my fingers itch to touch it. He pushed his sunglasses on top of his head as he joined us, his brilliant blue eyes crinkling at the corners with his smile. “Morning, ladies.”

“Hi, Cooper. Nice of you to help,” Juniper said while poking me in the back where Cooper couldn’t see.

I was pretty sure she was commenting on his hotness. “Yeah, thanks, Cooper.”

“You’re welcome.” He looked around. “Where’s your stuff?”

“In the house. I’ll show you.”

Juniper grabbed my arm before I left. “We’re obviously not hitting any of the other sales, so I’m going to head back. That way I can get my shower and get into the store without rushing. It is Saturday.”

Saturdays were an event in the shop. Snowy Saturdays, we called them. It was the day we used our collective magic to make it snow in the store. The customers loved it and we were always busy. “No problem. I’ll see you later. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She glanced at Cooper. “Have fun.”

She bopped away before I could say anything more. I knew she needed to get ready for work, but I also knew she was leaving me alone with Cooper on purpose. My guess was that, as much as she thought Greyson was a bad idea, she probably thought Cooper wasn’t, despite her opinion that he hadn’t fought hard enough for me in college. Hey, she’d known him for nearly four years and considered him a friend. I couldn’t blame her for siding with Team Cooper.

Greyson was relatively new in town and, as I mentioned, a vampire. That was the part she didn’t like, the vampire bit. She just worried about all the unknowns that came with being one of the more dangerous supernaturals. But Greyson hadn’t done anything to deserve the worry or speculation. He was a great guy and one I liked very much.

There was no way I was remotely ready to pick one guy over the other.

“Lead the way, Princess.” Cooper winked at me.

I controlled my urge to roll my eyes. “Come on.”

Cooper and I went into the house to retrieve my things. I found Bryn and told her we were taking my purchases. Better that than someone think we were just walking off with stuff. She gave us the go-ahead and my receipt, which I had walked off without getting earlier. Too discombobulated with thoughts of Cooper, apparently. I stuffed it in my pocket without a second glance.

I took Cooper into the dining room and showed him the rug. “Nice, huh?”

“Very.” He bent down at one corner, looking at me expectantly.

I crouched down at the other one, and we rolled it up. The thing was heavy. This was more work than I’d expected. “Did I mention there would be dessert? Because this much work definitely merits dessert.”

“I won’t say no to that.” His end was going faster, so he stopped to let me catch up and straighten things out. “You know what I like.”

There was a loaded statement. And I had no comeback. Instead, I made a mental note to pick up something fruity at Delaney’s Delectables along with the tiramisu. Summer elves loved fruit.

He shook his head as if amused with himself and started rolling again. “I’ll bring wine. Red okay?”

“Red’s great.” I was huffing a little, to my embarrassment. Hey, the rug was a beast. Heavy
and
large. And Juniper had hustled me out of the house so fast this morning that I’d had time for only one Dr Pepper. I would have grabbed a doughnut, too, but I was out of them.

The thought of sugar made my stomach rumble. I was starving, actually.

Cooper lifted the roll over his shoulder like it was nothing. Clearly, he’d had breakfast. My end flopped to the ground behind him like a giant sausage. Not that food was the only thing on my mind. He glanced back at me. “You’d better get that unless you want me to drag it all the way to my truck.”

“Right. On it.” I hoisted the trailing part onto my shoulder and followed him to his vehicle. Since I was connected to him by the rug, I was sort of on autopilot. Mostly because I was staring at his very tight backside. It was impossible not to, what with it being right in front of me and all.

But that little trip was enough to show me that no matter what I was telling myself, I was not beyond the reach of Cooper Sullivan’s charms.

I definitely still liked him. Way more than I wanted to admit.