“I’ll call Conan, have him look into it,” he said as they approached the house. “I need to talk to R&R about this Swenson business. Will Loretta be awake? Should I say good-night to her or anything?”
The chill she’d felt at his reaction to her caller warmed at his offer to acknowledge Loretta as something besides a client. If her head didn’t spin off her neck athismixed reactions, she might develop pneumonia from her own. “She’ll be reading under the covers. Lights out was half an hour ago.”
He chuckled, waved at Mavis babysitting in the front room, and followed Evie upstairs, rapping lightly at Loretta’s door before opening it. “Just checking to make certain you’re still here.”
“I’m here,” Loretta called back. “Tell Evie to clear the attic so I can have more privacy.”
“What, with all the ghosts and goblins? You tell her. Goodnight, sleep tight.” Jax shut the door.
“That is probably the sexiest thing I’ve heard you say.” Evie beamed at him in approval.
“I want to hear more about your Miss Ward, but not while I’m trying to resist kissing you again. This house is becoming claustrophobic.”
Evie thought Jax was looking at her with the same hunger she felt, but she understood his resistance. They were adults. They’d figure this out.
She shoved him away. “Go, play with the boys. We haven’t even dated yet.”
Leaving him looking startled, she entered her own room. She might be lousy at internet research, but she was a good people judge.
Paul Clancy had turned as muddy as the mayor just before he stormed off this evening.
Jax was playing in a shark pool.
Eleven
“Voila, furniture.”In the early morning light, Evie gestured at the attic full of dust-covered treasures.
After an evening listening to R&R’s revelations and poring over old contracts, Jax thought his head needed a refresh button. Setting up his new office had been his intent. Evie’s attic was not exactly what he had in mind.
“I need to furnish an office, not a bordello.” Jax studied the clutter without hope. “Is that the lampshade you meant to plant on my head a few months ago?” He gestured at a maroon pleated monstrosity with dangling beads.
“Exactly. Wrap that gold shawl around you, and you could be a lamp, spying on your enemies. You need to think creatively.” She pushed her way deeper into the shadows of the enormous, hot attic.
“I have no enemies.” Jax figured he was better off staying well away from the temptation of Evie in short shorts near old bedsteads. Her crack last night about their never having dated... Led him to believe she might be as interested as he was in some kind of relationship. He wanted sex. He feared she wanted a daddy figure for Loretta.
“Will Goodwill take this stuff?” the kid asked, poking around with distaste.
“Bonfire,” Jax suggested, kicking at a box of rags to see if anything heavy was in the bottom.
“Garage.” Roark shoved aside a few cartons to reach a mahogany inlaid wardrobe. “Huge empty carriage house goin’ to waste.”
“I’ll have a car someday,” Evie called back. “I want a red Miata convertible.”
“That won’t take the space of a thimble.” Reuben hefted a carton, then apparently deciding it was heavy, kneeled to examine it. “We could be here forever.”
“Unless I see office furniture or junk to be hauled to the curb, I’m outta here.” Jax checked out Reuben’s box of trashy novels, then looked into the wardrobe over Roark’s shoulder. “Does Afterthought have a theater group? Great costumes in here.”
“Great-Aunt Val’s from the sixties or Great-Grandma’s from the twenties? I’m guessing my mother is still wearing her old clothes.” On the other side of the attic, Evie heaved a stack of old drapery off a table.
“Both. Did no men ever live in this house?” Fascinated despite himself, Jax dug around on the wardrobe’s shelves—all feminine millinery, no boxes of jewels, fake or otherwise.
“The cellar, remember? That was my great-uncle’s domain. Admittedly, he didn’t last long.”
Loretta squeezed in and helped herself to a feathered concoction. “I could have plays up here!”
“Here they are!” Evie pointed at what appeared to be sturdy oak hidden by trunks and ancient paintings. “Lawyer bookcases.”
“You had lawyers in the family?” Jax abandoned the wardrobe and wended his way through the junk into the danger zone of Evie.