The Gems of Vice and Greed (Contemporary Gothic Romance Book 3) by Colleen Gleason

Author:Colleen Gleason [Gleason, Colleen]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Fiction/Romance/Paranormal
ISBN: 9781931419987
Publisher: Avid Press
Published: 2016-02-29T05:00:00+00:00

~ THIRTEEN ~

* * *

In spite of the very unpleasant shock of seeing Declan cozying up with Emily Danube (she had asked him if he was seeing her, hadn’t she? and he had responded with a firm “No,” hadn’t he?), Leslie had an enjoyable time at The Owl’s Roost.

The place was a dive—that was the only way to describe it. The floor was shiny from decades of spilled beer and countless shoes scuffing it, with peanut shells crushed into dust filling in many of the cracks. Every table had its own set of graffiti: carved or written with a variety of implements. Leslie was a little leery about even putting her hands on the sticky table, so she was relieved when the server brought over large paper placemats.

The wall was decorated with movie posters from the seventies through the nineties, each one stuck inside a cheap plastic poster frame that lined the room in a single row like a charm bracelet. Many of them were scratched or dull with age, and more than a few of the posters were completely crooked in their moorings.

No one seemed to care, for the place was packed and loud. An acoustic guitar player sat in the corner, but Leslie couldn’t even tell what song he was playing it was so loud inside.

She’d just ordered one of B-Cubed’s beers when her cell phone lit up with a text from Cherry, wondering what she was doing for dinner. Fifteen minutes later, her aunt, Orbra, and Iva Nath had joined Leslie and Gilda at the sticky, wobbly table in the quietest corner (which wasn’t saying much) of the bar. Iva appeared less enthusiastic than the rest of them about sitting at the table, and she used a handkerchief to try and clean up a spot for her to rest her handbag. When the waitress brought her a placemat, she seemed only slightly mollified. “Everything go all right last night?” Cherry asked as soon as they’d ordered drinks. She looked at Gilda. “Did you hear Leslie had a break-in?”

This blithe statement launched the conversation into a long explanation, culminating with Leslie making a gross error.

“If the ghost had made an appearance earlier, maybe whoever broke in would have been scared away,” she ended…then realized what she’d said.

Everyone froze, and Iva turned slowly to look at her. “An appearance earlier?”

So the cat was out of the bag, and Leslie had to field even more questions about the supernatural activity in her house. Fortunately, their waitress was on her game, and she brought a second beer just as soon as Leslie finished her first. She needed the lubrication.

“Mind if I join you?”

Leslie and her companions looked up to see John Fischer standing there. His dark hair was charmingly disheveled, and the design on his bronze and blue plaid shirt looked less lumberjacky and more trendy than previous ones he’d worn.

“Yes, of course,” Cherry said, shoving Orbra’s chair aside—or at least attempting to—in order to make room for a sixth person between herself and Leslie.

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