The Bride Wore Crimson by Lee Adrianne

Author:Lee, Adrianne [Lee, Adrianne]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Amateur Sleuth, Fiction / Romance / Suspense, Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Cozy, Fiction / Contemporary Women, Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths, Fiction / Romance / Contemporary
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2015-08-04T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

I needed a drink, a lift to my spirits that only somewhere fun and lively could provide. Seth felt the same. We opted for the Last Fling, a tavern several blocks out of town just beyond the residential areas. Once a lumberman’s lodge, the log building backed against a stand of Douglas fir, new growth that had replaced the original trees used as material to build this place. I hadn’t been here since Meg’s mom was abducted from the parking lot, strangled, and dumped from a cliff not far from here. Walking up to the door sent shivers through me.

Except for the name, the outside screamed lumberjack and biker gang hangout. Inside, the baseball caps that used to hang from the ceiling had been replaced by garters in a rainbow of colors, including one black garter.

The drink menu featured several cocktails with bridal themes. The one named after this establishment contained four different liquors, including a 100-proof Vodka. I’d heard tell that, after downing one drink, a person could forget their own name. I’d never been tempted to try it. But then, when it comes to booze, I’m a lightweight. Two glasses of wine is pretty much my limit… per week.

I ordered a Honeymoon Sweet, which was an Irish coffee, easy on the Irish, heavy on the cream. Seth had a Groomsman lager, a local brewery favorite that this bar had on tap. I stirred whipped cream with my straw, then took a sip. The bartender had ignored my “easy on the Irish,” and I wasn’t sorry. Not at that moment anyway. I might be later. I hadn’t realized how much I craved something bracing until it started working through my system, reducing my tension.

“Five pennies for your thoughts, Blessing,” Seth said, and like every time before, it drew a smile from me.

I met his warm gaze with one of my own. If only I could concentrate on the two of us and shut out the rest of the world, but no matter how much I wanted that, it seemed impossible. At the moment, my mind felt as if all its content had been put in a sack, floured, and fried. Shake ’N Bake brains. Nothing connected, nothing made sense. Just a jumble of questions without answers or resolutions.

I licked cream from the edge of my mouth, Seth’s gaze following the movement of my tongue as his cocoa-colored eyes darkened to a rich, smoldering chocolate. I tried to ignore the wicked, delicious sensations tumbling through me, but I noticed a throaty edge to my voice. “I’m afraid if I let you offer up that penny, you’d end up like someone on that reality show where they bid for storage units.”

He frowned. “Huh?”

“You’d regret buying what’s revealed.”

He laughed. “I can afford the nickel.”

I sipped my drink. Why did it feel like telling him would be opening a Pandora’s box, since there wasn’t much, if anything, either of us could do about it? Not at the moment anyway. But he wouldn’t believe a lie.

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