Page 28 of Love vs The Ooze Monster!
“Should we go to the police about the creature?” She asked doubtfully. “Warn people about it?”
“No one would believe us, even in this town.”
She sighed because he was right and they both knew it. “Like I said, if we want it dead, we’ll have to kill it ourselves. I’m just not sure how.” Mabel frowned in deep concentration. “I’ve been trying to think of a plan, but…” She shrugged helplessly. “It looks like a jellyfish. At least what I saw, from the corner of my eye. Lots of tentacles and a big glob-y body. How do you kill a jellyfish?”
“No idea. We’ll have to find out. The library opens tomorrow at nine.”
She smiled. “You know when the library opens?”
“Yep. I had to read the rest of theWizard of Ozbooks.”
Her expression grew wary. “You’re obsessed with that silly novel.”
“I want to know about my inheritance. I want to figure out what Lew was trying to tell me. I still don’t get it.” He felt like he was closer to the answer, though. There was something to that inscription the old man had left in the front cover. “Hey, if Lew saw himself as the wizard, did he see you as Dorothy?”
“Oh no!” Mabel shook her head, diligently examining the wallpaper. “Lew saw me as the tornado.”
Boyd’s lips parted… and he finally began to understand what Lew had left him. Bits of information snapped together in his head, forming a clear and unmistakable picture. Holyshit. Was that possible?
“When did you buy your big, family home?” Mabel asked from out of nowhere.
“What?” Boyd said vaguely, his mind racing.
“When did you buy this place?”
“The week after I hired you.”
Mabel looked back at him.
Boyd stared into her eyes.
Kissing Mabel… Having her respond to his touch… Feeling her come apart against his hand… All of it had been world changing. She ran even hotter than he’d imagined and he’d imagineda lot. Since he’d met the woman, his entire sex life had been fantasizing about her. She consumed him. The fact that Mabel wanted him in return was like being dealt four aces in a poker game. He intended to make the most of it.
He intended to keep Miss Mabel Harrison in his big, family home forever.
“Lew wasnotwrong about me.” Boyd assured her quietly. “He liked me.” It wasn’t a question, because now he was sure of it. “I’m guessing he said you could have faith in me. Said I would be a standup guy for you. That’s why you came to my warehouse, after he died.”
She slowly nodded. “Something like that.”
Boyd felt a rush of excitement and triumph. “Youcanhave faith in me. You know that.”
Shehadto know it. He was pretty damn good at hiding his actual feelings about everything, but not when it came to Mabel. Boyd had been in love with the woman since practically the day he’d met her. Nobody in Volstead had missed it, especially not the assholes he’d killed for looking at her wrong.
“I’m still mad at you for firing me.” Mabel muttered with an undeniable pout.
“I’m not too thrilled that you lied to me about your identity, either. But that’s got nothing to do with the bottom line. And the bottom line is you and me, Mabe. Always will be. We’reit.”
She hesitated and he could see her thinking.
“Stay with me.” He whispered, using the same words she had outside the funeral home.
Mabel swiped her hair behind her ear and tried to make up her mind.
Boyd waited one more time, his whole body tense.
“I’m going to take the biggest room.” She finally decided, heading up the steps.
Boyd expelled a breath he hadn’t even been aware he was holding. “Good.” That was the bedroom he usually slept in, so that was right where she belonged. “The third door on the right. I’ll take the one next to it.”
