An Ex to Grind in Deadwood (Deadwood Humorous Mystery Book 5) Paperback – September 4, 2014 by Ann Charles Read Free Book Online

sweater even if it was still soggy. The change in seasons had cooled things down quickly up in the hills, where Old Man Winter always nipped at autumn’s heels right out of the gate. Most years, snowflakes started falling in October and kept flurrying off and on all of the way into May. That reminded me that I needed to dig the kids’ winter coats out of the boxes I had stacked down in Aunt Zoe’s basement and see if they still fit.
    I didn’t waste time watching my breath turn to steam and dashed into Doc’s warm office closing the door behind me, shivering in my damp silk blouse.
    “It’s ‘bout damned time, girl,” Harvey twisted in his chair opposite Doc’s desk. “We gotta hit the road soon. Coop and I need to figure out what to do with that cow mess.”
    Doc rose from his desk chair and shrugged off his tan corduroy jacket. “Here,” he said, coming around and draping it over my shoulders. His dark brown gaze lingered below my chin until I pulled the jacket closed over my chest.
    Warmth cocooned me; the scent of his skin and woodsy cologne were exactly what I needed to soothe some of the scrapes left after my brush with Cooper’s scratchy personality.
    “Thanks,” I looked up at him, hungry for more of his body heat. His black hair looked finger plowed, his chin and jaw shadowed with stubble.
    “You’re welcome, Boots.” Doc’s focus stayed locked on my lips for a heartbeat or five, making me glad I’d taken the time to gloss them up for him. “Is that the cherry flavored stuff or strawberry?”
    “Ah, shitfire.” Harvey pushed out of his chair. “Come on you two horny toads, don’t make me get a hose.” He caught my arm and led me to his seat, shoving me down into it.
    It wasn’t my fault. Doc did things to me, all kinds of things, sometimes with his fingers, often with his tongue, especially when we were alone. If Harvey looked up the words hopeless , pathetic , and lovesick in the dictionary, my picture would be smack dab in the center, my grin goofy and sappy as hell.
    I did my best to keep my heart from popping up into my eyeballs when I stared at Doc. Knowing that he’d dumped his last girlfriend at the mention of marriage, I had to play it iceberg cool. If he knew I’d gone and fallen head-over-boots for him in three short months, he might kick me to the gutter, too. Aunt Zoe kept telling me that Doc wouldn’t do that, claiming I was “special,” which I interpreted as mental but harmless and means well . Clearly she was biased due to our shared DNA. When it got down to bedrock, I didn’t want to take any chances with the M-word. I had two kids to take care of, so drowning my broken heart in tequila was not an option.
    “I already spread my manure, fillin’ Doc’s ears with what I know and saw.” Harvey lowered into Doc’s desk chair. “It’s your turn now.”
    Doc waited for me, one of his dark eyebrows lifted higher than the other. “You doing okay?”
    “All things considered,” reality TV show, dead woman, asshole coworker, lonely nights, “I’m good.” I cinched his jacket tighter since Harvey wouldn’t let me wrap up in Doc’s arms.
    “What’d the lady on the phone say to you?” he pressed.
    I repeated what I remembered, mangling her “nine” comment even more. Clouds passed over Doc’s face as he listened to my account, settling on his creased brow. When I finished, he scrubbed his hand down his face, scratching over his five o’clock shadow.
    “Christ,” he muttered and walked over to the front window, his back to Harvey and me.
    “What do you make of it?” Harvey asked.
    “Something that is going to keep me awake all night.”
    I picked at lint on my black pants, wishing we were sitting around planning a picnic instead of discussing a dead woman.
    Doc’s cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, looked down at it, and then turned to me. “It says you’re calling me.”
    “I am?” Had I butt dialed him when I’d sat down? I felt for