Happy Ever After by Nora Roberts Read Free Book Online

Jack grabbed another roll, and Mac whispered something in Carter’s ear that made the tip of that ear flush pink.
    Interesting.
    “Look,” Del said, “you use the west wing basement to store event supplies—extra tables, chairs, whatever.”
    “We’re buying more. Investing in our own,” Parker pointed out. “So we snag the rental rather than subbing it out.”
    “Which is good business. I’ve been down there too many times to count when I’ve pitched in with events.You have enough space for a showroom.”
    “It’s not the space, Del, you can have the space.” Obviously weighing options, Parker frowned at her water glass, then at Del. “We could move the storage to the east side, but even then—”
    “No, no!” Emma waved both hands. “It’s too close to the Hellmouth.”
    “And he’s still there,” Del said darkly, “waiting for you.”
    “I hate you, Delaney. Beat him up, Jack,” Emma demanded.“A whole lot.”
    “Okay. Can I finish this roll first?”
    “East, west,” Parker interrupted, “it’s still a basement . There’s next to no natural lighting, the ceilings are barely seven feet, concrete floors, parged walls, pipes everywhere.”
    “All the better for a Man Cave. Besides, why do you think I keep him around?” he gestured at Jack. “He’s more than a pretty face.”
    “Take a cavernous basement and remodel it into a MEA? That’s Manly Entertainment Area, to you civilians,” Jack explained as interest lit in his smoky eyes. “I can do that.”
    “The walls are a foot thick,” Del went on,“so the space could be used even during events and nobody’d hear a thing.” He lifted his wineglass, swirled the last half inch of wine while he aimed his gaze at Emma. “Just like nobody hears the pitiful screams of girls being eaten alive by the demon with a single red eye.”
    “You bastard.” Emma hunched her shoulders.
    “Let’s go take a look.”
    Parker stared at Del. “Now?”
    “Sure.”
    “I’m not going down there,” Emma muttered.
    “Aw, baby.” Jack leaned over to wrap an arm around Emma. “I’ll protect you.”
    She shook her head at Jack. “You say that now.”
    “You guys go ahead.” Mac waved her wineglass. “Carter and I are just going to finish our wine, then we have . . . some things to do at home.”
    “There’s peach pie yet,” Mrs. Grady announced.
    “Well . . .” Mac smiled. “We have dessert at home, don’t we, Carter?”
    His ears blushed again. “Apparently.”
    “Come on, Mal,” Del invited. “We’ll give you a tour of the depths, work up an appetite for pie.”
    “Sure.” He rose after they did, reached for his plate to clear it.
    “Leave that for now.” Mrs. Grady wagged a finger at him.“Go on and explore first.”
    “Okay. Best ham I ever ate.”
    “I’ll wrap some up for you to take home.”
    He bent down as he passed her.“I owe you a dance,” he whispered in her ear and made her laugh.
    “What was that about?” Parker asked him.
    “Private conversation.”
    He tagged along, taking back stairs he imagined had once seen the scurry of servants and wondering why Parker still wore those skinny heels.
    As Del hit switches, hard fluorescent lights flickered on to reveal a massive labyrinth.
    He noted the low ceilings, unfinished walls, exposed pipes, and, as they turned into an open area, the utilitarian shelving, stacks of tables, chairs, stools.
    A basement, no doubt, with just a pleasing edge of creepy and as ruthlessly clean as the kitchen of a five-star restaurant.
    “What, do you have basement gnomes that come out and scrub at night?”
    “Just because it’s storage and utility doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be clean,” Parker answered. “Del, it’s depressing down here.”
    “Now.”
    He moved into a passageway, ducked under more pipes with what Mal assumed was the grace of experience, and kept winding.
    “Old boiler room.” Del jerked a thumb at a locked wooden door. “Where demons drool and sharpen