Miss Frost Ices The Imp: A Nocturne Falls Mystery (Jayne Frost Book 2) by Kristen Painter Read Free Book Online Page B

morning, but beyond that, being under the influence of Cooper was hard enough to deal with. I didn’t need wine making it worse. “Um, not wine glasses exactly, but there are some in the cabinet there.” I pointed. “And really, I can’t have more than one glass. Work tomorrow and all that.”
    He nodded. “Me too.”
    As he got glasses out, I turned to put the pasta in the water, which was already boiling. “How was your day?”
    He laughed. “It was nuts.”
    “Oh yeah?” I gave the pasta a stir then faced him. The glasses of wine he’d poured were easily equivalent to twice what would have fit into an actual wine glass. I was going to have to pace myself. “What happened?”
    He handed me a glass, then leaned on the counter. “What didn’t happen? We had a vampire stuck in a coffin, which he claims was a bed when he went to sleep. Then a call for a bird stuck on a roof—”
    “How can a bird be stuck on a roof when it can fly?”
    “When the bird is actually the mascot for Ricky’s Chicken.”
    “The guy who stands outside the restaurant in the rooster costume waving the sign that says ‘Cock-a-doodle-delicious?’”
    “That’s the guy. Said he had the sudden urge to climb up on the roof, then couldn’t remember why when he got up there. Couldn’t get down, either.” Cooper sipped his wine. “The whole day was like that. Not a serious call in the bunch.”
    I gave the pasta another stir. “Did you also respond to Piper Hodges turning blue?”
    “No, but we heard about it over dispatch.” He shook his head. “Man, today was crazy. And it’s not even a full moon.”
    I took a small sip of my wine. It was good. Fruity and a little sweet. Perfect for summer or winter elves. I debated telling Cooper about Spider, but he was bound to find out before the evening was over. “Yeah, it was pretty weird here too.”
    As if on cue, Spider walked out, sat in the middle of the living room and yawned.

“Weird how?” Cooper asked.
    I gave him the short version of the story, which I was getting pretty good at. “That fancy box I bought? I put it on the coffee table, but Spider knocked it down. Broke the lid off. Right after that, he started to talk.”
    He turned to look at Spider. “Dude. You can talk?”
    Spider walked over to Cooper, rubbed on his leg and then meowed.
    Cooper looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “I thought you meant like actual talking. Words.”
    “He does. He can.” I stared at Spider. “Say something.”
    Spider sauntered away to see if anything new had shown up in his food bowl.
    I looked at Cooper. “He really can talk. In English.”
    The timer dinged, so I pulled the pot off the burner and drained the pasta into the colander waiting in the sink. I gave the strainer a shake, added the pasta to the pot of sauce and stirred it all together.
    “Anything I can do to help?” Cooper asked as he walked into the kitchen.
    I did a little side step so he could reach the oven. “You can get the garlic bread out of the oven. There are pot holders in the drawer next to the sink.”
    He laughed. “I don’t need pot holders.”
    “No, I guess you don’t.” Sometimes I forgot what summer elves were capable of.
    He opened the oven, letting out a waft of hot air, then reached in and pulled the foil-wrapped loaf out. “Anything else?”
    “That’s it.” I left the pasta fork in the pot and carried the pot to the table. I put it on the trivet I’d set out earlier, since my table wasn’t immune to heat, and filled Cooper’s dish first, making sure to give him an extra meaty scoop.
    We sat down to eat. The conversation was easy, the food surprisingly tasty, and by the time our bowls were empty, so was my wine glass. I was feeling good. And bad. Because, despite everything I’d promised myself I wouldn’t do with Cooper tonight, I really did want to kiss him.
    He was so nice, and such a good guy, and ridiculously hot. Literally and figuratively. Plus, I already knew how much fun