The Dead Tell (Magical Temptations Collection) by Jaycee Clark Read Free Book Online

that as well. Here’s the thing. I’ve given you plenty of time. Not going to let you throw away what’s between us, and it’s damned good. Not gonna let you not let us try for more because you’re scared. I’ve watched and waited.”
    “What if I need more time?”
    “Babe, you don’t need more time, you need someone to live life with. You realize you call me when Sammy annoys you? Or text me? You send me jokes, that I admit are not always funny.”
    “You’re my friend,” she said on a frown.
    “I am, always will be and you’re mine, but we’re also a helluva lot more.” Then he frowned. “You send those texts and jokes to anyone else?”
    “The boys,” she said. “Why?”
    The boys was what Sammy and Paige called the Riggio brothers. He grunted.
    “Not as many as I send you and I don’t call them just…”
    “Just?”
    “Just because,” she admitted.
    He grinned. “When I don’t see you, I miss you. When shit happens in your life, you let me in . So now we do it this way. Don’t like that, too bad.”
    “You can be a total jerk!” she thumped his shoulder.
    He waited, but she didn’t say anything else. “And?”
    “I don’t know, I’ll think of something.”
    “I’m sure you will. You had your chance to step it up. And I waited. Tired of waiting.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips and climbed from the bed, pulling her with him. “Come on, shower.”
    He heard her huff and grinned.
    “ You said all I think about is sex, now I’m thinking of a shower and since I already said I’m multi tasking, we’ll just do both, babe.”
    She grinned at him. “You weren’t always this bossy.”
    “ You bring out the best in me.”
    This time a laugh danced out. “Or something.”
    “ I’ll show you something,” he said, grabbing towels as he turned on the water.
    “ That is a hope.”
     
     

Chapter F ive
    Two days later
     
    He paced. What to do? What did he do?
    This time was different. The lighting hadn ’t been right on the last take. Not right at all.
    He ’d spent so fucking long on the entire setup. It should have been right, should have been great. Should have been perfect .
    Perfection was not what it was.
    A mockery.
    He wanted the dark and the light, the shadows to tell the story. Instead, it was blurred. The image too dark on top of it all.
    M aybe he should go back to digital in the cemeteries. Leave the gothic look to indoor. Or...
    Or maybe he ’d just relocate. God knew there were plenty of places to work his art in the area. He wanted New Orleans, though. This place was what was he needed . He knew it. She was here. He knew that too.
    He’d looked for her for years, and then one day, there she was in a bakery here in New Orleans.
    He opened his wallet and pulled out the braided bracelet she’d woven together so many years ago. The colors used to be blue and yellow, but now they were more gray and gray.
    He ’d kept it. He’d always kept it.
    He wondered through the years if she sensed him. He wasn’t sure, he hoped she did. He’d always wondered, but had always believed they would find their way back together. He knew. He’d always known it.
    He tucked the knotted yarn back into the back of his wallet and looked towards the door. How to shoot this one?
    The bellow s or the digital? He loved his Nikon.
    If he used one of the city ’s cemeteries, he’d have to go digital. He couldn’t afford any more screw-ups like a couple of days ago. He needed to find another location though, an old abandoned cemetery. One out from town, but not too far.
    More p lanning, but that was okay. Donaldsonville. There were plenty of backwoods country cemeteries around. He wanted the perfect backdrop though. He needed another fallen angel. Or an angel at all, he supposed, would work. He’d have to scout them out. Or find a book that plotted them out. Do some internet research. There were plenty of people into funerary art.
    A beautiful art, dark, yes , but there were plenty