Harmony 03 After Glow Read Free Page B

normally never loathe to let him know exactly what she was thinking.
    It was as though she was suffering some form of shock but he was not certain how to deal with it. For starters, he was not sure what had upset her the most, finding Maltby’s body or the news that the man whose bed she was sharing on a fairly frequent basis was the temporary chief of the Cadence Guild.
    He had the unpleasant feeling that it was the second piece of news that had made her go tense and silent.
    Lydia was convinced that she had good reason not to trust ghost-hunters and she made no secret of her negative opinion of the Guild. That she was involved in an affair with him did not mean she had changed her mind on either point, he reminded himself.
    And the fact that she had been quietly pursuing her own private investigation of the mystery of her Lost Weekend without asking for his help really pissed him off.
    They were sleeping together, damn it. That meant they were supposed to discuss stuff before she ran around doing potentially dicey things like trying to find proof of criminal actions on the part of a couple of Guild men.
    The fact that he would have put his foot down very heavily on such a project did not constitute grounds for keeping her plans to herself, he thought. In spite of her low opinion of the Guild, she probably didn’t have a clue of the kind of risks she was running.
    He had grown up in the Guild and he had controlled the Resonance City organization for six years. He knew the risks all too well.
    The first thing to do was to get her talking again, he decided. This was a relationship. According to all the advice gurus, communication was important in a relationship.
    He followed her into the cramped foyer of her small apartment, trying to think of a way to get the conversation going.
    “All things considered,” he said, shrugging out of his leather jacket, “I thought that went well.”
    She dropped her purse on a small table. “Neither of us is sitting in jail, if that’s what you mean.”
    Okay, it was a start. At least she was speaking to him again.
    A large wad of lint scampered across the floor on six unseen little legs. Two bright blue eyes sparkled innocently from the depths of a tangle of ratty-looking gray fur.
    “Hello, Fuzz.” Lydia scooped the dust-bunny up, kissed the top of his head, and settled him on her shoulder. “You don’t know how glad I am to see you. I have had a very difficult day.”
    The dust-bunny blinked his cute azure eyes at Emmett, who was not fooled for a minute. He had seen Fuzz’s second set of eyes, the ones he used for hunting at night. The little fluff ball looked as harmless as something that had been swept out from under the bed but at heart he was a highly efficient little predator. There was a saying about dust-bunnies. By the time you see the teeth, it’s too late.
    Fortunately he and Fuzz had discovered that they had a couple of things in common. One of them was Lydia.
    “Lookin’ good, Fuzz.” Emmett ruffled the dust-bunny’s fur and was rewarded with a humming sound. Fuzz, at least, was happy to see him.
    “I’m going to get out of this business suit,” Lydia announced. She turned down the hall toward the bedroom. “And then I’m going to have a glass of wine. Probably two glasses.”
    “I’ll open a bottle,” Emmett said, trying to sound helpful.
    He spoke to thin air. She had already disappeared into the bedroom.
    “Ghost-shit.” This was not going well at all.
    He went into the small kitchen, opened the refrigerator door, and brooded for a while on the selection of items inside. Among the limited offerings was a carton of milk and some leftover macaroni-and-cheese casserole. On the top shelf was a bottle of the truly dreadful white wine that Lydia kept on hand. The stuff was, in his opinion, only a couple of steps above Green Ruin and Acid Aura, the beverages of choice among the derelicts and down-and-outers who drifted through the Old Quarter.
    But there