Sex and Trouble Read Free Page A

down his cheeks and his breath hitched. Mari propped her hands on her hips and tapped her foot, her eyes narrowing. Rosier finally brought himself back under control, wiping his face with one hand and pressing the other to his side as though he had a stitch.
    “No, no. Your father and I were not lovers. In fact, I loathed the man.”
    13

    Marilu Mann
    “If that’s true, then why are you still here and why are you stuck with the house?”
    “I am bound to this house until I earn my release.”
    She wondered at his emphasis on the last word, but she had more pressing concerns. “Very well, my father has just informed me in the video that he was a witch.
    Was he crazy?”
    “No.”
    Mari rubbed her forehead. “Okay, prove it. Prove to me he was a witch.”
    “I cannot.”
    “What do you mean? I command you to prove he was a witch.”
    A snort answered her. The damn man was laughing at her again.
    “You’re just as weird as he was, aren’t you?”
    He clipped out one syllable. “More.”
    His brief answers were ticking her off. “What are you, then?”
    “I am a fallen angel, more commonly known as a demon although it’s more complicated than that. Your father captured me. He bound me to this house until I gain my release.”
    Mari stared at him for a moment. “Right. Okay, obviously the truth portion of the evening has ended. Excuse me. I have some sort of key or something to find.”
    She whirled around and practically ran to the end of the hallway, shoving the door open and slamming it behind her. She leaned against the smooth wood. “Witches, fallen angels, demons and some old cranky lawyer who smells like mothballs. Just what my life needed. Thanks, Dad.”
    Debating about whether to just pack up and leave, Mari shook her head. She was already here, so why not see what the evening and morning would bring. Besides, her curiosity drove her to try to figure out if her father was completely bonkers or if he could have been telling the truth. Her mother had always said her father was “a little off”, she figured she might as well find out how bad it really was. With a sigh, she 14

    Sex and Trouble
    turned the light on and caught her breath. Her father’s message said the master bedroom was hers now. But how had he known what her taste was?
    Things had changed since her parents had split up. Back then her room had been decorated in shades of pink and cream. Now her favorite color was blue, the blue of the ocean, and this room was that exact shade. A comforter in a paler blue shade lay over the queen-sized bed. A dresser, headboard and nightstand in a light wood graced the room. A lamp sat on the nightstand with a small red leather journal beside it. The lacy curtains on the windows were white while the rug under her feet was thick and soothing. Paintings of the ocean adorned two walls and bookshelves lined the short passage leading to the walk-in closet.
    A small carved jewelry box sat on the dresser. Mari opened it. The only thing inside was a ring with a red stone. Picking it up, she tried it on, but it didn’t fit. She decided it was too masculine for her, anyway. “Must have been Dad’s.” She stuck it in her pocket, then headed into the bathroom.
    When this had been her parents’ room, the bathroom had been done in black and white. Now it was a similar to the bedroom, a lovely pale blue with green and white accents. The garden tub looked very inviting, but she turned her back on it for the moment. The fact that her father seemed to know what would please her when they hadn’t even spoken in so long gave her chills, which she staunchly ignored. Unpacking should probably be her first priority, then sleep. After that she’d tackle both the annoying man down the hall and her father’s insanity. Witches and demons, indeed.

    Rosier stood outside the master bedroom with his hands on the door panels.
    Marielle Greenlea was not at all what he expected. Truly, he’d envisioned a female version of her