Midnight Hour Read Online Free

declared.
    “Oh, I’m perfectly serious. Sophie says she sawyou drive up and you’re just the sort of man who might, and I quote,
try something
.”
    “And Midnight Mercy is just the sort of woman who could handle it if I did,” Nick replied sharply.
    A shiver raced up her spine. He had used her nickname. “Why did you call me that? I mean—Midnight Mercy. Why’d you call me that?”
    “
Chère
, I look at you and see two incredibly sexy women who excite the hell out of this poor Cajun.” He joined her by the door and leaned against the jamb. Mercy Malone was a complicated woman; not what he had expected, and she fascinated him. He gently lifted her chin and forced her to look at him as he explained. “One woman breaks hearts so easily while the other seems to be very careful with her own.”
    This time the shiver raced through her entire body, and a flush of heat quickly followed. The new intensity in his eyes belied the shadows beneath them. Nick no longer looked like he needed sleep; he looked dangerously intent on getting what he wanted.
    “Mercy dear!” Sophie called out as she started up the porch steps. As usual in the summer, Mercy’s neighbor wore a comfortable and brightly embroidered Mexican sundress. “I just needed to borrow a little brown sugar. You don’t mind, do you?” Sophie crossed the wooden porch and affected surprise, “Oh, dear me! I see you’re busy at the moment.”
    Startled, Mercy realized that Nick’s thumb was slowly but surely tracing her collarbone as he slid her soft, white cotton shirt off the shoulder. “Oh, for God’s sake,” Mercy ground out, and shrugged off Nick’s hand. “Come on in, Sophie.”
    This time when she opened the screen door, it screeched its usual banshee protest. Once the sprightly octogenarian scooted inside, Mercy made the introductions. “Sophie Jensen, Dr. Nick Devereaux. There. All introduced.”
    Without rushing, Sophie tapped the plastic measuring cup against her thigh, sized Nick up, and said, “So how long have you known our Mercy?”
    Nick laughed, crossed his arms, and gave her an equally careful once-over. “Not quite long enough to ravish her, but don’t you worry. I’m wearing her down.”
    Mercy choked and muttered hopelessly, “Oh God, what else can happen today?”
    “My!” Sophie exclaimed as though nothing embarrassing had transpired. “Don’t the floors look nice. This entrance hall seems enormous now that you’ve gotten all that nasty old green carpeting out of here. Mary Jane Hiller, rest her soul, did so like shag carpeting. But this is much better, dear. More spacious.”
    “You think so?” Mercy took the cup from Sophie and looked pointedly at the two of them. “I was just thinking how crowded it felt. You two get acquainted while I swim through the kitchen and get some sugar.”
    “Oh dear, your plumbing problem!” Sophie snatched her cup back from Mercy’s hand. “I wouldn’t think of borrowing sugar at a time like this. I’ll just run down the street to Joan’s and get some sugar there.” She whisked the door open before Mercy could protest. “Nice to have met you, Doctor.”
    “A pleasure to be met, I assure you,” Nick said,and reached to flip on the porch light. “It’s beginning to get dark. I wouldn’t want you to slip before you got that sugar.”
    “How thoughtful,” Sophie murmured as she toddled off. “Now, Mercy,” she said, “you call me if you need me.”
    Mercy shook her head. “What I need is a plumber.”
    “I offered to help,” Nick reminded her.
    Without taking her gaze from the receding figure of Sophie, Mercy asked, “And which of us do you want to help? Midnight Mercy or Mercy May Malone?”

TWO
    “Now why do I feel like I just entered the bonus round of Truth or Dare?” Nick asked, and walked away, shaking his head. “Not being stupid, I think I’ll let that sleepin’ dog lie a bit longer. Which way to the kitchen?”
    Mercy shut the wooden door and leaned