My Furry Valentine: "In Between" 1.5 (Peculiar Mysteries) Read Online Free Page B

word, I pushed down my pants and underwear and pulled up my shirt. Red welts surrounded my fun bits, where Dolly had poured hot wax and ripped off errant hairs and the top layer of skin. After, she’d plucked out the really stubborn hairs, causing blood to ooze from the traumatized follicles. The pain, if possible, was worse than when I scrubbed my face off.
    “Wow, I guess we’re not having sex tonight,” Babe said—the master of understatement. A grin threatened his lips.
    I reached down—not an easy feat—and yanked my pants back up. “Laugh and you’ll never have sex again.”
    His face immediately sobered. “Duly noted.”
    In our bedroom, I stripped down, showered in cool water, and flopped onto the bedspread naked. The only comfortable position was spread eagle with the ceiling fan on full blast. Babe peeked his head in the door, and I threw a pillow, missing him by several feet.
    I moved my forearm over my eyes. “Go away.”
    Babel climbed next to me in bed. “Do you want to cuddle?”
    “I want a time machine so I can go back and tell my idiot self not to get a bikini wax. Ever.”
    He stretched next to me and gently brought me into his embrace. He kissed my neck then wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. He was the big comfy spoon to my hot-mess spoon.
    “Love you,” he said.
    “Love you.” If I didn’t know any better, I’d think Fate was trying to put the kibosh on my nuptials, but I was determined to stay positive about our wedding. Just because my face had a bad case of road rash, the rings didn’t fit, and my downstairs la-la looked like I’d thrown acid on it, didn’t mean anything. Right?

Chapter Four
    10 days until the wedding...
    I’d spent the better part of two days refusing to leave the cabin. On the third morning, I stared at myself in the mirror, thankful the normal color was returning to my cheeks. Pleasantly enough, the new skin was supple and glowy. So, while I wouldn’t recommend using a miracle sponge as a skincare product, all in all, the consequences could have been a lot worse.
    Babel had left early for a meeting at the courthouse with the sheriff, the town council, and the Peculiar Chamber of Commerce about whether to approve some zoning or some such for Elton Brown’s furniture store. He wanted to build an extra room for inventory on the back of his shop. I really liked Elton, so I hope they all voted yes. Babe seemed pretty confident there wouldn’t be any issues.
    The phone rang. The caller I.D. identified Jo Jo Corman. I answered it quickly. “Is everything okay?”
    “I have some bad news.”
    “Just tell me,” I said, steeling my resolve.
    “The reception hall at the lodge flooded.”
    Noooo! I tried for optimistic. “Surely they can fix the damage in ten days.”
    “Nope. Sheri Smith says all the carpeted floors are ruined and the walls sustained water damage, too. It’ll take a month, maybe longer, to fix everything.”
    “I swear to all that is homicidal and unholy, if another thing goes wrong, I will go ape-shit-crazy on someone’s ass!”
    “Don’t kill the messenger,” Jo Jo said. The high pitch in his voice indicated his stress. “I didn’t want to tell you in the first place.”
    “Lost the coin toss, did you?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Chavvah cheats.” I took a breath, sucking the air deep into my lungs. I wanted to blame how I felt on my hormones, but the truth was, I teetered on the edge of freaking out. Would nothing go right this week?
    “If it weren't the middle of winter, we could do it outside,” said Jo Jo. “But I’m not sure where you’re going to find a place that seats most the town.”
    This wasn’t Jo Jo’s problem. He should be worried about girls and school, not where I was going to hold my rehearsal dinner and wedding reception. “I’ll find a place, Jo Jo. You don’t concern yourself, okay?”
    “Okay,” he said, sounding unconvinced.
    “Thanks for calling.” After he said bye and hung up, I sank down