I transformed my cry into a cough, shooting Agatha a poisonous glare, and gestured toward the crate. “Allergies, sorry. I inherited Agatha’s cats, but we’re not exactly compatible.” The officer turned his attention to the cats as they hissed in protest, and I grabbed his arm, pulling him away from the crate before he could ask me any questions about Agatha’s over-sized pets. “Of course, I opened the door for you, all this cat business has me flustered,” I said in my sweetest voice. I motioned for him to sit back down as I sat on a chair across the room. “Can I offer you something to eat? Some coffee?”
He shook his head and began pacing the room, ignoring my invitation to sit. “I’m afraid this isn’t a casual visit, Miss Price. I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Agatha’s death is being investigated as suspicious. And with you turning up only days after her death, some days after she changed her will to leave everything to you, well, I’m sure you’ve already figured out that we’re going to have to investigate your relationship with Mrs Bentley.”
No beating around the bush for Bert. Awesome. I took a moment to think of a suitable response, but my mind was blank. “Look, I know it seems suspicious, officer, but I can assure you that I had nothing to do with Mrs Bentley’s death. I never even met her. I was supposed to meet her yesterday to pick up the keys. I was supposed to come work for her, for heaven’s sake. The last thing I expected was to show up at her own funeral with no warning. I have to admit, it was quite a shock. And now I’m being accused of murder?”
“Nobody’s accusing you of anything just yet, Miss Jones.” Officer Bert nodded as he rubbed his chin. “I just wanted to come in to warn you what’s to come.”
He stopped pacing and finally met my eyes, his expression grim. I attempted to swallow the lump in my throat as I looked up at him. “And what exactly is that, officer?”
Bert paused a long moment, our eyes locked on each other. “I’ll be in touch, Miss Jones. If you’re planning on leaving the city, please make sure you let us know first.”
Then he turned on his heels and marched out of the apartment, the door slamming shut with a thud behind him. I let out a stress-filled breath I’d been holding, my pulse racing and my heart threatening to burst from my chest.
“I never was a fan of that chubby bastard,” Agatha spat as she stuck her tongue out at the door he’d exited through.
I pursed my lips and glared at the old woman. “Really? Then do you care to explain why you invited him into the apartment and practically ghost assaulted him?”
From the crate, one of the cats made a retching sound, and I smirked in approval. Agatha scowled at the crate. “Jeez, can’t a ghost have a little fun? I said I wasn’t fond of him, I never said he didn’t have something to warm my old bones.” She gave me a sly grin. “I was always a sucker for a husky body. And a huge pe—”
“Oh, wow.” I clamped my hands over my eyes and spun away from her leer. “You have a way with words, don’t you?”
Agatha shrugged as she disappeared through the far wall, leaving me alone with the cats. “It’s all about the audience, girlie. I don’t have much to say to someone with a brain the size of a pea.” Her voice echoed through the halls as she disappeared.
“Ha, my brain is the size of a pea? I’m not the one trying to ghost-grope innocent men,” I muttered as I unlatched the crate. All three cats poured out at once, and one by one, they brushed up against me and turned back into human form.
“It worked. Sweet,” Finn chuckled. “Now if we can only figure out what it is that turns us back into damn cats, then we’ll have the whole furry issue sorted.”
I pulled the apron from where I’d tucked it into the waistband of my jeans and tossed it at him, averting my eyes immediately. Or almost immediately, at least. “Okay, we’ve got to figure something out about the whole lack of clothing thing.”
Pussy shrugged and stretched his toned body, a wide grin on his face. “I don’t know; it’s kind of freeing.” He lay down on the sofa, lounging back and running his hands through his blond hair as if he had not a care in the world.
I stood up and stamped toward my bedroom, shaking my head as I passed Tom’s inked muscles and caught a glimpse of his futile attempt to cover his essential parts with his large hands. “Find some clothes, boys. Or I’m going to let Tracy give you the snip.”
I sat on my bed for a long moment and rested my head in my hands. Officer Fitzgerald’s words ran through my addled brain. I didn’t even know the exact date when Agatha had died, but it didn’t really matter. I didn’t have an alibi for any of the days I had spent on my own in the pool house after Gerard had announced he was proposing to Ivana. Unless empty bottles of organic wine would be acceptable as witnesses to corroborate my story, I had a crate full of those to prove I’d spent my first few days as Gerard ’s ex-fiancée wisely. I groaned at the memory and buried my face in the pillow. I quickly wiped my eyes clean as a gentle knock sounded on the door. “What do you want?”
“It’s Muffin,” a soft voice came from the other side of the door. “Err, I mean Finn. Finlay. Can I come in?”
“Are you naked?” I asked.
Finn’s reply was a snort of laughter and my lips curved as I imagined the amusement in those emerald eyes and on those full lips. “I found jeans downstairs in the store, but I came back up before I picked up a shirt. I can go back down and look for one?”
“Nah, it’s okay. Come in.” I let out a sigh and slunk back on the bed, gazing up at the ceiling above me as he eased the door open. “Might as well come join my pity party.” I stared at the empty space behind Finn. “Where are the rest of the guys?”
I tried not to stare as Finn padded across the floor in his bare feet. The faded jeans were slung low on his hips, and I found my gaze drawn to the shaded lines between his defined muscles, imagining how they would feel under my fingertips. The mattress sank heavily beneath his weight as he perched on the side of the bed, rolling me a few inches closer to him. “Fluffy and Pussy turned back into cats again.”
My lips curved. That stupid cat’s name, it never got old. “And you didn’t? Weird.”
Finn shrugged, and I scooched over to the other side of the bed, gesturing for him to lie down beside me. He sunk back into the pillow and cradled his head on his arm as he turned to face me. “It’s all messed up, isn’t it?”
“A ghost, three cat-men, and an idiot who’s going to get charged with murder? Yeah, it’s pretty messed up,” I said.
Finn’s brow furrowed. “You’re not going to be charged with anything.” He reached out and brushed a strand of hair off my cheek with a fingertip as gentle as a butterfly’s wing. I held my breath as his stare landed on my lips. “And you’re not an idiot.” His frown deepened. “I don’t know what the hell is going on here, Price, or why we’re not cats anymore, or if I was ever someone else before being Aggy’s cat, but I’m glad it was somebody like you that broke the spell.” He paused, dragging his green gaze away from my lips and up to my eyes. “Somebody kind, and smart, and strong. Somebody who’ll stick around to help us figure this mess out. And maybe I’m not as smart as Fluffy, but I’m pretty certain most girls would have taken one look at us and Aggy and run for the hills.”
I rolled onto my back, away from the intensity of his stare. “Oh, man, you’ve got me all wrong, Finn. I can think of five-hundred words to describe myself, but smart and strong?” My laugh was a bitter hiccup. “But I’ll stick around, all right. I can’t exactly leave, not after what Officer Bert said; I’m not fugitive material. And Agatha deserves to know the truth.” I paused, chewing on the corner of my lip. “You guys deserve to know the truth about yourselves, too.”