Wicked Whoopie Pies Addison Moore (the false prince series TXT) 📖

“You look familiar,” I say to him and he does a double take my way.

His eyes widen a notch. “Well hello, little mama.” His head bobs up and down with apprehension as he takes me in. “Aren’t you wearing a little too much for the night? I’ve got a fifty that can be yours if you lose the stitches.”

“What?” I hiss as I stare at him up and down with my mouth agape.

“I’m not—I don’t—” I close my eyes a moment. I can either set him straight with an attitude or the nice way. That old adage, you catch more flies with honey, runs through my mind and I force a smile to come to my face. “I’m Lottie Lemon, Noah’s girl—friend. Everett’s wife?”

“Ah yes.” He slaps his hand to the counter “I thought I’d seen you somewhere before. My apologies.” He gives a sheepish smile. “I’ve got a bit of liquid courage—or rather truth serum—in me and I was hoping I’d meet a girl tonight.”

I give a little laugh. “No worries.” I’m rooting for the truth serum to keep doing its thing. “I think I remember Noah introducing us. You work with the K-9 unit?”

“That’s me.”

“I’d love to see the dogs the next time I come in.”

“Stop in anytime. Noah is forever hanging out with my beast buddies. There’s no smarter dog than a German shepherd. I get that all dogs are smart in their own way, but there’s just something special about this group. You really should come down and say hello.”

“It sounds like you love your job.” If I remember correctly, he was pretty upset with Terri the day she died. First, he called her a battleax to Noah and me, and then later I saw him having an argument with her. He was plucking at her elbow, and I believe he said the words you don’t get to ruin anything for anyone ever again. This ends today.

It was ominous then, but even more so after her death.

“I do love my job.” He sighs as he stares at the bottles lined up behind the bar. “But it’s not the position I was hoping for.”

“Oh? What were you shooting for?”

“I wanted a shot at the sheriff’s training academy, but that wasn’t happening for me.”

“Well, why not? I mean, you’re clearly dedicated to law enforcement. And I bet you know a ton of people who would put in a good word for you. I don’t see a single reason why anyone would deny you the right.”

His chest bumps with a silent laugh. “Try a rumor regarding petty theft.” He shakes his head. “I can take the knocks life wants to dole out when I deserve them, but this one really got under my skin. One lie cost me everything.”

“I’m sorry.” I press my hand to my chest, and just as I’m about to ask him to extrapolate Binky zips over in a flurry with a whirlwind of stars floating around her.

“Really, Lottie? Questioning a suspect now? Naomi was hand-feeding me those cheesy chips they’re eating. Carlotta was right again, you really are a party pooper.”

I shoot the surly ghost a look.

“Nelson, why would anyone lie like that? Let me guess, a disgruntled girlfriend?”

His brows hike in amusement. “Nope. But you got the gender right. It was that old hag from church—the one that bit the big one.” He takes another sip of his drink. “I’m sorry. I guess you could say I’m still bitter about that complaint she filed with the sheriff’s department.”

“Complaint?” both Binky and I ask at once.

He nods. “About three years ago, I worked as a landscaper and did some work for a bunch of people at the church and someone referred me to Terri. She was meticulous about how she wanted her garden to look.” He ticks his head as if it still irked him. “She always left the back door unlocked for me if I needed to use the restroom. Anyway, one day out of the blue she accused me of stealing some things from her bedroom. A gold man’s watch and a couple of cufflinks.” He shakes his head. “Do I look like the type that would wear a gold watch and cufflinks? It didn’t matter. She got the ball rolling, started a few rumors, and filed that complaint. That was enough to make the academy reject my application. Thankfully, I’ve got the K-9 unit to work with. It still makes me feel as if I’m a part of the force.” He glowers at the wall. “I’m sorry, Lottie. I’m sure I sound like a monster to you.”

“Not at all. If someone said something about me that wasn’t true and it cost me my bakery, I’d be livid, too. Is that why you had that shouting match with Terri a few months back?”

He gives a long blink. “What shouting match?”

“The one at church. I thought I heard several people witnessed it.”

A throaty laugh comes from him. “Must be one of the old rumors Terri got going that’s still floating around. I’ve never raised my voice to her. I’ll admit to having a lot of heated exchanges with her, but I never spoke above the volume I’m speaking at now. I wasn’t brought up to raise my voice to a woman.”

Maybe it’s the truth serum he’s downing that’s swaying me, but I believe him.

I offer a meager smile. “That day in the sanctuary, the day Terri died, I thought I saw you having one of those heated exchanges.”

His eyes widen a notch. “It’s true. She saw me speaking to Noah and threatened to rehash all of those old lies. She said I didn’t deserve to work with those dogs. That I was one.” He shakes his head. “That’s just like Terri to build up those sweet dogs then tear them down. Even her compliments circled back to insults. I told her enough was enough. I wasn’t going to be bullied by her any longer. Her stronghold over me was