“But enough about injectables. I think I found you a roommate,” Suzette announced, licking residual salt from the rim of her glass. Her red hair was pulled back into an artfully messy bun, and with her hazel, kohl-rimmed bedroom eyes, she looked like she always did—over-the-top glamorous. “He’s one of Jimmy’s friends, and he needs a place to stay right away.”
Cora gave Suzette a look and stirred the slush in the bottom of her margarita glass. Her gut instinct was to turn away any friend associated with Jimmy, but she was in dire need of someone to help with the rent. Ever since her previous roommate decided to move to Sri Lanka, Cora had been struggling to cover all the bills. If she was ever going to save up enough money to put an offer on her dream house, she needed to find someone soon. “Is he an artist like Jimmy?”
“Well...” Suzette’s gaze slid sideways, which was never a good sign. “He’s definitely artistic, but he’s more like a musician.”
“Like a musician,” Cora repeated, growing suspicious. “What kind of musician are we talking? Symphony orchestra, or drummer in a band?” Her current rental house was in a cramped neighborhood where the homes were practically shoulder to shoulder. She could almost reach out her window and touch the house next door. If her new roommate was going to be a drummer in a band, she wouldn’t be winning any points with the neighbors when he practiced in the garage.
“He’s very talented,” Suzette said with too-wide eyes.
Cora leaned back and crossed her arms. “Let’s hear it.”
“Okay.” Suzette took a deep breath. “He just moved to Providence Falls, so he doesn’t have a full-time job yet. But he’s currently a one-man-band performer over in the town square.” She held her hand up because Cora was already rolling her eyes. “But he’s really talented and he has this amazing harmonica attached to a—”
“Save it,” Cora said, grateful for the fresh margarita the server set in front of her. “The last thing I need is a guy whose income relies heavily on the mercy of tourists.”
“Fine.” Suzette couldn’t suppress a giggle. “I’m just trying to help, and I’ve exhausted all my resources.”
“Hey, ladies,” a quiet, masculine voice said.
Cora turned to see the perfectly refined, perfectly polite defense attorney, Finley Walsh, standing beside her. He was a friend of her father’s, and Cora had met him a few years ago when he was working on a case she’d been following. Occasionally they ran into each other at the bar, and a couple of times her dad brought him to her house on their way to go golfing. Even though Finn was only a few years older than her, he always just seemed so reserved and, well...a little bit on the stuffy side. He was attractive enough—that wasn’t the problem. With his sandy-blond hair and broad shoulders, no one would argue that he wasn’t easy on the eyes, but he reminded Cora of one of those guys on the BBC channel. The kind who sat in leather armchairs drinking brandy and saying things like, Now, see here, my good man. Maybe it was the meticulous way he dressed, with the designer suits and ties. Or maybe it was his hair that was always so neatly arranged. It made Cora want to reach out with both hands and muss it up sometimes. Like now, after she’d had a few drinks.
“Hi, Finn,” Cora said, sitting up straighter. Why did she always do that in his presence? He made her feel like she needed to be on her best behavior. It was annoying. “You know my friend Suzette.”
Suzette gave a cheery wave. “Good to see you again, Finn. For some reason, Cora can’t remember that we’ve all had drinks together before, but don’t hold it against her. She’s tipsy right now. Had a tough day arresting bad guys.”
“I am not tipsy,” Cora said indignantly, even though she was feeling a little fuzzy around the edges. “And I only arrested one bad guy.”
“Did you?” Finn smiled down at Cora and she blinked, because the warmth in his eyes made him seem suddenly less stuffy and more...something else. Alluring, maybe?
She glanced away sharply and took another sip of her margarita. The drinks must be strong tonight.
Finn looked like he was about to say something, but her phone rang. It was her father again. He’d called twice in a half hour. “Excuse me. I need to take this outside.” She slid from her chair and made her way across the crowded pub, exiting the side door where it would be easier to hear over the muted street traffic. She pressed one finger to her ear and answered her phone. “Hey, Dad. What’s up?”
“Cora, there you are.” Her dad’s voice sounded stern and determined, the way he always did when he was on a mission. “I’ve been trying to reach you for over an hour.”
“Believe it or not, sometimes I do crazy things like go places with my friends on a Saturday night.”
“Where are you?”
“I’m down at the docks searching for my next drug hit. You know, the usual,” Cora teased, leaning against the wall. “There’s this guy here in a white unmarked van who says he has puppies and candy in the back. He seems really nice, so I’m going to go check it out.”
Her father didn’t take the bait. “Cora, I’ve found you a roommate.”
She straightened her spine and pushed off the wall. It wasn’t like her father not to joke with her, at least a little. Ever since she was a kid, he’d been overprotective of her, and now that she was a cop, she sometimes teased him about it. But tonight, he sounded carefully controlled. Serious. “What do you mean?”
A slight pause. “Are you aware that there’s a new transfer in your department?”
“I heard something about it.” There was talk all last week at the station, but she didn’t know much beyond that. “They’re pulling bets to see who gets stuck with the new guy. How’d you know about it?”
He made a huffing sound. “I’m retired, kiddo. Not dead.”
Cora smiled. Even though her father lived hours away and was no longer the police chief in Providence Falls, old habits died hard with him. He still had friends in town and kept his finger on the pulse. She shouldn’t have been surprised.
“He can be your new roommate,” her dad stated. “He’s moving there from Raleigh, and he needs a place to live.”
Cora raised her brows. There were several reasons why that wasn’t a good idea, but she decided to address the most surprising one. “Wow, Dad. A guy? I never would’ve thought you’d be on board with me having a male roommate, even if he is an officer of the law.”
“This is different,” he declared. “It’ll be a win-win situation for both of you.” She got the feeling he’d already made up his mind for her. Sometimes he still treated her like she was a little girl in pigtails who needed him to solve all her problems.