Sealed with a Hiss by Addison Moore (read 50 shades of grey .txt) 📕

“Nope,” Georgie corrects. “I mean ear, nose, breast. He liked to whisper sweet nothings in my ear while giving me Eskimo kisses, and grabbing my—”

“I get it,” I say as I point to the room with the name Buckingham written on the board outside of it. “We’re here. Let me do the talking,” I whisper.

Georgie makes a face in Juni’s direction. “She’s a know-it-all and she’s bossy. She’s lucky I let her stay at the inn for free.”

I shoot her a look.

“Okay, fine.” She waves me off. “You let me stay at the inn for free. But you still owe me a thank you for bumping off that stuffy old earl who left it to you to begin with.”

“Georgie.” I cover Sugar’s furry little ears with my hand. “You did not kill Quinn Bennet.”

“Or did I?” She gives a wink just as I give a light knock over Bobbie’s door.

“Come in!” a chipper voice sings from deep inside the room, and we head in to find Bobbie Buckingham sitting up in bed wrapped in a hot pink robe, her blonde hair neatly combed, and her cheeks giving off a rosy glow.

There’s a giant gauze square sitting over the right side of her forehead, but other than that she looks perfectly fine. Standing by her side is a blond gentleman about my father’s age, with heavy lids, a loose smile, and a sweatshirt with a picture of a polar bear drinking a beer on it.

“Bizzy.” Bobbie’s countenance brightens. “Well, come on in, ladies. Don’t be shy.”

“Hi, Bobbie,” I say. “I hope you don’t mind I’ve brought along my good friends, Georgie and Juni. Georgie is actually dating—”

“Who cares who my mama is dating”—Juni says as she hustles her way to the man in the polar bear sweatshirt—“I’m the available one around here. Well, hubba hubba. I’ll have what he’s having.” She points to the bear holding the beer and they share a laugh.

“I guess I’ll have to buy you a drink later,” he says, eyeing her up and down, while looking perfectly smitten with her. “Why don’t we step aside?” He plucks a box of chocolate off the small tray table and opens it up toward Juni. “Sweets for the sweet?”

Juni gives a husky laugh. “I do believe someone is trying to seduce me.”

They shuffle off to the corner, and I grimace over at Bobbie.

“Sorry.” I’m not entirely sure what I’m apologizing for, but it felt right.

“Please.” She winces as she struggles to sit up a bit more. “That’s my brother, Buck. He’s just doing what he does best. Sometimes I think he flirts for a living.”

Georgie gives a knowing nod. “And that’s my baby girl, Juniper Moonbeam. She juggles men and guzzles booze for a living.”

“She’s not kidding,” I’m quick to tell her as I extract the tiny cotton candy-haired cutie from my front carrier.

A wailing noise comes from Bobbie as she flicks her fingers toward her.

“Give me that little sweetie pie.” She takes her from me and snuggles with her until Sugar all but disappears under her neck. “Is it really you?” She peppers the tiny cat with kisses and Sugar mewls and kisses her right back. “Oh, you don’t know how much better I feel just seeing you.”

“She seems happy to see you, too.” I shrug over at her. “Are you okay?”

She glances to the ceiling. “I’m as okay as I can be. I just lost my husband.” The louse that he was. “And I darn near died myself. Someone knocked me over the head and stuffed a gun in my hand to make it look as if I shot Chip myself.”

Georgie gasps. “You mean you didn’t pull the trigger?”

“Nope.” She shakes her head. “In fact, they shot me, too. They said a bullet may have grazed my side. The doctor thinks that happened after they knocked me over the head and I fell to the ground.”

“Bobbie”—I step closer to the bed—“who knocked you over the head?”

“I don’t know.” She plants another kiss onto Sugar’s back. “It could have been anyone, I guess.”

Diane comes to mind.

Gizmo all but outed the fact she was at the scene of the crime.

“That’s shocking,” I say. “I guess the sheriff’s department will be able to tell pretty quickly whose gun that is. That might lead straight to the killer.”

“It won’t.” She frowns at the thought. “It was my gun. I’ve carried it for years. Although I’m not entirely sure if they fired my gun. I guess forensics will tell us that.”

A thought comes to me. “So you think they shot Chip after they knocked you over the head?”

She shrugs. “It must have been. I don’t remember hearing a gunshot.”

“Well, I bet Chip was trying to charge at them as soon as he saw that they hit you.”

Could it have been a robbery gone wrong?

Her eyes go vacant a moment as she stares out the window. “Chip was saying something to me…”

Georgie leans in. “I bet he was telling you to run.”

Her chest bounces with a quiet laugh. “He wasn’t telling me to run.” He was telling me I was about to get what I deserved.

“What?” I mutter mostly to myself, but she glances my way and shakes her head.

“I don’t know what he was saying.” And for darn sure I don’t know what he meant. “I gave that man everything.” Tears stream down her face as if on cue. “And he repaid me by having an affair. We don’t have children. He could have told me he wasn’t into the relationship anymore. He could have told me anything, and I would have moved heaven and earth to make things better. I know things weren’t great. I was so busy, but he seemed content.”

“They always do.” Georgie shakes her head. “I had one of those losers on my hands. Happy to see me—and happy to see every other girl in the room once I turned my back, too. Don’t you dare think you did anything wrong. And don’t