A Christmas to Dismember by Addison Moore (best desktop ebook reader TXT) 📕

A breath gets locked in my throat.

“I’d better get home. Jasper is there.” I stretch my lips back as I look to Georgie. “I’ll give you twenty bucks for that kaftan.”

Georgie tosses it my way. “And just like that, we’ve got our first customer!”

I do a quick change, scoop up Rudolph, and head back to my cottage.

Here’s hoping a little easy access will make Jasper forget all about my poor purchasing decisions.

The cottage I share with Jasper was once exclusively mine. Jasper rented the cottage next door, but when we got hitched a few months back, we consolidated into this one. They’re both on the grounds of the inn and within walking distance to work for me, which I love. Emmie, Jordy, and Georgie live on the grounds as well. If I could, I’d move everyone I love here.

Jasper and I spent last weekend decorating the outside of our cozy little cottage with a wreath made of evergreen boughs, colorful twinkle lights to line the roof, and we set poinsettias on either side of the entrance to give it an extra festive touch.

I let myself in, only to find the fireplace roaring, the living room toasty, and Fish and Sherlock curled up on the sofa. The inside of the cottage has a cozy appeal, too, with its yellow and white checkered sofa, its frilly curtains, and rustic coffee table.

Jasper and I put up Christmas stockings over the fireplace with our names on them, and there’s one each for Fish and Sherlock, too. We put twinkle lights and garland over the mantel and a giant wreath made of holly berries up above the fireplace, but we’ve yet to get a tree.

“Hey, beautiful.” Jasper steps out of the kitchen with a couple of plates in one hand and a brown paper bag in the other, looking like the handsome detective he is—a handsome detective who is about to winnow out the truth about that pricey lunch date I had with a suspect, of all people.

So I do the only thing I can think of. I set Rudolph down and peel off my coat, dropping it right to the floor as if I was doing a strip tease.

He tips his head back a notch as if to get a better look at me before landing the plates and bag on the coffee table.

“I see you’re channeling your inner Georgie,” he muses as he wraps his arms around me. “And boy, do I ever approve.” Jasper lands a molten hot kiss over my lips, and for a moment, I forget all about the one thousand ways I’ve managed to land myself in financial hot water. He pulls back. “I hope you don’t mind, I picked up a couple of hot pastrami sandwiches for dinner.”

I lift a brow. “It sounds as if you’re channeling your inner Georgie, too.” I fill him in on Georgie’s hot pastrami sales pitch and we share a warm laugh.

“Sounds delicious,” he says, navigating us to the sofa as both Fish and Sherlock hop off and begin to chase Rudolph around the living room in a dizzying circle. “So what happened to your clothes today?” It’s clear Jasper isn’t buying my kaftan revolution so easily. He looks at me intently and manages to send my stomach searing with heat because Jasper Wilder just so happens to be unfairly handsome. “Why do I get the feeling I’m going to regret asking that question?”

“Would you believe I opted for a stunning frock because it provided something special just for you?”

His brows furrow. “What’s that?”

“Easy access.” I blink a quick smile “And—my purchase of this little ditty allowed me to become the very first customer for my mother and Georgie. So I was essentially doing a very good deed.”

“Easy access?” He gets a drugged look in his eyes. “I like where this is headed.” He wraps an arm around me and pulls me close. “Are we skipping dinner?”

“Only if you lose your appetite.”

A dark laugh brews in his chest. “There’s no hope of that happening with you around.”

“Oh, I’d say there’s a little hope.” I cringe at the thought of what comes next. “About that credit card…”

“Don’t worry about it.” He glances to the ceiling with a look of frustration. “Thank God fraud alert kicked in and we were able to squash it. What moron would pay a thousand dollars for lunch? Apparently, someone got ahold of our number and threw a party with it at some ridiculous place out in Rolling Oaks. Can you imagine? I bet they called two hundred of their closest friends and said the words free lunch.”

“You would be surprised.” A nervous laugh trickles out of me. “There weren’t that many people there.”

A laugh initiates from him but quickly diminishes.

“Bizzy?” He backs away a notch. “Tell me you didn’t have lunch in Rolling Oaks with two hundred of your closest friends.”

“Oh, I didn’t. There were only about twelve people there, and not one of them was a friend—unless, of course, you count Georgie and Juni. Would you call them friends? I’m thinking they’re more like family.”

His eyes widen about as far as they can go. “I call them trouble. Talk fast, Bizzy. I’m filling in the blanks, and I don’t like where the pieces are falling.”

“Fine.” I tell him about how effortless it was to track down Angelica Chatfield and how Georgie, Juni, and I just sat right down at their table and started chatting away.

Jasper tips his head back until all I can see is his Adam’s apple.

“Bizzy.” He groans. “I guess I should have talked to you first before I spent an hour with the fraud department.”

“I’m sorry. If it makes you feel better, I’ll call them first thing in the morning and have the charges put back on the card.”

His cheek flickers. “It’s the right thing to do. I’ll take care of it, though. It’s the least I can do while you’re out there chasing the bad guys.” He