He didn’t lift his head. “I came to apologize. I made moves on you when you were drunk, when you were not in a good head space. You’d just killed a man, and—”

I twisted around. “And? Did we have sex and I don’t remember? Because that would be a shame.”

“What?” He snapped his head up, eyes wide. “I don’t think so, did we?”

I rolled my eyes. “Corb, you were under a spell. And I am a grown-ass woman. If we’d knocked boots, it would have been because I wanted to. If anyone would have been coerced, it would have been you, and I’d be apologizing for taking advantage. Besides, I know exactly how to cut your balls off if you made a move I didn’t like, okay?”

The relief on his face would have been funny if not for the fact that I’d threatened his balls. Okay, maybe that made it funnier. What I knew was that Crash had threatened Corb at some point and made it clear that he needed to apologize. While I appreciated the notion, it wasn’t really needed. I wasn’t so precious that I was offended a younger man had hit on me. Even if it was because of a spell.

Robert slid into view, just behind Corb. “Friend. Coming.”

I looked at Corb. “Kind of late, Robert.”

“Other.”

Corb lifted his hand to my face. “I do care about you, Breena. Not like . . . not because you were family for years.” Something along his jaw ticked and he ducked his head close, pressing his lips to mine, surprising me. Just a quick kiss and he pulled back. “Okay? Can we start again? Maybe I can take you on a proper date where the restaurant doesn’t blow up?”

I was confused, mostly because there were too many emotions galloping through me. Worry about what Missy was up to. Anger that Alan, who’d always ridiculed me for believing in magic, had used it against me. Confusion and uncertainty because of Corb’s confession. And then a hot flush of desire hit me, so wild I thought it would strangle me. I blinked a couple times and found myself looking past Corb, spotting the source of the sudden heat curling through me.

Crash stood in the back door, his eyes on Corb and me sitting there wrapped up in each other’s arms.

At another time in my life I would have stuttered and tried to explain. At another time I would have felt embarrassed to be attracted to two men at once. But that was then, and I was a new kind of cougar.

I grinned up at Crash and winked. “Want to join us?”

3

No, I really wasn’t into a threesome, despite my question, but Crash and Corb didn’t know that. And their differing reactions as I sat there between Corb’s knees on my kitchen floor opened my eyes more than a little.

Crash gave a slow grin. “I doubt you could handle both of us at once.”

Corb let go of me and pushed to his feet. “She’s bluffing.”

I sighed and slowly pulled myself up using the edge of the table. “The young ones never think I’m capable. But the truth is I could show you both a trick or two, right, Robert?” I looked to my skeleton buddy for support.

He lifted a hand and gave a bony thumbs-up.

Corb raised his eyebrows. “I can’t see this Robert you’ve been talking to all this time. You know that, right?”

I looked at Crash. “What about you? Can you see Robert?”

Crash narrowed his eyes, staring at the space next to me where Robert stood swaying. “I can see a shadow if I pay very close attention, but he slips through my vision.”

“Weird. Because Sarge and Luke can see him. And Eric,” I said.

“He is between two realms, straddling them, if you will. Eric can stand between realms too. That’s how he keeps from being found by humans.” Crash walked farther into the kitchen and went straight to the stash of pastries Eric had been baking. Seriously, where was my bigfoot roomie anyway? Had he gone to talk to Kinkly? That seemed the most likely reason for his sudden disappearance, but he’d been gone a long time. Silently, I wished him luck. Better luck than I was having. Then again, I had two hot guys hanging out in my kitchen, so maybe my luck wasn’t the problem.

Crash scooped up a jam-filled flaky confection and took a bite. “Shifters can often sense the dead. Like any animal.”

Corb moved to stand a little closer to me. I took a step to the left. “If you pee on my leg to mark territory, I’ll seriously kick you in the shins.”

He shook his head—an oh, Bree kind of shake—then turned his eyes on me. “So I’ll pick you up for dinner tonight?”

Really? He was really going to push this now? I sighed. Of course he was—he was peeing on me without peeing on me. “I’m not going to turn down a free meal. But not tonight. Tomorrow would be better.”

“I’ll pick you up at five.” For a moment, I thought he was going to try for another kiss, but he must have gotten the hint from my narrowed eyes because he backed up and made his way to the front door. I sighed and sat at the table.

“Bad news?” Crash said around a mouthful of pastry. I lifted my eyes to his, fighting the need to throw myself bodily at him. Gawd in heaven, he was hotter than sin and twice as enticing.

“Same old. I hate my ex. Wish I could stuff him in a body bag and drop him into the river,” I said.

“I don’t much like my ex either,” Crash said.

I looked up at him and laughed. “Yeah, she isn’t my favorite fairy queen, I’ll say that.”

He popped the last of the pastry in his mouth and licked his finger, and I had to look away as my face heated. Yup, too many dirty thoughts rolling around in my brain. Way too many.

More than my face heated as I turned my back on him, trying to get my wildly treacherous hormones under control.

“Breena, is there something I can do to help?” Crash asked.

I wanted to say yes, I really did, and tell him he could start by throwing me on the table and having his way with me repeatedly.

But my worry about Alan interrupted my hormone fest. Who the hell knew what Himself was up to, or how deeply the hypocrite had entrenched himself in the shadow world? And while I knew Crash would happily help with that problem, too, I wanted all the joy of kicking Alan in the balls, physically and in the wallet. And I wouldn’t pass up a serious metaphysical wallop either. I’d take any of the three. Besides, Himself and his threats weren’t dangerous to my health, just my . . . anything I owned.

And that’s when the penny dropped.

I groaned. The house. I turned to face Crash. “You need to take my name off the deed. If the loan sharks or whoever is recalling the debt find out about that, they’ll take the house.”

Crash’s eyebrows shot up. “Who told you?”

“You did.”

He leaned back on the counter, folding his arms over his chest, which flexed his biceps under his plain black T-shirt. Damn it, all the hotness in one package. It wasn’t fair. “You were awake when I was talking with your gran?”

“Yup. I’ve been telling you all I’m a good faker. Just ask my ex.” I winked and he laughed.

“I’d know.”

And just like that, the heat at my core turned to lava. I couldn’t look away as he stared at me.

“I’d know,” he repeated. “Even if we shouldn’t.”

“Heard you the first time.” I struggled to breathe. He was . . . too much. I knew it. He knew it. This was a bad, terrible, idea.

But, oh man, did I ever want to jump his bones. I mean, my libido had been riding high ever since I hit forty, like through the roof, but Crash just flat out hit every sexy button inside me. Mature, built like a brick house, fantastic eyes, an amazing kisser . . . I could keep adding to that list all damn day. But the fact remained that he was a fae king. Or had been, I wasn’t really sure if he was still a king given that he’d divorced the fae queen. He worked in shady deals that I couldn’t ignore. And then there were the girls he’d been with . . . I couldn’t compete with that.

I backed up as he approached me until I bumped into the wall. “This is a bad idea, Crash.”

“I know it is. I’m aware that this is probably the worst idea, but do remind me why again,” he said, and I realized he was stalking me and I was acting like prey. That thought was like cold water.

I stood a little straighter, put a hand out and jabbed two fingers into his too-hard abs, stopping him in place. “Because. You said it yourself, the fae would use me. I recognize that you are way out of my league. I’m not stupid.”

He stopped his approach and opened his mouth, but I cut him off, diving into the deep end in a way that my younger self would never have dared.

“The thing is, you know I’ve got the hots for you. And for some reason, you promised my gran to look out for me. And that means you have a leg up on me. So you don’t have to pretend, okay? You’re looking out for me, but I get that you don’t actually like me like that. I mean, I know you like me as a friend—”

“Stop.” He held up both hands, palms facing me, and my mouth clicked shut, cutting short the rambling I’d fallen into. “Bree, just stop.” Crash blew out a breath and the intensity in the room slid down a notch. “I’ll get your name off the deed before the day’s end.” He paused and the weight in his blue and gold-flecked eyes pinned me in place. His eyes dilated, and for just a moment, I thought he’d say something like screw it, let’s do it on the table. But before I could say yes, please, he closed his eyes, cutting me off from whatever he was feeling. “Have a good night with Corb tomorrow.”

He turned and walked out of the back door, the screen flapping and banging behind him.

I was leaning against the kitchen wall, breathing hard, my body cursing me for not dragging that delectable man upstairs for some serious afternoon delights. I opened my mouth to call him back, but I had enough sense to shut it before I could. Hooking up with him really was a bad idea—I knew it in every ache of my body.

“That man is going to be trouble, Gran.”

She snorted from somewhere in the other room, but otherwise, kept her thoughts to herself.