Free Fate Interrupted by Kaitlyn Cross Page B

Brooke and slowly lowered to his black sports coat and jeans. “ Thanks, got a big meeting today so I figured I’d grab a box
of muffins on my way in.”
    “I bet you did,”
she said coyly, setting the blueberry muffin on the counter in front of the
black lady. “No tie, huh?”
    He smoothed his
button down and shook his head. “Trying to quit.”
    “I like your
style,” she grinned, letting her gaze wander to his crotch for a moment. “You
married?”
    His eyebrows
pulled together. “No.”
    “Kids?”
    “Brooke,” Evy softly
warned, drizzling chocolate syrup over whip cream.
    “I’m just trying
to figure out what’s wrong with him.”
    “No kids.”
    The lady by the
register sized Dean up from head to toe, her nails clicking against the counter.
“He’s obviously gay. No way a man that good looking is straight. Trust me!”
    Brooke burst
into laughter while Dean flushed with heat. “I’m not gay either. Not that’s
there’s anything wrong with that.”
    “ Mmm -hmmm,” the woman moaned through her nose, taking the
new drink from Evy and handing her a ten. “If that’s true, I’d handcuff his ass
to your wrist before he gets away,” she whispered to Evy, loud enough for
everyone to hear.
    Brooke laughed
again and then grew somber, staring at Dean through wondering eyes. “Take off
your shirt.”
    “Brooke!” Evy
shrieked, handing the lady’s change back. “What is wrong with you?”
    The lady took
the change and checked her watch. “I’ve got time.”
    Dean tugged on
his collar. “Is it getting hot in here?”
    “It’s about to,
sugar!” the lady said, bellowing with laughter.
    Ben pushed
through the swinging door, holding Darth Vader’s head on a platter. He stopped
and followed everyone’s gaze. “You must be Steve,” he said, carefully setting
the head in the glass case and extending his hand. “I’m Ben, Brooke’s husband.”
    “Hey, Ben,” Dean
replied, shaking his hand.
    “It’s Dean,”
Brooke corrected out the corner of her mouth.
    “Oh, Dean , sorry, man,” Ben said, glancing at
his wife. “You’re right; he does kind of look like Bradley Cooper, but way
taller.” He leaned forward like he was about to tell Dean an important secret.
“Those Hollywood types are always little hobbits in real life. Trust me, I’ve
been to LA.”
    Dean pointed to the
Darth Vader. “Is that a cake?”
    Ben followed the
point and nodded. “Billy Jefferson’s ninth birthday
tomorrow.”
    “That is
amazing. It looks just like his head!”
    Ben chuckled
shyly. “Thanks, man.”
    “Assorted?” Evy
asked, holding up an empty pastry box.
    Dean’s eyes
darted over to her. “That’d be great.”
    “So, Dean,” Ben
said, folding his beefy arms across an Avenged Sevenfold t-shirt. “You from around here?”
    “Born and
raised.”
    “Hey, do you
know if that Jeffrey Dahmer tour is still going on
anymore? I can’t find out much about it online.”
    “And that’s my cue,”
the black lady said, grabbing her blueberry muffin and drink. “Thank you,
ladies,” she sang out.
    “Thank you, Mrs.
Johansen,” Brooke and Evy said at the same time in airy voices.
    Brooke watched
Mrs. Johansen disappear outside and turned to her husband. “Ben,
stop being so creepy!”
    “What? I’m just
trying to catch up on my Milwaukee history.”
    “Then go to a
brewery,” she snapped.
    Ben turned to
Dean and rolled his eyes.
    Dean laughed. “I’m
not exactly sure about the tour,” he said, watching Evy fill his box and
wanting to return the favor.
    “Huh,” Ben
muttered. “We did the Charles Manson tour last year in LA and it was insane.”
    Dean lifted his
brow. “I bet.”
    “It was like you
could still feel their ghosts at those houses,” Ben whispered, shivering with
the chills. “You believe in ghosts, Dean?”
    Dean’s eyebrows
drew together. “ Ummm , well, one time my TV turned on
in the middle of the night.”
    Ben’s eyes
widened. “I’ve got an EVP recorder. You