“It’s still a work in progress,” he cautioned, for what might’ve been the hundredth time.
“I’m well aware.” Harper offered up a half wave and then deliberately moved toward Jared. She needed a break from the overzealous event organizer.
Zander and Shawn stood a few feet away from Jared as she approached, their heads bent together. She was so hungry for normal conversation that she eagerly shuffled toward them. “What are you guys doing?”
Shawn smiled in greeting as Zander continued to fuss with his hair. “We’re gearing up for a murder mystery. What are you doing?”
Harper glanced over her shoulder to reassure herself that Harris hadn’t followed and then sighed. “I’m hiding from our host.”
Shawn snickered. “He does seem singularly focused on you.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s because he thinks my endorsement will somehow put him on the map.” Harper had been puzzling through the situation for the bulk of the tour. “The more I think about it, though, the more I wonder what I can actually do for him.”
“You’re prominent in ghost circles,” Zander pointed out, his hand busy as he tried to push his hair down so it was more manageable. To Harper, it almost looked as if Zander’s hair had doubled in size, which made her curious about what sort of product he’d brought. “Your name is growing by leaps and bounds these days. Everyone wants a piece of you.”
To Harper, that was a sobering thought. “Oh, well ... .”
Shawn took pity on her and patted her shoulder. “It’s not a bad thing. You’re good at what you do. You’ve helped a lot of people. News like that spreads, and not in a bad way.”
“Yeah, but ... accolades only last for so long. Eventually the pushback starts. It’s part of the process with every business.”
“It is,” Shawn agreed. “I’ve discovered it firsthand in my business, and I only own a gym. Most of the people in Whisper Cove are happy I opened my place, but there are a few who give me grief about it.”
“That’s because you’re gay,” Zander offered, licking his fingers as he continued to manipulate his hair. He was starting to remind Harper of a manic cat grooming himself. “The only people who don’t like that gym are the ones who think being gay is a choice. Ignore them. You’re perfect the way you are.”
Shawn shot him a fond look. “Thank you, baby.”
“I’m perfect, too,” Zander continued. “Er, well, I was before you didn’t pack my gel.”
“And here we go.” Shawn grinned at me. “He’s going to be a real pill for the next few hours. You’ve been warned.”
“I’m used to this.” Harper was blasé. “What I’m not used to is someone trying so desperately for my approval. It makes me feel weird.”
“That’s what happens when you’re a famous ghost hunter,” Shawn enthused. “Hopefully he will calm down once the event starts. I think he just has a lot of nervous energy.”
“Yeah.” To Harper, that made sense. Since the conversation was going nowhere but in circles, she decided to change the subject. “I think his assistant is another problem, though.”
That had Shawn and Zander snorting in unison.
“She does seem to have a crush on your man,” Zander offered. “She goes all googly-eyed when she sees him. It’s kind of cute ... even though there are two better specimens for her to set her sights on nearby.”
“What do you think?” Harper queried, nudging Jared with her shoe. He’d been hunkered down and staring at the same spot since she joined them, and she was starting to get a complex. “You haven’t already forgotten about me, have you?”
“Hmm?” Jared lifted his head, his eyes cloudy. “Did you say something, Heart?”
Harper smiled despite herself. “I was just saying that I didn’t think it was possible for you to forget about me so soon, but apparently I was wrong.”
Jared shot her a baffled look. “Oh, I could never forget about you. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Not even for Becky?”
“Especially not for Becky. She seems sweet enough, but there’s nothing more annoying than someone who can’t read a social cue.”
“I agree,” Zander deadpanned. “What social cue am I sending you right now?” He made an exaggerated face, his mouth elongated and his tongue sticking out, that had even Jared laughing.
“I think this is her first real job, and she doesn’t know how to act,” Jared offered. “Hopefully she’ll settle down. It would be nice if my fan and your fan could settle down at the same time so we could spend a bit of time together, though, huh?”
Harper nodded without hesitation. “I think your fan has different ideas on what sort of relationship she’s pursuing, though. My fan just wants me to give him a business endorsement. Your fan wants an endorsement of a different kind.”
That earned a full-fledged smile from Jared. “Well, she’s going to have to be disappointed. There’s only one woman I’ll be endorsing for the rest of my life, and she happens to be standing right in front of me.”
Harper wrinkled her nose. “So, sweet.”
“Yes,” he agreed, turning back to the spot he was staring at on the ground. “I’m sweet as pie.”
“Blueberry pie,” Harper agreed as she crouched down to see what he was looking at. “Is there a snake or something? Just for the record, I don’t like snakes.”
Jared chuckled. “It’s not a snake.”
“Just a trouser snake,” Zander offered.
Jared ignored him. “I think it’s blood.”
Harper straightened, surprised. “What?”
“Blood,” Jared replied. “Look here.” He pointed toward the bottom of the tombstone, which looked to be real and yet had that “new car smell” going for it compared to a lot of the other tombstones located on the small patch of land. “You can see the color has seeped onto the stone.”
Harper stared hard, her heart rate picking up a notch. “What do you think that means?”
Jared held out his hands. “I think it could be part of the show.”
“Oh.” The oxygen escaped Harper’s lungs with a terrific whoosh. “That’s probably what it is.” Why hadn’t that
