Wicked TimesAn Ivy Morgan Mystery Book Three
Lily Harper Hart
HarperHart Publications
Contents
Copyright
1.One
2.Two
3.Three
4.Four
5.Five
6.Six
7.Seven
8.Eight
9.Nine
10.Ten
11.Eleven
12.Twelve
13.Thirteen
14.Fourteen
15.Fifteen
16.Sixteen
17.Seventeen
18.Eighteen
19.Nineteen
20.Twenty
21.Twenty-One
22.Twenty-Two
23.Twenty-Three
24.Twenty-Four
25.Twenty-Five
Acknowledgments
Mail List
Books by Lily Harper Hart
Copyright © 2015 by Lily Harper Hart
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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One
“I can’t believe we’re finally doing this.”
Jack Harker glanced down at Ivy Morgan, the pink streaks in her dark hair glowing under the fading sunshine, and smiled. If he didn’t know better he would think she was nervous. Since she was generally mouthy and opinionated, it was an interesting shift in her typically boisterous personality.
He reached over and snagged her hand, squeezing it gently as they moved down Bellaire’s quiet street. This was their first official date. Sure, they’d already kissed so many times Jack thought his lips were going to catch fire, and they’d even slept cuddled up on the same couch for a few nights, but this was the real beginning. This was the big moment. This was the night that would change everything. Okay, if he was being internally truthful, maybe Ivy wasn’t the only one suffering from a case of the nerves.
“Are you regretting agreeing to go out with me?” Jack asked, studying the soft planes of her face as she shifted to look at him.
“Why would you ask that?” Ivy was confused. “Did you change your mind?”
Jack sighed. He didn’t blame her for being worried. He’d made it clear from the moment he moved to Shadow Lake – a small town in northern Lower Michigan – and taken up residence as one of the town’s only full-time police officers that he wasn’t interested in romance. That decree lasted until the first moment he saw Ivy. He fought her pull as long as he could, but finally he realized it would be easier to accept what he was feeling and give the relationship a chance rather than fight the inevitable. And that’s how he felt. Falling for Ivy wasn’t something he could run from because it was already happening. It was inevitable. Of course, she still worried that he was going to flee the moment things got difficult, so he was constantly nudging her away from that assumption
“I thought we talked about this, Ivy,” Jack said, his voice calm. “I know you’re … nervous … about giving this a shot. I’m terrified, to tell you the truth. That doesn’t mean I’ve changed my mind. Quite frankly I’m more worried about you changing your mind now than anything else.”
Ivy worried her bottom lip with her teeth as she mulled the words. “I don’t want you to think that I don’t want this, because I do,” she said. “I just … I’m pretty sure I don’t want a broken heart and I think you’re going to give me one if you’re not sure that this is what you want.”
Jack rolled his eyes. They’d been over this very thing five different times in a one-week period. Jack asked Ivy out to dinner in a neighboring town because Shadow Lake was small enough for their date to be considered evening news material. He wanted a chance to enjoy her company without everyone staring at them like they were trapped in a fishbowl. Since he issued the invitation, she’d called so many times to make sure the date was still on he wanted to shake her. One of the things he loved most about her was her self-confidence. She wasn’t exuding any of that right now.
“Ivy, I want to start over,” Jack said, changing tactics. “I want you to forget everything I said when I came to town about not wanting a relationship. That was crap.”
“It wasn’t crap,” Ivy argued. “You were very adamant and you kept warning me to stay away from you … even though I’d like to point out that you kept hanging around me.”
Jack smirked. There she was. He loved that mouth … in more ways than one. “I was adamant,” he conceded. “You managed to completely throw me off, though. So, if you want clarification, now I’m saying that I don’t want a relationship with anyone but you. Does that make you happy?”
Ivy wrinkled her nose, her expression adorable enough to flip Jack’s heart. He had no idea how she managed to turn him into a mushy pile of goo every time he was around her, but he had a sneaking suspicion that was part of her magic.
“I don’t want to start over,” Ivy said, stubborn as usual. “You can’t go back in time. You can only go forward.”
Jack stilled in the middle of the sidewalk and fixed Ivy with a hard look. “Do you want to go forward with me?”
“Yes.”
“Then stop complaining,” Jack ordered, although his eyes twinkled. “You being so nervous makes me nervous and we’re not going to have a good time if we’re both freaking out. Don’t you want to have a good time?”
“Well, since you actually made reservations at the only restaurant in town that serves vegetarian entrees … and you dressed up … and you smell really good … I guess it’s fair to say that I want to have a good time,” Ivy replied.
Jack smirked. “I smell really good?”
“Don’t let it go to your head,” Ivy warned. “Maybe you just smell really bad every other day of the week.”
Jack took Ivy by surprised when he tugged on their joined hands and pulled her to him, their bodies forced together by the action. He ran his hand down the back of her head and rubbed his nose against her soft cheek. She smelled good, too … like peaches. “I don’t think I believe you,” he whispered, grinning when she involuntarily shivered. “I think you like how I smell every day of the
