Now and Always Virtual Book Tour

Before the lunch hour had hit on Monday, Karen visited human resources, applied her saved vacation and personal time off so she could work part-time. She used Tuesday and Wednesday to finish up bookwork. Thursday at noon, she ditched the office and packed her suitcase. She made it to the gravel driveway leading to the Granton estate in time for afternoon cocktails. The mighty iron gate leading to the mansion, locked every time she’d driven by before, was opened wide in welcome.

Excitement shivered through her as she drove through the gate, and the crowding trees offered new glimpses of the building’s pointed, Gothic gables. Diamond-paned windows flashed like waterfall spray in sunlight, liquid and magical. The woods opened up into a roundabout drive circling a cracked, dry fountain and she got her first full look at the mysterious Granton Hall.

“Wowza.” Karen parked her car beside Leo’s motorcycle and got out for an unobstructed view. She knew Leo had some serious cash, but this must have cost most of his hard-earned fortune. The steep roof and killer gables made it seem taller than two stories high, not including the attic. Walls tangled with ivy and made of gray stone added a foreboding beauty. It would make the perfect horror movie setting. She couldn’t hide a grin. Leo probably wouldn’t appreciate the irony.

A fractured stone walkway, hardly more than a trail, led through weeds and overgrown grass to the mansion’s front porch. An occasional sculpture weathered by years and negligence added a cemetery vibe. Matching faun statues flanked the entryway, lichen oozing from their eyes and leering mouths, ivy shackling their limbs.

She couldn’t wait to see what hid inside.

Suitcase in hand, she stepped toward the walkway and paused as a tremor rolled down her back. Maybe it stemmed from delight at discovering Granton Hall’s secrets. Maybe it came from taking a dive into the unknown.

Or maybe the man stepping from the porch and heading for her, his lopsided smile aimed at her, sparked her imagination to life.

Her pulse kicked into race-car speed. Best friend. Not made for jumping.

That was a total lie. There was no better specimen for a girl to jump on, grab ahold of and explore every wicked daydream with. Leo’s collar length hair would be perfect for her fingers to tangle in. Too many times to count she’d wondered if his mouth felt as soft as it looked. His body was sculpted from a foundation of sports and horseplay with four brothers, perfected by hard labor and the Hughes clan fighting with swords, light sabers or the weapon of the week. A few of those muscles tempted her from beneath his long-sleeved T-shirt and faded jeans. Had he been any other man, she’d be drooling.

But Leo wasn’t any other man. She had to keep things cool…somehow.

“Hey, Ren.” He took her suitcase and pivoted to face Granton Hall with her. “What do you think?”

Karen did her best to ignore the heat radiating from him, the scent of cedar and sawdust that always clung to his clothing and instead focused on the mansion before her. Shadows and secrets lurked in every corner, from the stained-glass windows frowning from the second floor to the moss-filled crevices in the stone walls. A black iron fence caged one side of the building, a subtle warning to keep out. No light glowed from within, as if Granton had already dismissed Leo’s presence as a passing memory.

“It’s everything I imagined—stark, arcane and breathtakingly Gothic. Splendidly chilling. I’m shocked you went in there alone.” She smirked sidelong at Leo. “Did you check under the stairs for demented clowns with chainsaws?”

“Yes,” he said, utterly serious, “I did.”

“Are you sure you’re up for living here?”

“With you to protect me, I’m feeling pretty good about my odds.” Hefting her suitcase as if it weighed no more than a goldfish, he led her past the statues guarding the entrance.

Karen followed, savoring each soft step of her boots on moss-fuzzed pavestones. It was a true testament of her willpower that she managed to drag her gaze away from Leo’s fine backside to the looming mansion. She slipped into the shadows cast by the gabled roof and shivered at the sudden cold. Dead leaves gathered in the corners of the covered porch, and dry husks of moths dangled from cobwebs in the rafters. A stand of pale toadstools crouched beside a faceless gargoyle.

“How long has it been since anyone lived here?” she asked, catching up with him as he reached the porch stairs.

“Decades. Careful of the steps.” He frowned as the planks creaked under his boots.

“How much you want to bet someone died here?” The wooden steps groaned and threatened to buckle beneath her, and she jumped to the safety of the porch. “Or better, was murdered?”

“How is being murdered better?”

“You know, restless spirits. Secrets in the attic. Monsters in the basement.”

“You watch too many horror flicks.”

“Not possible. You’re supplying popcorn, right?”

His lazy smile reappeared. “Movie buttered, caramel, chocolate dipped—I’ve got you covered.”

“I knew there was a solid reason why we’re friends.”

“So many reasons.” The blue of his eyes deepened. He held her gaze as he opened the front door wide. “After you, darling.”

Her pulse quickened, and she forced herself to focus on the vines and roses carved into the door before her imagination took over. She slipped her hands into her coat pockets to prevent any touching mishaps as she passed by. That didn’t prevent his heat from caressing her neck when her shoulder brushed his chest or the goosebumps on her arms. She crossed the threshold into the mansion, and electricity tingled through her, as if she’d shifted between one world to the next.