Last Resort of Murder (A Lacy Steele Mystery Book 9) (15 page)

Michael answered the door in boxers
and a t-shirt. His hair was tousled and his eyes still crusted with sleep.

“It’s eleven o’clock in the
morning,” Jason said.

“When I ordered a wakeup call, I
assumed they’d send a beautiful woman,” Michael said. He moved aside to let
Jason in.

“I haven’t slept until eleven
since…never, actually.”

“Cool story, Grandpa,” Michael
said. “Coffee?”

“Sure.” He eyed Michael’s couch,
weighing its cleanliness before he sat down.

“Not that it’s any of your
business, but I was up half the night trying to chase Suze away from my
window,” Michael said, ending on a yawn.

“That woman is so squirrelly she was
probably searching for her lost acorns,” Jason said.

“Worse, she was attempting to
serenade me with a ukulele,” Michael said.

“Suze plays the ukulele?”

“No. And the only song she ‘knows’
is ‘Back in Black.’ If you’ve ever heard a tone-deaf person attempt to play
AC/DC on a ukulele, then you’d know why I didn’t sleep. It was like listening
to a cat being murdered in the middle of Hawaii.” He handed Jason his coffee.
“What brings you out?”

“I hadn’t talked to you since the
thing.”

“By ‘the thing’ do you mean the
meeting where you forcibly outed all the Steele family secrets?”

“Yes, that thing. I wanted to make
sure you were okay.”

Michael gave him the side eye. “You
came all the way over here on your day off, acting cagey and nervous, to make
sure I’m okay?”

“Yes,” Jason said.

“Is the next family secret going to
be that you have a man crush on me? ‘Cause it feels like that’s where this is
headed, and I gotta tell you I’m not down with that.”

“You’re Lacy’s brother now.”

“A fact you established with
ill-gotten DNA,” Michael said.

“So I thought maybe as your first
official act you could tell me what you think of this.” He pulled a box out of
his pocket and tossed it to Michael who caught it deftly with one hand.

“It’s not my style, but thanks,”
Michael said.

“You’re enjoying my pain,” Jason
said.

“Immensely.” He glanced at the ring
again. “Actually, though, it looks like her—simple, elegant, and vintage.
She’s going to love it.” He tossed it back. “When are you going to do the
deed?”

Jason tucked the ring back in his
pocket. “When the time is right.”

“Word of advice? People who always
search for the perfect time never seem to find it.”

“Did you read that in a fortune
cookie?” Jason asked.

“Confucius say man who show up
uninvited get unsolicited advice.”

“I think he also said something
about wearing pants when you have guests,” Jason said.
 

Someone rapped on the door. “Could
you get that? I’m going to grab a shower,” Michael said.

“Take your time, and make sure to
pick out some pants,” Jason said. He pulled open the door and was surprised to
see Lacy on the other side. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m having lunch with Michael.
What are you doing here?”

“I hadn’t talked to him since the
thing. I came to see if he was okay,” he said, which was only half a lie.

“You came all the way over here on
your day off to make sure your friend was all right?” she said.

“Yes,” he said with as much fake
humility as he could muster.

“You are the sweetest guy in the
whole world,” she said.

“Michael’s in the shower, so I have
about five minutes to change your mind,” Jason said and pulled her inside.