Hooked on You: An Annapolis Harbor Series Prequel, Lea Coll [love letters to the dead .txt] 📗

“Are you ready to see more?” There was an excitement in his eyes.

Glancing at my phone, I had another hour or so before I’d need to head back to work.

At my nod, he gathered our bags and napkins throwing them into the nearest garbage can.

“The most impressive thing you’ll see in New Orleans is St. Louis Cathedral.” He gestured across Jackson Square where the Cathedral stood tall in the middle of the park with a fountain in front of it. “Most New Orleans’ postcards and pictures feature it.”

But my gaze was on him. “You love the city?”

“I do. I grew up here.”

So whatever bothered him wasn’t the city itself. What was it? A person, a bad experience? The nicer he was to me, the more I wanted to know.

“But to really see New Orleans, you have to venture away from the main tourist areas.” He led me down a side street away from Bourbon to a quieter street filled with small shops.

I touched his elbow to stop him in front of a Voodoo shop. “Is this for real?”

“It is. Want to check it out?” His tone was playful and fun.

“Absolutely.” Gabe held the door open and gestured for me to proceed him into the dark shop filled with Voodoo dolls, talismans, spell kits, and in-house palm readings. I’d definitely be skipping that. I didn’t want to hear about how I’d made a selfish choice shirking my family responsibilities to come here. I already knew that. Not that I believed it was real anyway.

As we perused the shop, a worker stopped into our aisle. “Did you need any help?”

Gabe seemed more relaxed today and I couldn’t resist teasing him. “Tell me something—if I buy a Voodoo doll for my boss who’s grumpy and difficult to deal with, can I put pins in it to get back at him?” I bumped shoulders with Gabe to let him know I was talking about him and not my boss at the U.S. Attorney’s office.

He cleared his throat. “Uh, no. That’s not how it works. Voodoo dolls aren’t used for revenge.”

“They’re not?” My face flushed in embarrassment. I researched things before I came, but local religion wasn’t one.

“Voodoo Dolls are used for healing and communicating with the dead.”

“Well, that’s disappointing, isn’t it?” I asked Gabe, smiling innocently at him. I hooked my hand into his elbow and led him outside.

When we’d stepped onto the sidewalk, Gabe said, “These shops carry souvenirs for tourists. They’re not real anyway.”

I shrugged. “I feel like an idiot for repeating something that I’d heard in a movie somewhere and assumed it was true.”

“Ah, but that’s the point of visiting a new place. You learn new things.”

I was surprised he was so insightful, and I was more surprised I’d had an enjoyable day with him.

“I’d better get you back to work.”

I checked my phone. It was twelve. “I thought we were going to your neighborhood so you could introduce me to Omar?”

“I don’t have time. I work the lunch shift, go home for a couple hours for dinner,” he paused to clear his throat, “and then work again in the evening. You’re still going to come tonight to the bar to work?”

“We had a deal.” I smiled as we boarded the streetcar and sat next to each other, the entire length of his thigh touching mine.

“Did you have fun?”

“I did. Thank you for showing me around.” I’d actually been thinking about going out more, and Hadley had been bugging me to go out with her and the other attorneys in the office.

When the streetcar came to a stop by my office building, Gabe surprised me by standing with me. “I’ll walk you to your building.”

That felt very much like a date. “Okay.”

We walked in silence back to my building where he stopped on the steps. I turned and he was a step below me. “I’ll let you go here.”

“Thanks again for a great morning.” I kissed his cheek before I could change my mind and jogged up the remaining steps into the building. I didn’t look back, but I felt his eyes on me the whole time.

Chapter Five

GABE

I scrubbed my hand down my face as I reflected on my morning with Taylor later that afternoon at the bar. I didn’t know what I was thinking. We had a great day playing tourists and then she kissed me. Before I could react, she’d walked through the glass doors into her office building and I could still feel her soft lips on my cheek.

I hadn’t reacted this strongly to a woman since I dated Selena, a woman I met at the bar after I’d gotten out of jail. She had a good job, she drove a nice car, and I had no idea what she saw in me. At first, I was just excited she wanted me—and I fell for her hard. But when she dumped me a few months later she’d said I should have known someone like her could never be serious about me. She had big plans for her future and I had none. She wouldn’t bring home a convict to her parents. It was a good reminder that I wasn’t worthy of someone like that and I made sure never to mention my conviction to any other women. They could look it up if they wanted, but I was never serious enough with anyone else to expect they would.

“Are you going to work tonight?” Isaac asked.

I’d been staring out the window at the passersby on the sidewalk instead of making sure everything was stocked for the night rush. “Yeah, sorry. I had a lot on my mind.”

“Does it start with Taylor?”

“Fuck, no.”

“She working tonight?” Isaac used a towel to dry the spots off the glasses before placing them in their positions overhead.

“She is.” It was too dangerous. I had no idea why I’d taken her to the French Quarter instead of helping her in my neighborhood. I’d had this desire to