Bones to Pick by Carolyn Haines Page A

sleep attire, but I doubt sleep is on his mind."
    I sorted through the tissue papers only to find stiletto slippers with four-inch heels, also trimmed in red fur.
    "Ooh la la," Jitty said, beside herself. "You've inspired me to learn French."
    I turned the box over and shook it. The person who sent the gift surely left a card of some type. I couldn't believe it was Harold. He'd truly fallen for Rachel Gaudel, and he knew that my heart was a war zone between conflicting interests. No, this was the work of someone who hadn't heard of my reputation for death in the field of romance.
    At last I found a small note card. I took the box and contents into the house, where I could turn on a light to read. I didn't have to invite Jitty to follow. Wild horses couldn't have kept her away.
    "Hurry up, Sarah Booth. It isn't every day you get a harlot outfit left on the porch."
    Ignoring her, I went to the kitchen, where Sweetie Pie met me. She sniffed the gift box disdainfully and stalked out of the room.
    "That hound has an attitude problem," Jitty said.
    I sat at the table and opened the envelope. Jitty hovered over my shoulder as I read: Let's play Scarlett and Rhett! Tomorrow night at eight. You have the plantation house, and I have the champagne. Humphrey
    Humphrey Tatum. At his kinky best. I put everything back in the box and closed it, then retied the red ribbon.
    "You aren't sending it back?" Jitty was horrified.
    "Of course, I am. Humphrey is my client. I can't accept gifts from him. Especially not boudoir attire."
    "Why not?"
    I couldn't tell if Jitty was trying to devil me or if she was sincere. "It's unethical."
    She arched her eyebrows, which conveyed a world of my past ethical mistakes.
    "I'm not interested in Humphrey," I finally admitted.
    "Sarah Booth, I have only one thing to say."
    "What?"
    "Ticktock."
    "Maybe I'm not meant to have a baby. Maybe I'm meant to run a private investigators agency." My tone was getting hotter and hotter as I spoke. "Why is that unacceptable? Why can't that be enough for you and Tinkie and everyone else? Why--"
    "Because it isn't enough for you," Jitty said, and she wasn't deviling me. "I know you. You want a husband and a family."
    I picked up the box and shook it at her. "This isn't a marriage proposal, Jitty. It's an invitation for sex. There's a big difference, you know."
    "In this day and age, Sarah Booth, one often leads to the other."
    "I don't want to marry Humphrey."
    "Because he isn't Coleman?"
    "Because I don't love him."
    She walked around the table, the rustle of her petticoats a gentle shush in the room. "You won't love anyone until you get Coleman out of your heart. And
Hamilton
, too. You're so conflicted over Coleman, you haven't even begun to figure out what you feel for
Hamilton
."
    "Exactly my point. And I don't need to muck up my muddled emotions more by jumping into the sack with Humphrey-the-Humper."
    Jitty's laughter was low and rich. "A little bit of two-backed tango might shake loose your heart."
    My own laughter matched hers. "Not in my experience. Besides, Humphrey is a client. That has to mean something."
    "If you say so," she finally relented. "Now I'm off to the court to see what kind of action I can stir up."
    I thought I felt her hand trace across my cheek as she passed me.
    "I don't have to point out," she said, "that casual sex without consequence is just one more advantage of being a ghost."
    "Put that way, I can't wait to be dead," I said to her vanishing back.
    I was sitting on the front porch, sipping coffee, the next morning when Tinkie pulled up. Her blond hair glistened in the pale morning sunlight as she got out of the Caddy. To my amusement, she was wearing a navy suit with a pale pink blouse and a stunning string of pearls. Even her exquisite little feet were encased in conservative navy pumps.
    "Where'd you get the costume?" I asked.
    "We have an appointment in an hour with Virgie Carrington. I came over to help you pull yourself together."
    I