Freaky by Nature by Mia Dymond

inside. “Hell.”
    Holly peeked around the brick wall of Max’s body and her
    heart pounded. The liv ing room looked like a war zone. Books,
    separated from their spines, and paper shredded into confetti
    littered the carpet. Stuffing from the sofa cushions resem bled
    snowflakes on the end tables. The sofa rested upside down on both
    arm s, the upholstery split from one end to the other. Som eone had
    gone through the room with a fine-tooth com b and she knew
    exactly why .
    Brett turned to her with flam es in his ey es. “The form ula’s
    here, isn’t it?”
    “Yes, but no one found it.”
    Too late, she realized her adm ission. Strike two. Soon she
    would hav e to tell him .
    Brett’s ey ebrows cam e down in suspicion. “You know without
    looking?”
    Holly glanced around the room at the strewn papers and
    ov erturned furniture, buy ing tim e to find a reasonable answer to
    his question. There was really no need to panic. She was one
    hundred percent sure the form ula was safe, a fact that didn’t hav e
    to be prov en with her talent . “They didn’t look any where close.”
    Interrupted by the arriv al of the police, Brett was forced to
    stop questioning her. Max led the first two detectiv es to arriv e into
    the house. Brett grabbed Holly ’s hand and pulled her inside behind
    him .
    Holly watched detectiv es coat the contents of the house with
    powder and snap pictures of the v andalism until she saw polka
    dots.
    “Dam n.” Brett ran a hand across the top of his wav y , m ussed
    hair. “Diet pills are a dim e a dozen. Why is som eone so desperate
    for this one?”
    She cleared her throat and braced herself for another round of
    interrogation. “There’s som ething I didn’t m ention.”
    Both Max and Brett folded their arm s across their m assiv e
    chests and planted them selv es in the carpet, obv iously expecting
    her to elaborate. Holly blew her bangs off her forehead. Another
    explanation. Why m ust she alway s explain herself?
    She glanced at the two m ountains of m ale and then at the
    front door. A low growl left Brett’s throat. So m uch for av oiding the
    question.
    “The Perm aSlim contains an additiv e no one expects to find in
    a diet pill.”
    Of course, Brett was the first to press the issue. “What’s in it?”
    “A sexual stim ulant.” She shrugged in an attem pt to m ake
    him think it was unim portant. “Apparently , it enhances libido
    and stam ina.”
    “What m ade him decide to add a stim ulant?”
    Although she fully expected his interrogation, Holly released a
    short huff, irritated he wouldn’t just stop at her explanation.
    “Albert was a regular lab rat. He ate the wrong things at odd
    hours and nev er exercised. Needless to say , he ended up
    ov erweight. Which put a dam per on his ability to … perform .”
    She squeezed her fingers into her fists and waited for Brett’s
    snappy retort. Instead, the corners of his m outh lifted only slightly
    before he spoke. “Why didn’t he use that inform ation to m arket the
    pill?”
    “Because it would be illegal.”
    Max frowned, clearly unconv inced. “What?”
    “Really .” Holly bobbed her head for em phasis. “Albert failed to
    publish studies to prov e or disprov e the effectiv eness.”
    Brett lifted his chin. “Did it work?”
    She raised an ey ebrow. There was the question she waited for.
    Besides, the orange-tinted ring of arousal he sported gav e him
    away . “I don’t know firsthand, but m y guess is that it does the
    trick or sales wouldn’t hav e sky rocketed.”
    “Who tracks the sales records?”
    “Ev an takes care of that for m e.”
    Holly watched a sm udge of green nudge the orange to the side
    before he frowned. “Ev an?”
    She nodded, som ewhat com forted by his jealousy . “Ev an
    Bannister, Albert’s attorney . Since Albert’s death, he’s helped m e
    with m y business contracts.”
    “Is he a m em ber of y our gy m ?”
    “Yes, why ?”
    Brett glanced at Max, who gav e a slight