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"Oh, come on," Patricia protested "Max is cute--in a creepy kind of way"

"Great I say I’… they think that I’oes roaned "I’ll end up like Nikki"

"Oh, couys please, please leavebetter and better," Julian said to Nathan

"You didn’t even see hi to help," Nathan said

"I don’t want to be helped," Nikki snapped "Hey--work on Andy for a while, huh?"

On cue, they all turned to stare at Andy She laughed "Nikki, they don’t know me as well I won’t be nearly as much fun to torture"

"Besides, Andy is a flirt," Nathan said with a dismissive wave of his hand

"Really?" Andy said

"Yeah, really," Mitch assured her

Andy giggled "Okay… I am a flirt I admit it"

"You can flirt with me anytime," Julian teased

"And if he’s not around, and you’re looking for a good solid Yankee boy… " Mitch suggested

"Never play where you work, that’s what Mom always said," Andy told them with a sad shake of her head

"Well, you could just sleep with me," Mitch said "We wouldn’t have to play at all"

"Hey! Go back to torturing Nikki, will you?" Andy deht’s off," Nikki said

"The tour is off?" Julian asked, puzzled

"Of course not," Nikki said patiently "If you’d all just behave like adults and listen… We had a recordto pay for a celebration at Pat O’Brien’s Dinner and drinks on hiht!" Mitch cried happily

At thatappearances, bearing her elegant coffeepot, chatting with her guests

And they were special guests Their toursher lots of business

"It’s calmed down out here some, huh?" Nikki asked her

"Yes Not that I complain about business, but we had a busy late lunch crowd today," she told the them more coffee At her place, it was premixed Café au laita friendly hand on her back, just above her waist The gesture wasn’t flirtatious, just affectionate Mitch was in his late twenties Madame was in her late… well, hard to tell, but she was a few decades older "Should Nikki date the bum as in your place?"

"What bum?"

"You didn’t see him?" Andy asked

"Honey, I wouldn’t have noticed if Robert E Lee stopped in It was busy in there today As if this parish isn’t nutty enough, it’s election tiooders and politicians everywhere, thick as flies There’s those trying to clean up the place, make New Orleans a ’fa to keep her wild, wicked and free" She rerinned and moved on

"Damn Wish I’d seen the buh or not," Mitch said with a wink

"Drop it Or there will be no free ht," Nikki warned him

"It’s dropped," he assured her

Nikki rose She could see a tour group gathering out front "Julian, it’s showti Patricia, Nathan, don’t forget you’re on tonight"

With a last long s of her café au lait, Nikki started off with a s croentyin front of the Bourbon Street bar, once a blacksmith’s shop, that the pirate turned patriot Jean Lafitte was said to haunt She found the story of thewith a mention that there were definitely "spirits" of all sorts to be found there--host loved to have his story told She could feel the n

She always told the story of the ave her audience a few delightful chills

Ghosts filled the streets here, between the neon lights that advertised Girls! Girls! Girls! and the shop fronts offering voodoo charms, the ever-present music, the mimes on the street, the antique shops, the boutiques and the T-shirt shops that also sold pralines and potions<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>