“May I remind you—”
“Yes, you aren’t interested in sleeping with him.” Ronny cut me off. “You are just using him for information.”
“I’m not using him.”
“You are too uptight today.” He slid off the counter. Well, not actually slid as he wasn’t really on the counter, but that is the easiest way to describe the action.
“Then you are free to leave. You aren’t tied to this apartment.”
“You love the company.” He waited in the doorway to the small bathroom.
“No, I don’t.”
“You’d miss me if I were gone.”
I thought about his words. “Maybe a little, but I’d get over it pretty quickly.”
“Harsh.” He made a wounded face.
“Honest.”
“I’d miss you.” There was some real emotion in his voice, and that worried me. For some reason it didn’t freak me out that Stacy was attached, but now Ronny? And what if I got attached to him?
“Because I’m the only one who’s been able to hear or see you in years.”
“That’s not the only reason.”
“Oh?” I tried to hide my worry. I didn’t want to seem sappy if I was misreading him. “This I have to hear.”
“I think we have a lot in common. You are funny. Beautiful. Intelligent.”
“I have no interest in dating someone dead.”
“I never said we should date. I get there would be all sorts of issues.” He pressed his hand onto the doorframe. “I’m merely explaining why I'd miss you. It’s more than your gift.”
“My curse. People need to stop calling it a gift. I’m not normal.”
“Normal is overrated.”
“I bet you never said that when you were living.”
“Stop trying to stereotype me. Just because I was in a frat doesn’t mean I was a braindead moron who treated women horribly. Some frat guys are intelligent and nice.”
“Oh. And you were one of those?”
“Some of the time,” he shrugged. “When I wasn’t wasted.”
“Alcohol can do crazy things to you.” Like when it made you make out with an incubus. Or maybe I would have done that anyway.
“Like have you make out with an incubus.” Ronny grinned. Had he read my mind?
“I don’t think that was alcohol. I think that was his power over me.” Or I wanted it to be. I wanted an excuse for why I still fantasized about him. Why I still craved his kiss. His touch.
“Oh, you liked it. ” I may think you are way too good for him, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get it. Lust feels really good, doesn’t it?”
“I’m not lusting after Rexton.” Yes. Yes, I was. I was definitely lusting after him. But I wasn’t going to admit it. Saying it aloud would make it much worse.
“Maybe not now. But you were.”
“Are you done?” I zipped up my small makeup bag.
“You are going to start getting really pissed if I’m not.”
“I need to learn more about this thing.” I walked toward the doorway hoping Ronny would move out of the way. Technically I could walk through him, but that was never a fun experience.
“Why?” He stepped back. “I mean you made it this long without knowing.”
I took the tiny bit of room he gave, ducked around him and back into the hall. “Because once you discover you aren’t alone, that there may be some answers out there, you have to seek them.”
“That sounds deep. Heavy.”
“It is, I guess… a little.” I made my way into the kitchen. I had no idea where we were going to eat, but I couldn’t wait. I grabbed a banana. It was always better to go into an evening with something in your stomach.
“You don’t have to help me. I’m okay here.” He watched me as I ate.
I always felt a little bit bad eating in front of a ghost because they couldn’t eat, but it’s not like there was anything I could do about it. “You mean you are scared.”
“Wouldn’t you be?”
“I’ve never really pictured myself as a ghost.” I made it to the halfway point of the banana and decided I was done. I debated saving the rest, but it always browned so I wrapped it in the peel and tossed it out. I hated wasting, but I didn’t see another choice.
“Really?” He followed me over to the trash. “I don’t believe that.”
“Why not?” I left the kitchen to head into the living room, and I knew he’d follow. “I guess I don’t like to focus on death.” I realized a moment too late how my words might be interpreted. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize for telling the truth.”
“But I do get why you’re afraid. Change is always scary.”
“You sound like my mom.”
It was weird. Hearing him talk about his mom. It did something. It reminded me that some ghosts might still have family around. “What was she like?”
“My mom?” He perched on the arm of the couch. It seemed to be his favorite spot in the room; I found him there a lot.
“Yeah.”
“A typical mom, I guess. She was great.”
“Your death must have been hard on her.” I couldn’t imagine, but losing a kid must be the worst. Especially in that way. I mean you think you raise your child right, and then they get so drunk they fall off a balcony? I kept those thoughts to myself. There was no reason to turn the knife. I was sure he regretted things plenty.
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Oh.” Something occurred to me. “She never came here.”
“No.” He shook his head. “But I don’t blame her. It’s not like she knew I was here… I mean as a ghost.”
“I am going to find a way to help you.”
“Even if I don’t want to be helped?”
“You can’t stay here forever. What if they tear down these apartments and make it something else?”
“What’s the alternative though? Not existing?”
“I don’t know. Hence why I need to learn more.” I assumed there was something else. Some sort of afterlife, but obviously I couldn’t know. But maybe someone else could. Maybe an incubus.
“But you are going for more reasons than that.”
“My reasons for going are neither here nor there.” I made a flippant gesture with my hand. I glanced toward the window and studied my reflection.
“You look pretty. Don’t worry.”
“I wasn’t worried.”
“Sure you weren’t.” He smiled.
There was a knock on the door. I smoothed out my black dress and opened it.
Rexton took my breath away as he seemed to always. His piercing dark green eyes, his dark hair. But he was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. “Oh.”
“Oh?” He stepped inside even though I didn’t invite him. His lips curved into an amused smile.
“Oh. Just you are so casual. I should change.”
“Concerned we won’t match perfectly enough?” His eyes danced with amusement.
“No. I’m concerned I’m going to look over dressed for where we are going.”
“One can never be overdressed for dinner. Now for other things...” He winked.
“This is a dinner to discuss business. Don’t forget.” I was reminding both of us. Dressing casually did nothing to diminish his effect on me.
“Oh. I won’t forget.” Rexton rested his chin in his hand. “But after dinner…”
Ronny cleared his throat. “She doesn’t want to sleep with you, buddy.”
Rexton frowned in a bored way. “Oh. You know her inner-most thoughts now?”
Ronny’s expression turned hard. Harder than I’d ever seen it. “I know her well.”
“It’s fine.” I tried to ease the tension. “I can speak for myself.”
“I’m well aware, but it can’t hurt to get some back up. That’s what friends do for each other.” Ronny stood beside me.
“Yes.” I nodded. “That’s what friends do.” I knew that’s what he wanted to hear.
Probably what he needed to hear.
“Ready to go?” Rexton turned his attention solely on me.
“Sure. See you later, Ronny.” I gave him a small wave before heading out the front door.
“Be careful,” Ronny called just before I shut the door.
Rexton glanced back in. “Don’t worry. She’s in good hands.”
As if to emphasize his words Rexton put his hand on the small of my back. I tried to ignore the thrill that ran through me.
This was a business dinner. I repeated the words over and over as we made our way down the stairs and out to the parking lot.
Rexton
She looked so damn hot sitting in the passenger seat of my Maserati. Pretentious yes, but it got me to the places I needed to be as fast as I wanted. One has to treat themselves sometimes. At the moment, there was only one treat I wanted, and she was wearing a short black dress that revealed just enough of her thigh to have me struggling to keep my hands away.
“Why am I not surprised this is what you drive?” She patted the leather seat just beside her achingly enticing leg.
“I don’t know. Why aren’t you surprised?” Did she realize what she was doing to me? I was used to having this sort of effect on others, not having it done to me.
“That was rhetorical.”
“What’s the point of rhetorical? It does nothing for me.”
“And everything has to do something for you?” She inclined her head to the side, revealing her soft, vulnerable neck. I longed to run my tongue down it.
I pulled my eyes off of her. “Life’s too short to waste your time.”
“Is it short?” She relaxed back against the seat.
I let her question hang. No reason to get into life expectancy tonight. “So, you let the ghost stay around, huh? You didn’t take my advice?” I tried to keep any tinge of jealousy out of my voice. Not that I was jealous. He was a ghost. He couldn’t touch her. But he could see her. He could get to know her far too intimately.
“And what advice was that?” She stretched out her long legs.
“To be careful letting a ghost get too close.” My hands tightened on the wheel. “They can be dangerous.”
“I notice you say this about Ronny. Not Stacy.”
“Stacy doesn’t live with you.”
“He doesn’t live with me.” She moved her legs over toward the door the smallest amount. “Well, not officially.”
“Still. I wouldn’t want to sleep with a ghost there.” And I didn’t want her sleeping there with him.
“I don’t really have a choice.”
“Of course you have a choice. You always have a choice.”
“He has nowhere else to go.” She looked down at her hands.
“Where was he before you opened your home to him?”
“I didn’t open my home to him, he came—” She stopped. “Never mind. He was around the complex.”
“You had a choice. You let him stay.”
“You make it sound easy. Like I could have just told him to leave.”
“He seems pretty reasonable. I bet he would have.”
“I’ll have to tell him you called him reasonable.” A small smile spread across her lips.
“See that’s your problem, babe. You think things like that.”
“Like what?”
“That you want to tell him things. He’s a ghost. Not your friend.” She was lucky she hadn’t learned that the hard way yet.
“I know he’s a ghost. I get that.”
“But do you? Do you really get it? Do you really get that you shouldn’t be talking to him at all?” I didn’t want to lecture her, but clearly she wasn’t going to listen any other way.
“Why not?” She turned her body slightly toward me. “Pretend I know nothing about any of this.”
“Is it really pretending?” I shifted and hit the gas.
She grabbed ahold of her seat. “Fine. I don’t know anything about this, so enlighten me.”
“Gladly.” I reluctantly slowed down. I didn’t want to scare her too bad. “Ghosts are not alive.”
“Really?” She fake gasped. “I had no idea.”
“I wasn’t done.”
“Okay. Continue.”
“They are not alive. Notice I don’t say they are not human, because there are plenty of creatures that are not human that are fine to interact with.” I exited the interstate and turned onto a smaller highway. “Like me.”
“Oh? You’re safe?”
“I never said I was safe. I said I was fine to interact with.”
“So, it’s okay to interact with dangerous creatures as long as they aren’t ghosts.”
“Ghosts are dead.” I glanced in the rearview mirror. One could never be too safe.
“So are vampires.”
“And haven’t we also learned that vampires are dangerous?” I referred to a mess we’d dealt with the first night we met. Somehow in the midst of the chaos the two of us had shared more than a few incredible moments together.
“Don’t patronize me,” she snapped.
“I’m not.” I slowed down again. I wasn’t ready to pull into the parking lot and have to share her with others. “There are many things I’d love to do to you. Patronizing you is not one of them.”
A blush rose to her cheeks. It was too damn hot. She didn’t need to tell me what she was thinking about. She was remembering just how good it felt when I did things to her. Hell, why was I trying to focus on business first?
“I’ve been thinking about that night, too.”
“I’m not thinking about anything.” She crossed her legs at the ankles. “Nothing.”
“Oh. Your mind is completely blank?” I teased. “That flush on your face is from nothing?”
“There’s no flush.”
“Bullshit,” I called her out whether it was wise to do or not. “I can see it with my own eyes.”
“I didn’t agree to this dinner so you could make me uncomfortable.” She looked out the window
“I’m only making you uncomfortable because you want me.”
“Nope. Not at all.”
“Why are you lying to yourself? And me?” I glanced over. She had to tear her eyes from the window eventually. “It’s a total waste of your time.”
She finally looked back over. “Tell me more about ghosts. You keep saying they are dangerous, but you aren’t giving me anything specific.”
I’d drop the other conversation if it meant I got to see that gorgeous face of hers. “Okay. Some ghosts have the ability to hurt you. Hurt you in ways you may never recover from. How’s that for a reason?”
“Which ghosts?” She wrapped her arms over her chest.
“That’s the problem. It’s hard to know.” It was complicated and not something I could teach her in a twenty-minute car ride.
“Yet you still take money to deal with them?”
“Dealing with them in that way is different. You keep your emotions out of it.” Emotions were dangerous. Unbelievably dangerous.
“Are you implying I don’t keep my emotions out of my dealings with ghosts?”
“Of course you don’t. You are BFFs with one.” I wasn’t going to bullshit her. That wouldn’t help either of us.
“BFF?” She chortled. “Are you serious?”
“Are you going to deny it? You and that ghost at the store seem pretty tight.”
“How can we not be? I’m there all the time. So is she.” She looked down at her lap.
“You should help her move on. And if you aren’t going to do that, at least keep things professional. She doesn’t need to know your life story.” I could be more detached about Stacy than Ronny, but that didn’t mean I supported their friendship. Ghosts were unreliable. They never seemed to change, but they did. Just because Stacy was her friend now didn’t mean she’d stay that way.
Gabriella tensed. “How would you know if she knew my life story?”
“It’s a pretty safe assumption after watching you two int
eract today.” In some ways the friendship seemed sweet—but Stacy was a ghost. Nothing with ghosts was sweet.
“Well, Stacy is an exception.”
“Oh, and there is no emotion involved with your ghost roommate?” I struggled to keep my voice level.
“Of course not. Ronny is just there.” She huffed.
“He’s your friend. You made him your friend.” I’d even heard it with my own ears. She couldn’t seriously be trying to deny it.
“It’s different. I agree with the Stacy thing. She is my friend.”
“But that could be very dangerous.”
“And keeping your feelings out of it, keeping them at arm's length, protects you even if it’s a dangerous ghost?”
I pulled into the lot. “At least you stay alert and on your toes. Do you even question what Stacy is doing? She could be scheming to kill you and you’d never even know it.”
“But isn’t that the truth with everyone? Alive or dead? They could always be scheming to kill you?” She unbuckled her seatbelt.
“Have lots of enemies, huh?” I studied her, trying to find a joke on her face because I didn’t hear one in her words. “I wouldn’t have thought that.”
“I don’t have a lot of enemies. But in theory anyone can kill you...or hurt you. Getting close to anyone is dangerous. That’s part of the everyday risks we take.”
“That’s a very positive way of looking at the world.” It was good to be careful, but this sounded more than careful. She sounded sad.
“First you tell me to be afraid of ghosts, and now you accuse me of being a pessimist.” She huffed. “Choose one.”
“Be careful and hopefully optimistic.”
“Is that what you are?” She brushed some hair behind her ear. I wished I could be the one doing it. “Careful and hopefully optimistic.”
“No.” I shook my head. “But you should be.”
“Why are you so concerned with my being careful?” She dropped the optimist part.
“Because I happen to have a vested interest in you staying alive and well.”
“Oh? And what vested interest is that?”
“There are two reasons. First, there aren’t many like us. Your skills could be very useful to me in business.”
“What’s the second one?”
I rested a hand on her leg. “That I want you.”
Shadow Kiss: Ghostly Shadows Page 3