Eyre House

by Caitlin Greer

  You’re playing with fire…

  I did it anyway. Pausing in front of her, I stripped off my shirt slowly, and stared her in the eye. Her breath hitched just a touch and her pupils dilated.

  I leaned in a little bit, and then walked out.

  “Oh my Lord, Ginny! He is so hot. I could just lick that tattoo all the way up his back…”

  “Easy there, Hanna.” I could hear the laughter in Ginny’s voice.

  “Well I could!”

  Alix laughed. “I have to go with Hanna on this, Gin. He’s delicious—admit it.”

  “Seriously, Gin. I’d even be willing to share, just for a piece of that.”

  “Right? So hot.”

  Hanna and Alix were audibly drooling. But Ginny, she sounded…breathless.

  “Oh, he’s hot, all right. But I’m afraid he’s all mine, girls.”

  Lord, I’m a proper fucking fool.

  Playing with fire was exactly what it was. Throwing gasoline and watching it explode. I focused on getting to the house as fast as I could, without running. They were still talking, and I really didn’t need to hear. It made me tight in places that could and likely would prove embarrassing. Besides, the last thing I needed was the three of them fighting over me. Ginny was bad enough.

  Her words reminded me of what Tom had said, about how Ginny didn’t take no for an answer.

  Fuck it to hell, I’m screwed.

  “Oh, Evan, honey! Does this mean you decided to go with the girls? They were so excited to show you around.”

  I stopped flicking the water out of my hair and looked up to see Ms. Catherine coming down the hall on the arm of one of the guests. He kissed her hand and walked off as she headed towards me.

  “Yes ma’am,” I said. “Is that all right?”

  “Lord today, I think it’s an excellent idea. You’ve done so much this week that I’m running out of things to keep you busy! I think you’ve more than earned the afternoon off, so please, go have some fun. Make sure you stop in the kitchen and get some food off Mrs. Millcote. She can make you up a basket.”

  “Thank you, Ms. Catherine. I appreciate it.”

  She pursed her lips and looked me up and down. She shrugged, and smiled again. “You’ll do. You kids have fun then. Remind Ginny for me that I’d like you back before it gets completely dark.”

  “I will. And I have my cell if anything comes up.”

  “Sweet boy. I’m sure Eyre House will be fine for one afternoon. You just enjoy yourself, sugar.”

  Ms. Catherine waved as another guest called her name, eager for her smiling attention. The male guests certainly seemed to enjoy her company. She brushed past me with a faint whiff of perfume covering a hint of that something else that I couldn’t quite recognize. Something slightly stale. It brought back memories I couldn’t place. I almost turned back, questions about my midnight intruder on the tip of my tongue. Instead, I shook my head and tromped down the stairs. Ginny frowned slightly at the bottom of the curved steps when she saw me.

  “I was hoping you’d exercise the option to leave the shirt.”

  “Shirts can be taken off,” I said, walking past her and out the door. “Where are your wing-women?”

  She shook her head, still eyeing me. “Alix’s mom called. She and Hanna left.” Her glance flicked to my mouth, and then up to my eyes with a hint of smile. “It’s just the two of us.”

  “I’m not so sure...” I was actually sure. Very sure, that this was a seriously bad idea.

  She crossed her arms and glared.

  I swallowed the warning alarm flashing through me and turned back, offering my arm. “Shall we?”

  Ginny’s eyes flickered from my shirt back to my face one more time, and then she took my arm. I shook my head, but Ginny smiled and pressed in tighter, sliding her free hand down my chest.

  I clenched my teeth and tried not to think about the rush of blood that accompanied her touch. Or the look she gave me.

  I walked Ginny around to the driver door and opened it for her. She smiled and climbed in, nodding her head at the passenger seat. I shrugged and climbed into shotgun.

  “Are you ever going to tell me where we’re going?”

  Ginny grinned and hit the gas. “Are you ever going to take that shirt off?”

  “Will it get me an answer?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Guess it stays on then.”

  Ginny smiled and pushed the Jeep faster. Moss-draped oaks flew past in a green blur, and then we were out on the main road. The scattered buildings disappeared, and trees turned to sand dunes.

  “Beach, huh?”

  “Not just any beach,” she shouted over the wind from the open top.

  I glanced over at her, but she stared at the road, sunglasses up, and that damned smile pulling at her mouth. She didn’t even flinch when we left the road, just flipped on the four-wheel drive and kept smiling.

  I kept watching her.

  Eventually, she pulled the Jeep to a stop and turned to me. “We’re here.”

  I stood up and peered out over the top of the Jeep. The sand stretched out in three directions, pouring into the ocean not far from us. There was a stack of firewood that had clearly been burned before, a little beach grass, driftwood, and nothing else.

  “Mama used to bring us here when we were little,” Ginny said next to me. “It’s our hidden beach. Nobody else really comes here.”

  “No ghosts, even?”

  She tilted her head and gave me a look before hopping down. Her voice took on a bit of distance. “There are ghosts everywhere on this island.”

  I stared at her for a moment. “But especially in Eyre House.”

  She didn’t look at me. “Of course.” Then she leaned in, her hand tracing a line up my chest. My heartbeat sped up.

  “And in my room?”

  She her smile faltered. “Even in your room.”

  “What if I don’t believe—”

  “Evan.” She closed her eyes for half a second. When they opened, pure golden temptation stared back at me. “Just hush and relax, will you?”

  Walking around to my side, Ginny stripped off her shirt. My heart did a few backflips and landed south of my stomach, especially after I saw the skinny blue bikini top. She turned around and winked at me, tossing her shirt into the Jeep.

  I really am just so fucking screwed.

  I grimaced and jumped down to follow her, trying to remember again why I needed to say no to her.

  The view from her secluded beach was unbelievable. I could just barely see the river inlet off to the left, and nothing but beach and ocean everywhere else. The water sparkled a crystalline blue between the white-capped waves. I closed my eyes and breathed in the salt air and the hint of pluff mud that was everywhere in this area.

  She’s too far above me. I’ll get fired. There’s nothing for me to go back to. Need the money, need the freedom. Need… Oh hell.

  Delicate fingers slid under my shirt and along the skin of my back.

  “Shirt. Now,” Ginny whispered behind me, her breath hot below my ear.

  “And just what are you planning on doing with it?” I muttered, trying to bring the blood back to my brain. But my hands did what she wanted, and pulled my shirt off. Regardless of what my brain said.

  Moist lips kissed what I knew was the center of the largest of the black swirls on my back. The grunt I couldn’t stop became a sigh as her fingers followed the tendrils that wrapped around my side to my stomach. I grabbed her wrist before she could follow them below the waist of my jean shorts.

  “Ginny.” It was really hard to talk through a clenched jaw.

  “Come on, bad boy Evan.”

  “You’re my employer’s daughter. I’m not fooling around with you.”

  “Not even one little kiss?”

  Her hot breath on my back made it impossible not to think about what her lips would taste like. Or where it would go from there. Because it would. I knew myself way too well to think it would
n’t.

  “Not even a kiss,” I gasped out and pulled her around to me. The way her lower lip drew out in a pout almost made me reverse my decision right then and there.

  And then she smiled and winked. “You’ll change your mind. Mama has practically given me her blessing. Besides, sugar. I’m not lookin’ for anything but a little fun.”

  Yeah. So fucked.

  But just as I was on the edge of changing my mind, she walked away, shucking off her cut-offs to splash in the surf. And leaving me fighting a hard-on.

  I groaned. The harder she flirted, the more I wondered if she wasn’t trying to distract me from something. I didn’t like to be manipulated, but it was working. It was so working.

  Ginny whistled and waved at me. I stopped fighting and joined her.

  Chapter Five

  The Jeep’s headlights played a strobe over the rows of oaks and lit the white façade of Eyre House brighter than the moon. We hadn’t managed to return before dark, but Ms. Catherine had been called, and all forgiven. Still, when Eyre House had loomed up at the end of the drive, it was full of judgment. As though it knew where we’d been, what we might’ve done. That the help had designs on the house’s daughter, even if it was the other way around.

  I’m losing my fucking mind. The house isn’t judging me. I’m the only one judging me. Get a grip, Evan.

  Ginny stifled a yawn as she pulled into the garage next to my Indian and cut the engine.

  I stretched, reaching up for the crossbar, and felt my back pop. Ginny sighed. “That sounded nice.”

  “It was. Where’d my shirt end up?”

  “Look for it tomorrow.” She yawned again. “Thanks for coming today.”

  “Not like you gave me any choice.”

  Ginny grinned. “True.”

  Her nails slid lightly down my arm. She’d left me alone after I’d told her I wouldn’t kiss her. Physically, anyway. But she’d watched me all night, until I could feel her eyes like fingers playing over my skin.

  “I’m still glad you came.”

  In the dark, I hadn’t seen her move. Just felt the sudden whisper of her breath on my face and the spread of her hand across my bicep. And I definitely felt the brush of her lips on my jaw. My fingers tightened on the handgrip.

  She chuckled softly and pulled away. I took a deep breath and unbuckled my seatbelt as I heard her slide out of the seat. The lights outside the garage blinded me for a second, and I almost ran into Ginny where she stood outside the door.

  “What is it?”

  She didn’t answer. I blinked a few times, adjusting my eyes to the light. Outside, the late night fog had already begun swirling in, covering everything. Between blinks, I could have sworn that in the distance beyond the pool house, I saw something move. A face, there and gone in the darkness.

  Just like I saw the night before.

  My skin went cold. “Ginny…”

  “It’s nothing. Come on. Mama will want to know we’re back.”

  Her words came a little too fast—a clear avoidance.

  “But I’m sure—”

  “There’s nothing there, Evan. Come on.”

  I turned to look at her. A flicker of something flashed across her face, and then vanished into a smile. “Unless you want to step back into the dark for a few minutes…”

  I grunted, knowing she was trying to put me off. It was a little too obvious this time, and a good reminder of why I should stay away from her. But I didn’t want to push it, so I went with it. “And let your mother find us? No chance. I told you, I need this job.”

  “Well then, we shouldn’t let the ghost find us, either.” She grabbed my hand and tugged me towards the house. I followed, but not before taking one last glance into the night.

  Nothing there. I let Ginny pull me away and inside.

  I made my escape when Ms. Catherine dragged Ginny away, and suggested I stop by the kitchen for a snack before bed. It was a relief, really. I’d been beating my head against the wall, looking for a polite way to avoid letting Ginny in my room again. Not that I was sure she’d try, but after all her flirting, I didn’t want to take the chance.

  I skipped the kitchen and went straight to my room, just to be safe.

  Flipping on the light, I toed off my sandals before heading for a quick rinse off in the shower, but as I reached for the bathroom door, I heard a long squeak come from inside my closet.

  I froze.

  It hadn’t seemed like the usual groan of an old house settling. It was more like the sound of someone stepping on a creaky floorboard. Which made sense in a house this old, except for one thing.

  Nothing should’ve been creaking in my closet.

  I turned quickly and shoved open the door.

  Nothing. And nobody to’ve made it.

  I cursed myself for an over-imaginative idiot and hopped in the shower, cranked up the water, and rinsed off the sand and salt. It had been a long day, and I was more than ready for bed. Likely I was just hearing things.

  Still, I couldn’t keep myself from glancing over my shoulder as the steam rose around me. Nothing there. I shut my eyes and dipped my head back under the hot flow, determined to wash away the uneasiness. I tilted my head forward to let the water run down my face and neck and then ran a hand through my hair.

  Something shifted out of the corner of my eye.

  My hand swiped across the glass, clearing room for me to see. Nothing. I scrubbed the water out of my face and stared again, but still nothing.

  I’ve got to get Tom to lay off the stories. Seeing things in the dark, and now in my room? Lord, I’m going crazy. I have to be. Nobody’s in my room. Just like Ginny said, nobody’s got reason to be. Just too many ghost stories and a creepy old house. And my damned over-active imagination.

  I shut the water off and climbed out, shaking my head at myself.

  Ghosts. What a load of bullshit.

  Determined to prove myself an idiot, I grabbed a towel and walked into my room without drying off. Stopped in the doorway. Scanned the room. Listened.

  Absolutely nothing and no one there, of course.

  Except something was still bothering me. Something felt out of place. Too many foster houses to count had made me really good at remembering where I’d put my stuff. Somebody had moved it from where Ginny’d rearranged things the night before.

  I stared at the dresser. It was impossible, really. Nobody could’ve been in my room. I’d been through this with Ginny already. The door was locked. I would’ve heard anyone coming in. It was ridiculous.

  No, I had to be remembering wrong, that was all. Just Tom’s stories, getting to me. Stories and an overactive imagination, and me being a dumbass. That’s all it was.

  I walked back in the bathroom while I dried off. Staring at my stuff wasn’t going to accomplish anything. I just needed to dry off and climb in bed. Sleep. I needed sleep.

  I ran the towel over me one more time, and then dropped it as I came face to face with the mirror, and the dripping letters scrawled across it.

  Stay away from her.

  I moved the garden hose in my hand, watering the new tree the landscapers had just planted, and yawned. Between our late night, Ginny’s talk of ghosts and my uncertainty over what I’d really seen in my room the night before, I hadn’t slept well. Every creak of the old house had left me wide-awake and listening for movement. Ghosts didn’t bother me. But I knew people who had used ghost stories to hide behind, fleecers looking for ways to get their hands on Richie money. Charleston was full of them, and full of people ready to believe.

  I mean hell, how else do some of those reality shows make it on TV?

  As much as everyone around here was wrapped up in their ghost stories, I was willing to bet there was something very human behind them. Because hell, ghosts just didn’t exist. They couldn’t. It had to be a person. Even if I couldn’t figure out how in hell they’d gotten in my room.

  That didn’t seem to stop me from seeing the supernatural every time I tu
rned around, or heard a thump in the walls. I kept expecting to find another intruder in my room. I dreamt of the walls cracking open to reveal gaping black passages and creeping mists and faces I couldn’t see clearly.

  By morning, my eyes had turned to sandpaper, and my mouth stretched wide open every other minute to yawn. I was grateful that I didn’t have to do anything this morning that would require my brain to function. Watering trees was about as mindless as it got.

  It also meant I didn’t realize anyone was behind me until I felt fingers on my waistband, and something sliding into my back pocket. I jumped about three feet in the air and almost hosed Ginny down before I realized it was her. Then I wished I had. She could do with a little cooling off.

  “Dammit all to hell, Ginny! Hands off my ass!”

  Ginny only laughed harder. “Come on now, Evan, honey. You know you like it.”

  I tossed the hose down at the base of the tree and pulled out whatever she’d been fondling my ass to give me. “What is this?” Not like I needed to ask. The pamphlet pretty clearly said what it was. I looked up at her. “A ghost tour? Really?” My tiredness leaked into my voice a little more than I’d normally let it.

  “You, me, tonight.” Ginny flashed a grin that promised trouble, totally ignoring my tone. “They start promptly at 8:30, so don’t make me late.”

  “Now why would I want to go on a ghost tour?” I didn’t want to admit it sounded fun. But it also sounded like a date, and I already knew that was a bad idea. I was already maxed out on the amount of hand time I was giving myself just to keep my head around her.

  She shrugged, still grinning. “I want to go, and Mama thinks I shouldn’t go alone.”

  “What about Alix and Hanna?”

  “They’re busy. Which leaves you,” she said, leaning in and walking her fingers up my chest.

  “You don’t have any other friends?”

  “We’re going, sugar. I’m not taking no for an answer.”