“I am.” He was feeling the beginnings of a headache. Was she apologizing or attacking him? “The only person I didn’t hire off your list was Celeste, because, despite her resume and your glowing recommendation, I knew it would be a big job and I already had someone in mind.”
“Davide.”
“Aaron,” he corrected sharply. “I’m not sure if you met him. He’s the one actually working on the roof instead of getting in your pants.”
She paled and he swore, running a hand through his hair. “That was crass and I apologize.”
Bailey nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. “I’ll accept yours if you accept mine.”
Cam caught her eye. “You aren’t the one who needs to apologize.”
She sucked on her lower lip and his blood quickened, his cock suddenly heavier between his thighs.
“He was jealous, I think,” she finally said. “That’s all it was. He thought you had feelings for me.”
“I know how Davide feels, Bailey.” Cam’s laugh was disbelieving. “It’s you I don’t understand. You think he seduced you because he was jealous, but you’re still defending him.”
She blushed. “No one seduces me without my permission.”
“Good to know.” Cam stepped toward her, unable to resist the pull. “Do you want to know why I gave Aaron the job? He’s got experience in construction, but he’s also more interested in music and plants than people. Asexual is the term he prefers. I knew he’d watch over you without being tempted to try for more.”
Her eyes widened at his disclosure, but he pressed on. “As for the cook and the others, as I said, I chose from your list of previous hires because I thought it would make you happy. Was I wrong?”
The question rattled her. “No, of course not. I love Ava and the girls. If my budget had allowed, they would have been my first choices.”
“Now it does. Problem solved.” He shrugged, frustrated. “I didn’t expect you to swoon in gratitude, but I didn’t think you’d be this upset with my decisions.”
Maybe in part he’d been trying to butter her up to ease his way into her life. From her file and the deeper dive he’d made into the ledgers, he knew that the people of this community were her Achilles’ heel.
Her day laborers were always families in need and adolescents in trouble. Odd jobs magically appeared exactly when someone needed one the most. Any payment that would have put the inn over budget came out of her pocket, with a small notation for reimbursement that she never expected to receive. She’d used her own money, no doubt from the savings she’d been hoarding to buy the property that he’d purchased instead.
He wondered how many people knew this flamboyant bundle of dynamite was Sedona’s secret fairy godmother.
She’d stopped hugging herself to run a hand through her hair. “I do appreciate what you’ve done for them, Cam, but I would like some notice next time. I have financials to keep track of. Schedules to organize. Paperwork to be copied and filed. Not as exciting as your globetrotting adventures, I know, but it has to be done.”
She didn’t think she was exciting? An image of her bent over a filing cabinet as he fucked her made him bite back a groan. Another man had just touched her and nothing she was doing now could be considered flirting, but it didn’t matter. Every breath she took turned him on.
It was getting worse.
“I’ll do better next time.” He cupped her shoulders and forced her to look at him. “Let’s talk about Davide.”
“Do we need to?” she said quietly, her shoulders slumping. “I was hoping we could forget it after the crass commentary.”
“I apologized for that, but there’s no way I’ll forget it.”
“I don’t know what got into me.” She was almost whispering. “He’s your boyfriend, and I knew that. I hate cheaters.”
“Don’t.” He pressed his forehead against hers, stunning her into silence. “Don’t apologize unless you know what to be sorry for, Bailey. I’m upset that I missed it. Do you understand? I wanted to be the one to introduce you to each other. I wanted to set the pace. Davide was too curious about you and he beat me to it, that’s all.”
“Oh.” Awareness lit her eyes and the warm, rich scent of renewed arousal surrounded him, nearly felling him. “That is, um…”
“Unprofessional again?” he rasped, his throat tight and dry, longing for the taste of her. “You’re right. But you liked what he was doing to you. It’s only fair to tell you I want the same things he does.”
“You do?”
Her racing heart was music to his wolf’s ears. He longed for the chase. He wanted to run her down, feel her naked beneath him and sink his teeth into her flesh, but it was too soon. Given what she still believed about him, about them, she’d think they were playing games with her. That it didn’t mean anything, when it meant everything. But gods, how she tempted him.
“And more. Another time, remind me to tell you who I imagined last night, watching me and touching herself under her superhero pajamas.”
“Davide might have mentioned that.”
“And you liked hearing it?”
A startled shout and more of that spine-tingling laughter sent her whirling away from him as Davide practically tumbled down the ladder. “Oh my God, Davide.”
“What the hell happened?” Cam frowned at the ceiling, ready to go after whatever had thrown Davide through the opening. “What’s up there?”
“I’m fine,” he said calmly, wiping the dust off his hands before turning to Cam. “And ghosts are up there. Sounds like you’ve got two of them.”
“No, he doesn’t,” Bailey denied instantly.
“Yes, he does.”
“That’s not possible.”
“Bailey, it—”
“I knew it!”
An old man appeared from a room down the hall and started toward them. He was bald, spotted and bent, the hearing aid in his ear whistling in a way that made Cam and Davide flinch.
Bailey met him halfway, placing her hand on his slender arm and whispering to him about turning it down while Cam struggled with the desire to drag her back to his side. “I’m sorry, Mr. Olyphant, I thought you were out shopping.”
“Mrs. Olyphant goes shopping,” he corrected her kindly, twisting his finger in his ear until the whistling stopped. “Her husband takes naps. I meant to thank you. The neck pillow you brought me yesterday is working wonders. But that’s why I heard it. I was reclining on that pillow and decided to rest my eyes for a bit, when I started hearing the commotion.”
“What kind of commotion?” Cam asked. “Can you be more specific?”
“Did it sound like the noises I told you about?” Bailey shot Cam a warning glance. “The ones I heard last night?”
“It was ghosts.” Mr. Olyphant looked over at Davide. “Like this young man said. Kids laughing to give me the creepy-crawlies. They got so loud at the end they must have scared a cat, because after that there was a yowl that sounded like my wife’s favorite calico. That’s when I came out to investigate.”
Davide scowled. “I didn’t hear a cat.”
“Really?” The cook he’d hired—Ava—appeared at the top of the stairs with a plate of cookies. “I was sure it was a cat. And you’re right, Mr. O. That laughing gave me goosebumps, too. Kind of exciting, isn’t it? Is anyone hungry? There are sandwiches downstairs for the roofers, but I thought something sweet might hold us over.”
Color bloomed in Bailey’s cheeks and Cam knew exactly what she was thinking. If everyone, upstairs and down, had heard the noises coming from the attic, what else had they heard?
She shook it off and tried to smile. “We don’t have ghosts here, Ava.”
“If you say so, Bailey.”
Cam felt her discomfort as if it were his own. Tension in his shoulders, a knot in his stomach. It was disconcerting. “The hallway is getting a little crowded. Let’s go down to the kitchen to finish this conversation, shall we?”
The old man looked up at him and
raised a bushy eyebrow. “Who are you and what land of giants did you come from?”
“He owns the inn,” Ava told him, taking his arm from Bailey and guiding him slowly down the stairs. “And that giant gave me this job and an open credit line at the grocery store, so be nice and tell me what you want for dinner.”
“I’ll eat anything as long as it isn’t too heavy,” he declared as he disappeared from view. “I hear you shouldn’t go ghost hunting on a full stomach.”
Bailey buried her face in her hands and mumbled something about geriatric ghostbusters while Cam skimmed his palms over Davide’s arms, needing to touch him and assure himself he was okay. “What happened?”
“I honestly don’t know.” Gold flashed in his eyes, and Cam knew he’d talk more freely when they were alone. “I heard the scrape, some steps and the laughter, but I couldn’t see or sense more than that. It’s so crowded with old trunks and boxes I might have missed something.”
“Trunks and boxes?” Cam kept his face blank, concealing his interest from their innkeeper. “Bailey, any idea who they belong to?”
She peered at them over her fingers. “I’ve still never actually been up there. I’m not a fan of heights, remember? I do know that if it belonged to Pikeson, it left the day he did. He was very attached to his things.”
If those trunks weren’t Pikeson’s or Bailey’s, there was a chance what he was looking for was up there. Waiting. He squeezed Davide’s shoulder in silent communication. “It sounds like a fire hazard. We’ll head back up there this week to go through it and clean it out.”
“You sure you want to? What about the scary ghosties?” Bailey asked sarcastically.
“Don’t be so cynical.” Davide sent her chiding look. “You heard them laughing. I know you did.”
“It could be anything.” She gestured wildly with her hands. “You say it’s crowded. A broken pipe can leak air and sound like music. There could be a bird’s nest behind one of those trunks. Sometimes a spider is just a spider.”
“I didn’t see a spider.”
No, but she had, Cam remembered. A giant one had chased her into his arms. Twice. This time, he’d seen it before he caught her. “Are you saying the innkeeper who gives discounts for psychic readings doesn’t believe in magic?” he asked blandly.
She stared at him a moment before bursting out laughing. “You have no idea how much I believe, Boots. I’ve seen things that would straighten your Davide’s beautiful hair. One of my best friends is a professional psychic. She’s been here plenty of times, but she never sensed a thing.”
Davide smirked. “You don’t believe in ghosts but psychics are real?”
“I believe in proof,” she corrected, the stubborn tilt of her chin irresistible. “And Kaya proves it more often than I’d like her to. It’s horrible, really. You brush by her and… Well, you’d have to meet her to understand. She’s a huge buzzkill at parties, and it really narrows down her dating pool, that’s all I’m saying.”
A true seer then, Cam thought. He should avoid her until he had the chance to tell Bailey the truth about what he was himself. “I can only imagine.”
Now Davide was intrigued. “You say she’s been here, but has she ever been in the attic?”
“No, and I’m not going to ask her to hold a séance or anything, so don’t go there.” She studied him. “You still haven’t eaten and you’ve been out in the sun all day. Why don’t we go downstairs so you can sample one of Ava’s sandwiches?”
“Because you think I’m hallucinating? Or are you trying to take care of me, too? I could use a neck pillow.”
“Whatever works for you, D.”
Cam caught the possessive expression on Davide’s face. And something else that shouldn’t be possible. He had to be wrong. Either that, or he needed a hell of a lot more information.
“We’ll meet you downstairs,” he told Davide firmly, hoping he got the message.
“If you keep sending me away, I’m going to start feeling unloved.”
“Sure you are,” Cam said wryly. “I need a minute with Bailey, that’s all. Then we’ll go home for the day.”
Together.
Bailey covered a chuckle with her hand when Davide slapped Cam’s ass as he passed.
“I’ll be back soon, sweet,” he told her. “We’re not finished yet.”
“Promises, promises,” she teased. “Also, be aware that if Mr. Olyphant starts ghostbusting in the middle of the night, I’m blaming you.”
“But will you punish me?” With that and a wink, he jogged down the stairs toward the kitchen, leaving Cam and Bailey alone again.
He couldn’t process what he’d sensed coming from Davide, so he set it aside and concentrated on her. “Do you know how old this inn is?”
“That’s what you want to talk about?” He took an inordinate amount of comfort from the fact that she looked disappointed. “Okay, well, let me put my tour guide hat on. The building itself is over a hundred years old. It was turned into an inn around seventy something years ago? I have the paperwork Pikeson made copies of when he was trying to see if the historical society would give him a write-off.”
Cam slid his hands into his pockets so he wouldn’t reach for her. “Do you know about the first owners of the inn?”
“The sisters?” Her expression softened. “There are a lot of stories about them, but not a ton of provable information. They turned their inherited house into a bed-and-breakfast when Hollywood started filming all their westerns here. They were extremely successful for two single women alone. So successful that most of the legends about them end sticky. Because patriarchy.”
Damn, she was adorable. “Sticky?”
“Most say they were robbed and murdered, the deed stolen from them, but no one ever found the bodies.”
He didn’t like the sound of that. What had his grandfather done?
She could help you find out.
It was in her nature. The way she defended Davide, went the extra mile for her guests and gave people in need jobs to get them through a rough patch. If he were an alpha, she would be his perfect match. Strong and proud. Bright and brazen. Nurturing and empathetic.
Humanhumanhuman.
His wolf wanted to protect her and claim her as his mate. Cam knew if he pressed for too much commitment too soon, she would pull away. But she was attracted to him. To Davide. He could work with that.
“I don’t want you going up there alone.” It came out before he could stop it, but he refused to take it back.
“Why? Do you think the sisters’ killer is up there, waiting to murder the next unsuspecting innkeeper?” She swallowed her laugh when he didn’t join her. “I was kidding, Cam.”
He wasn’t. “As you’ve said, this building is a century old and you’ve never been up there before. I don’t want to use the owner card, but I’m asking you not to climb that ladder, or wander through a cluttered attic that—since you assure me it can’t be haunted—must be occupied by some species of large rodent.”
She made the face most humans did when rats were mentioned and his shoulders relaxed.
“Do you believe there are ghosts?”
“What I believe doesn’t matter. Two accidents in two days is not something I’m willing to dismiss out of hand.”
She worried her lower lip again. “It is weird, isn’t it? I wasn’t expecting that spider to show up again. It doesn’t seem to want me in the attic either.”
“Heights and spiders. Anything else you’re afraid of?”
“I’m not afraid of spiders,” she insisted defensively. “Or I wasn’t until a few months ago.”
“What happened a few months ago?”
She scoffed. “I’m not sharing that story with you. It’s long. And too crazy.”
“Crazier than today? Ghosts and handsome roofers getting fresh on a ladder?
When she hesitated, he wrapped one arm around her waist and slid his other hand into her short hair. It felt cool and impossibly soft in his hands. �
��Can I kiss you?”
“I don’t think it’s a good idea, do you?” She leaned into his touch, belying her words. “Because you’re the owner and my boss?”
Cam buried his face in her neck and inhaled her scent. “You say it, but you don’t listen to me, so how can it be true?”
“There’s also the fact that you don’t know anything about me. I could be Amish. A vegetarian. I could be a Furry.”
He choked, raising his head to see the sparkle in her eyes. “A Furry?”
Her smile felt like a tongue on his cock. “Well, there is this one coyote. But he’s part of the long crazy story I’m never telling you about.”
“You know a coyote?” His wolf raised its head on full alert. “This town is more interesting than I thought.”
“You really have no idea.” She plucked at his ribbed polo, her touch no more than a tease. “But I’ll do what you ask. Like I said, you’re the boss. The lady Enchanted is yours.”
Lady. He liked that. “I’ll trade her for the innkeeper.”
Bailey went stiff in his arms and he raised his head seeing her pull away from him but not understanding why. “What is it?”
“Nothing. We should go downstairs.”
His mind raced, going over what they’d said until he realized how she might have taken his words. “That wasn’t the start of a negotiation, Bailey. It was an expression of desire.”
It hurt that she didn’t trust him yet, but why should she? Her senses were human, she was human, and all she had to go on was what she knew. She’d pointed out herself that she’d researched him. The gossip about a different woman every night. The parties that were excuses for debauchery. The Fifty Shades of falsehoods he’d allowed to persist because hiding in plain sight had its benefits.
There was so much he needed to tell her and so little time. “Come over for dinner tonight, Bailey. Get to know me. Us. Davide and the others will be there. I’m not what you think I am.”
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