He relaxed. “What if the animals see something they shouldn’t?”
She shrugged. “I’ll bribe them.”
The growl of another car approached, and Noah had to force himself not to kiss her on the front doorstep like a lovesick schoolboy. Connor parked his car at the curb and strode toward them.
“I asked him to follow us,” Emma admitted. “Kate deserves some closure, don’t you think?”
By the time Connor had left, Kate had been guided to cross over and find peace, Emma was bawling and Noah had shed more than a few tears himself. He hadn’t seen the harm in Kate sticking around if she wanted, but Connor had explained what could happen if she did. Ghosts who lingered became warped and turned into demons over time. That wasn’t something Kate had been willing to risk either.
He walked Connor to the door and thanked him.
“She wouldn’t have gone if you didn’t have Spider.” Connor shared that detail in a quiet voice, just between the two of them. “She saw the same thing I did.” He glanced at where Emma stood in the kitchen, feeding two hungry dogs and a grumpy cat. “You two belong together. Don’t screw it up.” Connor slapped his arm and walked away.
Noah shut the door behind him and ran a hand over his face.
That was at least the third person who’d threatened him if he broke Emma’s heart. No pressure.
He pulled Emma with him onto the sofa and sank back into the fluffy cushions, closing his eyes, grateful for a moment’s peace and quiet with her beside him. She cuddled into his side, smoothing her hand over her chest.
“Are you okay?” she asked softly. “About Kate, I mean.”
There was sorrow and regret somewhere in his subconscious, but mostly, he felt numb about the whole thing. “A week ago, I knew who I was – or who I thought I was.” He pressed her closer to his side, comforted by her proximity. “I never doubted where I came from, who my parents were, my family. I was always Derek West’s son, doomed to repeat a lot of the same mistakes I’d seen him make.”
“Why?”
He frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Why did you think you had to make the same mistakes he did? You’re a different person.”
“Because no matter how hard I tried to be different than him, I never felt it. Does that make sense?”
Lifting her head to look at him, she arched a brow. “Not so much.”
“Just listen.” He pressed her back down. “I always thought it was in my genes, that I had no choice, but now I know it’s not in my genes. I do have a choice. I feel … disoriented. Like everything I once believed was wrong.”
“Good, because it sounds like you need serious therapy if you believed any of that crap.” She lifted her head and looked at him again. “My dad implied your father was an alcoholic.”
He nodded, terrified her opinion of him had changed.
“Are you one too?”
“Of course not. I barely touch the stuff.”
“You chose not to drink.”
“Yes.”
“Then you’ve always been able to choose not to be like him.” She rolled her eyes before laying her head back on his shoulder. “What’s changed?”
When she put it like that, he felt like a colossal idiot. Hadn’t John told him pretty much the same? “Everything,” he admitted. He didn’t know how to make her understand when he wasn’t certain he understood it himself.
“Noah, listen to me. I met your mother, the one who raised you. I kind of met the other one too. Fact is, you come from good people, people who love you. Just because fate handed you a rotten apple for a father doesn’t define who you are. At least, not unless you allow it to.”
Hope surged through his chest. “I hope you’re right.”
“Oh, I am. Get used to it.”
That made him smile.
“Thanks for what you did today.” He nuzzled her hair, inhaling the delicious scent of strawberries. “You saved my life.”
“Eh.” She snuggled closer. “I’ll try not to remind you of it. Much.”
He smiled. “Guess I owe you, huh?”
“I accept many forms of payment, including lasagna.”
He sighed, feeling ridiculously happy for a man who’d almost died hours earlier. Because of her. All her. “You could do a lot better than me, you know?”
She lifted her head, met his eyes, and smiled. “I think you’ll do just fine.”
Lifting a trembling hand, he brushed a lock of blue and red hair behind her ear, caressing her face. “I’m gonna need help. This is all new to me.”
Her eyes danced with mischief. “What? Making lasagna?”
“No. Being in love.”
Her eyes widened, her mouth forming a very cute O. “Wait. Could you clarify that statement, because I think I blacked out for a second, so I might have imagined it.”
He pulled her head down, kissed her, drinking in the taste of mint and hot chocolate that lingered on her lips. “I. Love. You. Crazy woman.”
She sighed dreamily and sank into him. “Ditto.”
Joy fluttered in his stomach. “To quote a wise and beautiful woman I know, I could use some clarification on that.”
“I love you, too. I think.” She wrinkled her nose at him. “This has all happened kind of fast. We haven’t known each other very long.”
“Yes, it has been fast.” Worry chased away his smile. Was she having second thoughts?
“We have a lot to talk about.”
“Such as?”
“I’ve recently had a kind-of job offer I need to tell you about.” She made a dismissive gesture with her hand. “Never mind. We can talk about it later. You seriously love me?” Her tone sounded so hopeful, it chased away the worry eating through his thoughts.
“I seriously love you.”
He was more certain now that he’d finally admitted it to her, and himself.
Squealing, she dove into him, pressing exuberant kisses across his face. Noah closed his arms around her, thrilled to have her in his arms any way he could get her.
As he found her mouth with his, he knew he’d finally buried the ghost of his father that had haunted him more than Kate ever had. He knew without a doubt he’d found what he’d always wanted, even if he hadn’t known it. A woman who would accept and love him despite his many faults. A woman like Emma, who looked past his faults and saw the man he could become underneath.
He’d been searching for her for so long. Now that he’d found her, he wasn’t about to let her go.
Enjoyed Spider’s story? Don’t miss the first two books in Angela Campbell’s snarky new romantic suspense series,
On the Scent
Something Wicked
Also by Angela Campbell …
Tap the cover to download now.
Angela Campbell
I read my first romance at 16 and immediately attempted to write one, too. Many attempts (and a couple of decades) later, I finally published my first novel.
A mild-mannered newspaper reporter with more than 15 years’ experience as a general assignment reporter, features editor and graphic designer, I have also worked as a production assistant in TV and film. I now live in the Southeast with my rescue cat.
Learn more about my books at www.angelacampbellonline.com and follow me on Twitter @AngelaCampbel.
About HarperImpulse
HarperImpulse is an exciting new range of romance fiction brought to you from the women’s fiction team at HarperCollins. Our aim is to break new talent from debut authors and import the hottest trends from the US, bringing you the very best in romance. Whether that is through short reads for your mobile phone or epic sagas that span the generations we want to proudly publish romance fiction that gets everybody talking.
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