“He’s made new friends.”
“One of whom died.”
“Don’t remind me of that.” Harper’s face clouded at the memory. “I already blame myself enough as it is.”
“That’s not your fault, Heart.” Jared was firm as he forced her chin in his direction, making it so she had no choice but to meet his steady gaze. “You didn’t create that situation. It’s not on you.”
“And yet you’re willing to blame yourself for joining a vacation I wanted you to be a part of.”
“I don’t blame myself,” he clarified. “I just see things from Zander’s point of view. This wasn’t fair to him.”
“Well, Shawn couldn’t get away. It was the exact worst time for him. Are you saying you should’ve stayed home rather than come?”
Jared nodded without hesitation. “You and I are going to have a lifetime together. You and Zander will, too, although it won’t be the same as it was before I came along. That’s fine. That’s good. That’s the way it’s supposed to be. I should’ve given you two this vacation together, though. Shawn not being able to come changed the dynamics, and it’s not right that Zander feels left out.”
Harper exhaled heavily, surprised at the weariness resting on her shoulders. “You’re a really good guy,” she said finally. “There aren’t a lot of women who can say they found the perfect man, but I did. You understand me ... and him. He’s often hard to understand.”
“He’s not so bad.” Jared grinned at her incredulous face. “I’ll apologize to him tomorrow. I’ll make it up to him ... somehow. If he asks for something really obnoxious, though, I’m going to rescind my apology.”
“He won’t ask for anything obnoxious. I’ll make sure of it.”
“Good.” Jared scooched back on the chair and patted the spot between his legs. “I don’t want to be out late because we have a lot going on, but it’s a beautiful night and I’m dying to spend a few minutes of it with my beautiful future wife.”
“Oh, so sweet.” Harper discarded her empty glass on a nearby table and then crawled into the chair, laughing when he wrapped his arms around her and made growling noises as he kissed her neck. “You’re feeling pretty good tonight, huh?”
“I have my girl and a clear night. I can hear waves all around us. I can smell the salt in the air. What’s not to feel good about?”
“Good point.” Harper cast a look toward the tiki bar, which was bustling with activity. She could see Zander inside holding court with Monica. They appeared to be fast friends. “Do you think we should collect him before leaving tonight?”
Jared shook his head. “He’s an adult, Heart. He can do what he pleases.”
“I know. It’s just ... last time he did what he wanted with no regard for others I ended up puking on him the next morning.”
Jared smiled at the memory. “I can’t wait to tell Shawn that story.”
“I think Zander is going to have issues if you do.”
“Yes, well, life isn’t always easy,” he teased, brushing his hands over her ribs to make her laugh and squirm. “He’s going to be fine. I very much doubt he’s going to drink like he did the other night. He knows better than that.”
“Right.” Harper thoughtfully watched Zander launch into a story. She couldn’t hear what he said, but he was using broad hand gestures that she recognized from at least fifty of his favorite reenactments. Around him, faces were rapt as the other guests had a good time entertaining themselves.
Zander cast a lot of sunlight with his personality. Clearly the other patrons enjoyed basking in it.
“He’ll be okay,” Jared whispered, kissing the ridge of her ear and sending chills down her spine. “I know I said it wasn’t fair of me to come on this vacation, but I’m here now, and I want to spend time alone with you.”
“Oh, yeah?” Harper’s grin spread. “What did you have in mind? Do you want to play a round of nighttime shuffleboard?”
“No.”
“What about swimming laps for exercise?”
He dug his fingers into her ribs and tickled. “No.”
She gasped as she tried to refrain from screeching. “Do you want to go back to the room and play a naughty pirate game?”
“Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner.” He spun her a bit so he could have easier access and planted a smacking kiss against her lips. “Come on. It’s time to leave Zander to his fans. You can entertain me a different way.”
“I know most of the stories Zander is telling,” Harper teased as Jared helped her to her feet. “I could probably share them with you, if you’re so inclined, I mean.”
“The only story I want to hear is the one that gets you out of these clothes.”
“You have a filthy mind.”
“Is that a complaint?”
She shook her head. “Not even a little. I happen to love your filthy mind.” She realized her heart was pounding when Jared pressed his hand to the spot above it and grinned. “What are you doing?”
“I’m seducing you. See. It’s already happening. That’s why your heart is racing.”
“Maybe it’s racing because of our proximity to the ocean,” she challenged, giggling at his dubious expression. “What? It’s a possibility.”
“It’s me.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed a kiss to her mouth. “It’s me and I want to go back to our room. Are you going to keep torturing me?”
“No.” In truth, Harper was ready for some quiet time, too. “I just need to tell Zander we’re leaving and I’ll be right behind you.”
“No, I’ll handle that. If I leave you to tell Zander, I won’t see you again for hours because he’ll guilt you into staying with him, and that will break my heart.”
“Talk about guilt trips,” Harper drawled.
Jared ignored the sarcasm as he linked his fingers with Harper’s and led her toward the tiki bar. He waited until Zander took a breath in the middle of a story and cleared his throat.
“I don’t want to disturb,” he said. “Harper and I are going to bed, though. You can make it back to your room by yourself, right?”
The look Zander shot him was withering. “I think I can manage.”
“Just checking.” Jared offered him a saucy salute. “See you for breakfast.”
“Have fun,” Harper called out, giggling when Jared started to rush her toward the door that led inside.
“I always do,” Zander yelled at their backs. His smile was on full display when he turned back to his audience. “Now, where was I?”
Seventeen
Zander watched Jared chase Harper toward the door, shaking his head even as a small smile played at the corners of his lips.
“That’s your friend, right?” Monica asked, sidling up beside him.
Zander sipped his cocktail – he was drinking in moderation this evening – and nodded. “My best friend.”
“And the guy with her, he’s a police officer, isn’t he?”
The question caught Zander off guard. “I … how do you know that?”
She tapped the side of her head, amused. “I’m psychic, remember?”
Zander was willing to play the game to a certain point, but he had trouble believing Monica was truly psychic. “I think you’re good at reading people,” he said after a beat. “I think you watch the crowd and pick people who are rather obvious so it’s easier to pretend you have special powers.”
“Do you think you’re obvious?”
Zander shrugged. “I think I’m easy to read. I don’t try to be coy. That’s not who I am.”
“And your friend?”
“What about her?”
“What if I told you I could see inside her soul, too?”
“I would say she wears every emotion she has on her face,” Zander replied without hesitation. “She’s always been that way.”
“Since you were kids and bonded over milkshakes?”
Zander snorted. “You overplayed your hand. We never bonded over milkshakes. We preferred twis
t cones dipped in sprinkles with a cherry on top at the Dairy Queen. Sometimes we had them dipped in chocolate, but generally it was the sprinkles because they were as colorful as our personalities.”
“Oh, that’s kind of cute.” Monica’s smile was genuine. “Perhaps you’re right about me reading people. Right now, for example, I think you’re so dedicated to your friend that you’re happy for her even though she abandoned you for the evening … again.”
Zander shrugged, noncommittal. “I’m always happy for her when it’s appropriate. This would be one of those cases. She’s happy. They’re happy. I’m happy for them.”
“Even though you’re alone?”
“I’m not alone. This cruise simply came at the wrong time. My boyfriend couldn’t get any time away from work. I guarantee, the next trip we plan like this, he’ll be with us.”
Monica stared at him for a long time, her gaze searching. Finally she smiled and patted his arm. “Well, good for you. Do you want to tell your fans another story? I think they’re champing at the bit.”
Zander brightened considerably. “I do love a good story.”
Monica snorted. “I never would’ve guessed. Come on. I’m thinking a ghost story, one featuring your blond friend is in order.”
“Oh, I have plenty of those to choose from.”
ROWAN AND QUINN WERE quiet when they got back to her room. They changed into sleep clothes, checked the photographs to see if there were any changes, and then rolled into bed. Even though they were both exhausted, sleep didn’t claim either of them right away.
“Are you leaning toward any of our suspects?” she asked quietly as he stroked her back, her cheek resting against his chest.
“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Quinn stretched, making sure to keep her close as he rearranged their bodies to get more comfortable. “I honestly don’t know. I think Destiny is fairly interesting. The fact that she felt the need to blab to you guys in the spa makes her suspect.”
“She left out pertinent information, though.”
“She did, which only makes me more suspicious of her,” he admitted. “Profilers believe that there’s a certain type of unsub who tries to insert himself – or herself, as the case may be – into an investigation.”
“I watch Criminal Minds, too,” Rowan teased, giggling when he poked her side.
“It’s true, though,” Quinn continued. “The sort of person we’re talking about thinks they’re smarter than law enforcement, smarter than us in this case. They want to hear the information we know and play public perception in their favor.”
“So, you think she could’ve told us that story to taint our opinion of Brady,” Rowan mused, tracing her finger over Quinn’s muscular chest.
“I think it’s possible she knew who you were from the start. I mean that you’re my girlfriend, that is. She probably realized who I was and was perhaps hoping you would be her way to get information through me.”
“And she thought she could spin us?”
“Maybe. Of course, she might be innocent. Brady had so many enemies that I would need a dry erase board to keep track of them all. She’s hardly the only person that wanted to do him harm.”
“He’s not dead, though.” Rowan was firm. “I checked right before I put my computer away. He doesn’t have the death omen. He’s alive … wherever he is.”
“I have to think that he’s holed up in someone’s room,” Quinn admitted, rubbing his cheek against Rowan’s forehead as he worked things out in his head. “Whether that’s voluntary or not, I can’t say. He’s in trouble, so I would lean toward him being held against his will. It’s always possible, though, that he has a partner who is hiding him and that something else is going on.”
“So, what’s the plan for tomorrow?”
“Well, I thought I would wake up next to the prettiest woman in the world for starters.”
Rowan rolled her eyes. “I’m starting to get why people think we’re disgusting.”
He chuckled. “Me, too.”
“I’m being serious, though. We need to make headway on this, Quinn. I have a bad feeling.”
“I know.” He sobered. “Tomorrow morning I’m going to check the rooms belonging to the people on our list. I’ll make up a plumbing emergency to go inside if I have to. They won’t stop me.”
“And what if he’s not in one of those rooms?”
“I don’t know.” That was the truth. “I agree that we’re running out of time. I have a bad feeling, too, and you’re in the center of that bad feeling.”
“That’s not a very romantic sentiment.”
“Not that way,” he chided, shaking his head. “You’re at the center of my fear. I’m so worried you’re going to be in the middle of things when they go down I can’t see straight.”
“We already talked about this. I’ll do my best.”
“I know. I’m not trying to guilt you.”
“You can’t freak out about this,” she said calmly. “It will distract you. We’ll both be careful … and go from there. That’s the best we can do.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not the best I can do.” Quinn’s smile was so large it eclipsed his features when he flipped them both over and rolled on top of her. “I think we both need something to relax us before sleep.”
Rowan matched his grin. “I’m guessing you have something in mind.”
“Such a smart girl.”
“Smart and pretty, right?”
“The smartest and prettiest.”
“Okay. Wow me. I could use it.”
“Your enthusiasm is only one of the things I love about you.”
A NIGHT OF ROMANCE was just what the doctor ordered.
Harper woke relaxed, refreshed, and ridiculously comfortable. She was ready and raring to go. She had a ghost to find, after all. The focus so far had been on Brady’s disappearance, not Tasha’s murder. She was the only one who could force momentum for Tasha, and that’s exactly what she planned to do.
“Don’t even think about moving,” Jared mumbled against the back of her neck, his breath warm as it tickled her ear. “I’m not ready to greet the day yet.”
Harper remained where she was, torn. “I think we should get up.”
“Since when are you the morning sort? Are you sure you’re the real Harper? You haven’t been replaced with a droid, have you?”
Harper sighed, amused despite herself. “Not last time I checked. I slept well, though. I don’t know what it is, but the water rocks me or something. It’s weird.”
“It’s like being in a hammock.”
Harper thought about that. “Huh. I know I joked about it earlier, but you’re right. I hadn’t even considered that.”
Jared smiled. He could practically hear the gears in her mind working.
“It is like a hammock,” she said after a beat. “We rock just enough to get a little motion. We can hear the water outside, and it’s soothing. It’s like hammocking.”
Jared chuckled, delighted with her to an extent that should’ve been criminal. “Good grief. I love you.”
“I know. You love hammocking, too. That’s the reason we’re sleeping so well.”
“I love you more than hammocking, just for the record.”
“That’s good to know.” She rolled so she was facing him, enjoying the way the sunlight filtering through the window glinted against his morning stubble. “You really are too handsome. It makes me go weak in the knees sometimes. Nobody should be as pretty as you. It’s just not fair.”
Jared’s grin was lightning quick. “You’re definitely my favorite person in the world.”
“Does that mean you want to go on a ghost hunt with me today?”
His smile slipped. “Is that your plan? Is that what you’re going to do with your day?”
“Do you have a better idea?”
He nodded without hesitation. “You’re on vacation. You’re supposed to be hanging with others of your ilk. Do that … out on the deck and away from danger.”
Harper made a face. “My ilk? What does that even mean?”
“Ghost hunters.”
“Are you sure that’s what you meant?”
“Yes.”
She sighed, the sound long and drawn out. “I know you don’t want to hear it because you’re you, but I can’t just forget about Tasha. She’s out there. For all we know, I’m the only one who can talk to her.”
“You don’t know that.” Jared wasn’t prepared to let it go. “I looked over the sheets Quinn had in his office yesterday. There are at least three hundred people on this ship who claim to see ghosts.”
“Claim. That’s the operative word.”
“Do you believe you’re the only person in the world who has this ability?”
“No.” Harper shook her head, firm, remembering another friend from Michigan. “In fact, I know I’m not. Ivy could see them, too.”
“Only when she was around you.”
“No. She saw them before we met. I think she’s been seeing them for a long time. She just doesn’t always realize it. She’s more apt to look now.”
“Fair enough.” Jared’s fingers were gentle as they brushed Harper’s flaxen hair away from her heart-shaped face. “If you’re not the only one who can see ghosts, why can’t someone else pick up the heavy lifting?”
“You know why.”
“Actually, in this particular case, I don’t.” Jared met her gaze head-on. “Why can’t we put the other ghost hunters on this?”
“Because I don’t think most of them are legit.” It was hard for Harper to admit, but he wasn’t going to let it go so she had no choice. “I’m not saying I’m better than them. It’s just … I think that some of them lie about being able to see ghosts because they think it’s a cool way to make money.”
It took everything Jared had not to smile. “You are better than them, and I’m not just saying that because I love you.”
“Then why are you pushing me on this?”
“Because I’m afraid.” Jared opted for honesty. “I love you, Heart. I don’t know what to think of those omens that Rowan can see. She’s not my girlfriend, so I’m skeptical. The thing is, Quinn isn’t.”
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