A Ghostly Charm

by MJ Fredrick

  Mal, though, he was the intriguing one. Of the people who had a motive for setting this up, he had the most, and yet he seemed the most surprised by the tapes. When the man himself walked into the dining room, her stomach leaped. She told herself it was simply because she was thinking about him, not for any other reason.

  Yet when his gaze sought her first, everything female in her thrilled.

  Damn it.

  He stopped at the end of the table to her left, his gaze lingering on her a moment before sweeping the rest of the long table. “Ladies and gentlemen, glad to see you stuck with us after last night. Hopefully tonight will be more peaceful. I want to tell you the story about the beautiful bride ghost, Bridget, who lives here.”

  Maddy lifted her eyebrows. He wasn’t going to stop, was he, no matter what he thought was going on. But the others had no idea, and they urged him to tell the story. Instead, he waved them off and sat in the chair to her right, his feet bumping hers under the table. She didn’t meet his eyes and shifted her feet away from his. She reached under the table and pushed his leg away when he pressed his knee to hers, trying to distract her as she carried on a conversation with Rosemarie.

  “So, tell us, Mal,” urged Vivian.

  “After dinner,” he promised and ordered a cheeseburger.

  The rest of the tourists peppered him with questions, which he answered easily, none of the stress she’d seen earlier showing. Every now and again his gaze touched hers, often enough to make her realize she was watching him way too much.

  Finally he pushed his plate away, wiped his fingers on his napkin and tossed it on his plate. That was enough to quiet the conversation around the table, and attention turned to him. How did he do that?

  “So you want to hear about the bride who haunts this place?” he asked.

  Murmurs ran around the room. Maddy felt a jump of anticipation herself.

  Mal folded his arms on the table. “Her name was Bridget, and she died the night she moved in, the beautiful young wife of the older magistrate. Most people said it wasn’t a love match, because he was older, but it was. She was excited about being married, about being mistress of this house, about being a lover.”

  Damn, he was good. She felt herself drawn in.

  “She was preparing herself for her first night with her husband. She’d made a beautiful white nightgown, and she went to bathe in the bathroom he’d built for her. She slipped in the tub, struck her head on the edge, slid beneath the water and drowned.”

  Murmurs of sorrow from the people listening, including some of the regular hotel guests nearby. “Her husband found her too late, no longer his beautiful bride. Her unfulfilled ghost roams the building, searching for lovers, living vicariously through them.”

  The Ghost Groupies giggled and nudged each other.

  Justin moved behind Maddy. “A horny ghost?” he whispered. “Seriously?”

  Mal pushed to his feet. “So, let’s go see where she died.”

  “Let me guess. His room,” Justin murmured as they followed the rest of the group into the dining room.

  “I hope his and not mine,” Maddy said. “I’m not up for apparitions tonight. You didn’t put any— sideshows here, did you?”

  “Not this time.”

  She turned to him.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Just checking.”

  Mal eased back behind the others who filed into the dining room. “What do you two have your heads together about back here?”

  “I was just about to ask how long you’d been full of bull,” she retorted.

  “So I was right. You were talking about me.” He edged closer, arms folded.

  “So, Mal.” Vivian trotted up on his other side. “Where has she been seen?”

  “In the room where she died, in the hallways, the lobby, the attic. But her favorite spot is outside a couple’s room, especially a newlywed couple.”

  “Are you sure she stays outside?” Joyce asked coyly.

  He winked. “I can’t be sure.”

  “Have you ever caught her voice like you did last night?”

  “No, she’s audible without it,” Justin said. “You can’t hear her words, but you can hear her sighs of longing.”

  “What is it she longs for?” Maddy asked, amused at the way Justin seamlessly added to the story.

  “What she never got,” Mal answered instead. “A wedding night. She died a virgin.”

  Mal watched the shiver of anticipation go through the Ghost Groupies. He was right. Sex sold.

  Only now he wanted everyone scarce so he could be alone with Maddy.

  But even as he ached for her, he remembered why he never hooked up on any of these tours. Well, most of his clients were couples, but this was the Ghost Groupies’ second tour, and there had been that writer lady in Salem who had sent him all those signals. But his time hadn’t been his own.

  Tonight, he would make sure it was. He wanted to be alone with Maddy, and a horny ghost was a perfect excuse. All he could think of was getting his hands on her, his mouth on her.

  “So, Mal,” Vivian asked. “How does the ghost choose who she haunts?”

  Mal waited until Maddy looked at him, then with a slow blink, he turned his attention to Vivian. “How does she choose? Well, first, she usually chooses a couple.”

  “Usually?” Sonia asked.

  “Most of the time. But sometimes, if she senses an energy between two people, she might push them together.”

  Maddy made sure he heard her huff of disgust. “Surely she doesn’t show up every night,” she said through her teeth.

  “No, of course not. Only when she senses—” “Some action?” Sonia asked.

  Mal looked at Maddy. “I was going to say, a longing. She senses someone who yearns for what she yearns for.”

  “Sex,” Vivian said with a laugh.

  “More,” he said, his gaze on Maddy.

  “So what’s the plan?” Joyce asked as they started up the stairs. “We just hang outside romantic couples’ rooms where we might see her?”

  “I thought we’d get our EMF reader and our thermometer and cruise around for awhile,” Mal said.

  “Do those really work?” Joyce asked.

  As they got into a discussion on the theories behind the effectiveness of ghost hunting tools in sensing ghosts, Maddy pulled away.

  Trekking through an abandoned house looking for ghosts was one thing, but wandering around an occupied inn was another. She felt foolish being on this tour. How could he not feel foolish leading it?

  Right. Because he had no shame.

  “Don’t you think she’ll wait to appear after everyone’s gone to bed?” Joyce asked.

  “Maybe. If we don’t see anything early, we’ll reconvene later,” he said amiably.

  “Whose bedroom did she die in?” Maddy asked warily.

  He gave his EMF a quick inspection then looked over his shoulder at her. “Mine.”

  Chapter Three

  They walked in a staggered line up the stairs and to the end of the hall. Mal watched the EMF, which as far as Maddy could tell wasn’t doing anything. Then he pulled out an old fashioned skeleton key. Maddy hated the way her heart skipped when she walked into Mal’s room, knowing he’d be sleeping in that bed....

  God, she was turning into a Ghost Groupie. She looked at the girls who were nudging each other behind her.

  “So are we camping out in here awhile?” Vivian asked after taking a cursory look in the old fashioned tiled bathroom before plopping on the bed, leaning back, bracing her hands behind her, her eyes clearly inviting.

  Mal was taken aback. “For awhile, then we’ll go upstairs. This isn’t the most accommodating room.”

  “For some I bet it is,” Sonia said, sitting beside Vivian.

  Mal cleared his throat and crossed the room to the window, where he perched, crossing his arms. He had to be thinking about accepting what they were obviously offering. He wouldn’t be a man if he wasn’t. But he looked unc
omfortable, like he was embarrassed by their behavior in front of the others.

  “Maddy, did you see?” Justin asked, motioning to the bathroom.

  She ducked in with him, already positive she wouldn’t see anything. “Don’t you think you should be in there protecting Mal?”

  “He can take care of himself.”

  “Even when he’s outnumbered?”

  Justin snorted.

  They walked back into the bedroom, where the walls were lined and Mal was looking cornered. He cast Justin a desperate look.

  “I don’t think she’ll come out and play with all of us in here,” Justin said. “I think we’re more likely to catch her unaware. Let’s go up in the attic and work our way down.”

  Mal led the way out of the room, Maddy behind him. He breathed a sigh of relief when the two girls unfolded themselves from his bed. Maybe, another time, he might have taken them up on their offer. Every guy’s fantasy and all that.

  But his eyes and his thoughts strayed again and again to Maddy. He loved the disdain in her regard—it was a bigger turn-on than two girls on his bed. He needed to get her alone and cursed himself for not acting earlier.

  The sensation of a hand stroked the back of his hair, nothing more than an affectionate caress. But the girls had all made their way in front of him. He turned quickly and saw Maddy, but she was too far away to have done it. Never mind that she never would. But she was pale, wide-eyed.

  “Maddy, what is it?”

  “Nothing.” She hurried around him to join the others.

  She was lying. He didn’t know why, but he knew she was. He followed her to join the rest of the group. Justin had Joyce to the side, showing her how to use the thermometer and Mal caught Maddy’s arm, offering her the EMF.

  She shook her head, one arm wrapped tightly around herself, her eyes focused behind him. He looked over his shoulder to where her gaze was riveted, but he saw nothing.

  Justin led the way up to the attic. Maddy hung back as if she wanted to bolt, as if she didn’t want to be part of the group.

  Something brushed the back pocket of Mal’s jeans. He whipped around, but again Maddy was too far back. And she surely wasn’t the playful type who would run up, then dart out of reach.

  “Did you see something?” he asked.

  Her eyes were riveted to his ass. “No. See what?” she asked, shaking herself and meeting his gaze.

  “Maddy.” He turned, gripped her arms. “What do you see?”

  “Nothing.” She couldn’t be seeing this, this dark haired woman who danced up to Mal, around him, reaching out to pet him.

  A woman dressed in white. A woman who wasn’t there.

  The woman grabbed Mal’s ass and turned to look at Maddy with laughing dark eyes.

  Mal flinched. He could feel her.

  She was there. She was really there. Maddy didn’t know what to make of it and didn’t know how to admit what she was seeing. Clearly his EMF was worthless if it wasn’t picking up on this thing she could see with her own eyes.

  A giggle floated toward her when the woman flickered out of sight, and Mal turned to look at Maddy again.

  “I never heard you laugh.”

  “I didn’t.” She looked at him, imploring understanding.

  “Did you hear that?”

  “I did.” She swallowed. “And—”

  “You see her?” His voice rose. “Is she here?”

  “Not right now.”

  The others heard Mal’s tone and turned around.

  Maddy wanted to disappear as the bride had. “Where was she? Where did she go?” They surrounded her.

  “She was playing with Mal,” Maddy admitted, shaking all over. “Teasing him. Then she’d look at me like I was in on the joke.”

  “What did you see?” Justin asked, getting in her face. “A full body apparition?”

  “I saw her face, her hands and her dress. I don’t remember about her feet. Does that mean full body?” “Where did she go? When did she disappear?”

  Mal asked.

  “Before she laughed. She was already gone when she laughed. Your EMF didn’t pinpoint her.” She couldn’t keep the accusation out of her voice.

  He frowned at the device and tucked it into his breast pocket. “You saw her earlier.” He had some accusation of his own.

  “Yes. How did you know?”

  “I saw a look on your face. Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “I don’t believe in ghosts! You think I’m going to announce it when I actually think I see one?”

  “Think?” He lifted an eyebrow.

  She looked at him, hopelessness filling her voice when she said, “No. I saw it.”

  God, that had to be rough. Defiance flickered in her eyes as she said the words, as she tried to hide her vulnerability, her confusion from him, and the others. He was fairly certain he was the only one who saw it. But it was all he could see.

  “What does she look like?” Joyce asked. “Was she beautiful?”

  “Was she transparent?” Rosemarie asked.

  “I felt her,” Mal said, glancing at Rosemarie, unwilling to take his eyes from Maddy too long. “She has to be corporeal.”

  “She was flickering,” Maddy said. “Sometimes she seemed more solid than others. Like when she was grabbing you.”

  “Grabbing you?” The Ghost Groupies turned to Mal as one.

  “She pinched my butt,” he said with a shrug. “Why did she disappear?”

  “I don’t know! Maybe she was shy,” Maddy snapped.

  “Maddy.” Mal reached out to touch her arm, but she edged out of his reach. He cast a glance at Justin, who moved closer to her. She didn’t flinch from him, and Mal felt a twinge because she seemed more comfortable with Justin than with him.

  “So what should we do?” Joyce asked.

  “About what?” Mal asked, as Maddy allowed Justin to rest his hand on her elbow reassuringly.

  “About finding the ghost.” Joyce dragged out the last word.

  “Just because Maddy saw her doesn’t mean everyone will,” Justin said calmly. “I mean, look, Mal didn’t see her.”

  “I want to see her!” Sonia exclaimed. “It’s not fair Maddy saw her, and she doesn’t even believe.”

  “We can’t explain how ghosts act in relation to people. We don’t even know if there’s a rhyme or reason,” Mal said, hoping like hell he’d made sense. Hell, a ghost had touched him. A real ghost, what he only pretended to believe in. Ghosts really existed. How could he talk to these people when he had to wrap his mind around that, and what he’d done because he didn’t believe? “Look, you all go with Justin. I’m going to get Maddy a brandy.”

  He didn’t particularly want to be around her as he worked this out, either. She saw too much. But she was shaking and pale and that was as good of an excuse as any to get away from the group.

  “I’m fine,” she insisted when he drew her away from Justin, his hand on her wrist. “I don’t even like brandy.”

  “Just something to take the edge off the shock,” Justin said, with a nudge in Mal’s direction.

  She opened her mouth to argue some more, then met Mal’s gaze and snapped her mouth closed. When he tucked a hand against her waist, she didn’t move away. Instead, she allowed him to guide her away from the group. Huh. Maybe she had an agenda of her own, and he wasn’t up to answering questions, not when so many of his own whirled around in his head.

  The most important being—what had he done to his sister?

  Maddy stopped short when they rounded the corner, her eyes straight ahead. “Did you see that?” “What?” Was she screwing with him? But no, tension ran through her body and tightened her features. He followed her gaze and saw nothing.

  “It was a shadow, maybe, but no one was there.”

  “The bride?”

  “I don’t know.” But she picked up the pace to look around the next corner.

  Damn, he could love this woman. He followed her until she came to a sudden stop
and he damn near ran into her. He braced his hands on her shoulders and looked past her, hoping to see what she saw. Having his ass grabbed by a horny ghost was one thing, but to be able to see her....

  “What?”

  “She went into the wall.”

  “You saw her? I thought you just saw a shadow.”

  “No, I saw her.” She turned to him. “She went into the wall.”

  “She’s a ghost. Aren’t they supposed to do that?”

  “She wanted me to follow her.” Maddy turned, studied the wall a moment, then headed down the hall.

  “Where are you going?” He hated running after anyone. People usually ran after him. On the other hand, he never realized the view was so good from back here.

  “I want to see what’s on the other side.”

  “She won’t be there.”

  “She wanted me to come,” she said again.

  He caught her arm and turned her toward him.

  “Are you hearing yourself? She walked through walls, she wanted you to follow her? You don’t believe in ghosts, remember?”

  She pulled free and stuck her chin out. “I have to find out why this is happening. What is happening.”

  “Okay, well, on the other side of this wall is another room. Occupied, no doubt.”

  “By a couple?”

  “Maybe. We can’t just barge in and ask if they’ve seen a ghost.” He held out a hand. She considered, then took it. He savored the feel of her hand in his for a moment, small bones, soft skin, and then pulled her toward the other end of the hall. He looked back and opened a door. She lifted her eyebrows and followed him. The room was too small to be converted to a bedroom.

  “What was this?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. What’s important is what it is.” Still holding her hand, he walked over to a bookshelf, counted the spines under his breath, and slid out a book.