by Lili Valente
I swallow hard, forcing myself to take a second look. When I do, I see the long brown face of a faded rocking horse, its yarn mane flopping in the breeze coming through the open attic window.
I exhale, shaking my head. “Yeah. It looks like a rocking horse. Though they could find a less eerie place to put it, couldn’t they?”
He hugs me to his side, his tone softening as he gazes down at my face. “You okay?”
“Fine.” I smile up at him, patting my belly. “Just hungry.”
“You sure?”
“Positive,” I lie, not wanting him to feel obligated to sleep with me in my room tonight. He needs his rest, and I’m a grown woman, not a child who doesn’t know the difference between a real threat and an imaginary one.
There’s probably no such thing as ghosts.
Probably…
Still, I can’t help but cling a little tighter to his hand as we start toward the house for dinner. I try to look on the bright side—I’ll have plenty of time to finish my book if I’m up all night unable to sleep—but I can’t help wishing I was going to be curled up with Zack in his bed.
He just makes me feel so…safe.
Which is also odd. People I don’t know well don’t usually make me feel safe—I don’t let them—but with every passing moment, Zack is feeling less and less like a stranger. We’re barely one day into our adventure, and already he feels like someone I can trust, a port in a storm, a good luck charm that wards off ghosts and all the other things that do their best to haunt a person.
Especially at the beginning of a new relationship.
This isn’t a relationship, I remind myself.
It isn’t, but that doesn’t keep me from enjoying Zack’s hand in mine and hoping that the next two weeks pass very, very slowly, ghosts and all.
Chapter Thirteen
Zack
Nancy puts dinner on the table and heads for the door with a knowing smirk.
“Really, we’d love for you to stay,” Colette insists for the third time. “There’s plenty for all of us. Jed, too, if he wants to come up and eat.”
“Jed doesn’t come up to the big house after dark,” Nancy says, gathering her jacket from the armchair closest to the back door.
Colette shrinks in her chair beside me—Nancy placed us both on the side of the table with the view of the yard so we could watch the stars come out during dessert. She insisted if we didn’t take at least two hours to eat, we were “doing life wrong.”
“Is it because of the…?” Colette’s finger drifts up to point toward the ceiling.
Nancy’s face remains blank for a long moment before she bursts into loud laughter. “Oh, no! Not at all. The spirits are a lot less active than Jed makes out. Ninety-nine percent of the time, no one sees or hears anything out of the ordinary. He just knows himself too well. If he made a habit of getting too friendly with the guests, he’d wear out his welcome. He never knows when to leave the party, you know?”
She reaches for the door but then pauses with her fingers on the handle. “But if you decide to go into town, give us a call. Jed would love to ferry you there and back again. Give him an excuse to hang out with his buddies at the hardware store. They have a secret bar in the back where they drink Pabst Blue Ribbon and take turns losing their paycheck over poker.”
“Sounds like a good time,” I say. “I’ll have to ask if I can tag along one night.”
“Can girls come, too?” Colette asks. “I’m pretty good at poker, if I do say so myself.”
“I’m sure they’d love to have you both,” Nancy says. “But fair warning. The rest of the guys are even chattier than Jed. You’ll be lucky if you can get a word in edgewise.”
Colette grins. “Good. The more they talk, the faster their money is my money.”
Nancy laughs. “Now you have to go play. I need to hear that story. You’ll be a legend in Little River in no time.” With a wave, she opens the door, disappearing into the sunset light with a final, “Good night.”
She closes the door behind her, and then there’s nothing to break the quiet but the occasional creak of the house settling and the caw of a crow outside on the lawn. Colette shrinks in her chair, making it clear she isn’t finding the silence as easy as I am.
“You okay?” I ask her again, letting my arm stretch across the back of her chair.
She smiles brightly. “Yeah. Great.”
“You look like you’re about five seconds from crawling under your chair to hide.”
She glances down at her hands clenched in her lap and laughs. “Sorry. I’m being silly. Please ignore me and my overactive imagination.” She sits up, rolling her shoulders back as she reaches for the bottle of homemade salad dressing. “Let’s dig in. I’m famished, aren’t you?”
“Starving, but it’s not silly to be spooked. And the offer still stands, Cee. We can find somewhere else to stay if you don’t feel comfortable here.”
“No way. We’re staying. This place is great.” She turns to me, her gaze softening. “And my grandma used to call me that. Cee. Well, Cee-Cee, for my first and middle names.”
“What’s your middle name?” I want to know everything about her. I want to collect pieces of her story and horde it like a dragon guarding his treasure.
“Claude,” she says, giggling as my brows lift. “I know. My mom decided to name me after her grandmother if I was a girl and her grandfather if I were a boy. But she was so messed up by whatever drugs they gave her in the delivery room that she ended up naming me both.”
I lean in, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I love it.”
“Now, your turn.” She scoots the salad dressing my way. “Tell me something embarrassing about you.”
“That’s not embarrassing. It’s cute. Anyone ever call you Claude?”
“Just Theo when she’s drunk and arguing with me about sex toys.”
I cough. “What?”
“I sell sex toys as my side hustle,” she says, matter-of-factly. “You didn’t know?” I shake my head, fighting to keep my thoughts from running wild. I really am starving and need to get something in my stomach before I race Colette to the bedroom, where I intend to make her come for me at least twice before we find something else to do to keep our mind off sex until morning.
I dress my salad and grab my fork, digging in as Colette continues with a shrug, “I thought everyone knew. It was such a scandal at first. All the old ladies in Hidden Kill Bay could talk about. You would have thought I’d started selling crack rock to babies, not BPA-free dildos to consenting adults.”
“And Theo likes to argue with you about them because…?”
Colette lifts a hand to cover her mouth, frowning as she finishes chewing. “I’m not sure I should share that with you.”
“Why not?”
“You and Theo don’t talk about your sex lives… right?”
I tip my head. “Not lately, no. We used to. When we were younger. Nothing too graphic, but I think we both appreciated having a friend of the opposite sex to mull things over with. Just to make sure we weren’t doing it wrong.”
Colette rests a light hand on my thigh under the table. “You’re doing it right. All of it. In case you were wondering.”
“Yeah?” I dip my head, brushing my nose against hers as I angle for a kiss.
“Yeah,” she murmurs, leaning back. “I have salad dressing breath.”
“You do. It’s pretty gross,” I tease, kissing her softly, loving the feel of her lips curving into a grin against mine.
It’s been a long time since I’ve smiled and kissed at the same time.
Too damned long.
“Then stop kissing me, jerk,” she says, pushing playfully at my chest.
“I can’t.” I brush my lips against hers again. “You’re irresistible.”
She sighs. “God. You, too. How are we going to make it until tomorrow morning?”
“More of what we did this afternoon. I think I’ve proven I can control myself.”
<
br /> Colette scoots her chair back, moving out of reach with a stern shake of her head. “No. No more of that,” she insists. “At least not tonight. I can’t take it.”
I blink, surprised by the pain in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I thought I took care of you, Cee. If I didn’t, you should have—”
“No, you did. Of course you did. Don’t be silly.” She cuts me off, fluttering her fingers as she pushes her half-eaten salad away and reaches for her still-steaming bowl of chicken and dumplings. “I can’t wait for the sinful stuff anymore. I have to see if these dumplings are as buttery and delicious as they smell.”
“Colette.” I curl my fingers around her knee. She stiffens as I add in a softer voice, “I thought this afternoon was good. Great, even. You need to tell me if it wasn’t. I don’t ever want to do anything when we’re naked that doesn’t make you feel good.”
She shifts her troubled gaze my way. “Of course you made me feel good. And it was incredible, but I want to make you feel good, too. I need to. It’s just the way I’m built. Taking without giving feels…wrong.”
“You weren’t just taking,” I assure her. “You gave me so much.” I almost tell her about the songs but swallow the words instead. I don’t want to ruin this by spilling too much too soon. “I just love being with you, touching you, discovering you. The coming is secondary.”
“Not to me.” She shifts in her chair, clearing the way for my hand to skim higher on her thigh. She presses a kiss to my neck, making me shiver as she whispers in my ear, “I’m dying to make you lose control. I was fantasizing about it all afternoon. I barely got through five chapters of my book. I kept getting distracted. And turned on…”
I’m so hard I could hang my empty salad bowl on my cock, and food no longer holds the slightest appeal, but I force myself to reach for my bowl of dumplings. I snatch my spoon up with a shaking hand, dive in for a bite, and shove it into my mouth.
Colette sits back with a soft harrumph, eyes narrowing as she watches me chew. “That made you hungry for dumplings?”
I shake my head tightly. “I either eat this or I eat you. Right now. On the table. Spread you open and devour you while the stars come out.”
She bites her lip. “Jed and Nancy might see.”
“Jed and Nancy are going to leave us alone. She’s made that clear.”
“You think?”
“I know.” I scoop another bite into my mouth, barely tasting the perfectly firm dumplings because I’m so distracted by wishing I were tasting every inch of Colette’s skin and her hot, wet pussy. “They can tell. I’m sure anyone looking at us can tell.”
“Tell what?” Her tongue sweeps across her bottom lip.
“That we’re about ten seconds away from fucking like animals at any given moment.”
Her lids drop to half-mast. “More like five.”
“Three. Give or take.”
Her breath rushes out. “How did we do it? Before?”
“Do what?” I murmur.
“Ignore the chemistry.”
“You were with someone, and I don’t like dwelling on things I can’t have. I like dreams that have at least a shot at coming true.”
“Me, too,” she says. “Or at least I used to think that was true. Now…” She shakes her head, her troubled eyes finding mine. “What are we doing?”
“Trying to make a baby,” I say, pushing my bowl away and threading my fingers gently into her hair.
“No, I mean—” Her words end in a moan as I cover her mouth with mine.
Our lips meet and our tongues come together with the urgency of two people who’ve been apart for ages. Separated by oceans. Tortured by time. It’s only been a few hours, but as I kiss her deeply, properly, my ribs vibrate with relief. Yes, I want to be naked with her again, but this is also amazing.
Being this close and knowing she wants me even closer.
We finally break apart, breathing faster. Our eyes meet, and we burst into laughter at the same time.
“What’s wrong with us?” She giggles, swatting me with the napkin in her lap. “Seriously. I haven’t been this bad since I was a teenager.”
“You’re not bad. You’re amazing.”
“You like that I’m becoming a nymphomaniac?” she asks as I brush her hair over her shoulder, fighting to ignore the way her nipples are pressing against the slinky green dress she’s wearing.
“I like knowing you want me as much as I want you.”
She sighs. “Me, too. Though, I confess I’m a little sad that we can’t be trusted in a bed together overnight.”
“Yes, we can. You’re sleeping with me,” I insist, unable to tolerate the idea of being apart from her that long.
“But you need rest. You said—”
“Forget what I said. I was stupid then.”
She arches a wry brow. “Were you? Or are you just horny now?”
“Both,” I admit with a grin. “But seriously, I want you to in my bed if you want to be there. I had an amazing writing session today. If no sleep and tons of sexual frustration are the recipe for magic, we don’t want to mess with that.”
She smiles. “Yeah, I mean…if that’s what it takes to make the magic happen.”
“And that way, when we wake up tomorrow morning, we can make the magic happen first thing.” My hand skims up her ribs, bound for her breast, but she catches my arm before I reach my intended destination. “Nuh-uh. No way, buddy. No more nipples for you until sunrise.”
I groan pitifully, making her laugh. “You’ll live,” she says, kissing my cheek. “I promise. We both will. Now let’s finish supper so we can get to dessert. Cheesecake is my favorite. Aside from ice cream and cupcakes and the rum bread that Theo makes at Christmastime.”
Reluctantly, I reclaim my spoon. “You know that’s fruitcake, right?”
Colette scoffs. “No, it’s not. It’s rum cake, and I won’t believe otherwise. Theo and I decided long ago that we’re way too cool to like fruitcake.”
“You are,” I agree, squeezing her thigh beneath the table. “I’m so glad you’re here with me. I’m enjoying the hell out of getting to know you better.”
Her lips curve in a shy smile. “Me, too.”
“Poker for pennies after dinner?” I ask, knowing we’ll need something to keep our mind off the lust still simmering below the surface, ready to put an end to all our noble intentions. “I’d like to see if you’re as good as you say.”
“Oh, I’m better, baby,” she says with a confidence that sends my softening cock back to full mast all over again. “I’m going to take all your pennies and leave you begging for a rematch.”
I’m going to be begging for something tonight, but I seriously doubt it will have anything to do with cards.
Still, I kiss her, and say, “You’re on.”
It’s going to be torture to wait, but as long as she’s beside me, it will be sweet torture.
We finish dinner, watching the stars put on a show unlike anything visible in the city, even a small one like Hidden Kill Bay, and take turns washing and drying the dishes so Nancy won’t have to clean up after us tomorrow. Then we play cards, and as promised, Colette takes me for every penny we can dig out of her purse and my car’s ashtray. Finally, around midnight, we turn in, waiting until our eyes are closing on their own before we change into pajamas in separate rooms and slide under the covers together in mine.
I pull her against me, tucking her into the small-spoon position where she fits just right, and prepare for another night of sleepless torture.
But within a few minutes of closing my eyes, I’m out, dreaming of all the things I’m going to do to Colette in the morning and hopefully for many, many mornings after.
Chapter Fourteen
From the texts of Colette Blanchett
and Theodora Devi
* * *
Three days later
Theodora: Are you still alive? What’s going on up there? I don’t want to interrupt if you’re having fun, but we’re
all starting to get a little worried. Ping me back when you get a chance?
* * *
Colette: Oh my God, Theo! I’m so sorry! I meant to call last night before the party and wish you a lovely wedding bash, but I completely lost track of what day it was. I feel terrible. Can you ever forgive me?
* * *
Theodora: Of course! It’s not a big deal at all. I’m just glad you’re okay. You had me worried. So I assume everything is going well?
* * *
Colette: Very well.
* * *
Theodora: Yeah? Care to elaborate on that?
* * *
Colette: Zack and I are having a great time, he’s getting tons of work done, and I’ve submitted four job applications and almost finished beefing up my portfolio for the Hearth Dreams gig. I could probably send it now, but I’m obsessing. I want it to be as perfect as it can before I roll the dice. I’d love to be a part of their team. They’re doing so many fun, creative things.
* * *
Theodora: That’s great. I hope they jump at the chance to hire you, even if it will make me sad to have you an hour away instead of just across the square. But that’s not what I meant when I asked you to elaborate, and you know it.
I want the juicy details, woman!
What kind of “great” time are you and Zack having? “We’re starting a book club” good time? Or “we’re getting busy making babies” good time?
* * *
