The Winston Brothers

by Lori Foster

She narrowed her eyes at him. “You claim to hear me when I’m not talking to you.”

  “But you’re not a ghost.”

  “So?”

  He opened his mouth, then closed it.

  Satisfied that he’d listen, Allison stood to pace. “The thing is, they didn’t come right out and tell me, but they did do the next best thing, which was to send you here.” Then she glanced at him again, and the look on his face didn’t encourage her. “I’m sorry you’re out so late tonight. You must be exhausted after working all day.”

  Chase looked like he either wanted to strangle her or lay her out on the table and do wickedly sexy things to her. She gulped, knowing which she’d prefer.

  “I know which I’d prefer, too,” he said pointedly, staring at the way her robe gaped at her throat, “but I think we need to get a few things straightened out here first.”

  “Like my sanity?”

  “I’m not suggesting you’re insane—”

  She began pacing again. “I’m not confused or making it up or imagining it, either. You saw the lights. Well, they do that to show they’re agitated or excited. Which proves Rose and Burke are real. Or, that is, they’re as real as ghosts can be.”

  “Because of some flickering lights? Honey, I hate to tell you, but this old house probably has lots of glitches in it. It’s ancient enough to be falling apart. Damn, just look at the kitchen.”

  There was a touch of criticism in his tone as he looked around at the kitchen she loved so much. She saw his gaze linger on the old-fashioned free-standing sink with the hand pump at one end. Protectiveness for her house rose like a tide within her. “I happen to love my house.”

  He shook his head. “It looks to me like it needs some major fixing up.”

  No sooner did the words leave his mouth than a large plastic bowl filled with fruit toppled off the top of the rounded refrigerator to pummel his head. Chase jumped up, cursing and looking around, his body tensed. A plump orange rolled across the floor, stopping when it hit Allison’s bare foot. She bent to pick it up. Several apples, a banana, and a few grapes were littered around him. Chase’s look of insult was replaced by disbelief. “How the hell did that happen?”

  “Burke?” When Chase scowled at her, she shrugged. “He loves this house. He bought it for Rose after they married, sort of a little love nest, though in this day and age the house would be considered huge. But anyway, Burke doesn’t take kindly to someone insulting it, so if I were you, I’d be careful what I said.”

  “Dammit, Allison, that’s ridiculous. Besides, I wasn’t insulting the house, only commenting on the obvious.”

  “I guess Burke didn’t like your comments.”

  He shook his head. “The floor slants, that’s all. Even the walls are crooked. The bowl was bound to topple sooner or later. It was just coincidence that it happened to fall on me just then.”

  “If you say so.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the refrigerator. It was such an old, squat appliance, his head was above the top now that he was standing. “I’d just gotten off work when I had the feeling you were upset about something. What are you doing up this late, honey?”

  She fidgeted, wondering how much to tell him, but one look at his face and she knew he’d just read her mind if she attempted to hold anything back. Still, it was so embarrassing…

  “Out with it, babe. All this hedging will just make it worse.”

  She bit her lip, knowing he was right but resenting him all the same. She should have had at least until tomorrow to get her thoughts together. “I couldn’t sleep. I kept…kept thinking about you and that you’d kissed me and how wonderful it was.” His gaze darkened, and his look became almost tactile. She shivered again, this time in reaction. Then she added softly, “And I kept thinking that it was all wrong.”

  His shoulders tensed while he looked her over from head to foot. “What’s wrong about it?”

  He sounded gentle again, but determined. Allison cleared her throat. “You don’t really want me, Chase. I think Rose has done something to you to make you think you do. It’s kind of a long story—”

  “Do you have to be at work early tomorrow?”

  “No. Not until noon. Sophie’s opening it up tomorrow.”

  “So, we have plenty of time for you to explain this long story to me then, right?”

  Unfortunately, she couldn’t think of any reason to refuse him.

  He smiled. “First, I think we need to call the police about the break-in.”

  “No!” Even as she said it, the lights flickered crazily.

  Chase’s expression hardened as he glared at the lights. “Allison, a man was in your house. If I hadn’t shown up when I did, you might have been hurt—”

  “It was probably just a prankster, you know, a kid messing around because of Halloween.”

  “It isn’t Halloween yet.”

  “But you know that sort of thing always starts early. And now he’s gone, and I’ll be sure to double-check the windows every night from now on, so there’s really no reason to worry. And no reason to bother the police.”

  Chase wasn’t an easy man to fool. He leaned over and trapped Allison against the butcher block counter. “What’s going on, Allison? Why the aversion to the police?”

  With him this close, she could see how thick his eyelashes were, could smell him…

  “Dammit, forget my eyelashes! I’m not trying to seduce you. At least, not yet. I want to know why you won’t call the police.”

  She looked at his incredibly sexy mouth, saw it quirk slightly, then blurted, “Rose and Burke hate having people rummage through the place. It makes them nervous.”

  His eyebrows shot up incredulously. “Nervous ghosts?”

  “Well…yeah.”

  Straightening again, he rubbed the back of his neck. But Allison’s gaze dipped over his body—so gorgeous—and her attention got stuck on the fact that he was hard again. His jeans fit him snugly and the soft, faded material hugged that part of his body, making heat explode inside her, her stomach twist in need.

  He groaned. “You’re making me crazy, babe.”

  “I…I think you need to see something.” She gulped. “Before we go any farther, I mean.”

  He leveled a look on her, hot and expectant.

  “It’s…it’s upstairs. In my bedroom.”

  He smiled.

  Shifting nervously, Allison said, “I’ll just go up and get dressed, and then I’ll show you—”

  Chase took her arms and half lifted her off her feet. He shook his head. “I like you just the way you are,” he whispered, then kissed her gently, showing a lot of restraint. “You look sexy as hell with your hair pinned up, that soft robe giving me sneak peeks every now and again of that sexy cotton underwear, and your glasses perched on your nose that way.”

  She clutched the robe shut to rid the possibility of any further sneak peeks, then asked with a squeak, “You like the corset cover and drawers?”

  “What I’ve seen of them, yes. Do you intend to model for me?”

  Her brain went blank at the idea of dropping her robe for him. He grinned, and she quickly asked, “You think my glasses are sexy, too?”

  Pulling her up flush against him, he said, “I think everything about you is sexy, and your damned ghosts don’t have a thing to do with it.”

  “But…my glasses?”

  He smiled again. “Let’s go upstairs, honey. I think I’ve waited long enough.”

  Eyes wide, she said, “But I have to show you something before you start getting…um…amorous.”

  One large hand stroked her waist. “I’m already amorous.”

  “Chase…”

  “You can show me what you think is so important, but it won’t make any difference.”

  Allison turned to nervously lead the way to her bedroom. Under her breath she muttered, “Wanna bet?”

  But Chase heard her, and he rewarded her sarcasm with a small smack on the bottom,
then left his hand there, caressing. It took all her resolution to climb the stairs. And once they were in her bedroom, she avoided looking at him, knowing if she did, she’d jump his bones and they’d never get around to the important stuff.

  Hurrying to her nightstand, she opened the top drawer and pulled out an old, red leather-bound journal. She thrust it toward Chase. “I haven’t shown this to anyone else. But I think you should read at least part of it before we do anything.”

  He stared at the book, stared at her, and then stared at the huge, four-poster mahogany bed, and he sighed. Taking the book, he said, “I sure don’t have any complaints on your bed, honey. It looks plenty big enough, and the four posters are giving me some interesting ideas.” He looked at her, searched her face, then asked, “How about you?”

  She gulped. “How about me, what?”

  Nodding toward the bed, he asked, “Any interesting ideas?”

  She could just tell he was reading her mind, and what was in it was too explicit for words. Ideas? Heck yes, she had ideas, and all of them had him naked for her pleasure.

  Chase grinned, then sat on the edge of the mattress. “Not exactly the images I’m having, but we’ll work on it.” He held up the book. “Just as soon as I finish this.”

  He settled himself comfortably with a pillow behind his head, at his leisure. With one last glance at Allison, standing there with her mouth open, he murmured, “You’re just damn lucky that I’m a fast reader.”

  And there was a promise to those words that had her catching her breath and shivering from the inside out. “I think I’ll go get us those drinks we kept talking about.”

  “And something to eat? I’m starved.”

  “I’ll see what I can dredge up.” She fled the room, unable to look at him as he read the damning words in the journal that told what his purpose tonight would be.

  Chapter Five

  Allison made four peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and poured two large glasses of milk. Rose and Burke were mysteriously absent, and she had the feeling they were watching Chase read. She felt so bad for them, she sincerely hoped Chase would be able to accommodate what needed to be done.

  She’d been downstairs over twenty minutes and decided putting it off any longer was just plain cowardly. Still, she dragged her feet as she went up the steps. Sure enough, when she entered the bedroom, she saw both Burke and Rose hovering over Chase, who still had his nose buried in the journal. Now, however, he’d taken off his boots and had his sock-covered feet crossed at the ankle, with one long arm behind his head. He was so tall, his stretched-out form went from the head of the bed to the very end, when she often felt lost in the incredible size of it.

  When she stopped in the doorway, his gaze lifted to her, but otherwise he didn’t move. His expression was speculative and lazy.

  She cleared her throat, ignoring Rose and Burke. “I, ah, made you some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I hope that’s okay?”

  He laid the open book on the mattress, spine out, and rolled to his side, propping his head on a fist. He still didn’t say anything.

  “Um, interesting reading?”

  “Very.”

  “How far did you get?”

  “Far enough to know now what it is you want me to do.”

  “Oh.” Her face heated and she inched closer to hand him the tray of sandwiches.

  Chase set it in the middle of the bed, then patted the other side, indicating she should sit down with him. Very tentatively, she slid onto the mattress. She smoothed the robe over her outstretched legs, kept her back straight, and settled her hands in her lap. Just to give herself something to do, she picked up half a sandwich and took a small bite while staring at her bare feet.

  Chase, knowing exactly how nervous she was, waited until she had her mouth full to say, “I’m supposed to be your grand passion, right?”

  And Allison promptly choked.

  Chase made no move to assist her, instead picking up his own half of a sandwich and eating it in two bites while watching her struggle for a breath.

  Allison wheezed and snuffled and when she could finally talk without rasping, she asked carefully, “Did you get to the part about the jewels?”

  “Um-hmm. Burke gave Rose jewels as a sign of his love, but when he died with the measles, and she, too, got sick from never leaving his bedside, nursing him until his death, she hid them in the house so none of her damned relatives could steal them. They were, in Rose’s words, a symbol of grand passion, and neither she nor Burke wanted them getting into the wrong hands.”

  Allison toyed nervously with a curl that had escaped her hairpins to hang to her shoulder. “That’s right. And in fact, Rose did die of the same thing, only she went a little faster than Burke did because she was already so weak from taking care of him.” She glanced at him. “Isn’t that sad?”

  Chase shrugged. “I suppose a wife who loved a husband would do exactly that. Or vice versa.”

  His answer obviously pleased the ghosts, considering how the lights twinkled happily and a warm glow seemed to fill the room. This time, Chase didn’t even seem to notice the lights. All his attention was on Allison.

  She cleared her throat. “They’re not really a symbol of everlasting love or anything like that.” She peeked at him through her lashes. “But Rose and Burke at least want the female relative who inherits the jewels to be…um…passionate. So far, there’s been no one they feel fits the bill, so they’ve kept the jewels hidden, and they’ve been stuck here, not wanting to leave until the legacy of the jewels has been passed on.”

  “So it’s an actual legacy of passion?”

  Allison wasn’t sure if he was teasing or not or if he believed any of it or not. His expression gave nothing away. “When they both died, they left the house to one of Burke’s sisters, Maryann. But Maryann’s young husband had already died, and she never remarried. Her only daughter, Cybil, inherited next, but she never even seemed interested in the idea of marriage. Rose didn’t consider either of them women of…um…fire. Like herself. The women didn’t believe in the ghosts and weren’t that interested in men. It’s Rose’s worry about the jewels getting into the wrong hands that’s keeping them both gounded on this plane instead of finding peace.”

  Chase ate another sandwich and drank half his milk, still looking at her in that watchful, curious way, as if waiting to pounce on her. “Rose didn’t have any other relatives that suited her?”

  Allison shook her head, and two more curls tumbled free. She tried to stick them back up, but somewhere along the way, she’d lost a pin or two. Chase’s gaze skimmed her hair, lazy and hot, then came back to her face.

  “I, ah…no, Rose’s relatives all thought she’d married beneath herself, and most of them disowned her. That’s why the jewels were so important. Burke had to work really hard to afford something for her that he thought her family would find adequate. But Rose never wanted anything material from him. Still, he bought her this house and the jewels and—”

  “And they had a very passionate marriage.”

  Allison ducked her head. “Yes.” Then in a smaller voice, she added, “That was all Rose ever expected from him. But he was an entrepreneur, and it wasn’t long before they were actually doing pretty well. Rose had always believed in him, so she wasn’t surprised. And it didn’t make her love him more. And by then her family all wanted her back, but she was devoted solely to Burke and didn’t want to associate with a family that hadn’t accepted him based on the wonderful man he was rather than his material worth.”

  The last sandwich was gone, wolfed down by Chase. She’d only eaten a half. Chase finished his milk, then set the whole tray aside on the nightstand. He reached for Allison, and she stiffened, both in excitement and wary nervousness. She squeezed her eyes shut.

  Chase paused, his hand now gently rubbing her arm. “I take it you’re willing to fulfill the role of the passionate heir?”

  Not quite meeting his gaze, she said, “Rose thinks I would suffic
e, though truth is, I’ve never considered myself a particularly passionate woman.”

  “No?” His fingers trailed up and down her arm, then across her throat.

  Allison swallowed hard. “You’d probably find out soon enough, considering things are progressing right along here, but I’m actually still a…a virgin.”

  Chase froze, then with a growl he dropped back on the bed and covered his eyes with a forearm. “I don’t damn well believe this.”

  Allison peered over at him. He seemed to be in pain, his body taut, his mouth a firm line, his jaw locked. “Chase, are you all right?”

  His laugh wasn’t at all humorous. “A damned virgin,” he muttered.

  “Well, I’d hardly consider myself damned. I just never met anyone…um, except you…that I wanted to get all that involved with. Sexually I mean. And being as you weren’t interested…”

  “This is incredible. A virgin.”

  “You don’t need to drive it into the ground.”

  Just that quick, Chase was over her, causing her to yelp in surprise before her breath was completely stolen away by the look in his eyes and the pressure of his wide chest over hers. He caught her hands in one of his and raised them over her head, effectively pinning her in place so she could do no more than blink. Through clenched teeth, he muttered, “Do you have any idea what I wanted to do to you?”

  She opened her mouth but could only squeak.

  Chase gently smoothed her hair away from her face, the careful touch in direct contrast to how he held her and the roughness of his tone. “You know so little about me, sweetheart.”

  Suddenly the lights turned dazzling bright, making them both squint against the glare. Allison turned her head to look in the corner at Rose—and her mouth fell open in shock. “Oh my God.”

  Chase shielded his eyes with a hand and barked, “What?”

  She turned back to him, so surprised even the light couldn’t bother her. “Is it true?”

  “Is what true, damn it?”

  “What Rose just said.”

  “I didn’t hear her say a damn thing. Are you telling me the ghosts are here with us now?”

  He couldn’t see them. Allison registered that fact and wondered how she’d ever convince him. Then just as quickly she realized that if what Rose claimed about him was true, he probably wouldn’t need much convincing.