by Karen Kelley
She caught the way he hesitated. Did he think she’d lie? Probably. Skeptics were often like that. Just waiting to pounce on one wrong piece of information so they could condemn someone. She’d done her research and read up on everything about the hotel.
“It hasn’t always been a hotel,” she began. “It started out as a saloon. Some say Jessie James slept here. Can you imagine that you might be walking across the same floor that the notorious outlaw once crossed?”
“Any relation?” he asked with more sarcasm than she cared for.
She wouldn’t let him goad her into losing her temper. She wouldn’t. She slowly exhaled, releasing all the bad vibes that were around her. Only a few seconds passed before she felt calmer. To hell with self-help books, she had to remember to thank Paige for the wine. It worked wonders.
“My grandmother claimed we were related to the James gang, but who knows. It doesn’t really matter. Don’t you feel there’s more to the old hotel than wood and nails?”
No, Trent didn’t, but he could imagine what it would be like to lie next to her. When she closed her eyes and began to speak, it was all he could do to pay attention. Her voice was like music to his ears. The soft melody of her words caressed his senses and filled his thoughts with sensuous visions.
He took a deep breath and straightened in his chair. It wouldn’t do to get too comfortable around her. So far, what she’d told him was what he’d discovered on his own. Of course he’d researched the hotel. He’d be a fool not to know something about where he’d be staying. If she lied about anything, he’d catch her. Then let her try to explain herself.
“There was a shooting,” she continued. “A man and woman were killed.”
“I suppose that would be your ghosts.”
When she frowned, she looked even more tempting. Maybe that was what he’d have to do to keep her at arm’s length—keep her pissed off at him. So far, he was doing an excellent job.
“I’m assuming the spirits here are the same ones who were shot. I haven’t had a chance to ask.”
“Are they here now?” He looked around.
“No.” She drained the wine in her glass and leaned forward to set it on the rail. Her top pulled taut against her breasts, and he realized just how sad his social life had been.
He dragged his gaze away from her breasts and looked across the yard. He really needed to focus on something besides her body.
Like maybe the condition of the place?
Okay, he could do that. The hotel wasn’t as run-down as he’d first thought. In fact, this wouldn’t be a bad place if it were cleaned up a little. Not a bad investment with the history behind it.
“It hasn’t sold because the buyers always back out at the last minute,” Selena said.
Now she was reading his mind. Not good, seeing as where his mind had been earlier.
“After the shooting it was turned into a hotel. The town had grown over the years, and the good citizens were trying to get rid of the riffraff.”
“And did it work?”
“The hotel never really took off because everyone said it was haunted. The owners barely scraped by making a living. When they died, the place closed. Garvey County finally took it over for back taxes, but it was never developed or reopened.”
“A shame,” he murmured as he let his gaze roam.
“You think so?”
“You sound surprised that I would.”
“I was positive you wouldn’t see beneath the shabbiness.”
“Ouch.”
“I don’t kiss and make it better. Get a Band–Aid.”
“Cute.” He wouldn’t rise to her baiting.
“I think I’ll go to bed. It’s been a long day.” She stood and started toward the door.
Oh, yeah, like he wanted that vision in his head. Selena in bed. Did she wear pajamas or sleep naked?
He bumped the floor of the wooden porch with the toe of his shoe to set the rocker in motion and let his fantasy take over. Now that he’d seen her naked, it didn’t take much of an imagination to picture her lying in bed, the sheet down to her waist, her breasts exposed.
He gripped the arms of the rocking chair and drew in a deep breath, reining in his thoughts before draining his glass.
Yeah, she was good all right.
But he was better.
“Hey, there,” a woman called out to him.
He jumped, then realized it wasn’t a ghost, only a neighbor walking around the side of the hotel. Apparently, there was a gap somewhere in the fence.
“Hello,” he responded.
“For a minute I thought the ghosts were stirring.” She was motherly, a little plump. She wiped her hands on the floured apron she wore and smiled. “I was fixin’ Hiram’s dinner and saw you out the window. You can call me Matilda. You gonna be stayin’ here a spell?”
“A couple of weeks.”
She nodded. “Be careful you don’t make Dixie and Wesley mad. They can be flat ornery if you’re not careful. I just wanted to say hello. Just bein’ neighborly and all. I best be gettin’ back to Hiram. Nice to meet you.” She waved and left.
Trent wondered how much Selena had paid her to drop by. He laughed. She’d even called the ghosts by name. As if that would convince him they were real. Selena’s little plan wouldn’t work.
He stood and went inside. After taking his glass to the kitchen, he went upstairs, but before he opened his door his gaze strayed down the hallway. There was no light showing from beneath her door. Was she already asleep and dreaming up new ways to make him believe in ghosts?
“Let the games begin,” he said softly beneath his breath.
For a second, he thought he heard a soft feminine chuckle. Now who was letting their imagination run away with them? He shook his head and went inside his room.
After changing into his pajama bottoms, he took out his black notebook and began to write.
I think Selena might truly believe in ghosts. Either way, she’s feeding the public lies, and she has to be stopped...
He continued to write for a few more minutes, then put away his notebook and climbed into bed.
She was going to despise him. That caused a twinge of regret which he quickly tamped down. He couldn’t let himself think like that.
Sleep, that was what he needed. Nice, restful sleep. Everything would look clearer in the morning.
Selena had made him ache to slide between her legs, but he’d be able to restrain himself from pouncing on her luscious body. And in the end, he would win because he didn’t lose. Not anymore.
“What are you doing, Dixie?” Wesley asked from somewhere behind her.
“Damn it, Wes. It’s an unwritten law you’re not supposed to scare another ghost.” She turned and glared at him. He even looked good dead. If she’d had substance, her heart would be pounding right now. Just like it had when she’d been alive.
She missed the way he’d held her in his arms. The way he’d made love to her all night long.
“Seems to me like you’ve come up with a lot of unwritten laws since you got shot,” Wes broke into her thoughts.
His timing was really off, though. “Did you have to bring that up? I’d just as soon forget about the night we were killed.”
He chuckled. “Kind of hard since you’re a ghost.” He nodded toward Trent, who was sleeping. “What are you up to?”
A delicious swirl of heat swept through her. “They like each other. What would be the harm?”
“You’re messing in people’s lives again. You always get into trouble when you do that. Remember the last time? When those kids sneaked in here and began making out? You scared them out of their wits when you started moaning.”
She shrugged. “Couldn’t help it. The energy they produced was so... so nice.” She closed her eyes, remembering the intensity of the moment. Just as quickly it flitted away, leaving her feeling unfulfilled and wanting... needing more.
“Don’t you miss it?” She floated over to him, a hazy mist swirling a
round him.
“You know I do.” His voice cracked. “I miss it every damn time I see you, but getting inside someone else’s head, into their thoughts and dreams, well, that just ain’t right. And if you’re thinking they might loan us their bodies, then I’m thinking you’re probably getting your hopes up for nothin’.”
“It could happen. That one couple almost let us borrow theirs.”
“Talk about scraping the bottom of the barrel! His breath smelled worse than I did after I’d been dead a few weeks.” He raised his eyebrows. “And did you really want to crawl inside her? The woman was cross-eyed, didn’t have a tooth in her head and weighed at least four hundred pounds.”
“But I need to make love!”
“You know as well as I that you can’t enter someone’s body unless they let you... at least not for longer than a few seconds, and that alone will drain you for a good hour. You’d only be more frustrated.”
She hated it when he was right. “I’m not the only one who’s going to be frustrated.” She faced Trent. The sheet was down to just below his waist. What she wouldn’t give to be alive for an hour. Damn, he looked good enough to eat.
She raised her hand and blew across her palm. Pale pink light spun around him. Trent shifted his body and moaned. A smile curved his lips as he snuggled the extra pillow to him.
“Dixie... ” Wesley began.
“I’m only having a little fun. You can’t complain about that.” She disappeared in a huff.
Her next stop was Selena’s room where she did the same thing. Selena sighed, pushing the covers down to her hips and parting her legs.
Dixie chuckled. Life in the old hotel was going to be exciting. Her laughter trailed behind her as she waited to see what would happen in their dreams. It would still be their fantasies... with a little encouragement from her.
She sighed. It was their own fault. Selena should know the living were more susceptible to spirits visiting when they were asleep. They were more vulnerable, and they let their guards down. So why shouldn’t she take advantage of the night?
Laughter trilled in the air.
Being dead wasn’t so bad sometimes.
Chapter 5
Selena snuggled her pillow closer, caught between trying to wake up and the delicious dream that had begun to unfold.
Trent was in her dream, and he didn’t have to say a word. He wore a banged-up cowboy hat pulled low on his forehead, but it didn’t stop her from seeing the hunger in his eyes.
Her gaze slid over him. Nice. His leather vest looked sexy without a shirt beneath it. Just enough skin showed to make her hot and bothered.
And if that wasn’t enough to make her drool, his jeans rode low on his hips, the top two buttons undone. A dark vee of hair disappeared into his white briefs. She wanted to see how far the trail of dark hair went. Just thinking about tugging his pants down and having a nice long look make her body burn.
Wake up!
No! Go back to sleep!
He was her sworn enemy. They’d barely tolerated each other all day; then they’d gone to their rooms without even a good night to each other. Not that she’d wanted him to say anything to her. He was an egotistical pain in the butt.
She fought to open her eyes, but they were so heavy and sleep won.
“Go away,” she told him. She didn’t care how delicious he looked.
He shook his head, a smile playing around his lips.
She struggled one more time to awaken, but when he began to unbutton his vest... well, forget that. Hell it was only a dream. No harm no foul. She could enjoy the moment without recriminations.
“I want you.” His words were husky, reaching out and caressing her. Then it wasn’t just his words, but his hand sliding over her body with purpose.
Her gaze slid downward. Oh, yes, she could definitely tell that he wanted her. But then, the feeling was mutual. And since this was a dream, she didn’t have anything to be shy about.
She looked down. She was wearing a sexy red negligee trimmed in black. Why would she dream this outfit? She didn’t own a red negligee.
“You’re something else.” He flung his vest away and reached for her, and all thoughts of what she was wearing were swept away as she willingly went into his arms.
His mouth closed over hers. Ahh, nice firm lips, just as she’d suspected. But this was her fantasy dream, so of course they would be exactly as she wanted.
He tasted like mint toothpaste and heat. Lots and lots of heat.
Could someone taste when they were dreaming?
Apparently so, since she could taste Trent, and she felt his hands caressing her back, cupping her bottom and pulling her in closer, tighter against his erection.
He pulled away, trailing his lips down her neck, leaving his mark with a gentle nip of his teeth. “Tell me you want me just as much as I want you.”
“This is only a dream,” she murmured.
“It feels real; you feel real.”
He cupped her breast, running his thumb back and forth over the hard nipple. She clutched his shoulders and moaned. In one easy motion, he had her out of her negligee and standing naked in front of him. He stepped back, taking his time, as he looked his fill.
“You’re just as I imagined. All soft and curvy.” He stepped closer and lowered his head to her breast.
The fire began to build inside her, settling in the juncture of her legs. Smoldering heat that threatened to burst into flames and consume her as his tongue scraped over her nipple before sucking it into his mouth.
She moaned and pressed closer. It had been so long since she’d even come close to any kind of fire that she wanted to relish this flame for as long as it would last.
Her hands roamed over his hard body. He definitely worked out. Typing all day did not create these kinds of muscles.
He moved his mouth from her breast, but before she even had time to protest, he’d picked her up and carried her to bed. Ahh, how convenient there was a bed in her dream.
The down-filled mattress enveloped her. She snuggled into its softness and sighed with pleasure. Why couldn’t she have dreams like this all the time?
Trent joined her, his naked body pressing against hers as he lay beside her. Oh, yes, this was what she was talking about. It had been too damn long since she’d had hard male flesh pressing against her.
“You have the body of a temptress,” he murmured as he tugged on her nipple, then began to massage her breast. She arched toward his hand.
“That feels good,” she said.
“I’ve imagined touching you like this all day,” he admitted. “Taking your breast in my mouth and sucking until your nipple was a hard little nub. Just like it is right now.” He tweaked it between his finger and thumb.
She gasped. Yes, this was good, but she wanted more. Oh, God, she needed so much more.
“What else did you think about doing to me?” Her imagination ran wild as she thought of places where he could put his hands, his mouth and other parts of his body. She grew damp just thinking about it.
“Everything you’ve ever dreamed about,” he whispered close to her ear, then trailed his hand down her abdomen, brushing lightly through her curls.
Her body throbbed, her legs trembled, as she opened them wider.
“I want to kiss you... all over,” he said, continuing to torment. His fingers caressed the insides of her thighs. Up one side and down the other. He teased her unmercifully.
“Please, Trent.”
“Please, what?”
His breath tickled her face. She whimpered.
“Please, this?” He ran his wet finger up her sex, then back down.
“Take me,” she groaned. He was slowly killing her with his words.
“No regrets?” he asked.
She shook her head, opening her legs, wanting him to nestle his body between her thighs and bury himself deep inside her.
“Even when I have to ruin your career?” he asked.
She jerked to a sitting p
osition.
What?
It took a second for her brain to begin to work properly. Her body was on fire with need. The need to feel Trent inside her.
No, no, no. She’d been about to have sex. Really good sex. She glanced around the room. It was dark. Trent wasn’t in her room, and she was in her own bed. Alone. She fell back against the mattress. Oh, damn, it had only been a dream.
“Thank goodness?”
Yeah, she sounded real positive.
Okay, maybe not thank goodness. Tears filled her eyes. Why the hell had she awakened? She was just getting to the good part.
She punched her pillow again and plopped back on it. It seemed she couldn’t even have sex in a dream. What the hell was her life coming to? No, that was the problem. She wasn’t coming. Not even in a damn dream.
She was in really sad shape. Note to self: as soon as the two weeks were up, she was going to have more of a social life. At least more sex.
She closed her eyes and envisioned sheep jumping over a white fence. One sheep. Two sheep. Three sheep...
One look at her clock an hour later, and she wanted to scream. She punched her pillow and flopped over to her other side. Damn Trent for tormenting her dreams as well as her waking hours.
“Eighteen hundred and one friggin’ sheep,” she growled. “Eighteen hundred and two... ”
Trent dragged his eyes open. Damn, he felt like crap. He lay in bed for a moment as he oriented himself to his surroundings.
Not his bed unless it had grown lumps in the middle of the night.
When his vision had sufficiently cleared, he glanced around the room.
Not his room.
Had he been shanghaied?
He closed his eyes again. When he reopened them, it hit him. The old hotel... Selena.
Selena. He groaned. God, what a dream. She was standing in front of him in a red nightgown, her hard little nipples pressing against the thin material. All he could think about was stripping it off her and having hot sex the rest of the night. Then, before he knew what was happening, he was doing just that.
He’d never had a dream that vivid. It had been so damn real. Then something happened. A branch against the window, maybe someone had accidentally honked his horn. Whatever it had been, it woke him up.
