“Mmm. You’re right. Too long. Let’s make up for lost time.”

  His only answer was to hoist her up against him. She wrapped her legs around him as he carried her to the bed all while kissing her with an eagerness she couldn’t help but match.

  He tossed her onto the mattress, where she landed with a bounce. His hand was already on the button of his pants, there was determination in the gaze that pinned her where she lay.

  His shirt followed his pants and she marveled again at the hard body so beautiful it should be a sin to cover it with clothing.

  In nothing but black boxer briefs and looking worthy of being on a billboard advertising men’s underwear, Liam slipped off each of her furry boots, tossing them onto the floor where they landed with a thud.

  He reached for the elastic waistband of her leggings. In one brisk move, he tugged them and her underwear down her legs. They landed on the floor as well.

  Then he was between her legs, slowly crawling onto the mattress, his eyes on her like he was a predator and she was his very willing prey.

  Her stomach twisted with need and her mind spun. Liam was right. It had been too long. They should be doing this all the time. Day and night.

  He lowered his head and the heat of his tongue hit her, the sensation immediately shooting straight to her core. She cried out as her hips jerked to meet his mouth and her eyes slammed shut.

  When she forced them open she found herself captured by Liam’s intense green gaze.

  She couldn’t keep her eyes open for long. This man knew exactly how to touch her. How to take what was good and make it even better.

  He made her wonder who was in control of her body. It didn’t seem like she was any longer as it did things she had no control over.

  Muscles tightened and then that tension broke free with a frightening intensity.

  Breathing seemed harder than it should as he pushed her body to the brink. To the point where pleasure bordered on pain. Until she used the hands that gripped Liam’s hair to push him away when she couldn’t take any more.

  As she lay panting, she managed to pry her eyes open. It was worth the effort when she was treated to that crooked smile she’d been missing.

  He rose on his knees and ran one hand across his mouth. Then his eyes narrowed as he moved over her saying, “Catch your breath, baby, because I’m not nearly done yet. We’re just getting started.”

  It was going to be a good night.

  She’d have to thank Alice tomorrow.

  Chapter Ten

  Under the flannel sheets and thick fluffy comforter, Natalie’s bed was toasty warm.

  The heat of Liam’s bare body pressed up against her back penetrated even through the fabric of the bralette, long-sleeved T-shirt and underwear she’d pulled on last night to sleep in.

  She and Liam had finally worn each other out sometime close to midnight.

  Now, she was in that happy state between sleeping and waking. A place where she’d give anything to remain forever.

  She was so comfortable she couldn’t imagine moving a muscle. And since the alarm hadn’t gone off yet, she didn’t have to.

  Holding on to the enjoyment, she treasured every moment.

  “Um, hello. Natalie. You alive?”

  Gabe’s voice yanked her out of her bliss and fully into consciousness.

  Her eyes flew wide and she glared at him without moving, without speaking, in an effort to not wake Liam. Or worse, alert him to Gabe’s presence in her bedroom, while they were still in bed.

  Things last night had been too wonderful. Gabe’s intrusion and Liam’s reaction to it would ruin everything.

  Gabe held two hands up, palms out defensively. “I know I’m not supposed to be in here. But I was worried about you. Harper is outside freaking out. She’s on the phone calling Jules to bring over the spare key so she can get in to check on you.”

  Natalie frowned. What was wrong? Why was everyone so worried about her? It was still early.

  As if reading her mind—or at least interpreting her expression of confusion since she seriously hoped Gabe couldn’t read her mind—he said, “You’re thirty minutes late opening the shop.”

  But her alarm hadn’t even gone off yet⁠—

  Oh, no. Her cell phone.

  She’d powered it completely off last night. Her alarm couldn’t go off.

  Shit! She flung the covers off, ignoring Gabe as she reached for the pair of leggings still on the floor where Liam had tossed them when he’d undressed her last night.

  She pulled them on over her underwear then reached for the Book Nerd sweatshirt folded on top of the pile of laundry she had yet to put away. She tugged that on over the T-shirt she’d slept in and searched the floor for her boots. All without saying a word to Gabe.

  Unlike Liam, Natalie couldn’t sleep in the nude. The few times she’d tried, she’d had dreams all night that she was out in public naked in the most inappropriate locations. Like in the shop. Or on Main Street. She usually slept in nearly as many clothes as she wore to work.

  Even so, there was no doubt in her mind that Liam would consider Gabe standing there while she got dressed inappropriate, so she had no intention of telling him that’s what was happening.

  “What’s going on?” Liam asked, his voice groggy as he woke.

  She spun to locate her useless cell phone. “I overslept. I have to open the shop. It’s late.”

  He groaned and moved to flip back the covers which would have given Gabe an eyeful.

  “No! You can stay in bed if you want. No rush. But I gotta go. Love you. See you later. Bye.” She shot Gabe a time to go glare and rushed toward the door.

  Gabe snorted behind her.

  “Don’t worry. I don’t need the blow to my ego I’d get from seeing naked Casanova back there. I mean it’s not like I can go pumping iron to get some of those ridiculous muscles like his. I’m destined to remain how I died, and I was a little too busy searching for the treasure of a lifetime to join a gym, so sue me…”

  Gabe continued to grumble as Natalie skidded into the shop area.

  She could see Harper standing outside the locked glass door, cell pressed to her ear, just as Gabe had said.

  “Sorry!” Natalie called through the glass while twisting the key in the lock.

  “Never mind, Jules. She’s here,” Harper said then disconnected the call as Natalie pulled the door open.

  She repeated the apology as Harper walked inside. “I’m so sorry. My alarm didn’t go off.”

  “Phew. No, it’s fine. I was just worried. When you didn’t even read my text from last night and then didn’t open the shop today⁠—”

  “Yeah, my cell was dead. Sorry,” she said, lying as she reached back and flipped the sign from Closed to Open.

  She moved behind the counter and made a show of plugging in the cell and turning it on. The phone’s display showed it wasn’t completely a lie. She hadn’t charged it last night after turning it off so it was close to dead now.

  “What was the text?” she asked as she turned back to Harper, who’d followed her to the counter and stood—unknowing—next to Gabe.

  “I think Agnes’s house is haunted,” Harper announced.

  Natalie’s eyes flew wide as Gabe drew in a breath.

  “Yeah, that’s the reason I stopped by this morning. I might be responsible for that.” Cringing, he indicated the distraught Harper next to him.

  Dragging her attention away from the invisible man and back to her friend, Natalie asked, “Why do you think the house is haunted?”

  “Besides the fact it used to be a funeral home?” Harper asked then continued. “Strange things happened last night.”

  Natalie cut her gaze to Gabe then back to Harper. “What kind of strange things?”

  “The sound of footsteps for one. And then there’s the stuff in the attic.”

  “You live in the attic,” Natalie reminded.

  “Yes, but Stone walled off a storage area up there, separate from my bedroom. It’s where Agnes keeps all the Christmas decorations. Last night, one of the small tabletop trees fell over.”

  “Maybe it was vibrations, like from you walking, that knocked it over? Or even the train.”

  The freight trains that still ran on the tracks vibrated Natalie’s place day and night. The tracks were close enough to Main Street to vibrate Agnes’s house too.

  “No. It was me,” Gabe admitted. “Fun fact, I apparently can knock things over now.”

  Good thing Harper was completely distracted by her fear that Agnes’s house was haunted or she might have noticed Natalie looking shocked as she stared at Gabe.

  This was a huge revelation. Was Gabe always able to do that or was this a new skill that grew with time? Did any of the other ghosts have abilities? She had so many questions. None of which she could ask now.

  “And then—Stone thinks it was the wind but I’m sure it wasn’t—I heard a voice,” Harper said, looking pale.

  “A voice? What kind of voice?”

  “A man’s voice. I swear he said, ‘Please talk to me’.”

  Gabe ran a hand over his face then leveled his gaze on Natalie. “I was trying to talk to the girl. I managed to grab her arm, but she ran again. I guess Harper can hear me now too.”

  “This is amazing,” Natalie said, before realizing she’d spoken aloud.

  “Amazing for you, maybe. You’re not living in a haunted house.” Harper’s tone raised a solid octave on those final words as she leaned heavily on the counter.

  Natalie was going to have to discuss this turn of events with Liam. Even though her boyfriend had no love for her ghost bestie, he’d have to be interested in this new development in Gabe’s abilities. Just from a scientific standpoint. Liam was first and foremost a researcher, after all.

  She’d also have to discuss this further with Gabe later. Right now, it was time to concentrate fully on her living friend, before Harper passed out right there in the store.

  “Harper, I’m sure⁠—”

  “That I’m imagining it?” Harper finished for Natalie. “That’s what Stone and Agnes think.”

  Natalie shook her head. “No. That wasn’t what I was going to say. If it is a ghost, as you suspect, I believe that whatever—whoever—you encountered is harmless. It’s scary, yes. I understand that. But it—he—wasn’t there to hurt you, I’m sure. He’s probably just a poor soul who hasn’t moved on yet.”

  Harper’s eyes widened. “You believe in ghosts? You don’t think I’m crazy?”

  A year ago her answer would have been different, but given the circumstances… “I believe you.”

  “So what do you think I should do?” Harper asked.

  “Nothing. You’ve lived there for a few years now, right? And this is the first time something like this has happened?”

  “Almost five years, but if it happened once⁠—”

  “I think it’s probably a one-time thing. I mean, once in five years. It’s probably a fluke. I bet it won’t happen again.” Natalie shot Gabe a glance as she laid a hand on Harper’s shoulder.

  “We can’t know that. What if it keeps happening?” Harper asked, no less flustered in spite of Natalie’s attempt at assurance.

  “If it does, you call me right away. I’ll be there for you. But I do think you have nothing to worry about.”

  Harper pressed her lips together. “All right. But I’m going to hold you to that. You keep that cell phone charged from now on.”

  “I will. Promise.”

  Harper drew in a breath and let it out. “All right. I’m heading home. I have research to do.”

  “Good. Don’t let last night keep you from your normal work schedule.”

  “Oh, there’s no work happening today. I’m going home to grab my laptop and take it to the library. I’ll use their WiFi. I need to research hauntings. I’ll let you know what I find out.”

  Oh, boy. When Harper started researching she really went down a rabbit hole. But at least it would keep her busy so Natalie could talk to Gabe alone. “Okay. Text me later.”

  “I will.”

  Once the door had closed behind Harper, Gabe chuckled. “Joke’s on her. There are at least half a dozen ghosts who like to hang out inside the library.”

  Natalie spun on Gabe. “What the hell? You have ghost powers now? Did you always have them? Or did you like come into them now you’ve been dead a while? What’s going on?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. You know as much as I do at this point.”

  “I feel like we need to test this. I’m going to get Liam.”

  His brows rose beneath his hat. “If you think that’s a good idea.”

  “It’s my only idea. Who else can I ask to help us test your new powers? It’s got to be Liam.”

  “Did I hear my name?” Liam asked as he wandered out of the back, two cups of coffee in his hand.

  He glanced around the shop.

  “And given that you’re alone, I’m going to assume I should say good morning to Gabe. Sorry I can’t bring you a coffee, bud.” Liam didn’t look at all sorry as he handed Natalie her cup then took a long and overly loud slurp from his own before letting out a big, satisfied sigh. “Mmm-mmm. So good.”

  Gabe rolled his eyes. “Tell lover boy I’m a tea drinker, but thanks a lot. Nice way to try to torture the dead.”

  “Tell him yourself,” she said.

  “What?” Gabe frowned. “Why are you being mean to me too?”

  “I’m not. I meant try to talk to him. Harper heard you. Right? Maybe Liam can.”

  “Wait, what? Harper can hear him now?” Liam asked looking a little pissed about it.

  “She did last night.” Natalie turned back to Gabe. “So try.”

  The ghost drew in a breath and let it out, even though she didn’t think ghosts actually breathed.

  “Okay, fine. Hey, Liam! Does Natalie know you do your pushups to a Taylor Swift playlist? He sings along to Shake it Off,” Gabe added as an aside to her.

  Ignoring that information, which was actually news to her, she turned to Liam. “Well? Anything?”

  Liam shook his head. “Nothing. What did Harper hear?”

  “Gabe was in the house trying to get that new ghost we discovered to talk to him and Harper heard him. She also heard his footsteps. And Gabe actually knocked over a Christmas tree stored in the attic.” With a new idea, she turned back to Gabe. “Try touching something. Knock it over.”

  “Nat. I walk through things all the time and I never knocked anything over before.”

  “Just try. Something easy. Like this card.” She grabbed a notecard she’d pinned to the bulletin board and stood it on the counter. “See if you can knock that over.”

  “All right.” Gabe moved closer and swatted at the card. His hand passed right through.

  “Try again. But concentrate this time.”

  “Not sure why concentrating would help. I wasn’t concentrating last night. I just bumped into the damn tree when I grabbed the girl.”

  “Come on. Just do it.”

  “Fine.” With a huff, he leaned low and stared at the object.

  Frowning, he reached out and, moving more slowly this time, he touched it with one finger.

  Again, nothing happened except for his finger passing right through.

  He straightened and said, “Nope. Can’t do it.”

  Natalie let out a sigh.

  Liam cocked up a brow. “No good, I’m assuming.”

  “Correct.”

  “Well, this was fun. I’m heading to the lab. The body donation program folks are coming to get your two friends, Gabe. So if you want to say goodbye to them, you’d better do it now.”

  “Humph. Chops them up and then sends them back. When’s he going to ship me out, I wonder? Or does he have more sawing to do? The latest is he’s slicing my brain into the thinnest slivers I’ve ever seen. Can you imagine what it’s like to see your own brain on a slicing machine like it’s a roast beef at the deli counter?”

  “Gabe says thanks for letting him know,” Natalie lied, which had Gabe shooting her a glare before he stalked through the wall and outside.

  “My pleasure,” Liam said with a smile before he leaned in and gave Natalie a kiss. “Talk to you later.”

  “Yup.” She watched him go and then stared around her wondering what to do as she found herself completely alone for the first time since waking that morning.

  Going from too much company to none at all was disorienting…but not as much as the raven that landed on the window box outside the front window to stare at her. Like really stare at her as if he had something important to say.

  And damned if Mr. Darcy the cat didn’t move a muscle as he continued to sleep in the sun shining on the windowsill inside, just a pane of glass away from the bird that nature dictated should be his enemy.

  The problem was—aside from her useless cat—what if this creepily intense raven did have something to tell her?

  Stranger things had happened.

  She turned away to drink her coffee. If the bird did want to tell her something, she was fairly certain she wouldn’t want to hear it.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Hey, Gabe?”

  “Yes, Natalie?”

  “What do you know about crows?”

  He cocked up one sandy brow. “Um, I know a normal amount I guess. Why?”

  “That crow on the roof⁠—”

  “The annoying noisy one.” He nodded.

  “Is it possible he’s like, I don’t know, a messenger?”

  There went that brow again, flying up until it was invisible beneath the brim of his hat. “A messenger from…”

  “The beyond?” Her answer sounded more like a question.

  After the look of surprise left his face, he said, “I don’t know. I don’t think so.”

  “Could you ask?”

  “Where exactly do you think I’m supposed to get these elusive answers to all of your many and varied paranormal questions?” Gabe asked.

  Natalie shrugged. “I figure you crowd source the answers from the spirits in the graveyard. Am I wrong?”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17