Page 47 of Chasing Your Ghost

Riley huffed out a laugh. “Ah, your real motives come to light.”

“You got me. I’m just a greedy man with dollar signs in his eyes.” He turned on his side to face her, the position uncomfortably intimate now that she was lying back on her pillows as well, her face tilted towards him. “What about you? Any ideas about what you want to major in?”

“That’s easy. English. I want to become a book editor.”

“So you’ve already got it all figured out?” he asked with an amused smile.

“Well, it was a pretty easy decision. I’d get to read for a living. What’s not to like?” Of course, Riley knew that being an editor would be hard work, but it would be something she was passionate about. It wouldn’t just be a way to pay the bills.

“Ella’s major is English, by the way.”

Riley’s eyebrows flew up. “Really? That’s so cool.”

Asher nodded. “She doesn’t know what she wants to do after college, though. She’s really into the classics. Jane Austen. Emily Bront?. That sort of thing.” He looked at the pile of books on her bedside table. “What kind of books do you like reading?”

“Nothing as sophisticated as Austen or Bront?. Fantasy mostly.”

“Mostly?”

Riley’s cheeks heated, and she knew her face must be turning an unflattering shade of red. “Mhm,” she hummed.

Asher narrowed his eyes as his grin stretched wider. “Riley, why are you blushing?”

“No reason.”

“What exactly do you read besides fantasy?” he pressed, the green in his eyes seeming to grow brighter with mirth. “Come on. Please tell me.”

“Romance, okay,” she muttered, pressing her hands against her face to hide from him and the embarrassment.

She was expecting laughter, but Asher was silent as she hid like a coward. Slowly, she parted her fingers and peered out at him. He was smiling.

“What kind of romance?” he asked.

Riley spluttered. “Just… romance.”

“Riley,” he said in a teasing and slightly rough voice. “Are there sex scenes in these romance books?”

She groaned and let her hands fall, uncovering her burning face. “Maybe,” she admitted in a whisper.

She was expecting more teasing, perhaps some laughter. Instead, Asher closed his eyes and muttered a swear.

“Only in some of them,” she added when they’d been lying there in silence for what seemed like minutes.

Asher’s eyes opened, and Riley knew she wasn’t imagining the heat in them. She couldn’t ignore or deny it when it was so plain to see. It should have made her uncomfortable. But it didn’t. Riley’s embarrassment was forgotten as they stared into each other’s eyes, the negative feeling giving way to something better, something dangerous.

This time it was Riley’s eyes that lowered. Her fingers itched to trace the curves of Asher’s lips, to brush over the frozen-in-time stubble on his cheeks. She’d read plenty of romance books, but this was the first time she understood what the heroines in those books had felt when they were about to kiss their love interest for the first time.

She felt the electric charge that was so commonly referred to. She felt the butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She felt the heady want clouding her mind. She felt it all.

But it was a lie.

She couldn’t press her lips against his, no matter how much she wanted to. He was untouchable—literally and figuratively. Not only was she physically unable to kiss him, but he would be leaving soon, and she couldn’t afford to get more attached than she already was.

So, instead of closing the gap between them, Riley cleared her throat and sat up.

“I should go see if Hugh needs help with dinner,” she said in a voice that wasn’t fooling anyone. She had been affected by what had just happened between them.

“Okay,” he replied in a gruff whisper. “I’m going to go check on my parents and Ella again.”

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