Page 27 of Top Secret Vampire

Reese

“The possible house ghost?” My low laugh rang out but when his lips didn’t curl up in humor, my laughter bubble popped. I sagged back into my chair. “You’re not joking.”

He shook his head. “She visited me last night.”

“What? You can see ghosts?”

“If they chose to come to me, though I’ll point out, they rarely do.”

“I can’t imagine how a ghost could hack into my social media accounts.”

“We’re assuming Tracy did that. The hack may not be related to the other incidents.”

He had a valid point. “Did she hint that she was involved?”

“She didn’t speak to me. She stomped around my room and loomed over me as if she thought that would frighten me.” His cryptic smile rose. “She soon realized behavior like that would not be rewarded.”

“What did you do to her?” Morbidly fascinated by all this, I leaned forward in my chair. “You didn’t hurt her, did you?”

“It’s impossible to harm a ghost.”

“Did you scare her?”

“They don’t easily frighten either.”

“What did you do?”

“Bared my fangs. She popped from view and did not reappear again. However, she’s here, she was eager to make trouble if only with me, so she’s now on my suspect list. I’ll see if I can discover anything about her at the historical society. Perhaps we can send her on her way. That would be better for her than rattling around in her former home.”

“I feel bad for her. She might be lonely. Maybe she thought you were cute.”

He snorted. “The only person I want thinking I’m cute is you.”

“Oh, I do, Wolfie. I do.”

He growled and set his pad and paper aside, rising to stalk toward me, where he braced his palms on the armrests of my chair. Leaning in, he ran his nose from my earlobe, along my jawline to my chin, then down to my neck. “You smell amazing.”

“Boundaries, Wolfie,” I said, laughing because it tickled. “Boundaries.” I placed my palms on his chest to nudge him away but instead left my hands there, spreading my fingers wide. His heart beat at a furious pace, and yeah, he looked extra cute today dressed in jeans and a starched white shirt, still wearing his infamous cape. I loved how gorgeously clichéd he was, and I drooled whenever I looked his way.

“Boundaries, yes.” Backing, he lifted his hands, his face filling with horror. “I do apologize. You’re correct. I’ve overstepped the guidelines between us.”

“For what it’s worth, I was teasing. You can sniff my neck whenever you want.”

He growled again but turned and strode over to sit on the sofa, placing his pad of paper on his lap. “I’m going to mistify into town and look into each of our suspects. Would you like tocome or remain here with me checking in often? You should be relatively safe in daylight.”

“You can’t keep me away.” I’d written my daily word count, and while I could write a newsletter and do some marketing, I could handle all that tonight. That was the benefit of being ahead with my release schedule. I could play hooky every now and then. “Did Jolene own a car? From the little I’ve heard about her, she died around the time of the second world war, and while there were cars back then and monsters can walk into car dealerships today, I doubt ghosts do. How would she get a license or sign the papers to buy a vehicle?”

“Ghosts follow their own set of rules, but you’re right that she can’t solidify enough to purchase a car. She lived long enough ago, she may not have known they existed, though she may watch you get into yours from the attic window.”

“Creepy, Wolfie. Creepy.”

He huffed, and heat swirled through his dark eyes. “You’re truly asking for it, aren’t you, my tiny little . . .”

“Tiny little what?”

“Nothing.”

“It must be something. You can tell me. In fact—” Someone knocked on the door. “Saved from answering by yet another door knocker. I’ve lived here for two months, and I’ve seen more traffic recently than I did all the prior weeks combined, outside of family, that is.”

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