Page 51 of The Candlemaker

“I don’t see it.”

“Well, at least you know now this definitely wasn’t me,” I grumbled and gulped down a mouthful of water.

He set the candle he was holding on the floor and then rose up, his head tipping as he regarded me slowly. “Unless you’re trying to get out of staying here.”

My eyes went wide, and I almost choked on my drink. Maybe that was what Nox was hoping for all along.If he was…he didn’t know me as well as he thought he did.Or maybe he just didn’t know how I felt about Chandler.

“And give you the opportunity to claim I’m responsible for the ghosts?” I scoffed and shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere. I still have my pillow, and the floor is just fine?—”

“You can take the mattress.”

“No.” I shook my head.Absolutely not.“I’ll be fine on the floor. I have my pillow. A blanket. And the fire will be warm?—”

“The firewood is gone, too.”

I was going to murder my cousin. First degree. Premeditated.I was going to wrap his body in my sleeping bag and burn it on top of all the firewood he’d taken.

For a second, I wondered if this was how my brother felt when I’d listed his cottage for rent in a desperate attempt to get him to meet a woman, but then I shoved the thought aside because my pranks were for other people; they weren’t supposed to be self-inflicted.

“I guess they want to freeze us out,” I said, burying my frustration.

“Take the bed, Frankie.” He grabbed my pillow and tossed it on the mattress, the soft sound of its landing was like an invitation for me to join it.

I rolled my lip through my teeth, the temptation to sleep comfortably too strong to protest right away. But I wasn’t a damsel, and I definitely didn’t want to add this to the already too-long list of chivalries he’d achieved against my will.

And that left only one option.

My head snapped in his direction and met his gaze.

“Fine, but you’re taking the bed, too,” I declared. “I’m not going to let you get a bad back from sleeping on the floor and use it as an excuse to get out of this challenge without accepting the ghosts are real.”

It was quite possible that a ghost appearing in that moment would’ve been less shocking to him than the words that had come out of my mouth.

It took him a beat before his jaw worked up enough tension to force the words out.

“You’re suggesting we…share the bed?”

“Are you afraid I’ll come for you in your sleep?” The words tumbled from my lips, thinking they were cloaked in flippant finery when what they really were was naked and suggestive.

Chandler’s nostrils flared, his stare dragging over me like hot coals on my skin, and my nipples hardened to the point of pain.How did this keep happening?

“It’s not a big deal.” I fumbled forward, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. “We’re both adults, and there’s only one bed. It’s not like this is some kind of rom-com or something.” I laughed, but it was the weakest laugh in the history of humor. “We’re in the middle of a haunting.”

He stood so still, I wondered if I had turned him to stone.But then his throat bobbed, and it cracked the tension from his body. “Right,” he clipped with a nod.

We didn’t say much after that, as we went through the motions similar to last night. We took separate candles to separate rooms to change. I was the first one back, so I quickly picked the side of the bed closest to the fireplace, blew out my candle, and slid underneath the covers.

Damn, this thing was comfortable.

I stared up at the ceiling, my heart keeping time with the seconds it took for him to return. I wasn’t going to close my eyes or pretend to sleep—I wasn’t going to give any appearance of wanting to hide from this situation. Because hiding meant I was afraid of it—afraid of what could happen. And I wasn’t.

I was going to walk right through this fire to prove I wouldn’t get burned.

Minutes later, the mattress groaned under the weight of him and all his weapons. His bare, toned chest. His gray sweatpants. His smoldering eyes. I didn’t break from their stare for a single second as he climbed into the bed beside me.

If I was being honest, the mattress felt a whole heck of a lot smaller now that we were both on it compared to when it was empty in the center of the floor.

“You have enough blankets?”

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