Page 33 of The Candlemaker

The other man folded his arms, his beady eyes narrowing. “How?”

I straightened and made sure my expression didn’t falter. “I will stay here—sleep inside the inn for an entire week to assure you it’s not haunted.”

Frankie’s gasp was the first taste of my victory, but I didn’t stop to savor it; she wouldn’t give up that easily.

“But how can you be sure you don’t encounter them? That you’re…accurately recording your experience?” She blurted out. “Mr. Fairfax should be absolutely certain you’ve done your due diligence.”

“Which is why, Miss Kinkade, you’re going to stay here with me.” The words were out before I could stop them. A gauntlet of sorts tossed into this ring.

The look on her face couldn’t have made me smile any wider. The shock in her eyes. The flare of her nostrils. She thought she’d have the upper hand because there was nothing she wasn’t willing to do for her story. Well, there was nothing I wasn’t willing to do for this sale.

This was the right thing. Fairfax was the right choice. He had to be. Not this woman with her sparkling eyes, her smile made of sunshine, and her kiss made of sin.

“Clearly, as the resident expert on the paranormal state of the inn, who better to confirm my findings? I’m happy to take any other suggestions, but as you’ve already spoken to Mr. Fairfax at length about this, I’m sure he’d be more comfortable if you were there, too.”

Her mouth opened, then shut, and then slipped open again.

“Yes, Miss Kinkade. Since you seem to have the knowledge and the tools”—he motioned to the candles littered on the sidewalk—“for this kind of thing. I’d prefer you both ascertain the truth to these rumors.”

I lifted an eyebrow, daring her to find some excuseotherwise.

Frankie slid her tongue out over her full mouth, reminding me that its demands had matched my own. Damn, that kiss had been unexpected. Both because it happened and because of how it happened—like a match to a goddamn gallon of gasoline. I watched her pink lips close as she swallowed, and it hit me what I’d done.

Fuck.

Fucking fuck.

“Okay, Mr. Collins,” she agreed, her voice less smooth, her cheeks even pinker. “I’ll happily stay at the inn with you this coming week?—”

“Tonight.” Not a chance in hell I was going to give her a single day to boobytrap the damn place like she’d boobytrapped the collective memory of this whole town. “We start tonight.”

Her throat bobbed. “Tonight then,” she agreed, her smile nowhere near as confident as before.Then again, neither was mine.

“Good,” Fairfax grumbled. “I’ll look for your report at the end of the week before I can even consider moving forward with an official offer.”

He tipped his head and departed down the street, leaving Frankie and me rooted in front of the inn.

“Looks like we’ll get to the bottom of these ghosts after all, Miss Kinkade.” My gaze roamed her face. “I appreciate your assistance.”

In the span of seconds, her fiery perseverance had restored his provocation. “I’m happy to help, but as I told you the other night, Mr. Collins, in the end, my sister’s offer is going to be the only one left standing.”

I was willing to do anything for a sale—including sleeping in an abandoned inn. I wasn’t afraid of ghosts—especially not ones that didn’t exist. But there were worse things than ghoststhat could haunt me, namely the woman I’d just signed up to spend the next six nights with.

Frankie Kinkade was like the apple—both trouble and temptation—and if I wasn’t careful, if I didn’t keep a strict distance, one more taste of her would destroy my whole world.

Chapter Eight

Frankie

“I’m sorry.You’re doing what?” Lou gripped the edge of the desk like she was about to topple over.

Unfortunately, there weren’t really any seats in my brother Kit’s art gallery, so I didn’t have much choice but to let my sister know about this latest development while she was standing.

“I’m going to be staying at the inn all week to prove that it’s haunted,” I repeated casually, like staying in an abandoned building with a stranger was an everyday occurrence.

Her eyes blinked slowly several times, looking wider behind her round frames, before her thoughts finally slowed enough for a response to catch on her tongue.

“Why?”

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