Page 21 of Ghostridden
The doorbell rang. I glanced over my shoulder. From where I stood, I could see the front door, and through the wavery glass of its half-moon light, a pair of dark eyes topped by a shock of smooth dark hair.Ricky.Thank goodness.
I jerked a thumb toward the foyer. “I’ll just, um, get that.”
The ghost shrugged, and then turned back to my laptop, his lips twisting in a sneer as he read. And yeah, couldn’t blame him for that.
I scuttled toward the door, a complaining Gil tucked under my arm, and flung it open, perhaps with a little too much force.
Ricky’s eyes widened and he took a step back. “Hi. Is this a bad time?”
I glanced back through the family room. The judgmental ghost was still sneering at my laptop. “Jury’s kinda still out on that.”
“I wanted to make sure you got home okay.” He smiled diffidently, his hands tucked in the pockets of his Wranglers. “You had quite a few margaritas.”
“We all did.”
He chuckled. “That’s true, I guess.” His shoulders hunched a little. “I wanted to ask you something. You mentioned an ex-boyfriend.”
“Yeah,” I said slowly. “What about him?”
His tongue darted out and he licked his lips. “Are you seeing anybody now?”
I glanced over my shoulder again.Ghost still there. “You could say that.”
His shoulders fell. “Oh. Well. That’s cool. I just—”
“Do you want to come in?” I blurted.
My 180 must have startled him because he blinked. “But if you’re already seeing somebody—”
“It’s not like that. And I have, er, a question. About the house.”
He studied me, eyebrows bunched. “Oookay.” But he stepped inside. As he passed me, Gil pushed against my chest and lunged at him. Rickey caught him effortlessly. “Hey, Gil.”
I led the way to the kitchen, accompanied by Gil’s bone-rattling purr. The ghost was frowning at my laptop, paying zero attention to us. I pointed at him. “What’s up with that?”
Ricky set Gil down, much to the cat’s annoyance. “The window shades? I know they’re a little outdated—”
“No, not the shades.”
“The table? If you want to expand it, I can show you where the leaf is.”
“No, not the table.” I threaded my hands through my hair. “Isn’t there anything odd about this scenario?”
He scrunched up his face in confusion, which was frankly adorable. “You mean your laptop?”
“Yes.” I thrust my palms outward in ata dagesture. “Exactly.Thankyou.”
“I understand if you’re uncomfortable working at the desk in the library, but there’s a workspace in the main bedroom, too.”
My hands were suddenly too heavy to hold up, and I let my arms drop.He can’t see the ghost. “Right.”
“There’s another in the bedroom in the opposite turret if you’d rather keep your work and living areas separate. I think Oren was planning to use that as his office.”
The ghost’s head shot up, and the look on his face—yikes. Devastation? Fury? Longing? All of the above? I braced myself for him to rush us, but instead, he disappeared. I guess that answered the transport question—unless he was still there and just invisible, which was… creepy.
I sighed. “Yeah. I’ve got to admit I was a little freaked about working in there, with my back to the room.” I smiled weakly. “Thanks for the advice.”
“No problem. So…” He peered at me from under his brows, his brown cheeks tinged with pink. “Since you’re not really seeing anyone, would you like to maybe grab dinner with me sometime?” He grimaced. “Just the two of us, I mean. And maybe not in a restaurant with my family checking us out every minute.”
