Page 38 of Ghost of a Chance
He wanted to cling to her to remind himself he wasn’t going through this alone.So yeah, he’d play by her rules.Let her set the tone or whatever she wanted.
It wasn’t like either of them was going to get a reprieve from the tension that flared between them.
“Like what?”
Eight
Like nothing.She didn’t want to have rules for hanging out with a guy that she’d already almost hooked up with.It felt dangerously close to a relationship.“Forget it.I need to get back upstairs and write.”
She started to stand.Better to leave now than do something she’d regret later.
“I never figured you for a coward.”
“Excuse me?”Now she was awkwardly towering over the table as he sprawled on the other side.Those long arms of his draped over the tabletop, defined and tempting.From this angle his long bladelike nose, combined with the expression on his face, painted him in a harsh light.There was something of a playful warning in the way he watched her.
“You heard me,” he said, taking the most exaggerated sip of his tea that she’d ever witnessed.
Screw him.“I’m not scared of you, Jasper.”
“But you’re definitely running from what you feel for me,” he said.
She wanted to roll her eyes and walk away without looking back.That would be the easiest way to show him just how wrong he was.But she couldn’t.
“Maybe you’re projecting.”
Ugh, that was her great comeback?A grown-up version ofsame goes for you but double.For a professional writer, she needed to work on her dialogue.
“Am I?”
Maybe it was the creepiness of the Gothic house or some lingering energy from the séance, but it seemed he’d moved around the table with preternatural speed.He placed himself right in front of her, pushing her back, the edge of the table digging into her butt.
With his big naked chest, his silver-blue eyes swirling with lust, and the subtle spiciness of his aftershave, she was a goner.Surrounded by all Jasper.Right where she wanted to be.
“I’m not backing away.”
“You can’t,” he said in a low voice, sending shivers coursing through her.
Her heartbeat sped up as she inhaled his scent and felt the heat of his body circling her.
“I could climb up on the table to get away,” she pointed out.“Also let’s not rule out the ever graceful option to drop to the floor and crawl under it.”
He threw his head back and laughed.Something wild and sensual sprung to life inside of her at the way he could be both sexy and ridiculous.
That was it.Trying to be smart had never worked for her.It wasn’t like she was going to stop craving him.She liked him even though she didn’t want to.
One-night stands only worked because there was no chance to start weaving little fairy tales deeply buried in her psyche.Family, happily-ever-afters—all things that seldom showed up in real life.In the past, she wove fairy tales in her head around the men she dated.The first one had been in high school so she could excuse herself for being young and naive.The second had been in college.He seemed different—at first.It had taken a humiliating event at winter social to wake her up.
“What the hell is going on in your head?”
She remained silent, refusing to meet his eyes.
“I like you, Kirsty.I have since the Dead Boys concert.You’re funny, different and difficult.I can’t stop thinking about the fact that we are both sleeping in the same house.”
Another flare of heat went through her, pooling at her center.“So?”
“Fine.If you’re not feeling it then that’s cool,” he said, watching her with that laser gaze of his.“I didn’t figure you for a liar.”
The séance’s eerie voice would disagree.But she didn’t lie most of the time…except about having paranormal gifts.“I’m not.”
