Page 8 of Ghosted
“Some might say that amount of red leans toward vampiric,” I tease.
He sticks his canines out and thrusts his arm in front of his face like a cartoon vampire and says, “I vant to suck your blaaaaaad,” in a terribly done Transylvanian accent. I snort alaugh and cover it, not able to believe I’m enjoying myself this much on afirst date.
“Calm down, Edward. No need to take your shirt off. I’ll believe you if you say you sparkle in the sunlight.”
“Damn, there goes my next wooing technique.” He snaps his fingers.
“It’s alright, I heard somewhere that Meyer’s version of vampires kissing sounds like rubbing marble together, and that’s probably the least sexy thing I’ve ever heard,” I reply with a shrug.
Dean looks puzzled for a moment and then says, “Why would you make that the lore? Of all the other reasons to not go in the sun, and that’s what stuck.”
“Hey, leave Stephanie alone. Her books are cultural icons,” I say, reaching the toe of my boot to playfully nudge his shin. The expensive material of his suit pants rubs up against the outside of my leg before he taps the side of it with his dress shoe. Butterflies explode in my stomach, but I check myself because we’re basically playing footsie, and that’s about as elementary as it gets.
“Okay, sorry,” he says, holding his hands up in mock surrender before leaning in. “I’ve just never really been into the whole paranormal thing. Sure, I love a good horror movie or book as much as the next guy, but only really around Halloween.”
Well, shit.
I lean back and take a sip of wine to hide how much that smarts. My whole existence is a paranormal movie come to life. And here I was thinking this was going to amount to at least a second date. Dean must sense the shift in my mood because hesays, “Sorry, did I unknowingly put my foot in my mouth? Are you like, super into horror movies or something?”
I have to laugh a bit at that and feel my shoulders relax a little. “No, I’m not one for horror movies. I find most of them to be too unrealistic and don’t even get me started on how they portray women.”
“Fair enough.” He searches my gaze and leans closer, placing a warm hand over my forearm. “Hey, I don’t know what I said to upset you, but I promise I didn’t mean to. I want to know more about you, so if I messed up somewhere, tell me. Please?”
When he sees me wavering, he gives me an encouraging look and a light squeeze to my forearm that has me wanting to give in. “Okay. I just figured now would be the time to mention that I run an occult and oddities shop called The Veil. It’s technically my aunt’s, but I’m the manager now.” I decide to stop short of revealing my abilities because if this turns him off, I can’t imagine what knowingthatwould do.
Speaking of which, I inspect the spirit sitting at the back table. Thankfully, she’s one of the ones who either doesn’t know she’s dead or has enough self-awareness not to come up to me when I’m with someone else. She’s staring around the crowd, a mild expression of disgust marring her otherwise beautiful face.
When Dean speaks again, I bring my eyes back to his. “Like I said, I’m not one for judgment. If you’re into all that stuff for fun or for some sort of spiritual practice, that’s cool. I may not want to join you for a seance or something—” he breaks off when I chuckle, eyebrows raising in surprise. “But, I fully support you in doing what makes you happy.” He takes a sip of his wine and peers at me.
What he’s saying should be reassuring, but spirituality isn’t just a hobby for me. It’s sort of my whole life, whether I want it to be or not. I look him over, noting the five o’clock shadow that stands out against his strong jaw, the slightly crooked nose that looks like it might have been broken once or twice, and my gaze snags on his warm brown eyes, crinkled in the corners like he’s holding back a smile. Maybe my Gift is something I can sort of ease him into. Maybe he’ll see that I’m more than just a freak who can speak with the dead.
I bite my lip and nod, “Okay.” I smile at him and can’t help but add, “But just for the record, I amveryjudgmental.”
He laughs and says, “Yeah, I thought so”
I gasp in mock outrage and nudge his shin again. He gives me a light kick back and says, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
“Where to?” I ask.
“I figured we could go walk around some of the shops here and maybe grab dessert?” he asks, standing and shrugging into his jacket.
I nearly squeal because I love window shopping and say, “Let’s do it.”
SIX
“Be honest,does this beanie make my head look too round?” Dean asks me, squinting at himself in the too-low and too-small mirror hung on the wall.
I assess his reflection and say, “I mean, maybe a little.” I grab him by the shoulders and turn him to face me. He smiles down at me, and I have to squint to keep the answering grin off my face. “Yup, definitely round. Were you a c-section baby?”
His head cocks to the side as he asks incredulously, “How did you know that?”
Rather than answer, I just tap my temple and wink at him. He shakes his head at me and pulls the beanie off his head to deposit it safely back on the display.
“Oh, well. There’s a reason I don’t wear those things, even when it feels like my ears are freezing off,” he states, grabbing my hand with his own and leading me toward a different section of the store. Considering it’s been what feels like a century since I’ve had casual physical contact with anyoneoutside of family, this should feel foreign to me. But it doesn’t; I can’t help but bite my lip at how easy it feels to hold his hand.
We walk around the small apparel store hand-in-hand for another few minutes, and then I lead him out the front door. “Come on, let’s go get some hot chocolate. I know a great place just around the corner,” I say, tugging him through the unseasonably brisk night. A few people are out and about, but most are inside to avoid the cold.
“I can always go for hot chocolate. You should know that I have a massive sweet tooth. It was a huge problem in childhood because I always came home from the dentist with at least one cavity. I had an issue with sneaking candy after bedtime,” he says, cheeks coloring as he realizes he may have shared something embarrassing. “So anyway, if you’re ever in need of gift ideas for me, something sweet is the answer.”
