Page 25 of Ghost
“Back at ya.”
I disconnect the call before getting to my feet to go check on Mrs. West. She went to bed an hour ago, after I assured her that I’d make myself at home. I wasn’t the enemy an hour ago.
The woman is sleeping soundly, and I leave her bedroom door cracked so I can hear her if she gets up in the middle of the night. I learned the hard way with my very first patient that sometimes, they wake and get confused which can lead to a walk to nowhere in particular.
Just as I’m about to shut off the last light in the living room, a sound at the front door pulls my focus from my task. A second later, Ghost walks in like he owns the place.
Well, itishis mother’s house, the house he grew up in.
“What are you doing here?” I hiss, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Hi to you too,” he says dryly.
“Do you have any idea what time it is?” I demand.
“Do you have any idea whose house you’re in?” he counters, and I press my lips together. “That’s better. Now, I’m sorry it’s late, but this was the earliest I could get here. I told you I’d be back, and I didn’t want to make a liar out of myself.”
Oh, well… That’s kinda sweet.
“Oh.”
He smirks, and my stomach flips over on itself. Dammit, that smirk always could knock the wind out of my sails.
“How was today? Wanting to run screaming for the hills yet?”
“No, I’m not gonna run. As for today, it was… good.”
He takes a step toward me. “Ember Tamlin, are you lying to me?”
“No. It was good. We had our bumps, but your mom is safe and sound in bed.”
“I was more worried about you.”
“I thought you said you didn’t want to be a liar.”
He huffs out a laugh. “Seriously, how was she today?”
“She was fine. Good moments and bad, but that’s normal.”
We spend the next half hour discussing his mother and all the ways in which he’s seen her slipping away from him. Several times I find myself having to hold back the comfort I want to offer. That’s not my place anymore. I’m an employee, nothing more, nothing less.
And a one-time only one-night stand.
By the time he leaves, a promise to relieve me for a day off in three days, my nerves are fried.
You can do this, Ember. You have to do this.
CHAPTER 13
GHOST
I was her first, and I should’ve been her last, her only.
Two weeks later…
“Figured I’d find you here.”
I lift my beer to my lips and down what remains in the bottle before signaling to the bartender for another. It doesn’t surprise me that Poker tracked me down. Ballinger’s is the only place a brother goes when he wants to drink but not party. And I definitely don’t feel like a fucking party.
