Page 6 of Ghost of a Chance
He was nowhere near his comfort zone. He didn’t recognize any of the street signs—the few that there were—or any landmarks.
His agitation was growing, and Lionel really didn’t know what to do. He could imagine any of his friends telling him to make the best of it.Have a good time anyway, but Lionel was ready to jump out of his skin.
“Aren’t you having a good time?”
Fuck.Lionel glanced to his side. Remy was beside him, phone in hand, except his flashlight was extinguished.
“It’s not really my thing,” he admitted, remembering to smile at the last minute. “A friend bought tickets for me, and another friend, but he couldn’t come this evening. I’m a bit out of my depth here.”
“I guessed it was something like that. I remember you from the dance classes. You were a lot livelier there.” Remy patted his arm. “Thank you so much for my shoes.”
Lionel felt his face flush, and for the first time that night was glad that it was really dark. “I’m glad you could get something you enjoyed with that money. Thanks to you, and me in a small way, Hector and Morty are wonderfully happy and expecting a new pup soon. They bought me the tickets for this event as a thank you.”
Remy had a delightful laugh. “You don’t need to make it sound like they’re punishing you. They clearly wanted you to get out a bit more and extend your friendship group. That’s what the Bucket List Buddies is all about.”
“Yeah, I can see that. It’s a great organization, and you do a wonderful job. It’s just… if I could have gone to any other one of your events, I’d probably be having a better time,” Lionel finished lamely. “This is definitely a case of ‘me’ not ‘you’. This isn’t really my thing.”
“Thank you, and it’s all right.” Remy patted his arm again. “There’s a pub at the end of this, in case you didn’t hear me say so earlier. Once you’ve had a couple of drinks, you’ll settle down. You can get to know some of these fun people, and I’msure you’ll have a wonderful time. How do you feel about hot air ballooning?”
Lionel looked down at the smaller man, sure his shock was showing. “Hot air ballooning?”
“Yes.” Remy nodded eagerly. “I’m thinking of setting that up as the next event. Do you think it would go down well?”
“I can see the appeal.” Lionel nodded. “Less walking than this, and people are in an enclosed space, so they’re going to get to know each other that way. It’s a shame I didn’t know that was happening, or I could have swapped my ticket out from this event to that one.”
Remy clearly thought he was joking. He wasn’t.
“You can do both of them. We really don’t mind. We love to see familiar faces. Oh, my goodness, Ven has just fallen over. Excuse me, I’ve got to run.” Flicking on his flashlight app, Remy went running off in his tight pants and his sturdy boots, taking the light with him.
Well shit. Okay, think about this, Lionel. You don’t have to stay. Remy knows you’re here. You’ve done your bit. No one ever said you had to stay for the entire event. Hector and Morty left the dance lessons early.
Lionel moved away as a couple of the smaller guys got closer to him.Don’t touch me, don’t touch me, don’t anybody touch me. His skin was literally crawling with his nerves at an all-time high. Yes, he realized he sounded like a complete idiot. Remy had touched him not even five minutes before. Remy had a flashlight. It made sense in Lionel’s head.
I should have stayed with Remy.Except no, Remy had a job to do. Lionel needed to make his escape. He started looking around. They had walked quite a way, and under any other circumstances—such as when the damn sun was shining—Lionel would have probably enjoyed hearing about the history of some of the run-down areas of town. He might even have had fun indaylight. The only thing on his mind now was that he wasn’t exactly sure how to get back to his car.
Or do I? Rather than standing outside a house this time, Alexander had led them into one of the older warehouses that Lionel felt he might have driven past earlier in the day. He thought the building he’d noticed looked as spooky as fuck in the daytime. Alexander was busy talking about what had gone on in the cavernous room they were in. “Back in the nineteen twenties, this was where they… blah, blah, blah…”
Lionel didn’t care.I know where I am. I know where the car is from here. I need to get out of here. That’s all I need to do.Lionel watched as the group followed Alexander farther into the building at the same time, he started edging his way out.
Nothing to see here. Ignore me and focus on the tour guide. This is just me being casually left behind. Oh, dear. How sad. Never mind…
Lionel let out a loud shriek as somebody touched his arm. “What the hell? What did you do that for?”
He was looking down at a curly haired man, who admittedly had a very gorgeous face, and in any other situation Lionel would have probably put on his sexiest smile. But all he could think now was that he had just shrieked—a shriek worthy of any heroine tied to a train track—and everybody in the tour group was now looking at him. He was positive!
“Excuse me, I think I left something on the stove,” he said, as he dashed outside the door and started running hell-for-leather down the road and back to his car.
Chapter Four
Brad
The tempting smell became tinged with something Brad considered to be fear as they headed into the large, empty warehouse that gave Brad tingles down his spine. Except the tingles happening in his slacks were way more interesting. It was peculiar. He’d never become so fixated on someone's scent before.
So instead of listening to Alexander recite tales of murder and mayhem that he most definitely would love, he was working blind and using his nose to find the person who smelled divine.
He did his best not to make it obvious he was sniffing each person as he carefully edged his way through the crowd of men pretending interest in what Alexander was saying. Until his attention landed on the guy who had really broad shoulders and a massive barrel chest that Brad bet was hairy beneath the clothes, judging by the mane the guy sported. One he could see when Remy flicked on his phone flashlight when someone tripped over—Ven—and made a song and dance about it.
He didn’t give them more than a passing thought because Brad’s gaze narrowed on a figure in the shadows with the vast chest, who now he noticed was slowing in the shadows. As yet, Brad hadn’t got a whiff of him, and he seriously wanted to. His poodle became very lively, and Brad slowed his own pace to match the guy, edging toward him.
