Page 67 of The Ghost of Ellwood
Then I saw him. Relief made me weak in the knees.
Carter stood by the snack table talking to one of the most beautiful men I’d ever seen in my life. The man had long, silvery blond hair and wore a fitted double-breasted waistcoat with a collared shirt underneath. His black trousers hit him just below the knee where they met tall socks and went down to flat black shoes.
He looked like an 18thcentury French aristocrat or maybe just a super stylish vampire. Cool costume.
The man leaned closer to Carter, running a hand down Carter’s cheek. My friend looked like he was about to either attack the man and drag him somewhere private or faint. By the way he swayed, I’d put my money on fainting.
I smiled and averted my eyes to the dancing clowns in front of me. But it wasn’t the clowns that held my attention. No…it was the figure standing behind them, wearing a black dress and mourning veil over her face.
A figure looking directly at me. Even through the veil I saw the pale skin. And the sinister grin.
I jumped back, slamming against one of the columns. A group of people asked if I was okay, and I nodded, unable to speak. The figure in black was gone when I looked again, but the uneasy feeling in my bones remained.
An announcement was made, saying the party was over. I talked to a few other people, took selfies with others, before leaving the ballroom. I couldn’t stop shaking. I would’ve left had it not been for Carter. I didn’t want to leave him stranded in the most haunted fucking place in Ivy Grove.
Spotting him, I rushed over.
“Hey, you ready to go?”
“Yeah,” he answered with an awestruck look on his face. “I met someone.”
“I saw,” I said. “So, who is he? I don’t remember seeing him at the signing.”
“I think he works here.” Carter bit his bottom lip before beaming with a smile. “Man, he kinda took my breath away. I don’t even know his name.”
“He didn’t give you a name?” That didn’t sound like someone who had any interest in meeting back up, but I didn’t have the heart to tell that to Carter.
“No.” Carter frowned. “He was a total charmer. He gave a new meaning towhispering sweet nothingsin my ear.”
“Come on, Romeo,” I said, heading toward the exit.
Shane stopped me before we left to say the night was a success. Someone had recorded my speech and uploaded it to their social media. Apparently, the post was already circulating and my name was trending on Twitter. The response seemed to be mostly positive too. People were excited about my new book, and I was excited to give it to them.
“Thanks for doing all of this,” I told Shane. He might be a jerk sometimes, but he was amazing at what he did.
In one night, I felt like I was back in the game.
“Anytime,” he said, shaking my hand. “You’ll have a nice little surprise in the bank soon too. Be proud, Ben. Your speech might’ve been a little too wordy for my liking, but your readers loved it.”
Iwasproud. Not only for the speech but for all of it; getting back out there and facing the world when all I’d wanted to do was hide.
Carter gushed about his mystery guy on the way home. He talked about the man’s voice and how he detected a slight accent but couldn’t place it. He then told me about the guy feeding him a chocolate covered strawberry.
“Wait,” I said, glancing at him in the passenger seat. “He didn’t tell you his name, but he fed you strawberries?”
“Seductive, right?” Carter sighed and slumped in his seat. “I would’ve totally let him pound my ass.”
“So, why are you in my car instead of his bed right now?”
“Beats me.” He shrugged. “When they announced that the party was over, I looked back and he was gone. Dude just freaking vanished. Don’t know where he went. I looked around for him for a while but didn’t want to seem too desperate, so that’s when I gave up and found you.”
“Ivy Grove isn’t too big of a town,” I said, as I pulled onto Ellwood. “Maybe you’ll see him again.”
“I’ve lived here for years and that was the first time I ever saw him.” He peered out the window and pulled his beanie down lower. “Nah, I had my chance and blew it.”
After I dropped Carter off at his house and waited to make sure he got inside, I drove home. Excitement bubbled in my stomach, as did nerves. Theo was waiting for me. I didn’t know what would happen, but tonight was the night.
I shouldn’t feel so strongly about Theo. What did I expect to happen? Theo and I’d make out, maybe have sex, and then what? He was worried about getting his heart broken. My feelings for him were deeper than curiosity or lust.
