Page 21 of The Haunting of Lockton
“Oh my god. I need warmth, or I’m gonna die.”
“You’re so dramatic.” Julian walked over to the thermostat, clicked something, and bumped it several times. “There. It will be a horrible sixty-nine degrees soon.”
“Sixty-nine is my favorite number.”
He rolled his eyes. “If you don’t get up and shower, you’ll be late for our meeting with Paxton. Unless you’d rather I meet with him alone.”
Over my dead body.
I jumped out of bed and grabbed clean clothes, hearing him laugh behind me as I shut the bathroom door. Once I was ready, we locked the room and went downstairs. My phone dinged in my hand as we reached the bottom of the grand staircase.
Paxton:Here.
Talk about perfect timing.
The front door swung open, bringing with it a small gust of chilly air as Paxton walked inside. His tall, thin frame was covered in a knee-length black coat, and he wore maroon skinny jeans with black boots pulled on over them that hit just above the ankles. His dark auburn hair was windblown, and specks of rain caught in some of the strands.
I blew out a breath at the sight of him.
“Down, boy,” Julian whispered.
I ignored my brother and stepped forward to greet Paxton. “Hey.”
“Hello,” he said, stopping a foot in front of us. The overcast day with its soft gray light made his bourbon eyes pop even more against his pale skin. That close, I noticed a freckle above the left side of his mouth. Like a beauty mark. Our eyes met before he averted his to the folder tucked under his arm. “Um. I brought a copy of Arthur Warren’s journal. Not only are there illustrations of his experiments but written entries as well. Some are notes onhow the experiments affected certain patients. Not sure if it will help at all, but you seemed interested in it yesterday.”
“Seriously? That’s awesome.” I accepted the folder from him. “Well, not awesome about what he did. Just awesome that you brought it.” What the actual hell? Why was I rambling? “But anyway. You hungry? We were about to grab breakfast.”
“Breakfast?” Paxton’s lips twitched.
“Lunch for us normal people,” Julian said. “It’s breakfast for him. He overslept.” A smile I instantly didn’t trust landed on his mouth. “Strangest thing. The only thing that got him out of bed was the mention of you. Perked him right up. I’ve never seen him move so fast—”
“Let’s go find a place to sit,” I interjected, refraining from pummeling my twin upside the head like he deserved. “I’m starving.”
We found a table against the wall, the window beside us providing a backdrop of gray sky and countless trees as we looked over the lunch menu. I kept glancing up at Paxton, who intently stared at the menu, skin smooth and pale, apart from the two pink dots in his cheeks.
Why was he blushing? Or was it left over from being outside in the chilly air?
The waiter came over to take our orders.
“A turkey sandwich and a small bowl of potato soup, please,” Paxton said.
“Coffee for me.” I closed the menu and slid it across the table. “And I know it’s past breakfast, but I’ll take all the hash browns and bacon you have in the kitchen. Maybe an egg to go with it. For balance.”
Julian flashed the waiter a polite smile. “I’ll have the sandwich and soup combo as well, please.”
The waiter plugged our orders into his handheld device, then took our menus and left.
“After work last night, I watched several of your episodes,” Paxton said. “I lost track of time and stayed up way too late. Your show is great.”
“Thanks for watching.” I winked.
And then I wanted to die. The wink had been impulsive. Which usually wouldn’t have bothered me, but Paxton was… different. Damn if I knew why.
“Ignore him,” Julian said with a flick of his hand. “I do.”
Paxton pressed his lips into an almost smile. “How long have you two been ghost hunters?”
“Four years,” I answered. “Well, we’ve had our show for four years, but we’ve chased ghosts since we were kids. Sneaking into abandoned buildings and hanging out in graveyards late at night.”
