Page 93 of The Ghost of You

“What is it?”

He presses a chaste kiss to my lips and tries to pull away but I link my ankles around his back. “Talk, Noah.”

“I just—” He sighs as he runs a hand through his hair. “You, Mayberry. There is just something about you. Something I never had before.”

I bite my lip. “Like what?”

He shakes his head. “This is all new but god you make me feel things I never felt before. Not as a lustful teenager who was horny all the time and not with my ex-wife who I was head over heels for.”

I blush and his hands cup my face. “What do you feel?” I ask him.

“I don’t know. It’s different but in the best way.” He pauses as his hands run down my arms and lace around my lower back. “You have this energy about you. I can’t place it, but I feel this connection so deep in my soul.”

“Maybe you should be the songwriter,” I tease.

He laughs and pulls me closer to him. “I don’t have any of the talent you have.”

“You never know until you try.”

“I don’t think you want to hear me sing.”

I laugh. “It can’t be that bad.”

“Claire would leave the room when I did.”

I run my hand through his hair and bring both arms around his neck. “What happened with her?” I already know but I need him to tell me. I need him to open up to me the way I have.

He looks down as he sucks his lip into his mouth. “She—ahh—she walked out on me. I came home from work late one night. I had a horrible day. I was in a terrible mood and all I wanted was to cuddle with her. Let the tension I was feeling dissipate. But she wasn’t home. I found a letter on the counter. She told me she couldn’t do this anymore.” He sighs before continuing, his grip tightening around my waist. “A fucking letter. My wife broke our marriage with a letter.”

“I’m so sorry, Noah.” I don’t know what else to say. There really isn’t much. I understand why he is so hardened to love. Maybe if she talked to him, he wouldn’t feel the way he does.

“I blamed myself.”

“Who wouldn’t?”

“Maybe it was my late-night shifts or maybe I was too hard on her or maybe the pain I was feeling over the loss of my sister destroyed her. She didn’t write why.”

“Have you talked to her since?”

He shakes his head before leaning his forehead against mine. “No, she just ghosted. Disappeared. I used my contacts in the police force but no one could find her. I gave up after a year. I decided it wasn’t worth it. She wasn’t coming back. That’s when I got Brutus, bought this house.”

I run my fingers through his scalp, trying to soothe the memory I stirred. “I would never do that to you Noah.”

He pulls away from me and looks at me questioningly.

“I won’t leave you like she did, Noah.” I pause. “I won’t be a coward. I mean if something happened between us, I would break up with you face to face.”

He smirks at me, and I know the conversation about Claire is over. “Break up with me, huh?”

I nod.

His lips go to my neck, nipping and sucking. “That mean we are dating?” he whispers into my ear.

I realize then my mistake. Because I don’t know what we are doing. “I—ugh—”

“I haven’t even taken you on a proper date yet so I don’t think this is dating.”

I groan as his hand moves to my nipple, squeezing it through my shirt.

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