Page 117 of Ghost

“He has always been like that. His guilt about the man he found standing over my bed is why he dropped out of high school and later joined the club. Then he used the club to get rid of me.”

“Missy, you know that’s not true. You need to talk to him.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Why?” she asked.

Clamping my lips together, I looked out the window again. I didn’t have an answer for that. Except for the one I didn’t want to admit.

A woman dropped off our drinks, and Haizley introduced her as Audrey. She was someone Haizley went to high school with. I was thankful for the interruption. When she walked away, I cleared my throat and changed the subject.

“You’ve been working with Danny and Dante?”

“I have,” she confirmed, lifting her hot coffee to her lips. Blowing on it before taking a sip.

“What happened to him?” I asked. “I mean, I know about the accident, but what happened after that? Why has he been gone so long?”

Setting her cup on the table, Haizley looked at me. I hadn’t taken a drink of my coffee, just held the cup in my hands, soaking up the warmth, hoping it would thaw the ice in my veins when I brought up Danny.

I knew my feelings and reactions were irrational. But let’s face it, if people weren’t irrational there would be no need for my profession.

“I can’t tell you that.”

“We’re colleagues. We discuss patients all the time. Comparing notes and advising on therapy options.”

“This is different and you know it.”

I did know. I knew I was too close to the situation for her to share anything with me. But it didn’t stop me from asking, hoping she would put our friendship above her career. Which was a bitch move on my part, and I hated myself for it.

I blamed it on my grief. On the emotional rollercoaster I had been on since we left Oklahoma. It was easier to blame your flaws on the situation you found yourself in rather than take accountability for the actions and choices you made in your life.

The truth was, I never should have agreed to keep Dani. It was crossing a line that should never be crossed. But there was no way I would have said no.

“The three of you need to sit down together, and I have already suggested this to Danny and Dante.”

I nodded, my eyes on my coffee cup.

“Missy, I had no idea when I took them on what was going on with you. No knowledge of your connection to them until you showed up at the clubhouse. Hell, I had no knowledge of your connection to the clubhouse.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about my brother.”

“Don’t apologize.” She waved her hand in the air as if what I said wasn’t important. “We didn’t share our secrets. I never told you I was seeing a biker.”

“No, you didn’t.” I laughed. “I would like to hear how that happened. You aren’t exactly what I pictured my brother being into.”

Haizley laughed out loud. “I’ll admit, this has certainly knocked me for a loop. Not that I wasn’t interested. The minute I met him, I wanted to climb him like a tree.”

“Eww, no,” I said, shaking my head and covering my ears, causing her to laugh again, and I smiled.

“I just didn’t expect him to want to settle down. But I love him. The bastard made me fall in love with him by following me around.”

We spent the next hour or so drinking coffee and talking about how my best friend ended up as my brother’s old lady. As she talked about the guys at the clubhouse, she never mentioned Travis, and I knew she was avoiding the elephant in the room.

I wouldn’t complain. I wasn’t ready to talk about him and my growing feelings. I already knew we had a physical connection, but the last two days were something different. He didn’t push me to have sex. Last night, I slept in his arms, but he never made a move; despite telling me he wanted me.

It almost felt like he was courting me. Which sounded ridiculous. A biker courting a woman? Seducing, yes, pressuring even seemed more likely. But the way Travis knew before I did that sleeping without Dani would wreck me. The way he offered to hold me while I cried spoke to something inside me. Something I longed for but wouldn’t voice out loud.

Even the attention he gave Dani felt genuine. Not like a chore required to get into my pants.Be nice to the single mom’s kid and she’ll be a shoo-in. That’s what most men believed.

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