Page 67 of Ghost of a Chance
“So, no to sleeping with me?”she asked.
“No,” he said a faint smile playing at his mouth.
Fine then.
Kissing him hard, she shook her head and stalked up the stairs, very aware of him trailing behind her every step of the way.
Her room was a mess, she wasn’t a neat person by nature.Her bed hadn’t been made and her laptop and metaphysical books lay open on its tangled covers.
He tossed their clothes on the chair in the corner while she gathered her shit and put it on the nightstand.
“I sleep on the right,” she said.
“Great.I usually just sprawl everywhere.”
Of course he did.Great big puppy dog that he was.
She flipped off the overhead light and climbed into the bed.She lay there in silence for a second before he let out the biggest sigh she’d ever heard and lifted his arm over his head.“Cuddle?”
Without a word she shifted until her head was nestled on his shoulder and her arm was draped over his chest.He let out a long breath and encased her.
The beating of his heart lulled her to sleep.
Fifteen
Judge Judy blasted from the living room TV at 6:00 a.m.“I’m here because I’m smart, not because I’m young and gorgeous…although I am!”at full volume echoed up the stairs.Jasper jumped out of bed.Where was he?In the blur of the morning, it was hard to get his bearings.
Kirsty’s room.
She sat up blurry-eyed and shoved her hair out of her face.
The noise got steadily louder as Chewie started barking in response.But he couldn’t take his eyes off of the woman he’d slept with last night.He wanted to stay.Wanted to crawl right back into bed with her on this chilly autumn morning.
“TV!”She was not feeling the same.
“Yeah.”He picked up his jeans as he headed toward the stairs.He whistled for Chewie who’d definitely need to go out and strolled into the living room to turn off the TV.Looking down at the physics book, which had clearly moved from the kitchen last night, he sighed.
“Morning, asshole.”
He grabbed the hoodie he left over the kitchen chair and pulled it on as he shoved his feet into the Crocs he kept by the door for middle-of-the-night dog walks.Chewie waited impatiently as Jasper put the leash on him and opened the door.He stepped out into a relaxed cloudy rain.The lights in the kitchen flicked behind him as he followed Chewie to do his business.
He hadn’t grabbed his phone so was just staring around the neighborhood collecting his thoughts.
The lights surged again, then again a few minutes later as he and Chewie went back into the kitchen.Chewie shook himself off outside.
“Coffee?”
Dan stood there, a mug in one hand.Even though he’d been startled out of bed it seemed he’d had time to get dressed in his regular khakis and a polo.
“Yeah.TV wake you?”
“It did.I checked the infrared footage.There’s a sort of blurry…well, you look at it and tell me what you think.It seems as if something is moving toward the TV before it turns on.”
“For real?”
Dan looked sheepish.“Honest.I told you no more faking stuff.This isn’t polished at all.That’s why I think it might be real.”
“I know it is,” Jasper said, taking the coffee mug from Dan and following him to the monitor where he had the playback set up.“Gia and Kirsty are going to love this.Also the fact that you were wrong.”
