Page 12 of Chasing Ghosts
Something must alert her to me being close again because her head comes up, and a look of relief crosses her face. I lift her and sit on the floor before putting her in my lap and flinging the itchy woolen cover I found at the bottom of a box over us.
She tries to pop right back up, but I hold her tight. “I can’t sit on you!”
“Why not?”
Why not? Because it’s not a good idea at all! What is wrong with me?!
“Because I’ll…I’m…too heavy.”
The excuse has me laughing out as I settle us back and snuggle her closer. “Baby, you wouldn’t be ‘too heavy’ if you grabbed some of those anchors over there and held them.”
Her eyes widen, and her mouth pops open at my choice of endearment. I shouldn’t have used it, but something about it just feels natural, like having her in my arms feels…right. I’ve never called anyone baby before, never wanted to cuddle with someone. But with Cori, it’s just right.
Chapter Ten
Cori
“You should lay your head on my shoulder and try to get some rest.”
His words course over me and have me fighting a shiver. I shouldn’t be here in his lap, shouldn’t be pressed against his chest, shouldn’t be thinking the things I’m thinking, especially not after the dream I had.
“Yeah, I don’t think sleep is going to be easy to come by anytime soon. Every time I go to sleep, I wake up somewhere weird.”
He tenses under me. “Wait, you’ve done this before? Woke up somewhere other than your room?”
Shit! Guess I gave myself away.
I nod, not wanting to say anything more, but he takes my chin between his fingers and turns my head, so we are staring into each other’s eyes.
“I woke up in the hallway last night.”
“In the hallway?” I nod. “Where in the hallway?”
Damn it! I’m going to have to tell him.
“Right outside your door.”
I brace myself for the repercussions of my words. Maybe he’ll tell me to get off his lap now. He did tell me to pretty much leave earlier tonight. But it never comes.
“What the hell is going on here?”
I wish I knew.
“What happened the first night we came to the island? What made you leave your room?”
That I don’t want to tell him. I pull my lips around my teeth to keep from saying anything and try to pull away from him. He doesn’t let up and only uses those intense blue eyes on me.
Tell him!
This time, when I pull away, he lets me. I stand and look, but the only people in the boathouse are the two of us.
His hands grab a hold of the backs of my thighs as he comes to his knees, fully trapping me to him.
“Look, I know something is up with you. I saw the footage of you in Room Twelve. I heard the voice recorder. You responded to something every time it answered, almost like you could hear it without having to use the DVR.”
My heart comes up in my throat as my worst fears are laid bare. Either I tell him, and he acts one of two ways. He laughs at me and tells me I’m insane, or he wants to use me like a trained circus performer. Or…I try to keep it a secret until I leave this island in the morning.
What I don’t expect is for him to run those big, rough hands upward.
