Page 52 of Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places
He shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. I don’t remember.”
“Maybe it wasn’t that long. It might not have been enough time for the house to see anything. It’s probably fine.”
Lucky felt terrible. This washerexperiment. She was responsible for keeping them safe. He explicitly stated he never wanted to sleep in the house—she should have been there and awake to make sure this didn’t happen to him.
“Hey. It’s okay.” He began rubbing circles on her back.
“No, it’s not. Don’t comfort me.” She gently pushed his arm away. “I should be doing that for you.” She hesitated for a split second before leaping—his chair skidded backward from the force of it. “I’m sorry. This is my fault,” she said, hugging him tightly and rubbinghisback.
He chuckled into the crook of her neck as he wrapped her in his arms. “It isn’t, but thank you.”
“Did you two sleep in here? I thought we were supposed to stay separated.” Stephen stood in the kitchen doorway fully dressed.
Lucky regretfully detached herself from Maverick and they both stood up. “We were. Hennessee had other plans.” He began fixing the chairs back into position.
“I take it something happened.” Stephen kicked up a plume of flowers and they oddly took their time floating back down. “Xander mostly mumbled at me on the way to his room.”
“You’ve seen Xander?”
“Yeah, like a second ago. He said he’s going to sleep for a couple of hours. Well, that’s what I think he said on account of the mumbling.”
So much for that. Lucky asked, “How did you sleep?”
“Fine.” He grinned. “No complaints.”
After going upstairs, Lucky took a bath, got dressed, and then passed out in the middle of the bed when she mistakenly decided to rest her eyes for a few minutes. Falling asleep hadn’t been on the docket, and yet…her body refused to be denied. Again.
She didn’t know what to expect by the time she made it downstairs but found them all in the sitting room again—by far Hennessee’s most popular location. Surprisingly, Maverick hadn’t gone home. More powerful than a jump scare, the sight of him sent her reeling headlong into her feelings.
“Sleeping Beauty finally decided to wake up,” Xander quipped.
Lucky gasped. “You think I’m beautiful? Oh my god, Xander, stop it,” she said, instinctively falling back on old habits. “So sorry to inform you that you’re not my type. My condolences.”
Stephen laughed. “He jokes, but we were starting to get worried.”
Her gaze found Maverick’s, immediately fearing he’d been the root of that worry. He was sitting in the sunny corner armchair again. Early-afternoon light streamed through the gauzy curtains, giving his skin a luminous glow. Seeing his face, noticing all the subtle ways his expression shifted as he looked at her, was remarkable in a way few things were.
“I feel fine. I think I overdid it by staying up too late,” she said to him and sat on the couch.
A silent conversation passed between the three men like they were playing catch with a secret. Stephen to Maverick to Xander.Back and forth and back again. No one saying anything aloud. She began to suspect they already discussed the night before among themselves and decided to keep her in the dark.
As if she’d just let that happen. “So, Stephen, earlier you said you slept well? How was everything else?”
“Uneventful.”
“Wow, what a riveting account. Felt like I was there.”
His reluctant smile felt like a victory. “Nothing happened. Truly. I fell asleep around ten or so. Slept through the night. Woke up at four-thirty when my alarm went off.”
“No flowers? Any other surprise gifts?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Stephen said. “I didn’t go out of my way to search or anything because I figured it would be in plain sight.”
“And how are you feeling now?”
“I actually have a banging headache.” He laughed despite his discomfort. “A little queasy too.”
Lucky nodded solemnly. “Xander? I notice the floor is devoid of the flower tide pool.”
