Page 105 of Ghostly

“He overheard us, and said you’re not interested because you live in that haunted house and are probably in love with the ghost.”

Gabriel’s stomach clenched.

“He has a strange sense of humor, so I’m not sure how much of it was sarcasm, but I suppose at least the haunted house part is true.”

“Stop.”

“If I had known about this whole legend of a young woman—”

Gabriel slammed his fist on the table, unleashing a wave of clinking glass. “Stop talking about her!”

Natalie drew back, eyes wide, then flicking over his shoulder.

“Gabriel, darling?” Wynona’s voice came from behind. She lightly touched Gabriel’s shoulder as she stopped beside him. “Who were you talking about?”

Natalie’s look was somewhere between stunned and amused. Gabriel tried to calm himself by following the bubbles, violently rising from the disturbed champagne.

“This is Natalie Waller,” he said. “And we were talking about… us.”

Wynona tilted her head, staring Natalie down with a perfectly practiced look of a high school mean girl. “Ah, the reporter.”

“You must be Mrs. Sinclair.”

“Ensfield, if you may. I decided to discard my ex-husband’s surname.”

“Ensfield,” Natalie repeated slowly, as if she had trouble processing the word. “And you two are…?”

“Together,” Gabriel said. Wynona gave him an encouraging smile, which somehow managed to fill his stomach with pure acid. “You’re quite the matchmaker. I never knew what I had in Wynona, and I’d never have discovered it again if it weren’t for your article.”

“Aw, darling.” Wynona turned his face toward hers and kissed him. She’d done it seventeen times since he came back, but Gabriel was still waiting for something, anything, to wake.

Eighteen. Still nothing.

“Well. I see you two are one happy, happy couple.” Natalie sounded even less impressed than Gabriel was over the dinner menu.

“So that’s the conclusion to your story.” He forced himself to smile. Had pretending always been so tiresome?

“Darling, I think the gentleman over there wants to talk with you.” Wynona’s smooth black hair brushed his shoulder as she looked behind. “If you’ll excuse us, Ms. Waller? Gabriel issoin demand ever since he got back.”

“I don’t doubt it. You must be shaking off the paparazzi. Ah, the exhaustion of being rich and infamous.” By turning back to the table, Natalie let them know she was done.

Wynona led him toward a group, cast another look over her shoulder, then stopped. “She was saying bad things about me, wasn’t she? And yougot all riled up. Aw, babe.” She pecked his cheek and smoothed back a lock of hair that had fallen on his forehead.

It had to be the food and champagne, right? He wasn’t feeling this sick because of Wynona.

“I’d say we’ve done enough here. How about we go do something more fun?” Leaning in, Wynona bit her lip. “Your place or mine?”

A cold shiver ran down his back. Wynona asked this question almost every day, and he was running out of excuses.I just came back, and I need to get mybearings first. I’m tired. My head hurts(he used that one twice already).Ihave work to do.

It shouldn’t be this hard. When he stripped the matter down to the simplest meaning, it was just sex. There was barely any meaning to it at all, besides fun. They’d done it before. It had been fun—and not just because it was a secret, forbidden affair. Wynona was a beautiful woman, and now, she was also his… girlfriend? Something official, at least. She knew his needs, he knew hers—so why couldn’t he just say, “My place, right now,” and get this over with?

Just say yes. You’re not doing yourself any favors by running from a lifeyou can’t run from.

“Sorry. I’m tired from work.”

“But, babe…”

“I need to get some cheese.” He walked away, more frustrated with himself than her.