Page 2 of Sky’s Guide To Getting His Man & Banishing Ghosts (The Dreamwalkers #1)

Jumping up, I stretched and bent down to touch my toes, then slid my glasses on.

On a normal day, I’d be headed into town to this quirky little yoga shop that Elyse, Chance’s mom, and I had found.

Since the tourist season was close at hand, the owners were taking a two-week vacation.

Soon enough, they’d be open six days a week, offering sunshine yoga on the beach at the crack of dawn.

Elyse and her Mr. had decided to have their own little staycation last week. They were totally couple goals. But now that it was over, we were meeting at the B&B for yoga and meditation.

If I got lucky, Kingston would be there, too.

It was the weekend, and it wasn’t unusual to find him hanging out at the pond at the back of the property, conversing with the spirits who lived there or who were waiting for Chance to come out and help them cross to the other side.

With that thought in mind, a smile on my face, and some pep in my step, I headed for the bathroom to brush my teeth, go through my skincare routine, put in my contacts, and throw some makeup over the pesky freckles that made me look like a ten-year-old boy instead of a grown ass man. I was on a mission.

“Who you lookin’ at?” Buck asked directly behind my ear, making me jump sky high.

Clutching my hands over my chest, I glared at him. “Good grief, Buck. Give a guy some warning.”

The happy-go-lucky ghost shrugged with a big toothy grin. “How am I supposed to do that when I just pop in?”

Okay, that was fair, I guess. He tended to materialize in a poof.

It would be so much easier if he was accompanied by a puff of smoke or something, too.

Chance had all the luck. Unless a ghost was specifically hiding from him, as a medium, he saw ghosts everywhere he went.

They were still only visible to those of us close to him here on the Willowhope property where the ley lines were located, if they chose to let us see them.

Hence, it was easy for them to scare the hell out of me.

“I don’t know. Maybe clear your throat so I know you’re here.”

“I can do that.” He sat down next to me on the bench and leaned his forearms on his knees. “You watchin’ Kingston again?”

I jerked my gaze from the man in question and gaped at Buck. “What? No? That would be creepy.”

“So I guess you just like this spot in the garden, huh?” He snickered. Of course he did. He knew my big secret. Everyone did—except maybe Kingston. Could he seriously not realize how badly I wanted him?

“As a matter of fact, yes.” It truly was a pretty location.

Out farther from the main house and closer to the pond that sat on the back end of the property line, Chance had placed a pretty bench long enough for two, or three if one of the people was a child, in the midst of a small section of wildflowers.

Up near the small mansion, the landscaping was more structured and orderly, but he wanted a place where flowers natural to the environment could flourish.

“Mhm. I believe you.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Like you’re one to talk.” He’d totally been up Mr. Harry’s ass, playing like he needed to be taught to dust and vacuum so he could be close to the older apparition. I had to give it to him—it had worked.

He tilted his head in confusion. “What do you mean? I don’t stalk Kingston.”

“Grrr. Neither do I.” Ignoring his laughter, I refocused on Kingston. “I can’t help it. He’s so beautiful, isn’t he?”

“I guess I can see that. He’s a little too tall for my taste.” Buck and Kingston were shaped remarkably similar, except where Kingston was all lean muscle, Buck was big and bulky. “I prefer my men more handsome and stately.”

“That describes Mr. Harry, alright.” The older gentleman was from a different century. Until Buck’s influence, he’d dressed formally in a butler’s suit with nary a wrinkle in sight or a hair out of place.

Buck grinned widely. “It does, right? It’s funny because when I was alive, I liked my men little bitty with lots of personality and sass.”

Turning toward him, I gave him my best jazz hands. “You mean like me?”

He laughed loudly, boisterous in the way I’d come to expect from him. “Yep. Exactly. But there’s something about the commanding way Mr. Harry moves through life.”

More like the way he moved through death, but whatever. “Yeah, Kingston’s not my normal jam either. I usually prefer my men a little more self-assured, but I don’t know. There’s something about him.”

Buck nodded knowingly, and we both looked back out at the pond where Kingston was sitting on a large log talking to a female ghost I’d never seen before.

She wasn’t solid like Buck, but a mere wisp of colors that I had to focus on to see.

I was pretty sure that meant she was new to death and hadn’t figured out how to manifest all the way yet.

She only looked to be in her early twenties or so, and my heart hurt for how short her life had been cut.

Kingston spoke earnestly while the girl’s blonde hair cloaked her face as she cupped her cheeks in her hands. Poor thing.

“It’s his heart,” Buck said.

“What is?” I asked, unable to move my gaze from the crush of my life comforting the newest spirit.

“That’s what has you so captivated, even though he’s not your usual type. We can see it, you know? My kind.”

“You mean…” I trailed off.

“Dead?” He chuckled. “You can say it, Skylar. It doesn’t hurt my feelings.

I know I’m not alive anymore, and let’s face it, my afterlife is amazing.

But yeah, I don’t know a lot about magic or all those things Elyse is teaching you, but I’m pretty sure I can see auras, or something like them.

And Kingston…he shines so brightly. He has this genuine curiosity about us, but he wants to help.

It’s not some weird fixation or whatever.

I think he probably feels like that about living people, too, but he gets nervous expressing himself when talking to someone with a pulse. ”

A giggle escaped me. While observing how verbose Kingston was when chatting with ghosts, it boggled my brain how tongue-tied he got when speaking to…well, someone with a pulse was a pretty damn accurate description.

“Don’t give up,” Buck whispered, then he vanished as quickly as he’d appeared.

Transfixed, I watched as the girl’s head came up.

As she wiped what I assumed were tears from her cheeks, she laughed.

A small smile appeared on Kingston’s face, and I saw exactly what Buck had meant.

For now, at least, the pond was the girl’s home, and she’d probably cry many tears while she adjusted to her new existence.

But Kingston had stayed, talking to her until her heart lightened, putting a smile back on her face.

Buck didn’t have to worry about me giving up. I gave one last wistful look out at my future man, then headed back to the manor to meet with Elyse. We’d work on spells and herbs and things, but in the back of my mind, I’d be working on a plan. Kingston would be mine.