“That’s unfortunate,” he said, turning away. “Good luck with your…ghosts.”
“Wait!” I said it way too loudly. “Wait, please…” Softer this time.
He gave me a pretty exasperated look. Maybe a little curious.
“What?” he asked.
“Would you maybe…” I trailed off, feeling ridiculous as I glanced over my shoulder. “Could you come in for just a minute?”
“You want me to…?” His tone held more surprise than anything else, but his expression—more than a little startled—had me rushing to explain.
“Not like that!” I said quickly, my cheeks burning. “I just…I need you to check…the closet?”
“The closet,” he repeated flatly, his brow furrowing.
“For ghosts.” In for a penny, in for a pound. “The door opened all by itself, and… I would really appreciate it if you could…you know, take a look around? Make sure it’s…safe.”
He sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. “You’re serious?” he asked, brushing the wayward strand of hair away from his cheek.
“Completely.”
“Huh. All right then.” Laughing, but still not smiling, he held out his hand. “Let’s do this then.”
I handed over my key, watching as he crossed to the dreaded Room 401, and because I didn’t want to be left out here alone, I followed him. Closely.
So closely that when he had to pause to tap the card, I bumped right into his back.
It was like walking into a wall—albeit one that was warm and breathing. For a second I froze, every nerve ending in my body firing off in a chaotic mix of embarrassment and that feeling again, the one I hadn’t felt in a very long time.
I had instinctively reached out to steady myself, and his T-shirt was soft against my fingertips. Underneath it, I could feel the taut lines of muscle. My pulse spiked, and I could try blaming that on the ghosts, but I’d be lying to myself.
He turned his head slightly, looking down at me from beneath hooded eyes. “What are you doing?” His voice was a little rough and his brow furrowed. I couldn’t tell whether he was annoyed, or…
No. He absolutely was not turned on. Chill out, Luna.
“Just…keeping close,” I answered, my voice catching. “You know, for safety’s sake.”
There went that eyebrow again.
“For safety’s sake,” he echoed my excuse.
I nodded, removing my hands from his…person, then folding my arms across my chest to play it cool. “That’s what I said.”
In all seriousness though, I knew I hadn’t imagined the thumping that woke me out of a dead sleep, so as soon as he turned back around, I moved up behind him again, close enough to catch that delish woodsy scent, but very careful not to bump into him again.
He shook his head and stepped into the room, glancing back at me as I crossed the threshold right behind him.
“I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for whatever you heard.”
Oh my God, even his breath smelled sexy.
Focus, Luna.
“By all means, then.” I gestured toward the closet. “Show me what that is.”
Inside, the room was exactly as I’d left it, down to my open suitcase, where today’s lacy pink bra sat on top of my other neatly folded clothes. Since I doubted the ghost had any interest in my lingerie collection, I casually shifted to block Noah’s view. No need to give him—or the supernatural—anything extra to gawk at.
But seeing the little smirk on his mouth, I realized I was probably too late.
