Not caring who heard, he asked, “Do you want me to?”
Becks swallowed hard. Ghost had to give her credit, though; she didn’t look away, nor did she cower.
She also didn’t answer.
Ghost nodded once. “I’m staying the night. Beyond that, I make no promises.” Pillow and blanket in hand, he headed back down the stairs.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Ranger shouted after him.
Ghost said nothing as he continued down the stairs, because he sure as fuck did not know the answer to that question.
There wasno going to sleep after that. Becks laid in her bed all night, just staring up at her dark ceiling while Libby slumbered beside her. Was this another twisted dream? The porch and the hallway? Was she being tested? Ritchie was going to be here this afternoon. Things would get better after that.Shewould feel better after that.
It was wedding jitters. It had to be. The universe had just thrown an incredibly demanding, sexy as fuck man into her midst two days before her wedding to test her loyalty to Ritchie, whom she loved with all her heart.
But then, why did it feel like she was failing this test? Her head ached, though it had nothing to do with her injury. It was aminorscrape at best. Liam was just overreacting when he insisted she put a fucking bandage on it. Reaching up now, she pulled the adhesive off her forehead, and unfortunately, ripped a hair or two out of her scalp when she did so.
“Ouch.”
Libby snorted, drawing Becks’ attention to her best friend. She’d gone back to sleep after Becks had returned the covers to the bed earlier. Slept right through the porchandthe hallway. Which meant she didn’t know the answer to her query as to whether Ghost wanted to fuck or fight Becks.
Becks had the answer. Or Becks hadananswer. It was fuck, definitely fuck. But now she was wondering if was it a fuck for one night or fuck forever more?
Except that shouldn’tmatter. Because it wasn’thappening. Becks was gettingmarriedtomorrow at her parents’ church. The love of her life had proposed to her, and she had accepted. With the amount of time and money she had put into this wedding, it was happening. Liam was going to walk her down the aisle in their father’s stead tomorrow and she was going to get married.
Her grandma wanted to see her get married so badly, and it broke Becks’ heart that she’d died so close to the wedding. She hoped her grandma was looking down on her and smiling tomorrow. Same with her dad.
She’d met Ritchie almost two years ago, but they hadn’t started dating until about six months after that. He was the youngest junior partner at his practicing law firm, a fact she was very proud of him for. He was sweet and kind and he made her laugh. Sure, he was driven at work, but so was she. It was something they were both going to work on after the wedding.
But—and she was going to hell for just thinking this—he’d never set her body on fire the way Ghost did. They’d never had sex outside of missionary, and sure it was a dream, but there was something about Ghost that made Becks believe that sex with him wouldneverbe boring.
Jesus, what was she even doing? Why was she having these thoughts? She wasn’t a cheater! Shedespisedcheaters. Lost all respect for them. She’d been cheated on before by an ex, and it had been awful. She’d never do that to someone else, especially Ritchie. So whatever it was she was feeling, it was moot. There was no reason to lose sleep over it, because it didn’tmatter.
She loved Ritchie.
She was marrying Ritchie.
And she would never have to think, speak, or look at Ghost again.
Ever.
Ghost gave up on sleeping,and it had nothing to do with the fact that he was still fully dressed. When he’d first come downstairs, he’d tossed all the tuxes that had been laid out on the couch into a pile in the corner. His head had barely touched the pillow before he was getting back up and straightening them out. He might be pissed and frustrated, but he wouldn’t disrespect Loretta or Becks like that. After laying back down, he cursed his sense of honor. Becks feltsomething. He wasn’t projecting, or whatever the fuck psychologists called it. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that she felt something brewing between them.
But even that didn’t spark the hope it should, because she was still engaged, still planning a wedding fortomorrow. And as much as he wanted to set those tuxes on fire and dance over their ashes, he couldn’t do it.
Because it would hurt Becks.
Fuck his honor! What was so great about honor anyway? From where he stood—or laid down—honor was keeping him from the person he wanted most in the world. He might be pissed at Ranger right now for allowing Becks to get hurt while under his watch, but he still respected the guy, both as a fellow officer and as his best friend. Because he had fuckinghonor.
What would Becks do if he went up into her bedroom right now and whisked her away on the back of his bike? Maybe it was a pipedream, but something told Ghost she wouldn’t fight him as hard as she should.
His eyes landed on the dark pile of stacked garment bags in the corner of the living room. He hadn’t destroyed them or let them get ruined out of a desire to see Becks happy, but he had to wonder if she actuallywas. Why wasn’t her fiancé here with her? How could the man stand being apart from her for so long? Ghost couldn’t even stand the fact that she was upstairs right now while he was down here on this couch.
Was she happy?
And if the answer was ‘yes’, could Ghost really sit in a church pew tomorrow and watch her marry another man? Even if that man made her smile, made her laugh, loved her with every fiber of his being, and cherished her like the incredible princess she was, could he?
Getting his cell out of the pocket of his jeans, Ghost pulled up his phone app. He nearly called Lucky before he remembered it was the middle of the night and the man had young kids. Instead, he called Keys.
