“I’m so sorry, Ghost. What happened to them?” Her mind was already jumping to conclusions, like they’d died together in a car accident or a plane crash. Something tragic that took them unwillingly away from their child.
Ghost shrugged. “No clue. I was found abandoned at a soup kitchen.”
Her heart broke for the little boy he’d been, for the man he was now who had no history. “I’m so sorry,” she repeated, her voice softer and more empathetic.
“Don’t be,” he argued, eyes still on the road. “I’m over it, and it made me who I am.”
“Were you adopted?”
He shook his head. “By the time the state gave up trying to find my parents or relatives, I was around six. People want babies. Kids over five are harder to place, and teens even moreso. Additionally, there’s still some stereotypes about redheads. Jumped from foster home to foster home until I joined the Navy.”
That was so awful, and despite his bravado about the situation, Becks could still feel his hidden pain about it. “I always planned on adopting. I want to have at least one child too—you know, biologically—but I do plan on adopting one day. There’s too many unwanted kids in the world.”
Ghost grunted. “A few of my club brothers have adopted in recent years.”
“Do you want kids?” The question flew from her mouth before she could stop it. Shit! That was way too personal of a question.
They stopped at a light, the last one before the highway. Ghost took the opportunity to look at her when he answered, “With the right woman, yes.”
Oh, God… There went her ovaries again. His eyes screamed thatshewas that woman. Becks forgot how to breathe as her nipples tightened in her bra, moisture pooling at the apex of her legs. Words clogged her throat from the sudden, heated tension in the car.
The light turned green. Ghost faced the road again and headed them towards the ramp to the highway. Becks let out a low, unsteady breath. Jesus, it was hot in here. She turned up the AC, needing the air to cool her down.
“I take it your family doesn’t know about your side job?”
Becks jumped, completely unprepared for the question. “What?” She couldn’t remember what it was they’d been discussing. Was it possible for birth control to get weaker around some people?
“Your podcast? Ranger’s never mentioned it, so I take it he doesn’t know.”
“Um,” she shook her head in hopes of clearing the fog from her mind. “No. No, they don’t know. I, uh, I wanted it to be successful before I told anyone.”
“From what I’ve heard, it’s going well. You’ve been my go-to podcast since I stumbled upon it a few months ago. I’m still trying to catch up to your earlier episodes.”
Becks’ cheeks flushed. “Please don’t. The earlier ones are really rough. I think I only had three subscribers back then.”
“Nah, those are the best ones. They’re more real.”
Becks let out a self-deprecating laugh. “I recorded one in the bathroom at work because I ran out of time to record it in my studio. I kept having to pause any time someone walked in.”
The expression on Ghost’s face showed surprise, but also amusement. “I will definitely be listening for that one.”
She studied him for a long moment. “I don’t call myself by my legal name on the podcast. There’s no reason for you to look further into the podcast—unless you’re some creep who intended to stalk me and then murder me because you disagreed with something I said…?” Becks left the question open-ended.
Ghost chuckled. Actuallychuckled. Holy fuck, she’d made him laugh! She wanted to do it again!
“I recognized your voice, and it’s rare for me to find something we disagree on.”
Her voice? She wasn’t sure if she should be flattered by that or not, but also didn’t want to lose the good mood he was now in. “Oh, really? Like what?”
“The Princess Bride.”
Becks tried to recall the last time she’d discussed her favorite movie on the show. She tried not to bring her own personal feelings into it, being open about facts and deeper insights into what it took to create the movies. “What about it?”
“How isthatyour favorite movie? When you have incredible features like12 Angry MenorOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,how can you land on a movie that is so overrated that it has single word references?”
A hand to her chest, Becks gasped out, “Inconceivable!” in feigned horror.
Ghost shook his head, but she caught the small smile on his lips and practically glowed with pride. “You just made my point for me,” he pointed out.
