They stayed like that for a long moment, both breathing hard, hearts pounding against each other. Ghost's forehead dropped to her shoulder, his breath hot against her skin.
When he finally moved, pulling out of her and rolling to his side, he immediately pulled her against him. She curled into his chest, her head resting over his heart.
"Rachel?" His voice was quiet, almost hesitant.
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad you're here. With me."
She tilted her head to look up at him. "Me too."
He kissed her forehead, his arms tightening around her. They lay there in the lamplight, tangled together, neither of them speaking. Just being.
After a while, Ghost shifted. "Come on. Let's clean up and go sit for a bit."
They got up and went to the bathroom. He washed her gently with a warm cloth, then himself. They pulled on comfortable clothes, her in his shirt again, him in sweatpants, and padded out to the living room.
***
Later, they ended up on the couch with leftover pizza reheated in the oven. Rachel was curled against Ghost's side, her feet tucked under her, picking at a slice. His arm was around her shoulders, his hand playing with her hair.
Some home renovation show played on the TV, but neither of them was watching. They were just sitting together in the comfortable quiet that had developed between them over the past three days.
"Can I ask you something?" Ghost said after a while.
"Sure."
"Tell me about yourself."
Rachel laughed. "I already told you about my family. My brother. My parents."
"I know." He shifted to look at her, his hand stilling in her hair. "But I want to know more. Not just about your family. About you. What makes you happy. What you love. Things that have nothing to do with work or this shit we're dealing with."
Rachel set her plate on the coffee table and turned to face him. "Why?"
"Because I want to know everything about you."
The way he said it, so simple, so honest, made her chest feel tight and full.
"Okay." She thought for a moment, then smiled. "I love horses."
His eyebrow raised. "Horses?"
"Not like 'oh, horses are pretty' love. Like certifiably horse crazy." She felt herself warming to the topic, memories flooding back. "I used to ride competitively when I was younger. All the way through college."
Ghost's expression softened, his full attention on her. "Yeah? What kind of riding?"
"Eventing. It's like the triathlon of horseback riding—dressage, cross-country, show jumping. I was pretty good at it too." She smiled at the memory, could almost smell the leather and hay. "Spent every spare minute at the barn. My parents thought I was insane. Spending all my money on lessons and entry fees instead of, you know, normal teenage stuff."
"Why'd you stop?"
"Life, I guess. After college, I got my first journalism job. Started traveling more. There wasn't time anymore." She looked down at her hands, at the way her fingers had automatically started twisting together. "I miss it sometimes. The smell of hay and leather. The feeling of a good horse underneath you, the way their musclesmove. The way everything else just... disappears when you're riding. It's just you and the horse and the rhythm. Nothing else matters."
Ghost was quiet for a moment, just looking at her. His hand came up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "You should go back to it. After this is over."
"Maybe." She met his eyes. "What about you? What makes Logan Hayes happy?"
He considered that, his gaze drifting toward the windows where the night had turned full dark. "Honestly? Most of the time, not much. I'm pretty good at work. Pretty shit at everything else."
