Page 23 of A Haunting at Keystone Manor

“I’d love that.” He’s getting choked up thinking about his parents and I want more than anything to be able to give that to him.

“We’ll figure it out.”

He turns in my arms and leans in close. His mouth hovers just over mine as he asks, “Can I kiss you?”

I hesitate for a second, studying him, his expression open. He has no expectations for how the rest of this date will go. If I said no, he’d respect it. Wouldn’t he? I have to know.

“No,” I whisper, and hold my breath as I study his expression. Instead of the anger I expect to see there, his eyes widen for a fraction of a second before he gives me a warm smile.

“No, yeah, way too soon. That’s definitely at least a second date kind of thing,” he says and tries to twist back around in my hold. He doesn’t berate me for my boundaries, doesn’t grab my hair and force me down, doesn’t take what he wants despite my protests. I tighten my grip on his waist, stilling his movements.

“Wait.”

He stills in my lap, biting his lip as he looks up at me. He’s so cute like this, off his game and a little unsure.

“Yes,” I decide.

His breath catches. “Yes? Are you sure?”

“Very.”

He cups the back of my neck with a hand, and brings his lips to mine. He pauses for just a moment, giving me time to pull away if I want to. I don’t want to. I close the distance between us and he kisses me tenderly before deepening the kiss and shoving his tongue in my mouth. God, he’s hot when he takes control like that. What does that say about me? I don’t even care, as long as he never stops kissing me like that.

He pulls away and I let him go. “Pretty good first date, don’t you think?” he asks.

“Perfect,” I say.

“Does this mean I can take you on another?”

“No.” His face falls a little before I continue. “I’m taking you on the next date.”

He perks up at that. “Ooh, where?”

“That’s for me to know, and you to find out.”

“I can’t wait,” he says and kisses me again. After a while, his hand trails down my stomach and is headed for my waistband. I grab it without thinking, stopping his perusal. I’m frozen for a minute, holding onto the hand and trying to come up with an explanation that doesn’t make me feel like an idiot. It’s just Alex. He doesn’t try to pull away, just lets me hold onto him while working through my feelings.

“Sorry, I got a bit carried away. I won’t do that again.” He looks up at me, apology in his eyes.

I suck in a deep breath. “It’s okay. I want you to, but maybe we can take this slow for now?” He nods in agreement and gently pulls his hand out of my grip, placing it back around my neck.

“Just kissing for now?”

“Yeah. You’re a very talented kisser.” He preens as he leans in again, and we get lost in each other until the sun starts to set behind the lake, painting the sky various shades of orange, red, and yellow.

Chapter sixteen

A Haunting at Keystone Manor

Alex

A family of four have just arrived at the manor; two young kids, a girl and boy, and their parents. Kayla is currently getting them checked in. As I watch them, an idea slowly forms. I don’t realize I’m smirking until Jake says, “Oh no, you’re not going to haunt these guests. We need them to keep up appearances.”

“But Jake,” I whine. “I need the practice, and it would be so fun!” He sighs, knowing he’s not going to be able to keep me from haunting the guests just a little. “You know why I need to do this.”

“I know, brat. Ok, you can scare them a little, but not enough to send them packing. Understand?”

“One hundred percent. A minor haunting. Hey, maybe that’ll drive traffic to the hotel. People love visiting haunted places. We could become famous!”