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He pulls me into his arms, and I don’t fight it.

“She seems lovely. I enjoyed talking with her.”

I open one eye and see him grinning at me.

“She reminds me of you, actually.”

I grimace. “We do have a lot in common, but I don’t exactly love being compared to my mama, especially by the man I’m dating.”

We both freeze at my words, and I instantly wish I could take back that last part.

“Is that what we’re doing?” he asks, voice soft. “Dating?”

I swallow my nerves and go for it. “Well, that’s how I see it. But how about you?”

To my deep relief, he gives a slow nod.

“Aye, it’s been quick, there’s no doubt about that. But we were both single when we met, and we don’t want to see anyone else at the moment, do we?”

“Heck, no!”

His lips twitch. “Me neither.” His expression sobers. “I won’t lie. This connection that we have isn’t something I can simply dismiss as a fluke, but I also know your time here in London isn’t indefinite.”

“My plane is scheduled to leave a week from today,” I admit.

His brow furrows and he searches my face. “What does that mean for us?”

“I don’t know,” I say, and take hold of his hand in mine. “What I do know is that at this moment, I don’t want this thing between us to end when I leave.”

“Neither do I,” he says, his voice raspy with emotion.

Relief washes over me. “I don’t know how we’ll proceed once I return home, but I’m confident we can figure it out. And if this is meant to be, we’ll make it work, distance or no distance.”

“We’ll figure it out together, all right?”

“Sounds like a plan to me, sugar. Now about that shower…” I say, waggling my eyebrows.

Callum laughs, and the beautiful sound makes me fall for him a little bit more.

CHAPTER

TWENTY

RULE #150: MAKE SURE YOUR MOBILE IS ON SILENT WHEN GHOST HUNTING

In our modern age, it can be easy to forget to switch your mobile to silent mode. But this becomes especially important when ghost hunting.

If you’re attempting to maintain stealth, the sudden blaring of your ringtone in the eerie silence of a haunted building is going to alert every ghost in the vicinity to your precise location. Worse, they may assume you are trying to contact them.

Additionally, some ghosts are startled by loud noises. A ringing phone could send a spirit into a full spectral meltdown, thus making your job that much more difficult.

Under no circumstances should you answer your phone while pursuing ghosts. This is both tactically unsound and, quite frankly, embarrassing. Maintain professionalism at all times.

Lastly, tormenting spirits is, in a nutshell, bad form. If they are lingering in this world, they are probably having a difficult time of it already. Don’t be a jerk.

—ExorSquad Employee Safety Manual and Operational Guidelines (Revised Edition)

Callum