Page 10
He paused just inside the kitchen and breathed in a deep breath. The way he let it out was almost sexual, and the way his eyes zoomed straight to the table and my spread was a compliment in and of itself.
Except then Bastian stiffened and turned back to the hall. Without a word, he walked away.
I nearly freaked out. “Is something wrong?” I asked, following him at a quick pace.
“Oh, no,” Bastian said, a splash of color staining his pale face. “Sorry. Sometimes I forget to explain myself. It happens when you spend most of your time working with dead people.”
He froze as if he didn’t like what he’d said, but I laughed. “It must be nice working with people who don’t talk back or question your methods.”
For a second, Bastian just stared at me, pupils dilated. Then he smiled and continued down the hall to the staircase.
“I need to set my equipment up before we eat,” he said as he mounted the stairs two at a time on his long, sexy legs. “It’s best to set everything up then to leave the ghosts to come out and make themselves known in peace. We can do that while we eat.”
“What kind of equipment do you need to set up?” I asked, feeling a little like Polo as we both followed Bastian down the hall.
He took his time to reply, looking into the rooms on the second floor and opening a few doors that were closed as he did. He was back in character as a mysterious ghost hunter at work, which had my heart beating fast. He made it all the way down to the end of the hall, where my room was, looked inside, then pulled back and turned around quickly, slightly flushed.
He wasn’t the only one. I was buzzing with heat and excitement. The whole house felt warm and…curious.
“Tell me which rooms you suspect the ghosts inhabit and I’ll set up my equipment and explain it as I go along,” he said.
“Great,” I beamed. I surveyed the doors myself before pointing to one of the ones that I’d barely touched in my early renovation efforts. “I think there’s a lot of paranormal activity in this front bedroom.”
Bastian nodded once, then strode into that room with me. Polo followed us. Bastian took his backpack off his shoulder, crouched to set it on the floor, then zipped it open.
“This is an EMF detector,” he explained, taking something that looked like it belonged on the set of a sci-fi show out of the backpack. It had an antenna, four toggle switches, and four different colored lights, one above each switch. He set it on the floor in the middle of the room and flicked some sort of master switch on the side. “This particular model is a four-in-one. It picks up magnetic fluctuations, temperature changes, vibrations, and changes in static electricity.”
“Are those ghosty things?” I inched closer, peering at the instrument over Bastian’s shoulder, no idea if it was real or if he was putting me on.
“Absolutely,” Bastian said, leaving the detector on the floor, standing, and pulling out his phone. “The presence of paranormal activity makes itself known through subtle changes in our material fields. Static electricity is a big one. Tiny changes in temperature is another.”
“I’ve definitely felt the cold spots,” I said, moving even closer to him so I could look over his shoulder at the app on his phone, which he was pairing with the device.
Bastian wasn’t cold. Warmth radiated from him. Given that it was late-October and the house was drafty, I wanted to snuggle right up against him and share that warmth.
“We’ll leave the room mostly untouched, giving the ghosts a chance to interact with the equipment,” he said, heading for the door, me and Polo following him again. “Some spirits love interacting with the material world. Some hate it. We won’t know what kind are haunting your house until they trigger the equipment.”
“I hope if it’s Josaiah he’s feeling friendly,” I said as Bastian strode across to one of the rooms on the other side of the hall to set up another detector. “I mean, I feel like he’s friendly. I don’t feel any bad energy in the house, just…restlessness.”
Bastian hummed and nodded as he crouched to set up the second detector. I loved the way his coat spread around him as he did, and the way his hair seemed to stand out even more against the black of his hat.
“I should have offered to take your coat and hat,” I hissed once he’d stood, configured his phone app a second time, then headed back out into the hall. “That’s what a polite host should do.”
“It’s all part of the experience,” Bastian said, then headed back toward my bedroom.
“It’s a fun experience,” I said, stepping into the room with him, insides flipping.
Maybe that’s all it was. Ghost hunting was theatrical, when all was said and done. It was make-believe with a touch of real-world consequences. I still wasn’t sure if I believed the whole thing or not, but it was fun to pretend.
Which was all well and good, but the way Bastian paused before the open door to my room and said, “I should have asked before. Are you alright with me going into your bedroom?”
“Absolutely,” I said with way too much enthusiasm.
Bastian was still being serious, but I could have sworn something smoldered in his eyes for a second before he nodded and walked into my room.
It wasn’t that I expected anything from having Bastian in my bedroom, but I’d cleaned the place until it shone that afternoon just in case. The bed was neatly made with fresh sheets, the bureau had been straightened and dusted, the rug had been vacuumed, and I’d even washed the windows. I was glad for all the work I’d done when Bastian glanced around, the flush in his cheeks somehow more pronounced. He drew in a breath, which made me glad I’d had a scented candle lit in the room earlier, then crouched to set up another EMF detector.
“That should do it,” he said once it was ready, standing. He tapped on his phone to connect to the detector, then raised his eyes and looked at me. His mouth opened, but it took a second of staring at me before any words came out. “I’ll have supper now.”
