A Haunted Romance by Sindra van Yssel Read Free Book Online

to be an issue. He probably wouldn’t want sex with her again anyway. No sense in getting worked up over a quick fuck.
    She showed him the room that was to be her office. The plaster was still curing, but at least the hole was fixed.
    “You gonna try to find paint to match the mauve in here, or gonna pick a whole new color and do the whole room?”
    “I thought I’d do the whole room. Something neutral. I’ve always liked that earthy Mediterranean look, you know?”
    Trent nodded. “Looks good on plaster walls.” He was looking at her books. She couldn’t blame him. She always did the same thing when she went over to people’s houses, but she’d only brought a single box of them. Most of them she’d written. She liked having them there for inspiration, to remind herself that she could indeed write and finish a book.
    “Cat Connors.” He pulled one from the shelf. “These are great. You’re a careful reader to have kept them in such great condition.”
    She glowed. He liked her books! She wouldn’t mention that the books were in great condition because she’d never opened them. They stood in marked contrast to the worn style guide and the dictionary.
    Suddenly her heart beat a little faster. There was a picture of her on the inside cover. She was all in makeup, her hair freshly done—she didn’t think it looked much like her. But with the book and her side by side, along with the fact that she had the complete set of them and only a few other books—she took the book from him and put it back on the shelf. “Yeah. They’re good, aren’t they? I like them too. I mean they’re really…okay.”
    He raised a single eyebrow again, and that stopped her babbling.
    “So shall we tackle the attic?” he asked.
    “Yeah.” She took a breath, relieved. That neatly solved the issue of avoiding the bedroom too.
    The attic stairs came down as easily as they’d gone up and without a sign of whatever had given her brother trouble. Maybe he’d pushed when he should have pulled, although it seemed pretty obvious. She and Arnold didn’t see eye to eye on much, but he wasn’t stupid.
    Neither she nor Trent mounted the stairs. She really wanted him to go first, in case there were spiders, but she didn’t want to ask and admit she was scared. Besides, black widows were a legitimate thing to be scared of. It wasn’t just a case of arachnophobia.
    He moved closer to her, away from the stairs, until she could smell him. He’d been working outside all day, but it wasn’t a bad smell, just a very male one.
    She looked up at him, afraid he would kiss her, hoping he would. Once their lips touched, she knew the rest would follow.
    His eyes were full of desire, but he didn’t move even closer. “It’s too bad Dalton’s coming back with groceries.”
    “Yeah.”
    “The attic,” he said.
    “Yeah.”
    “One of us needs to go first—you’re the owner, you decide who.”
    “Yeah.” She shook her head. “I mean, why don’t you go first, if that’s all right.”
    “As you wish.” He kissed her. It was just long enough to take her breath away and leave her wanting more when he drew back. He turned, climbed the ladder, and she followed. It was a nice angle for butt watching, and she had to admit she liked the view.
    He offered a hand to help her up when he reached the top. Hopefully that means there aren’t any spiders.
    “Be careful. My sister-in-law said there were poisonous spiders in the shed, so—”
    “Yep.”
    She didn’t think that was a reassuring response. He played his flashlight around the room, and she heard sounds of things scattering. Mice, probably. She didn’t rule out very large spiders. Still, they were moving away, and that was the right direction.
    There were a couple of chests in the attic, wrapped in plastic, and several large cardboard boxes, also wrapped in plastic. The chests looked ancient. The boxes, on the other hand, all bore the same packing company logo and were almost new. A