Ghost of a Chance (Banshee Creek Book 2) (46 page)

But Elizabeth didn't seem to mind. Her eyes opened and she smiled broadly. It was the same glorious smile that had blinded him in the library parking lot. She pushed herself off the chair, stumbling in her platform pumps. Really, this woman simply couldn't wear appropriate footwear.
 

She tripped over a stray cable and lunged forward, but Gabe caught her before she hit the floor. A scold died on his lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The kiss was everything he'd fantasized about in the past few days.
 

But a loud throat clearing cut it short. "We're ready for you, Lizzie."

Gabe glared. The tattooed man who'd interrupted them only shrugged.

"I'll be there in a second," Elizabeth said, gently extricating herself from the embrace.

"Where is 'there'?" Gabe asked, already missing the warmth of her body. "What is going on?"

She smiled and turned to grab her script. "The front porch. And I'm filming a show, as you well should know, since I'm told it was your idea."

His idea? He hadn't done anything. No, wait, he had. He'd sent Salvador to L.A.
 

He looked around the messy house. Salvador had done all this in less than a week?

Elizabeth waved a piece of paper at him. It had a purple mansard-roofed house logo with the words
House Haunters
in neon green. "It's a reality show. The TV crew will follow me as I try to sell houses in—" her fingers curled into air quotes, "—'America's Most Haunted Town.' PRoVE will evaluate the houses for otherworldly phenomena, but the show won't be spooky at all. The producers promised to make the town look like a haunted Mayberry, so it's going to look cutesy and adorable. This will completely overhaul the town's image. I'm going to sell so many houses after this. It's going to be fabulous."
 

She was beaming with excitement, but Gabe wasn't so sure. Reality show editing could be a mixed bag. When he'd asked Salvador to pitch a Banshee Creek project to their Hollywood contacts, he'd been picturing a movie, perhaps a TV series. A reality show could backfire.

"Why aren't they making a film?" he asked, trying to figure out where he'd gone wrong.

She rolled her eyes. "They wanted to." She glanced meaningfully at the tattooed director. "But who needs another horror movie about teenagers getting stuck in a haunted house? There's a ton of those." She smiled proudly. "I took the writers out for a beer and convinced them to turn it into a reality show. They were really excited about it. And they promised to make the town look good."

"You trust them to keep their promises?" he asked, thinking hard. Maybe he could talk to Salvador and his lawyers and arrange something.
 

She regarded the motley film crew fondly. "Of course I trust them. They did
Cannibal Clones
with me. They're my buds. They wouldn't steer me wrong. Right, Larry?"

The tattooed man grimaced. "You still got those Toronto party pictures, Lizzie?"

Elizabeth's smile turned smug. "I sure do. And the Crown Attorney Office is on my speed dial."

Mr. Tattoo sighed. "Then I guess you can trust us."

She beamed with triumph. "Arcanum hopes to sell the pilot as a Halloween special. I'm sure the networks will love it. Halloween is such an underserved holiday."

Gabe pictured louche, urbane Salvador Acosta pitching a Halloween TV pilot. He'd pay real money to see that. Hell, maybe he should sell tickets.

"And I have an ace up my sleeve," she said, handing him papers.
 

He glanced at the document quickly. "A contract? For a house?"

"For this house. Don't worry, you have a lot of time to read the fine print. You're not buying the house until the sixth episode. It's our big finale." She turned toward the bespectacled man. "Larry, when are we filming the sixth episode?"

Mr. Tattoo didn't look up. "Wednesday."

"Okay, so that's not that much time. I'll e-mail you a copy so you can send it to your lawyer. It should be an easy read, since you're buying it as-is, no contingencies."

"I'm buying this house? For the show?"

"Yes. Liam will renovate it and do an expansion. We may even film a spin-off with a haunted house contractor." Her eyes narrowed. "Although we may have to reenact the chandelier scene."

"It's been
several
seconds, Lizzie," the tattooed man said.

"I'm coming," she shouted. "Sit down and relax, Gabe. We're almost done for the day, so you can book us the Middleburg Inn suite while you wait. I want to try out that headboard. But one thing first." She pulled a yellow piece of paper out of the stack and handed it to him. "Here. Make sure you take care of this."

The paper had a town seal on it and a bunch of handwritten gibberish.

"What is this?" he asked. All he could make out was the Historical Preservation Committee stamp.

"It's a citation. Your food trucks violated section twenty-two point one of the Historical Preservation Regulations. There's a town meeting tonight." Her eyes twinkled as she walked away. "Make sure you bring your checkbook. You've racked up some hefty fines."
 

Author's Note
: I hope you enjoyed this story. If you did, I'd love it if you took a moment and left a review. Reviews are important to indie authors like me and I appreciate every single one I get.
 

Hungry for more Banshee Creek? A full list of books is available on my website,
www.AniGonzalez.com
along with
mailing list sign-up information.
If you join the mailing list you'll get the first Ghost Hunters After Dark novelette,
A Night with the Golden Goddess
, FREE. This new series features steamy paranormal lockdowns, PRoVE hijinks, and a few lucky couples whose lives are changed by encounters with the paranormal. I hope you enjoy it.

One Night with the Golden Goddess (Ghost Hunters After Dark #1)

A SEAL turned paranormal investigator, a skeptical archaeologist, and a naughty fertility goddess...

what could possibly go wrong?

Turn the page to check out the next book,
Snowbound with Ghost
, and find out how Lily Holroyd faces her greatest nightmare. Thanks to a freak snowstorm, she's trapped for the night with her ex-boyfriend, Sebastian Franco. She betrayed him years ago and the famed Hollywood actor is not the forgiving type.

Thank you for reading -
Ani
.

Snowbound With Ghost (Banshee Creek #1.5)

Trapped with the Hollywood Hellion

Stuck in a cabin during a snowstorm is bad. Stuck in a cabin with the ex-boyfriend you sort-of, kind-of betrayed is even worse. But an otherworldly storm may give Lily Holroyd a chance to reconnect with her old flame, Hollywood heartthrob Sebastian Franco... if they survive the night, that is.

Available Winter 2015.

Copyright and Disclaimer

Copyright © July 2015, Ani Gonzalez

Cover Art by Ani Gonzalez © June 2015

Edited by Rhonda Helms

Copy Edited by DJ Hendrickson

Produced in U.S.A.

Published by FAC Publishing LLC

25883 N Park Ave

Suite 520608

Elkhart, Indiana 46514

http://www.AniGonzalez.com

Ghost of a Chance
is a work of fiction and the characters, events and dialogue found within the story are of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, either living or deceased, is completely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced or shared in any from or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including but not limited to digital copying, file sharing, audio recording, email and printing without permission in writing from the author.