The Winter Spirit ARE (7 page)

“Nate, it’s Owen. I don’t like to complain, but I think your cleaning lady went through my things.”

“What? What cleaning lady?”

Owen gave an annoyed little huff. “The girl who did my room this morning.”

“Elisa? First of all, she’s not a cleaning lady, and second, she’d never go through your things.”

He was silent for a second, and I glanced at my phone to make sure the connection wasn’t gone. “Well,” he eventually said, “if this is you still playing your ghost game, you win, okay? But it’s enough now.”

“I’m not playing any games, Owen. What happened?”

“Look, it’s just not funny anymore, okay? I’ll see you later.”

I stared into space as the line went dead.

“Why are you annoying him, Gabriel? I’m doing what you want, aren’t I?” I grumbled, but got no reply.

At five Elisa stuck her head through the door. “You have one dinner guest tonight,” she told me. “I made lasagna. All you have to do is heat it up. Is it okay if I take off early again? They’re predicting more snow.”

“Sure thing,” I said.

Elisa hesitated in the doorway. “Do you want me to stay? I can, if you want. It’s just that everything’s done.”

“No, of course, sorry. I’m just a little distracted today.”

“Nothing to do with a certain handsome gentleman, I bet,” she said, grinning at me.

“What? Gabriel?” I asked, startled.

“Uh, no.” She stared at me like I’d grown a third eye. “I thought maybe you’d look forward to dinner with just you and Owen.”

“Oh.” Dinner with Owen. I wondered if she’d still be rooting for him if she knew he’d referred to her as a cleaning lady. But yes, dinner with Owen was exactly the distraction I needed. Gabriel’s story was sad, but it wasn’t like I could help him. While Owen…maybe we could help each other. Aw, who was I kidding? Owen and I would never happen. “Is the dynamic duo out for the night?”

“Looks like it.” She waggled her eyebrows. “It’s just the two of you.”

“And our sad ghost,” I said, feeling a sliver of unease trickle down my spine.

Elisa stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. “What’s wrong, Nate? What did you find out about him? You’ve been acting weird all day.”

I sighed and looked down at my paper-strewn desk. I smoothed out a wrinkled bill and slipped it into my ‘paid’ folder. Picking up a fluffy little stress ball in the shape of an octopus and squeezing it, I said, “It’s not a happy story, Elisa. And I sort of think it’s not mine to tell.”

“That poor man. I always figured his ending hadn’t been a good one. Why else stick around as a ghost, right?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? The one I hadn’t been able to ask yet. “I want to find out if we can help him.”

You could fall in love
.

Well. I was about to try.

I sucked in a breath, but didn’t tell her about that morsel he’d spilled the other night.

She gave me a wry smile, like maybe she wanted to help him too, but didn’t believe we could. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Why don’t you sleep in? I’ll come and fix breakfast for everyone. To make up for leaving early. And you know…in case you have a busy night.”

“Get out of here,” I told her, pretending to throw the stress ball at her. With a squeal of laughter, she was out the door. I kept grinning for a while, massaging the ball between my palms, but the smile faded as soon as I started to think of Owen.

What chance did I have? He was gorgeous. And possibly straight. It looked like he was flirting with me at times, but he used to do that when we were kids too. It didn’t mean anything then, and it wouldn’t now. And even though I pulled off the lumbersexual look in winter, in truth I was nothing but a nerdy kid underneath all my layers, with a bit too much pudge around the middle and a tendency to trip over my own feet when I got nervous.

My awkward attraction would be an unwanted side dish to tonight’s lasagna. We’d catch up, swap stories, and right out of my life he’d move. Even if he really did come back and stay at the periphery of it this time. Michigan Center didn’t exactly run rife with eligible bachelors. Owen would be swept up by a pretty girl in no time and the sooner I got my heart out of the equation, the better.

I waited for the stab of disappointment, but it didn’t come.

Owen was already poking around the kitchen when I finally stopped pretending I was still doing something useful and went to put the lasagna in the oven.

“Oh hi,” he said, giving me a blinding smile. “I didn’t mean to step into your territory but I have to admit I’m starving.”

“I’ll whip you up a cheese plate while we wait for dinner,” I said and yanked open the fridge. “Olives?”

“Mm, yes please.” He followed me to the fridge and stood on his tiptoes to peek over my shoulder. “Is that carpaccio?”

“Of tuna, yes. Want some?”

“I’d love some.” He stepped back a little to give me room and I plated everything up nicely.

“How about some wine? I think I have a white Burgundy that’d go well with this aged cheddar,” I told him.

Owen sat down at the wooden table, propped his chin up with his hand and blinked lazily at me. “You’re like a dream come true.”

“I’ll be right back,” I said, and yanked open the door to the cellar. It’d been barely more than a crawl space when Uncle Jack left me the house, but now the basement held a modest collection of wines. Mostly for my own enjoyment, but I didn’t mind sharing. I gently lifted the bottle of Chablis from its spot in the wine fridge and closed the glass door. Gabriel’s face in the reflecting surface surprised me.

“Hey,” I said a little breathlessly. “You okay? I’m sorry I—”

“I’m perfectly fine.” He hesitated. A shadow of his rakish grin was back but I wasn’t buying it. “So. You really like this Owen person?”

I opened my mouth. Closed it. Narrowed my eyes and waved a finger at his far too innocent expression. “Don’t even think about it,” I told him and went back upstairs when he laughed and blinked out of existence.

Owen speared an olive with a toothpick as I reappeared. He grinned at me. “I already started. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not.” I found two wine glasses and put them on the table. “You’re a guest at the B&B. You don’t have to wait for anything.” I nearly dropped the bottle opener when he ran his fingertips along my wrist.

“How about tonight we’re just two old friends, having dinner.”

“Works for me,” I managed. It was a miracle I didn’t end up breaking the cork given the way my fingers trembled. “Wine?”

He didn’t immediately respond. Instead he lowered his eyes to where he was playing with the toothpick. “I’m sorry about earlier. On the phone, I mean. I was rude.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

He lifted his glass with a smile. I poured in no more than a mouthful and he tried it.

“Delicious,” he whispered, eyes closing.

I smiled happily and filled both our glasses.

Dinner proceeded to be surprisingly…boring. Whenever I asked Owen about his life he turned the subject back to me, and since I wasn’t exactly a smooth conversationalist when it came to my own uneventful existence, there was more than one awkward silence. The last one I used to clear the table and do dishes while Owen watched.

“Want to finish the rest of the wine in the lounge?” he asked when I pulled off my so-not-sexy orange gloves and washed my hands.

“Uh, sure.” I waved in the direction of the fridge. “I can make hot cocoa, if you want. With fresh whipped cream.”

“Hmm, that whipped cream could come in handy,” Owen said, then winked at me. I stared after him as he swept up the glasses and bottle and walked out of the kitchen. I followed, a little slower than usual, because that had been a come on. Hadn’t it? And what did that mean? More importantly, why wasn’t my libido sitting up like an eager puppy ready for its long overdue playdate? I was too stunned, most likely.

“Oh, Nate,” I heard Owen say, and turned the corner to find the lounge plunged in almost darkness, the fire banked to a soft glow with candles lining the shelf above the hearth. He put the bottle and glasses on a side table, and took in the room.

Gabriel
. That was the only explanation. Elisa would never take the liberty. I remembered Gabriel’s remark about falling in love. First setting up Elisa and me, and now this. What was he trying to do?

I didn’t get a chance to think about it.

“I always knew.” Owen stalked toward me and I automatically stumbled a little, feeling the door dig into my back. With no help from me at all, it fell into its lock. Owen was on me, stepping close into my space, hands on the lapels of my checkered shirt. “It’s always the quiet ones,” he growled, then yanked me down by the collar and kissed me.

“
Umpf
,” I said when my teeth caught my lip. “Owemmm.” I didn’t get his name out before he tilted his head and kissed me deeper, tongue poking at my mouth. I blinked at him, his face too close to make out anything but…was that concealer?

What was wrong with me? The moment of my fantasies, of my pubescent dreams was upon me, and all I could do was stand there, wide eyed, hands flailing a little. His mouth tasted of chemicals and cherries, like cheap lip balm.

“You smell so good,” he whispered. “God, you have no idea how long I’ve wanted this.” My heart did a little hop and my fingers started to tingle. He always wanted this? A smile tugged at my mouth. He lunged for me again, but I put my hand on his chest and stopped him.

“Really?” I asked. “Do you mean that? Because I always wanted—”

“Are you kidding me? God yes, even when I was still with…” He shook his head, like he was trying to rid himself of the thought. “I used to think about you all the time when we were boys. It’s how I figured out I swung both ways.” He fingered the buttons on my shirt and whispered. “And to see you now all grown up…” He bit his lip and smiled coyly. “I wish I’d done this sooner.”

He’d wanted me too. When he kissed me this time, I closed my eyes and let him in.

It was…intense. Owen’s hands roamed all over me and I had trouble keeping up. I had to lock my knees and lean against the door but he pulled me closer again so only my shoulders were pressed against the wood. His hands groped my back, tugged at my shirt, and his breath burst from his nose like puffs out of a bellows.

I tried to take control a little, slow him down, because my heartbeat ran ahead of me so fast it was uncomfortable. Owen’s hands wandered lower, snuck under my shirt and he dug his fingers into my belly. I tried to squirm away a little because my fat always made me self-conscious but he wasn’t having it. He jiggled my tummy, laughing softly against my mouth, and my face went so hot I thought my ears might take off.

His touch disappeared from my stomach, and I jolted when he palmed my ass and squeezed. Hard.

“Oh, hey,” I began, pulling away. He didn’t allow me to go anywhere.

“Love this,” he muttered. His cheeks were flushed and his grin was predatory, so I believed him, but— “So much more to hang on to when I…” He whacked my right ass cheek and that was it. Visions of my grandpa hitting my behind with his ruler…

My entire body and soul had to nope the hell out of there. I took a deep breath, grabbed his shoulders, looked frantically around the room for an excuse, when an almighty crash made us both jump.

“Shit!”

“What was
that
?” Owen asked, eyes wide. He was breathing heavily and his eyes were glassy. I suppressed a shudder. “Is that a burglar?”

Doubtful. I had a very good idea of who it might be. “Told you this place might be haunted. Let me go check,” I said, and Owen nodded, crossing his arms over his chest as he backed away from me and let me investigate on my own.

Brave guy, that one.

In the kitchen my carefully stacked tower of plates, pots and pans had come tumbling down. Elisa’s favorite earthenware oven dish lay in a dozen pieces on the tile floor.

“Oh, she’s not going to like that,” I mumbled.

“
I
didn’t like the way he was treating
you
,” Gabriel said in my ear and I managed not to yelp. Just.

I looked up and he was towering over me. How could I ever have thought his eyes were cold? They were blazing now, with the heat of scorched summer’s earth.

“Jesus,” I whispered, my heart racing away for a whole other reason. “You set the whole thing up with your candles and whatever.”

“I know that,” he grit out. “And I’m very sorry for it. I’ve never harmed anyone outside the line of duty. In my previous life or this one. But I’ve never been so tempted as I am right now. Even if it means—”

He looked like he was about to stalk to the living room and scare the living daylights out of Owen, so I grabbed his arm and stopped him.

“No, don’t hurt him. It’s fine,” I said quickly and that hot gaze slowly came back to me. The fire in it slowly died.

“I…did I interrupt unduly? Were you…enjoying yourself?”

I laughed a little bit. “No,” I said with a snort. “I really wasn’t. I’d been about to put a stop to it myself, to be honest. You just made it easier.”

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed. “Can I scare him? Just a little bit. Not enough to do any damage. But maybe to hasten his departure.”