Thank goodness there were none in her shop. Probably thanks to her squatter of a cat, Mr. Darcy. At least he was doing something for his room and board.

  But apparently, Liam’s lab wasn’t so lucky.

  A lab, by the very nature of its purpose, seemed like it should be kept super clean. At least rodent free. Of course, Liam was working with cadavers, studying the effects life had on the body, so maybe cleanliness was less of a concern.

  Liam shrugged at her question. “That building’s so old, who knows what’s in there. Thanks to you, I do know I have ghosts. Maybe the motion detectors picked up one of them? Although I’m sure Gabe was with you all night…”

  She didn’t miss the tone of his comment about Gabe, but she couldn’t deal with Liam while standing outside the back door. Inside, however, was a different story. There she could use all of her womanly wiles to soothe his ego.

  The cold was starting to settle into her bones anyway.

  “Can we go in?” she asked.

  “Of course.” Liam held open the door she unlocked then he followed her in, relocking it once they were both inside.

  “We alone?” he asked with a glance around them, not that he would have been able to see what he was obviously looking for. That being ghosts.

  She moved and glanced around the shop area to appease Liam. “Mr. Darcy’s glaring at us. I’m assuming he’s unhappy because we disturbed his sleep. But otherwise, yes, we’re alone.”

  The black cat was stretched out, appropriately, on top of the bookcase which contained the shop’s Jane Austin collection.

  “Good.” Liam took a step closer and pulled her against him. “I missed you tonight.”

  Wrapping her arms around his waist, she gazed up into the green pools of his eyes.

  “I was only gone for like two hours,” she teased, even though she absolutely loved that he’d missed her.

  “We could have done a lot with those two hours,” he said, his voice suggestively deep and heavy with innuendo.

  She knew that statement to be true and wouldn’t mind repeating the experience.

  “Then we’d better start making up for lost time.” She was just closing in on his mouth when her cell chimed with a text alert.

  Liam groaned. “Ignore it.”

  There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who can ignore a text alert and those who cannot.

  “Okay,” Natalie agreed even though, while Liam was firmly of the former mindset, she was in the latter camp. No alert should go unchecked.

  What if it was important? An emergency. Or not, but if she checked then she’d know that and would be able to continue with Liam with a clear head. With all of her focus on him. He’d want that, right?

  As his lips were just about to collide with hers, she pulled back. “Let me just check quick.”

  He let his head fall back as his hands dropped away from her hips. “Go ahead.”

  “Thank you. Love you.”

  “Uh-huh,” he grumbled as he turned toward the apartment in the back.

  Knowing he’d probably grab a beer from the fridge she kept stocked for him and be fine, Natalie slipped the cell out of her pocket and saw the text from Harper.

  Harper

  I found something!

  OMG! What?

  This!

  A picture loaded. A close up shot of dark wood with scratches in it. But when Natalie blew up the image and zoomed in she could see they were numbers. One, nine, two and zero.

  What do you think it means?

  I don’t know. A date maybe?

  Rather than a text reply, the cell rang in Natalie’s hand and Harper’s name appeared.

  “Hello,” Natalie said as she answered it.

  “Oh my God. So if it is a date, the year, that would mean that over a hundred years ago someone stood in this very spot and scratched in the year nineteen-twenty.”

  “Where did you find it? Where in the house?” Natalie asked.

  “The bedroom I showed you. I went back to close the shutters and because of the way the light was hitting the wood, I spotted the numbers.”

  That was the same room where the ghost had been hiding. And if it was a year, it was the same era her clothing looked to be from.

  “What do you think? Maybe it was one of the kids who lived here back then being bad,” Harper said.

  “Like roaring twenties graffiti,” Natalie suggested.

  Wishing Gabe’s afterlife came with a cell phone so she could text him with the new revelation, she knew she’d have to wait until whenever he wandered into the shop tomorrow.

  Harper sighed. “I would love to know the story behind it. It kills me but I suppose we’ll never know for sure.”

  Or maybe they would…

  She remembered Gabe’s promise that he would go back to talk to the ghost there.

  Maybe with this new discovery he’d be inspired to return sooner rather than later. Or perhaps Natalie could ask Harper to bring her upstairs to see the date in person.

  “Anyway, I should let you go,” Harper said. “I was just so excited I had to tell you. I know you love this old stuff as much as I do.”

  “Maybe more.” Natalie laughed.

  History took on new meaning now she could actually talk to the people who’d lived it. Although Harper had no idea that was why Natalie was so interested and she had no intention of telling her or anyone else.

  “And hey, feel free to call or text if you come up with any clues about my bone or the date. Day or night,” Natalie added.

  Liam wouldn’t approve but this was important. They were in the midst of an investigation.

  The numbers scratched into Harper’s woodwork were intriguing, as was the ghost of the young woman, but the bone in her backyard was the real mystery she needed solved. And something inside Natalie told her it might all be connected.

  Chapter Five

  Harper’s nineteen-twenty woodwork graffiti had been interesting, but Natalie doubted Liam would be all that excited about it. So after disconnecting with Harper, Natalie made her way back to her apartment to find him and get back to business.

  The business of love.

  She smiled at her own cheesy thoughts but allowed herself the leeway to be a little corny when it came to her and Liam’s relationship.

  Even after these past months and all they’d been through together, this thing between them still felt new.

  So new she still expected it to fall apart any day. But also so new she continued to revel in the euphoria of the honeymoon period.

  She’d wake next to him amazed it was real and not a dream, and he was in her bed more mornings than not. Not that they were living together. They weren’t.

  They’d never actually had that conversation. But he’d stopped renting a room at Mudville House months ago. And even though he had a small living area in the warehouse, he spent more nights here than he did there.

  She couldn’t blame him. They both lived where they worked, but residing in the same building as a wine and book shop was very different than sleeping in the back of his lab knowing the cadavers were just a wall away.

  Not to mention the fact Liam’s cadavers’ ghosts tended to hang around their bodies at the lab.

  Not Gabe, of course. His social life was rocking now he was a spirit. But the other two—the older ladies—they were homebodies and barely if ever left the lab as far as she could tell. A fact Liam pretended didn’t bother him but she knew it did.

  She was fine with Liam being here so much. More than fine. She loved it. And not just because he’d figured out how to bleed the air out of the old radiators so that now they got toasty warm. Or because he was so tall he could reach all the high things she used to have to drag out the ladder for.

  It was nice to have him there after a long day of work. To vent to. To snuggle with—Mr. Darcy the cat was not a snuggler. To eat with. Watch television with.

  Do other things with…

  The old train station was plenty large. Enough she’d been able to carve out a decent sized apartment for herself while still having space for the wine and book shop and the room for book club meetings.

  Her apartment in back was small by upstate standards, but as large as what she’d rented in the city that had cost her a small fortune each month. The space was more than large enough to accommodate her six-foot plus boyfriend and the big new bed she’d splurged on last year.

  When she made her way back to her apartment after the phone call, Liam was sitting on the sofa in front of the television she’d moved from her city apartment.

  Captain Kirk and Doctor McCoy were on the screen. Liam had discovered the twenty-four-hour Star Trek channel and though he never forced her to watch it with him when they were together, it was usually what he defaulted to when she wasn’t in the room.

  She spared barely a glance at the TV before she tossed her cell on the side table and then straddled Liam’s lap, facing him.

  He dropped the remote on the sofa cushion and planted both hands on her hips.

  His dark brow cocked up. “Done with your call?”

  “Yes. Done with your show?” she asked with as much attitude as he’d used.

  “I could be.” He smirked. “Why, what did you have in mind?”

  “Nothing, if you’d rather watch a fifty-year-old television series,” she said while giving just a little wiggle against him.

  “Actually, the original series is closer to sixty years old. And don’t mock it. A lot of the technology turned out to be insanely on point when considered from a modern perspective.”

  She sniffed. “Spoken like a true sci fi nerd.”

  “Spoken like a scientist and researcher,” he countered while pressing against her.

  After running his lips down her throat, he said, “I would think a romance lover like you should appreciate this show. It can get pretty hot. Kirk was quite the space slut. And then there’s that deal with Spock’s pon farr.”

  “If this discussion is foreplay, I have to tell you that your dirty talk needs work.” But it didn’t make her pull away from him. Not a chance.

  He nipped playfully on her earlobe with his teeth, an enjoyable little habit he did often enough she’d stopped wearing earrings.

  The low groan from Liam, combined with the hard length she felt between them, said he’d forgiven her for checking that text and taking the phone call from Harper.

  As he moved his hands over her, she didn’t even care she could still hear the sounds of the Enterprise’s transporter coming from the television.

  Her eyes drifted closed at the feel of the heat of his palms as he slid them up her sides beneath her shirt.

  It looked like they might not be relocating from the sofa to the bed. That was fine. She’d splurged on new curtains for every window in her apartment when she’d moved in last year so they had privacy.

  “Natalie! I have news⁠—”

  She screeched at the sound and gave Liam a shove. Leaning away from him she fell off his lap, landing on her butt with an oomph in the narrow space between the sofa and the coffee table.

  Gabe covered his eyes. “Oh, shit. Sorry. Sorry.”

  She scowled at him. “What the hell are you doing here? You know the rules.”

  “Excuse me, but I thought it was safe when I saw the living room light on. Why aren’t you in the bedroom if you’re going to be doing…this?” Gabe indicated the this with a wobble of his hands between them.

  “I can do whatever I want, wherever I want. It’s my apartment. Hence the no ghosts allowed rule.”

  “I know the rule and I’m sorry. But I knew you’d want to hear this.”

  Natalie contorted and condensed herself enough to flip over onto her knees and use the coffee table to help her stand. When she was upright and facing back the other direction she saw Liam too was on his feet.

  “Hey. Sorry about this. Gabe⁠—”

  “No. Say no more.” Liam’s hand up, palm toward her, in combination with the hard set of his jaw had her abandoning her explanation.

  He moved past her.

  “I’m gonna sleep in the lab.”

  Her mouth dropped open. What exactly did that mean? Was this for just tonight? Forever? Was he angry now but he’d get over it? Or were they done for good?

  She was still speechless as he mumbled, “Talk to you tomorrow.”

  Then he slammed the back door closed.

  Spinning, she glared at Gabe.

  He threw up both hands in front of him protectively, as if she’d actually be able to harm him. She couldn’t, even if right now she really wanted to.

  “Natalie. Calm down.”

  “I will not calm down. What if he just broke up with me because of you?”

  Gabe cocked up a brow. “If he did then he’s not worth your time. Seriously, Nat. If he can’t handle the little things, what’s going to happen when the big things come around?”

  “And this sage advice is coming from a man who died single,” she pointed out.

  “I’d remind you that he’s not far behind me in age and he too is single. And he’s a man, so maybe I might have some insight you as a woman don’t. Hmm?”

  She refused to admit he might be right. But between her pulse pounding with fear over where her relationship stood making her lightheaded and the nausea twisting her stomach from the thought that she might no longer have a relationship, she collapsed back against the sofa.

  Sleep wasn’t going to come tonight. Not with this worry hanging over her head and the growing ache in her heart.

  Maybe she could let Liam cool off for a few minutes then go over and apologize.

  They’d have an audience in his lab, not to mention she’d have to walk past the body parts that were always laid out on the examining tables, but to not have to endure this sick feeling of uncertainty all night would be worth it.

  Until then, she might as well find out why Gabe had felt the need to swoop in here and ruin her life.

  With a sigh she said, “Go ahead. You might as well tell me about your news since you’re here.”

  He folded his arms over his chest. “Maybe I don’t want to anymore.”

  She had no more patience for petulant men.

  Low and slow in a tone that left no doubt she was at the end of her rope, Natalie said, “Gabe…”

  “Fine.” As excitement took over he dropped his arms and his expression lit. “The ghost we saw at Harper’s. Word around the boneyard is that she was murdered and they never found the body.”

  Well, that sure got her attention.

  Chapter Six

  During the course of the past year Natalie had uprooted her entire life to move upstate and open a shop, been electrocuted and technically dead for three and a half minutes, started seeing dead people, and been taken captive by a murderer.

  None of that seemed as frightening as knocking on Liam’s door tonight.

  She raised her fist and hesitated. A montage of possible scenarios ran through her head. Most of them weren’t good.

  Finally, with a “Screw it,” spoken out loud to no one she forced herself into action.

  Pounding her fist against the metal door, she knocked long and hard.

  She wanted no doubt about where she stood with him.

  If Liam didn’t answer, she wanted to be certain it was because he didn’t want to ever see her again and not because he simply hadn’t heard her knock.

  Hearing the deadbolt sliding open had her heart pounding, but she wasn’t in the clear yet. He could just as easily tell her to never darken his doorway again rather than invite her inside.

  Either way, she’d know soon.

  Liam swung the door wide and, looking weary, leaned one forearm heavily on the door frame.

  He drew in a breath that expanded his chest beneath the soft white cotton T-shirt he’d changed into along with gray sweats.

  Finally he raised his gaze to meet hers.

  Breathless, she said, “Hi.”

  After another inhale, and what felt like an eternally long exhale, he responded. “Hi.”

  “I’m so sorry,” she said in a rush.

  His chin dropping, he nodded, before raising his gaze to her again. “I know.”

  She could make excuses, could try to explain all that was happening, but by now she knew him well enough to believe he wouldn’t want to hear any of it.

  It wasn’t any one thing that had happened tonight but an accumulation of everything that brought them here. How she consistently prioritized everything besides him—the shop, the mystery of the bone, Gabe—while assuming Liam would just always be there for her. No matter what.

  She’d needed to tell him she was sorry, but doing so wasn’t enough. She could promise she’d work on balancing everything from now on, but words were meaningless.

  Actions spoke louder. She would have to show him she was going to do better. Be better.

  But for now…

  Natalie flung herself forward, crashing against his hard wall of a chest as she wrapped her arms around his back.

  An overwhelming sense of relief filled her when he wrapped his arms around her back and dropped his chin to rest on the top of her head.

  He drew in a deep breath and let it out against her hair.

  They stayed like that in silence, standing in the open doorway, holding each other tight until Liam said, “Come inside. It’s cold.”

  Regretting the imminent loss of his arms around her she had to admit he was right.

  The heat of his body against hers had warmed her but the brisk night air surrounding them was cold.

  She nodded and finally, reluctantly, let her arms drop.

  Inside, Liam closed and locked the door, then reached for her hand.

  Her small, hope-filled smile was accompanied with tears of relief as he laced his fingers through hers.

  He led her back past the three steel tables holding various bodies and body parts, covered in sheets of plastic but still creepy, and to a door.

  Inside the modest room that he used as his bedroom and living area, Liam turned to face her.

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17