Page 28 of Road Trip With the Ghost Hunter
“Don’t you dare say that and not mean it.” I shook my head, and stupid tears returned.
Lucas pulled my body into his, holding me as my arms folded and became trapped against his chest. “I’m sorry I let you go,” he said quietly. “I thought you needed me to.”
My head shook back and forth, tears dripping off my chin. Lucas delicately brushed them off my cheeks. “How are you here?” I whispered.
“I came as soon as I could. I just had to sober up first.” When my expression questioned, he smiled. “Are you staying anywhere? Can we talk? Without,” he tipped his head toward the saloon.
I turned my head and saw we had an audience. Well, shit. I tucked my head against his chest to hide. It vibrated with the deep chuckle he released, and I almost whimpered because hearing it felt so good. I missed him so much. I breathed him in. My hands, at his chest, gripped his shirt.
While his arm wrapped tightly around my waist, Lucas’s lips pressed on my head. “Let’s get out of here.”
I nodded and let him lead us out. I caught Melody’s smiling face. She gave me a very enthusiastic thumbs up, which made me laugh. I couldn’t believe he was here. His firm body holding mine felt like a dream. The sun beamed as we stepped outside. My tipsy brain hissed, but I just used the excuse to press my face closer into Lucas’s body.
I knew the likelihood of finding forever with this man was slim to none, but please, Universe, God, whoever, whatever was listening…let me keep him.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Lucas
The room was pretty great and not what I expected from a Western hotel called Rustic Love. Dark wood beams lined the ceiling. A stone arch framed the large bed with an ornate wooden headboard. The tones were very neutral, warm, and cozy.
Li sat on the edge of the bed, facing me in the corner chair I dragged over so we were face to face. I hated seeing her red-rimmed eyes. Right now, she couldn’t seem to meet my eyes. Li focused on her hands as she picked at the skin on her left thumb. I wanted to reach over and hold that hand, calm her anxiety, but I felt I owed her an apology first. I had to earn her.
“You were right,” I started, which got her attention. “We shouldn’t have gone there.” I didn’t need to clarify where I meant. She knew. “After his fall, the guilt that I wasn’t there was this parasite that just grew. Here,” I gripped my chest. “He was never coherent in the hospital. He was in that coma, and I begged him to come back.” My throat closed up. Clearing it, I continued. “My co-worker went off one night, we were all having a beer about these famous ghost hunting routes.” Scoffing, I shook my head. “I’ve never been one to care or believe much in the supernatural. I can’t explain it. It was this sudden need that came over me.”
When I looked up, Li watched me intently, her breathing was steady and calm. I watched her chest rise and fall like a meditative ballad, giving me strength. The sun streaked inthrough the window behind me, branding her porcelain skin. I wanted to rest my open palm on it.
“Being there that night, it didn’t feel right, but I ignored it. I wanted so desperately to talk to him, apologies for not being there,” I hiccupped.
Li moved instantly. She came over and sat on my lap, taking my face in her hands and running her fingers softly up and down my bearded cheek.
“It wasn’t your fault,” she whispered.
“It felt like my fault,” I whispered back.
She kissed my forehead before facing me and continuing to soothe me with her gentle touches.
“I fell in love with you too,” I confessed, still nervous even though I heard her confess at the saloon the same thing when I stood behind her.
Her breath hitched, and she remained still. “I know,” I continued. “It seems wild and unrealistic, but you know what?” She watched me, holding her breath. “Unless you’ve fallen, you could never get it. Before you, I would have argued it wasn’t real. I would have laughed it off as fiction. But until it happens to you, someone wouldn’t get it. Does it make any sense? No. That doesn’t make it any less real.”
Those warm eyes that hid nothing were filled with tears. She still wasn’t breathing. I brought my face close to hers until our noses touched and whispered, “Breathe, love.”
She inhaled deeply and sharply as those welled-up tears drew a river down her soft cheeks. Pulling my face in with her hands, she kissed me. Fuck, I almost forgot how soft and full her lips were. Wrapping my arms around her, I pulled her closer, licking the seam of her lips. Li opened for me, letting me taste her. Both of us groaned at first touch. My body lit with currents firing up my spine. I rested my hand at the back of her neck, tangling myfingers into her soft strands. Pulling away, we panted, breathing the other in. I searched her eyes.
“Do you regret it?” I asked.
“What?” she breathed.
“Falling?”
Her eyes bounced back and forth, trying to read mine. I got it. The fear. Not just admitting the fall but officially taking the step off the cliff into the crashing waves below.
“No,” she whispered.
“Good,” I whispered back, relief coating my veins. “Me neither.”
The smallest smile tipped her lips before she looked over at the bed, then back at me. Suddenly, those soulful eyes, afraid to be brave a second ago, turned hooded with the same need I felt tightening my body.
