Something Wicked: HarperImpulse Romantic Suspense (22 page)

“What do you mean?”

He shrugged and pointed out a large water fountain lit and framed against the ocean. The moon, so large and half full, cast a dreamy glow on the water. They rounded a corner and the Southend Brewery came into view. A familiar face was leaning against the side of the building, a mug of beer in one hand. Smiling, George tipped his hat to her and held his mug up in salute.

She smiled and waved back at him. Dylan leaned forward and followed her gaze. “Let me guess. Our dear friend, George.”

“Yep.”

“Are you going to help him cross over before you leave?”

She’d given the idea a lot of thought. “Yes, but only when he’s ready. He’s happy here. He doesn’t want to cross over, so he shouldn’t be forced to.” Besides, she planned to have a discussion with the friendly ghost before she left. She was going to invite him to attach to her, which meant he could accompany her to Atlanta if he wanted. She suspected he would choose to stay here, but the line of communication would always be open between them. She’d check in every now and then, and if she ever saw any signs he was unstable or transforming, she’d force the issue.

“I put in for a transfer this morning.” Dylan’s words startled her.

“You did what?”

He nodded and grinned, looking somewhat nervous at the same time. “Figured my brother’s in Atlanta. My girl’s in Atlanta. Why not?”

His…girl?

She leaned back and stared at him. “You would move to Atlanta to be near Zach?”

“If it were only Zach, probably not. I think I mentioned my girl was there, too.” He rubbed at his chin. “She is, isn’t she?”

She bit her bottom lip, delighted beyond belief. “Does this
girl
have a name? Do I know her or—” She squealed when he jerked her back down to him.

“Are you my girl or not?”

She laughed. “That’s such a high school term.”

He mock growled and kissed her. “You know what I’m asking.”

She cleared her throat and tried to look seriously offended. “I’m
not
your girl.” His eyes widened and deepened with disappointment, so she was quick to add, “I’m your
woman
.”

His features relaxed. “Whew. I was starting to think my mother was yanking my chain earlier.”

“Huh?”

“Maybe I was hearing things, but—” He shrugged one shoulder. “I heard someone who sounded like her whisper something pretty interesting in my ear.”

She grabbed hold of his shirt. “What’d she say?”

“Only that we would make beautiful children together and I’d better make an honest woman out of you since you are so crazy about me.” He grinned.

Alexandra gasped. “She didn’t!” She narrowed her eyes on him. Zach might have heard Rebecca talking, but no way Dylan could have. She settled back against him, dumbfounded by his words. She whistled. “Your mom approves of me. That puts a lot of pressure on you, doesn’t it? I mean, I admittedly give new definition to the term psycho girlfriend being that I was recently possessed by a demon and all. I suppose some would say I’m quite the handful.”

His voice was laced with amusement. “I think I can handle it.” He pressed her close to his side. “Look. I know we barely know each other, but this thing between us is pretty damn exciting. I’m not ready to give it up.”

She held her breath, waiting for him to elaborate. It took all of her willpower not to fling herself at him and murmur words of undying love. That was so…out of character for her. She’d never been this out of her head gaga over a man before. It was both exciting and terrifying.

But before she made a complete fool of herself, she needed to know he felt the same.

He took a deep breath. “You have to know I’m crazy about you.”

It wasn’t
I love you
, but it was close enough. The poor man had been through a lot today. It probably wasn’t a good idea to encourage him to overdo it.

His eyes simmered with the same mixture of hope and anxiety she’d been experiencing. She lifted a hand and caressed his face. “I’m glad the feeling is mutual.” She pressed a kiss to his mouth, then cuddled close to him. “You’re actually moving to Atlanta?”

“Takes a while for transfers to go through. I’ve also got to sell my house. Should make a good buck off it.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’d like to meet my future sister-in-law and there’s this crazy girl who calls herself Spider I need to take out for coffee. Thought I’d visit you and my brother in Atlanta, and you can come down every now and then. I figure we can handle a five-hour drive between us for a while.”

“It’s a five-hour drive?”

“I looked up directions.”

He had it all figured out. Her chest swelled. “Hmm.” Perhaps she should point out he was about to have a very wealthy sister-in-law who would probably pitch in for airline fees if it meant he spent time with his brother.

Dylan tilted her chin up. “I’m not rushing you, am I?”

Hardly. She pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I admit it. I was wrong.”

“’Bout what?”

“Talking.” She kissed his puckered chin. “Don’t get used to it though. I’m usually right.”

His hearty laughter carried through the night. He lifted her face to capture her mouth in a not-so-gentle kiss.

Alexandra couldn’t see what the future held, but his kiss felt like more than just a promise.

The End

Loved
Something Wicked
? Then don’t miss the first book in Angela Campbell’s wonderful series,
On the Scent
!

Buy On the Scent

And here’s an exclusive sneak peek of book three…

Oh yeah. She was sooo gonna kill that mutt when she got her hands on him. And the cat too, just because.

Emma “Spider” Fisher rattled the locked doorknob one more time and glared at the animals watching her from the other side of the front window. Costello, the dog, panted happily as his stubby legs grasped the windowsill, which barely lifted his head over the ledge, to give her a tongue-lolling, open-mouthed grin. Abbott, the cat, stood in the bay window beside him, watching her with disinterested, narrowed eyes as if she were the stupidest human he’d ever met.

Which was a distinct possibility.

“Ugh!” She rattled the front doorknob again and slapped the doorframe. Yeah, as if that would make it open.

It was the morning after her first night of house-sitting for Zach and Hannah, and she’d already locked herself out. Correction. One of the dogs had escaped the fence, she’d given chase in her PJs, and when she’d ran back to call for help after not being able to catch Charlie, Costello had bumped and shut the door she’d left cracked open.

Locking her out. Without a key. Without a phone.

Without a hope of not being killed by her boss when he returned from his honeymoon.

His beloved blind dog had disappeared after she’d chased him into some trees on the other side of the street. No telling where Charlie was now. God forbid, he could be lying dead on the highway. Might have fallen down a well somewhere. Joined a gang. Who knew?

In fact, who knew a blind dog could run so darn fast to begin with? She’d bet that dog had some Cheetah in his genes.

Heaving a half laugh, half sob, she turned and slid down the door until her bottom met the cold concrete of the front doorstep. A quick scan of the other houses and manicured lawns lining the quiet subdivision was no comfort. Well, maybe it was. No one seemed to peek out of curtains or be aware of her humiliating predicament, although she would have to start pounding on doors soon to see if someone would let her use his or her phone.

Who would she call? One of the so-hot-they-could-melt-the-panties-off-her guys she worked with? She groaned.

This could
not
be happening to her.

A flash of brown movement to her left caught Spider’s attention and sent her heart thumping wildly against her ribcage again.

Charlie was sniffing the grass and following an invisible trail beside the sidewalk in front of the house.
Near the freaking road!
Uttering a squeak, Spider sprang to her bare feet and hurried down the driveway, muttering “owww” and “ouch” every time she stepped on a rock or something sharp in the grass.

She had a hard and fast policy against swearing, but she was seriously reconsidering that rule this morning.

“Charlie!” Her voice carried down the street. She clicked her tongue. “Com’ere boy!”

The dog lifted his head but kept prancing forward as a car came around the curve toward him. Panic seized her chest, releasing its grip only when the vehicle slowed and turned down a side street. The too-smart-for-his-own-good canine perked his ears up and looked in that direction.
Ohmygosh, he’s blind and following sounds.
She had to catch him. She
had
to. If he got out of the subdivision and found a main road—

She whistled and jumped up and down, hoping her feet would smack the pavement and divert his attention. “Charlie!” He turned and took three slow steps toward her.

Good boy! She whistled again and patted the front of her thighs.

The long-legged retriever mix lowered his head, wiggled his raised butt, barked, and darted in the opposite direction.

“No, no, no!” Spider immediately gave chase, hollering his name as often as her winded lungs could manage.

He thought they were playing a game. Oh, for the love of—!

At least the dog was running in circles, not straying outside the neighborhood. She had no idea how long they ran up and down the suburban street lined with a mixture of classic Georgian, English cottage and modern-styled houses. It was mid-morning, and no one had come outside to see what she was blabbering on about. Geez. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. What kind of neighbors were these?

Honestly, she would have been thrilled if someone had called the cops on her. Maybe then she could at least get help.

“Char…Char…Charlie!” Winded, she had to slow down until she was barely moving at all. Hands on her thighs, leaning over, she watched helpless as Charlie plowed headfirst into a neighbor’s bushes. Startled, he hunched low and took slow, careful steps around the hedge. His tongue dangled out of his mouth, but otherwise, he looked ready to resume his marathon sprint. What the heck did Hannah feed that dog? Crack cocaine?

One step. Two steps. Spider inched closer. Charlie turned, and she used all of her reserves to leap toward him.

Yes! Their bodies collided, and she rolled with him onto the grass, the forty-pound dog using her as his personal cushion, not that she cared. Not as long as she had a tight grip on him.

She laughed in triumph and then groaned when a wet tongue found her mouth. Ewww. Disgusting. Doggy slobber. So gross.

It took a few more minutes of her wrangling him on the neighbor’s lawn to get into a position where she actually could pick him up. New rule. The dogs were going to wear their leashes twenty-four seven while they were under her watch.

She’d once thought she might like to have a dog, but uh uh. Not anymore. Cats were sooo much easier than dogs.

The two of them lumbered back to the house and collapsed together inside the fenced yard.
Oh, thank heaven.
Now she just had to figure out how to get back inside the locked home she was supposed to be protecting.

Chest heaving, she lie sprawled in the grass for a few minutes, thinking about it.

Man, she had to pee.

Pushing herself up on her elbows, she considered each of the windows. She’d already checked most of them except for a few. Her gaze fell on one. The bathroom. Had she locked it back after cracking it open last night when someone whose name rhymed with Costello had pooped mushy stuff in the floor?

Remind her to never give him part of her burrito again. Ever.

Struggling to her feet, she glared at Charlie as she made her way to that side of the house. He was happily prancing about the yard again as if the past hour had never happened. Insane dog.

Spider nearly burst into tears when she saw through the pane that the window wasn’t latched. Yes! She pushed it up as far as she could, lifted herself up, and…

Holy blazes!

A pulsating siren startled her so much she squealed and fell backwards, landing flat on her butt in the grass.

“Oh, no, no, no.” The house’s high-tech smart alarm system was programmed to automatically arm itself after fifteen minutes if the doors and windows remained inactive. Zach had warned of that at least a dozen times. It was a new system he was testing for clients of his private security firm.

It took Spider a few tries to pull herself up so her waist was aligned with the windowsill. A pair of almond-shaped eyes were there waiting for her when she did. Perched on the sink, Abbott’s black and white feline body was drawn back and ready to spring as he stared at the opening in the window.

“No!” Spider yelled at him as she grappled to lift her left leg up. “Don’t even think about it, mister.”

With a growl, the cat took a leap in the opposite direction and darted through the bathroom doorway as she managed to get her leg over the windowsill. She was half in and half out. Basically. Almost. Her foot was inside the bathroom anyway. That was progress.

“Hello?” a man’s deep voice called from not too far away. “Everything okay back there?”

Oh, for the love of Pete.

Straddling the window, Spider wiggled, trying to swing her other leg over and into the bathroom. Much harder to do than she’d expected. Her left side was pressed to the pane of glass on the outside of the house. No matter how hard she pushed, she couldn’t get the window to raise high enough to let her maneuver inside.

The house phone began ringing, and seconds later, the alarm stopped. Well, that was something at least.

Furry legs grabbed onto Spider’s calf inside the house.

“Hello?” the man called again.

“Uh, yeah! We’re okay.” Still trying to shove the window up, she glanced down and saw Costello humping away at her leg.

You’ve got to be kidding me.

She tried to jostle the dog off, which only managed to get her stuck in a more awkward position. Uh. She was wedged in there pretty good now.

The back fence moved inward. Spider reached a hand out and screamed, “Don’t let the dog out!”

A man she didn’t recognize grabbed Charlie’s collar just as the dog ran toward the gate. That dog must have some superpower for detecting openings he couldn’t see. She’d swear her life on it. Her body sagged against the window frame on a loud sigh of relief that he hadn’t escaped again.

The stranger snapped the gate shut behind him and gave Charlie a generous rub on both ears. Spider snorted when the dog lapped the man’s face with his tongue. Some guard dogs these two were.

“Are you sure you don’t need help?”

Seriously? He wanted to help her
now
?

The guy lifted his delicious chocolate gaze, which widened when it found her. He swore. “Are you stuck in the window?”

She stifled a groan. He would have to be a total hottie, wouldn’t he?

Please, someone shoot me now.

Noah West rubbed the playful dog behind its ears and considered the sight before him.

Young woman, scantily dressed. Half in, half out of the window at a house where he knew she didn’t live.

He probably should have called the cops like he’d almost done when he’d looked out the window and seen the unfamiliar redhead chasing the dog up and down the street. He’d been sleeping when he’d heard someone yelling “Chaaarrrlie!” over and over outside his bedroom window. By the time he’d fumbled into his jeans and found a shirt, his neighbor’s alarm had been shrieking out the formula for a migraine.

He lifted a hand and scratched at the heavy stubble on his cheek.

He’d had a late night—something that was becoming more and more common lately—or else he wouldn’t have been home right now. He
wished
he hadn’t been home right now.

For one, his house gave him the creeps, and he wasn’t even convinced the sounds he’d been hearing, the objects he’d seen moving, meant he was roommates with Casper the not-so-friendly ghost. There was always a logical explanation for that stuff, but until he figured out what it was, he preferred to avoid the place. For another, he needed to be working right now, not playing hero to a young damsel in distress.

He cleared his throat and approached cautiously. She’d probably locked herself out, but you never knew.

“Name’s Noah. I live across the street.”

Her body was shaking unnaturally, as if she were having spasms or doing something really, really naughty with that windowsill. He was afraid to ask.

“Spider.”

He jerked back. “Where? What kind?”

“No, my name is Spider. I’m a friend of Zach and Hannah’s. I’m house-sitting, and I got locked out.”

He hurried over and shoved the window further up, giving her some extra space to move. Through the opening, he spotted a furry blond mutt humping her other leg.

A startled bark of laughter escaped his control. The girl—Spider—narrowed her eyes at him before maneuvering the rest of her body through the widened opening. She tumbled onto the floor with a thump and a squeal.

“You okay?”

She lifted a hand and waved back at him dismissively as she found her feet and scurried out of the room. A few seconds later, the ringing telephone stopped. He could hear her talking, but he couldn’t make out what she said.

The blond mutt’s head popped up in front of him before he could lower the window again. Weird-looking dog, but she sure was cute. He reached a hand up to pet her, but the creature growled and showed a long snout full of some serious-looking teeth.

Whoa. The window slid down with a hiss as Noah jerked his hand back and let it fall. The dog’s barking grew muffled as the animal disappeared into the house.

The back door ripped open, and the ginger-haired girl poked her head out. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine. Thanks for your, um, help.”

He nodded and tried not to stare at her shapely legs when she stepped onto the back deck. She was only wearing skimpy shorts and a tank top that left little to the imagination. Perky breasts pressed against the light green shirt that read “Gamers do it all night.” He focused on her feet. Blue toenails. That was kinda hot.

“Excuse me, sir,” a gruff voice called out. “Do you live here?”

Noah turned and saw a uniformed officer pushing his way through the fence. He reached and constrained the other dog before it had a chance to get out again.

The gray-haired cop’s face was set in grim, stern lines as he approached, one hand hovering over the gun holster at his hip.

“Eeek!”

Both men turned toward the woman who’d made the sound.

“Emma?” the officer asked.

She was doing her best to cover her front with one arm while her other hand tugged the hem of her shorts down. “Hi Jack. How’s it going?” She fidgeted from one foot to the other.

Emma? He thought she’d said her name was Spider.

The officer returned his confused look to Noah. He unsnapped his holster. “This guy bothering you?”

Noah released the dog and stepped back. Last thing he wanted was to give the officer more cause for concern.

“No!” The girl risked a step forward. “He’s a neighbor. He came over to help.” She heaved a sigh. “I got myself locked out and the alarm went off when I was crawling through the window and—”

The officer hiked a thumb in Noah’s direction. “This his house? Does your daddy know you’re here?”

“What?” She shifted a look between the two men. “No. I’m house-sitting for my boss. He just got married and is on his honeymoon.” She gestured toward Noah and spoke her words slowly. “This man is their neighbor. He came over to help. I already told you that.”