Page 98 of Hot Ghost Summer

I nod, expression darkening at the memory. “I went t’ the farm last night, but Bridge was already missing. I went after her, of course. They were going t’ turn her loose on the motorway, make it look like Jayne can’t provide a secure environment, but Brigid would most likely have died, and I couldn’t—”

Hollis’s jaw drops. “You triggered Bowen on purpose? Theo, do you have any idea how dangerous, reckless, and just plain stupid that was?”

I snatch my hands back. “They had Brigid, Hollis. What was I supposed t’ do?”

“She’s a cow, Theo. And Bowen was a revenant. You could have gotten yourself killed! In fact…” Hollis stands in a rush and paces a track back and forth in the kitchen. “You did get yourself killed. If my ancestors weren’t who they are—”

“She’s not just a cow, she’s my friend.” Petulantly, I pick at the foam through the hole in the cushion. “And there wasn’t anything I could do t’ help you, but I could with her, and… wait a minute…”

I climb up and kneel on the sofa, turning to face Hollis over the back. “This isn’t about Brigid at all, is it? Are you mad at me because now you’re stuck inside me? I was dying, and you felt a bit guilty, so you did a thing, and now you regret it? Or is it more that you want me t’ be mad at you, so that you don’t have t’ be the bad guy ’ere?”

Hollis stops pacing and levels me with a look.

“Oh my god, that’s it, isn’t it? You want t’ be the martyr.” Enraged, I jump over the arm of the sofa and come toe-to-toe with Hollis.

“You,” I poke him squarely in the chest. “Want me t’ be the one who has the problem with this. You want me t’ hate you for saving my life, like you hated me for ruining yours, so that you can finally toddle off int’ the afterlife all smug and petty.”

I push closer until no space between us exists. “Well, Mister Ghost Prince with powerful ghost ancestors, guess what? I’m not mad about it, not even a little. In fact, I’m going t’ insist that you stay right here…” I flatten my palm over my heart. “Forever.”

Hollis brings his hand to cover mine once more, but his cold fingers do nothing to alleviate the heat burning through my veins.

“I don’t regret a thing,” he states in a firm voice. “And I don’t hate you.”

I scoff derisively. “From the moment we met, you’ve—”

Another of Hollis’s ghostly fingers presses over my lips, silencing me. “From the moment we met… you’ve gotten under my skin in a way no one else ever has. You’re impulsive, talkative, reckless…”

I turn my head, not wanting to listen to the words that cut deep, but Hollis pinches my chin and steers my focus back to him.

“You’re also fierce and loyal. You live free and unburdened by the whims and fancies of society, so no, Theo, I don’t hate you. I envy you. I envy how easy it is for you to live as you do.”

I swallow, and he tracks the motion.

Taking a risk, I hook my fingers into a soft hold of the belt loops of Hollis’s pleated trousers.

When he doesn’t move away, I whisper, “I’m not sorry. If I hadn’t done what I did, then you’d never have done what you did, and we wouldn’t be what we are now.”

His thumb strokes over my lower lip.

My heart thunders inside my ribs. “I’ve fallen so hard and fast for you it’s embarrassing. And if you need t’ punish me, or whatever, for breaking your rules, then I’ll accept that. But there’s nothing you can do that will ever make me mad about this.”

Holding his gaze, I take another risk and kiss the tip of his thumb.

Hollis’s sharp intake of breath ignites the heat already coursing through me. “You told me not to do this again unless I meant it. This is me, telling you I mean it.”

“Huh?”

He replaces his thumb with his lips, swiftly cutting off my confusion.

It’s tentative, at first. Respectful. Until I drag him closer by his belt loops and slam our hips together. His grunt triggers the deepening of our kiss, which is exactly what I wanted it to do, and I moan.

He tears his mouth from mine, and I latch onto his strong jaw with my lips and teeth. Almost feral.

“To confirm,” he breathes, raising his face to the ceiling as he offers me his neck. “You’re not upset that I’m now bound inside you?”

Nuzzling his throat, I slide my hands to the front of his trousers, where I fight the fastening. “Oh… I’m super mad about that… because it’s a lie.”

Hollis’s other hand tangles in the back of my hair, stinging when he clenches his fist. “I do not lie,” he grits out.