Page 128 of Land of Ghosts

“Oh, the only other thing I need is stuff for school. Pens, paper, that sort of thing.”

“We’ll get that on Tuesday. I’ve been invited to play cricket tomorrow. We’ll talk about that when I get back. See you in a while. You’ll be okay?”

“I’ll be fine. Rational but rude Emily today,” I said, giving him a coy smile.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Very rude.” He shook his head, bemused, and went down the stairs. I heard the front door close.

I wandered back to my room and began to unpack, weighed down by disappointment. I had hoped that Tristan would be waiting. Dismissing the feeling, I kept busy. Everything that needed hanging I draped on my bed. The rest of the clothes I packed away in the chest of drawers, and I made a small pile of dirty laundry and stuffed it in a plastic bag.

“Rude Emily? What was that about?” Tristan was leaning against my bedroom door, dressed in black, looking lean, mean, and drop-dead gorgeous. Literally. His green eyes were unreadable, and his dark-chestnut hair flopped over his eyes. His delicious scent filled the room.

“Hey,” I murmured, shy and startled at once.

“Hey.” His voice was low and sweet. He sauntered forward until he was standing in front of me.

“How do you that?”

“Do what?”

“Walk.”

He smirked. “I usually put one foot in front of the other.”

I rolled my eyes. “No, I mean… You look like you’re standing on the seagrass.”

“Oh. You’d prefer this?” Slowly, he sank as his feet and ankles went through the floor until we were eye to eye.

Oh!

“Now I can look you in the eye,” I said, pretending not to be completely and utterly fazed by him.

“And I you. You have beautiful blue eyes, Beauchamp.” He grinned. “And I like your freckles.”

His compliment gave me a rush of pleasure but also made me blush. To hide my embarrassment, I picked up the bag of laundry. When I stood, Tristan was sitting on my bed.

“You look well. France agreed with you?” His voice was soft.

“How did you know I was in France?”