Call On Me (16 page)

She’d take
whatever reprieve she could while it lasted, which she knew
wouldn’t be for long. Damn it.

Determinedly
focussing on reading, she lay in bed with a mystery book, but while
she managed to keep any troubling at thoughts at bay, once she was
asleep it was a whole other story.

Her dreams were
full of hot kisses, warm skin, close contact and a sensuality that
had her waking in the early dawn with an unaccustomed warmth
between her thighs and a yearning for the subject of her
dreams.

Ghost.

Which was just
sick. The man was like a brother to her, a buddy, a mate.

Regardless of
what her head said, her body had other ideas. There was one way to
deal with that and the sun was just brimming the horizon when the
cold spray from the shower had her squealing. At least it succeeded
in taking her mind off the man.

By the time she
walked into the reception area of the motel, she had managed to
gain control of herself and her wayward thoughts. Stashing her bag
in the little cupboard in the manager’s room which was right behind
reception, she had just sat down behind the reception desk when in
walked Vic, the motel manager.

“’Morning,
Ali.” Leaning against the desk, he wiped his hands through his
well-oiled hair, a definite ‘ewww’ factor as far as Ali was
concerned.

“Hi, Vic.” She
pulled up the computer page showing the bookings for the day. “How
are you?”

“Oh fine, fine.
I thought we should have a little chat.”

“Sure. What
about?”

“So, I hear
you’re after my job.”

Crap on a
stick.

Chapter 5

Ali Mackay was
avoiding him, but it ended tonight.

Standing at the
window of his writing room, Ghost took a swallow from the can of
Coke and studied the house next door. Lori came out of the back
door with Minx at her feet and he watched with a fond smile as they
walked into the garden. She waited patiently for Minx to do her
slow exploration before settling on doing her business amongst the
azalea bushes, a fact that would have made Ghost’s gardener
wince.

Kind of like he
winced when Abraham came sauntering out of the covered fern garden
at the side of the house with a long piece of fern clenched between
his teeth. Abraham and gardener would eye each other off before
Abraham trotted up to the back door, his tail held high, and drag
the hapless fern frond through the cat flap into the house.

It was kind of
funny to watch. Ali thought it was hilarious. Then again, Ali
shared Ghost’s sense of humour, so they often laughed at the same
things.

She wasn’t
laughing now, however, and neither was he, because the truth was he
didn’t know what was going on, he just knew he didn’t want the
friendship he had with Ali to be lost. It couldn’t be the same,
either, but the thought of losing it altogether made his gut
clench.

It was a
mess.

But it had also
been hot, hotter than any encounter he’d ever had with a woman.
Even now a flash of heat went through him to pool low in his loins
at just the memory of Ali at his mercy, her lush curves against
him, her soft body taking his invasion, her little whimpers of
pleasure so sexy. If he closed his eyes he could just about picture
that night, the scent of her, the feel, the sensation. The pure,
carnal heat that even now started to surge upwards at just the
recollection.

Watching Minx
walk slowly back to Lori, he leaned against the window frame and
frowned. Shit, nothing was very clear right now. Honest to God, he
didn’t know whether he was Arthur or Martha, he was all over the
place with his thoughts and emotions. About the only good thing
that had come out of it was that he’d been able to bury his
frustrations in his book. It was the only time he could keep Ali
from his thoughts.

He’d made good
headway with that book, another chapter or so and it would be
finished. At least his agent would be thrilled.

Just like Ghost
would be thrilled if he could figure out what to do about Ali and
himself. One thing he did know, though, was that avoiding the issue
like Ali was wont to do didn’t solve anything.

And he didn’t
like Ali avoiding him full stop.

Picking up
Minx, Lori nuzzled the old cat and took her back inside. Ghost
watched Mort chasing a butterfly amongst the daisies in the back
garden bed of his own yard and shook his head. Not once in all his
five years had Mort ever caught a butterfly and he wasn’t likely to
do so now, but he never gave up. Looked like his furry kid took
after him.

Grinning, Ghost
walked back to the computer and immersed himself in the book. Ali
wouldn’t be home for a couple of more hours and Lori would have
left for work by then, ensuring a private conversation. Meanwhile,
he’d be productive while he waited.

Apart from
rescuing Millie from a pile of books she’d tipped over and nearly
buried herself under, and soothing Mauve’s hurt feelings when Max
jumped on her elegant blue tail and tried to wrestle it like a
snake, Ghost kept focussed on the computer.

Right up until
he heard Ali’s car enter the driveway.

Saving the
manuscript, he hurried to the window and peered out. Yep, there was
Ali coming out of the garage, her luxurious hair up in a neat
topknot, her uniform of pale purple shirt and darker purple pants
and jacket hugging her curves, detailing that hour glass figure,
all big breasts and hips and nipped in waist, that lush derrière
so soft and pressing against his groin, his fingers biting deep
in the lush flesh and –

Holy Hannah!
Ghost jerked back from that erotically diverting memory to the
realisation that he had a bit of a boner. How the hell had that
happened? He’d only been thinking of Ali and…yeah, Ali. Ali Mackay.
His problem.

Maybe he’d have
a quick shower before he dealt with that particular problem. A cold
one. It wouldn’t do to face Ali while he sported a stiffy in his
jeans. Not classy.

A quick shower
cooled off the heat and by the time he jumped the back fence,
knowing she’d be on the lookout for him through the front window,
he felt more like himself. It helped that he had their spare
emergency key in his pocket just in case she’d decided to lock all
the doors and refused to let him in to talk. A quick peek through
the gap in the back of the garage door revealed that Lori’s car was
gone.

Ali was alone
in the house.

Satisfaction
filled Ghost. She could kick and yell all she wanted, there’d be no
interruptions to interfere with their face-off. Now, how to handle
it. Heavy? No. Maybe light-hearted, friendly. Mates. Yeah, he’d go
for the light touch first, the heavy as the alternative.

A test of the
doorknob proved the back security screen was unlocked, so without
bothering to knock, he opened it and walked into the kitchen.
“Honey, I’m home!”

There was dead
silence for several seconds before Ali came storming through the
door leading into the hallway. “What the hell, Ghost? How dare you
just walk into my house?”

Looked like the
friendly approach wasn’t going to work. As always when in angry
mode, her defences were up. But man, did she look good. Almost
instantly his eyes were drawn to her, and certainly not in a
friendly way. Jesus, her cheeks were flushed, her eyes flashed, and
her shirt was hanging loose over her pants and half unbuttoned. He
could see her cleavage, and what a cleavage. He’d never noticed
that cleavage before, but he sure as hell did now.

Heh
.

“Ghost!” she
snapped.

His gaze
wandered back up to her face. “Ali.”

“What the hell
gives you the right to walk into my house?”

“I always walk
into your house.” Pulling himself together, he stuck his hands into
his pockets and rocked back and forth in his sneakers. “We need to
have a little chat.”

“About
what?”

As if she
didn’t know. Now her cheeks were pink with embarrassment rather
than anger, her gaze shyly dipping. Never before had Ali been shy
around him, it was cute. She’d also brain him if he dared to say
that aloud.

However, this
wasn’t the time to follow that little train of thought, there were
other more pressing matters. “You know perfectly well what.”

“There’s
nothing to talk about.”

“Wrong.”

Defensively,
she folded her arms. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“We have
to.”

“No, we
don’t.”

“Yes, we do.”
He took a step closer.

“Forget about
it.”

“I can’t.” He
watched her lashes lower, covering her eyes. “You can’t.”

“I’m
trying.”

“It won’t
work.”

“I’ve pretty
much forgotten about it already.”

“Ali, stop
mucking around.”

“I’m not.”
Taking a deep breath, she raised her gaze to look at him almost
desperately. “Nothing happened, we can just pretend nothing
happened, all right?”

Oh boy, she
wasn’t taking this well. He wasn’t surprised. She’d never taken
anything well of which she didn’t have control. But that wasn’t
going to roll now. No way. “You can’t deny what happened between
us.”

“Watch me.”

“We had sex,”
he said bluntly. “Now what are we going to do about it?”

There it was,
out in the open. The silence in the kitchen lengthened as he
watched her. He hadn’t realised it would be so interesting.

Her face paled
right before red flooded her cheeks. Her gaze darted around the
room before settling fleetingly on him and darting off again. Her
mouth opened, closed, and opened again before she moistened them
with the tip of her tongue.

Oddly, that
little sight drew his attention right to those plump lips. They’d
tasted so sweet and he had the sudden urge to lick them, to
reacquaint himself with them. To savour them, slide his tongue
across the silken skin before slipping past to feast on the honeyed
depths of her mouth, to-

The knock on
the door jerked him back to awareness and he realised he’d actually
begun to walk slowly across the room towards her. Jesus, he didn’t
even remember doing that, when had that happened?

Relief more
than evident on her face, Ali ordered in a trembling voice, “Be
gone when I get back. I mean it, Ty.” Swinging around on her heel,
she left the kitchen.

Both annoyed
and bemused, Ghost frowned. Damn it, he had to get a grip on
himself. Maybe he shouldn’t have fronted her up just yet. Maybe he
shouldn’t have come over without her sister at least being in close
vicinity, then perhaps he wouldn’t have got lost in the sight of
Ali simply licking her lips. Maybe he should have had a colder
shower.

He really
needed to get a grip.

Voices drifted
back to him, one Ali’s and the other…He scowled suddenly. Was that
Chris’s voice?

Striding
through the kitchen, he stopped just in the doorway leading into
the hallway to listen. Bloody hell, it was Chris’s voice! That
mangy cur was at her front door!

Peering around
the corner, his eyes narrowed. Ali had her back to him but he could
see Chris standing on the veranda with a huge bunch of flowers in
his hand which he was trying to give to Ali. Stubbornly, she kept
her hands down and shook her head, arguing with him.

He dares to
come here? After what I told him just the other night?
Ghost
saw red. Swinging into the hallway, he stormed to the front door,
gratified to see the alarmed light in Chris’s eyes when he
registered Ghost’s presence bearing down.

“I didn’t know
you had company,” Chris said uneasily.

“I don’t,” Ali
replied tartly.

“She does,”
Ghost growled, coming to a stop right behind her. “What the bloody
hell are you doing here?”

Annoyed, Ali
looked back at him over her shoulder. “I told you to leave.”

Chris looked
from her to Ghost.

Ghost glared
back at him. “You heard her.”

“I wasn’t
talking to Chris,” Ali snapped.

“I was.”
Stepping up beside her, Ghost put one arm in front of her and
simply pushed her back behind him while narrowing his eyes at
Chris. “I told you the last time, Smith, to never go near Ali
again.”

“I’m here to
apologise,” Chris replied warily.

“Too damned
bad,” Ghost retorted.

Ali tried to
step back up beside him but he trapped her behind him by simply
standing right in front of the doorway.

“Damn it,
Ghost!” She shoved at him.

Ignoring her,
he kept his attention on Chris. “You hurt her the other night and I
won’t tolerate it. I told you that then and it still stands today.
Stay away from Ali.”

“Alissa.” Chris
tried to see her from where she was trying to get around Ghost.

“Damn it,
Ghost!” she repeated heatedly, tugging at the back of his shirt. “I
can answer for myself!”

“Alissa, is
everything okay?” Chris asked tentatively, his gaze flicking from
her to Ghost and back again.

Ghost noticed
he didn’t actually attempt to try and pull him out of the way.
Probably worried Ghost would bust his perfect nose. In fact, he
wouldn’t be wrong. If he tried to get between Ali and him, Chris
would be blowing his nose from the other side of his head.

When Chris
stepped to the side to try and see Ali behind him, Ghost took a
threatening step forward, hands fisting. “Get off this property,
Smith, I -”

As soon as Ali
pushed past him, he realised he’d made a mistake in moving. He made
a grab for her arm but she neatly sidestepped him, deliberately
shoving in front of him so that she was between the two men.
“Ali-”

“Shut it.”

There was
obviously no way she was going to obey – as if she really would
anyway – so Ghost glowered at Chris. “Leave before I show you the
way to your car the hard way.
Now
.”