She held up her hand, thinking there had to be a logical explanation. They hadn’t ruled out every possibility at this point so there was no way she was willing to give credit to the improbable.
Colin shut down the computer and sat next to her, sliding his arm around her shoulders to bring her in close. “You’re right. We need to investigate again, see if we can pick up more on the recorder or something on video.”
“Can we do it, just the two of us?”
“Thought you’d never ask.” His voice dropped to barely a whisper as his eyes smoldered with interest.
Did she take up the invitation or ignore it?
“Always the gentleman.” Her gaze dropped to his mouth. “But you know, every now and then a woman likes a man who takes charge. Who knows when to—”
He cupped the side of her face, as he leaned in. “I’ve missed you, Shay. Missed us.” He kissed her, warm and wet, soft and deep, sweet and as sexy as the man himself.
She’d been wrong earlier. Her heart was ready to say yes.
Shay sunk into the kiss as the missed years melted away and everything was right in her world again. She’d thought moving to Connecticut would give her a clean slate, a new chance at finding love and happiness. For years she’d tried to forget this man, what they had, and what they’d planned on having together. Letting him back into her life on an intimate level would ruin her for anyone else. She knew that and didn’t care. She was pretty sure he’d ruined her for anyone else eons ago.
“You’re overthinking things.” He kissed his way across her jaw and down her neck to her exposed collarbone.
“Thinking?” No, more like accepting fate. “I’m not thinking about anything except how I can get your shirt off.”
He grinned and reached down and tugged the tee over his head. She drank in the glorious sight that was Colin’s chest and upper arms, sculpted and chiseled from years of hard work at the zoo. She ran her hands over his smooth, tanned torso, tracing the indents and ridges right down to his waist. What did they call those cuts that ran from a man’s hips to his…? Whatever they were, she knew they made her stupid crazy and incredibly hot.
Shay leaned forward, then ran her tongue along the edge of his ear before lightly nipping the lobe and smiling. Colin groaned, and, holding a handful of her hair, gently tilted her head back, exposing her throat.
“You know all my weaknesses, woman, but then again. I know yours.”
He kissed his way up the sensitive skin until he found the tender spot on the side of her neck, the one that would have her squirming under him in two point five seconds, seeking a deeper connection.
“Colin, don’t you think we’re taking this too fast? It’s only been a couple of days?” Holy heck, where had that thought come from? Oh yeah, her subconscious.
“We’ve known each other for a decade.”
“Half of which we haven’t seen each other.” Half tempted to give into the raging hormones, she laughed. It’d been a while and this was Colin, but she didn’t want a one-night fling.
He kissed the side of her mouth, then her forehead and finally her nose as he eased back. “I won’t lie. I want you, Shay.” He kissed her again, quick and hard. “No, that’s not true. I need you like I need my next breath, but I can wait until you’re ready. Because this time I’m not walking away.”
The phone rang before she could respond. With her heart pounding in her ears, Shay answered and listened to Gram. Or tried to. “Wait. You’re doing what?”
Her grandmother repeated herself, something she hated doing and made clear with her long, drawn out sigh. Shay concentrated on the words, made the appropriate responses, all the while wondering if she’d lost her mind by stopping Colin.
“Is everything okay?” He asked when Shay hung up the phone.
She nodded. “What are your thoughts on spending the night alone with me in a possibly haunted house tomorrow night?”
Chapter 5
A soft sniffle-snort blew the hair on Colin’s neck. It was the first sound he’d heard in an hour. He didn’t blame Shay for falling asleep; he was tempted to join her in slumberland himself. The sun had disappeared hours ago and in its place the waxing moon bathed the room in a soft glow. The perfect ambiance for romance. Or a ghost hunt.
Shay snuggled in a little closer with her head on his chest and one arm tucked around his middle. It felt so right, the two of them there together, like so many nights long ago. How had he ever walked away from her? He didn’t know, but he did know that things were finally lining up right in his life. He had no complaints about his job. Most people would consider going from a big zoo like Point Defiance to Roger Williams a step down, Not him. Working with the big cats—the zoo only had cheetahs, snow leopards, and a rescue panther—was right up his alley. While he wasn’t working with as many animals or exhibits as he had been in Washington, he was in-charge of his department. Plus, Connecticut kept him far from his status-conscious parents. And now he had Shay back.
Life was. . .almost perfect.
“Hmmm.” Shay ran her hand up his abs and over his chest, causing Colin to suck in air.
“You’re snoring.”
“Nuh-uh. I don’t snore.”
“Then O’Malley got bored with us and fell asleep and he snores.”
Her fingers traced intricate, intertwining circles, sending his nerves into overdrive. If it weren’t for the fact that they were sitting on her grandmother’s couch he’d finish what they’d started the night before in her cottage. Out of respect for her gram he was calling on every ounce of willpower he had to even his breathing and ignore her caress. Not to mention, the spirit was supposed to be that of her grandfather. Colin didn’t know if he believed the old guy was still there or not, but the last thing he planned to do was make love to Shay with her grandfather’s spirit watching.
“What time is it?” Shay pushed up and looked around.
Colin flipped his wrist over to see his watch. “The witching hour.”
Shay smiled and walked over to the computer monitor where they had four cameras feeding in. “What did I miss?”
“Besides you snoring?” Colin got up and joined her. “Nothing. I was hoping that with your gram out of the house something might happen around you.”
“Floating objects? Maybe O’Malley headed to St. Augustine with Gram to see my dad and mom. Or maybe we’ll pick up something on the recorder from earlier when we did that EVP session.”
“I don’t know. The atmosphere feels different.” Colin looked around. “Less charged, if that makes sense.”
“No, I get it. I’m going to grab a glass of water, want one?”
He said yes and kept looking around the room. The energy in the house wasn’t the only thing that had been bugging him, but so far, he hadn’t been able to put his finger on it. Looking around he let his mind relax as he took in the room, noting every piece of furniture, every knick-knack, every picture.
Colin raced down the hall to the master bedroom and inspected it, then he ran upstairs and did the same.
“Colin, is everything okay?” Shay called from downstairs.