“He’s my husband,” I said in a level voice. “My dead husband.”
Clay looked Drew over. “And you’re my replacement.”
Drew chuckled and held his hand out. “I hope to be. This, you, presents a new complication.”
He hoped to be Clay’s replacement. Holy crow, Drew wanted to get married.
I did not know how I felt about that.
“Why are you guys here?” I asked, avoiding the elephant in the room.
“The vampires,” Drew said flatly. “I called my mom, and she said vampires didn’t exist.”
I shrugged. “They do. We talked to them last night.”
Drew looked up sharply. “What? You did what?”
“I tried to stop her,” Wallie called from the kitchen. “Mexican okay with everyone?”
“Ohh,” Olivia said. “That sounds great. I’ll go help.” She scurried into the kitchen to look at the takeout menus with Wallie. Zoey the tiger ambled after them.
Clay sighed. “I wish I could eat Mexican food. One of you, please order a steak quesadilla. Maybe if Ava touches me, I can taste it.”
Chapter Nine
It turned out Clay could not taste my Mexican food, but the act of trying broke the ice with everyone. Our dinner was fun and made the evening fly by.
After dinner, everyone went to the living room to watch TV. The cable was still on for another day. I stayed in the kitchen with Drew, cleaning up, which consisted of throwing the paper plates and plastic utensils away. I told the stubborn sheriff that he didn’t have to help, but he did anyway.
Standing in the doorway, facing the living room, I checked my phone for the millionth time in the last hour. Wade still hadn't replied to mine or Wallie’s texts, and I was getting worried. If he didn’t call soon, I was going to go break his door down.
Drew came up behind me and took my phone. “It’s late. He’s probably asleep.” His fingers teased my hands as he pulled them away.
I nodded, then leaned over and snatched my phone back to check the messages one more time. But there was nothing.
With a sigh, I threw the phone down on the table. “We'll check on him in the morning. If he isn’t home, I'm calling a search party. It's not like him to go this long without replying to my messages.” Especially when I was in town. This was nuts.
“I'm sure everything is fine,” Olivia said then added, “What are the sleeping arrangements?”
Ugh, I hadn’t even thought about that.
I looked around, suddenly panicked about whether Drew expected to sleep in the bed with me, but Wallie said, “Sam and Olivia can have my room. I'll sleep on the pull-out sofa.”
“That works.” I turned to face Drew and frowned. The butterflies that had taken up residence in my belly woke up and were fluttering their little hearts out.
A sexy smirk formed on his face, which only added heat to the winged creatures. “I guess that leaves me with you.”
Holy crap. Oh, holy crap. Panic washed over me. Breathe, Ava. I wouldn’t be getting any sleep with Drew next to me. In my bed. Holy crap. What would Clay say when he found out? Would he be in there, too?
“Breathe, Ava.” The sound of Clay's voice next to me made my hysterics worse. Would both of them be in my room? I looked at my husband and then my boyfriend. This whole situation was getting out of control.
Clay took my hand. “I don't sleep. Don't need to. So don’t worry about me. I'll be roaming the halls doing the ghostly thing. Maybe leave the TV on for me.” He grinned at me before adding, “And have fun. ”
He was not helping at all! Not even a little bit.
“I hope you can do it quietly. Some of us need our beauty sleep. Also, gross.” Wallie got up from the sofa and then disappeared down the hallway. He was probably getting some sheets and a blanket for the sleeper.
Practicing my even, steady breathing, I completely ignored Drew as I waited on Wallie. My guess was right. He reappeared a few seconds later with the items in his hands.
For a second, I forgot myself and glanced at Drew. Immediately, my cheeks heated. This was going to be a long night. “Come on,” I mumbled.
Grinning, Drew followed me down the hall to the master bedroom. My stomach churned with a nervous need to make dinner reappear. Ta-da! Right on the carpet.
But I managed to keep it all in. Thankfully.
It’d been five years since I’d shared a bed with another man. Or another woman, for that matter. Anyone. It wasn’t that I made a habit of inviting people to sleep with me.
Good gods, I might as well have told Drew he could have the bed so I could go sleep with Wallie. At least I’d actually be able to sleep that way.
Inside the bedroom, my gut churning like an angry ocean, I watched as Drew went to shut the door but stopped halfway and looked at me. I waved my hand and closed the door with my magic just to rip the darn bandage off and get it over with. Then I took a deep, calming breath. "We are both adults."
There was nothing wrong with us sleeping together. I mean, actually sleeping and not the other thing that had my insides twisting and burning with desire. And guilt for having my boyfriend in my room. In the house I shared with my husband.
Okay, stop this. I wasn’t a teenager anymore. And Clay was dead, even if he was in the house with us right now. Undead. Clay was undead.
Drew took his shirt off and a storm of desire whirled inside me. Good gods, he was hot. He had the body of a thirty-something bodybuilder, just not as huge. Broad shoulders, wide chest with more dips and valleys than the mountains. Then I remembered he worked out at the Shipton gym often. A few times a week, I believed. At least according to the rumor mill, aka Olivia.
Older men like Drew were why the label silver fox was created. He personified it from head to toe.
Was I going to lay beside him with no shirt on? How would I keep my hands to myself?
Tearing my gaze from him, I went to the box where I’d packed my clothes and dug out a clean pair of pajamas, then shut myself in the bathroom. Inside, I pressed my back against the door and tried to slow my heart rate.
Why was I so nervous? It wasn’t like Drew would do anything that I didn’t want him to. He wasn’t that sort of man, anyway. He was honorable and decent.
And so freaking hot!
I knew for a fact he only had good motives. I'd have sensed it if his intentions were bad.
That was another heightened ability I gained after taking on the High Witch position in the coven. My empathy was gaining strength. As far as I knew, it was part of the gig. After all, I’d need to be able to tell if someone was set on harming the coven, which was my responsibility now.
Especially after the mess with Bevan cursing the witches to die by odd and crazy accidents. It made sense that the High Witch spell would make the necessary magical adjustments to protect us all. I needed to get all this stuff wrapped up in Philly and get home to my proper place as High Priestess of the coven.
Pushing away from the door, I changed quickly and then stared at my reflection in the mirror. My long brown hair hung around my shoulders, wild and free. My green eyes were a little dull, giving away how tired I was. Or how stressed I was. And worried about Wade. Or all three.
Leaning forward, I brushed my teeth and gave myself a very quiet pep talk. “Okay, Ava Harper, you are a grown woman and there is nothing wrong with finding companionship after the death of your husband. It is the natural state of healing and moving on.” But Clay was here. Not in my bathroom or my bedroom, at the moment, but in the house. Sure, he was a ghost, and he was waiting on me to let him go so he could move on into the afterlife. At least I’d made him solid so he couldn’t sneak up on me or watch us sleep.