Restless Spirits (2 page)

“Like I said, I’ve learned to keep you happy.” His words rang false, but she didn’t call him on it. Touchy-feely had never been their thing.

“You want to keep listening to this?” she asked, scrolling through. Old-school Metallica, AC/DC, Postal Service.
He certainly had a handle on my likes
. Flattered, she couldn’t wipe the goofy grin off her face.

“No, I have a case playlist.”

“And it keeps getting better.” She located the playlist and sighed as “Ramble On” came across the airwaves as they pulled out of the parking lot and hit the street.

Chapter Two

Pierce glanced over at Demi. She’d never been more beautiful than right now with the window down. The wind blew her hair around like strips of velvet. A look of pure bliss covered her heart-shaped face as she peered out into the darkness broken up by building lights and street lamps.

“We’re almost there. Do you want to stop when we find a spot or do the hotel thing first?” Pierce said.

“Let’s go to the hotel first. Then we can take our time in the restaurant. I’ve missed talking with you. The new video game I was working on kicked my ass.” She ran her hand through the pink-streaked mussed mess.

“Are you all finished designing the levels?”

“Yes, thank God. Don’t get me wrong. I love my job, but after looking at the same thing for so long, I’m ready to pitch the computer across the room to escape,” she said wryly.

“You would never do that to your baby.”

“You’re right.” She turned, directing her words toward the backseat. “Don’t listen to me, baby. I’m just disgruntled.”

Pierce laughed. “You’re so adorable sometimes, Demi.” They stopped at a red light, and he turned to face her. She pushed her lips together in a full-blown pout.

“I don’t want to be adorable.”

“I’m sorry.” He cleared his throat and lowered his voice. “Sexy, it’s all I can do not to pull this car over, shove down your pants, and take you, hard.”

A moan left her lips. “Hot. Keep talking like that, and I’ll need a new pair of panties. Don’t tease the sexually deprived so cruelly.”

“What if I wasn’t teasing?” His throat constricted like a boa.

“W-what?”

The light turned green, and he pressed the gas, grateful for the reason to look away.

“What if I meant those words, Demi?” He swallowed to moisten the drought-barren lands formed in his mouth.

“I’m missing the joke.” Her voice wavered.

“No joke. Just truth, finally.” He exhaled.

“Y-you want to have sex with me?” The stunned tone of her voice made him cringe.

“I want a lot more,” he said.

She gasped. “How long?”

“I can’t even remember when it started. I tried to ignore it over the years, hoped the intensity would fade. You and I are solid. The lines are clearly drawn. I have your back, and you have mine. I didn’t want to tamper with it.” He sighed.

“What changed?”

“The feelings grew. People around us started getting hitched. The thought of one of them being you eventually, never knowing what might’ve happened if we tried to see what could come of us.” He shook his head and tapped the steering wheel. “I couldn’t live with myself.”

“Pierce. I don’t know what to say.”

“You never thought about being an us?” He gently prodded her for more information.

“I just never went there. I mean you were always the built-in best friend “

He risked a glance over at her. “But you sensed something.”

“I’d have to be dead not to.” She huffed.

He released the breath he’d been holding.

“Is that what this was all about?” she said.

“I know you think we’re totally different. But I wanted to show you we can exist in both our worlds happily. I’m having just as much fun as you.” He shrugged.

“Wow,” she said.

“Wow bad, or good?” His stomach twisted like a soft-freeze ice-cream cone.

“Good I think. Is this a trial run?”

“It can be whatever you want it to be, Demi.”

“That’s what I want.”

“Yeah?” He grinned.

“Any man who’d do all of this, not tell, but show me the way he feels about me, deserves the best I got.” Her smaller hand covered his on the shifter. His jeans grew tighter. “So, what are the terms of this weekend? And don’t say whatever I want them to be, because that’ll irritate the piss out of me.”

“Such a lady.” He tsked.

She snorted. “You know better.”

“I do. Um, we act like a couple out on a mini vacation. Explore what’s between us and see if a spark lives beneath the friend front, right?”

A heartbeat passed. “Demi?”

“What if there’s a lot there?” Her words were so low he almost missed them.

“Break it down for me, brainiac. My brain doesn’t take leaps constantly the way yours does,” he said, afraid to hope.

“I’m worried we might bite off more than we were ready to chew,” she said.

“If I wasn’t ready to commit, I never would’ve brought it up.”

“If you don’t have commitment issues, why haven’t you ever been in a serious relationship before?”

“Because no other woman could be you.”

“Pull the car over, now.” Her husky voice went straight to his dick.

“Yes, ma’am.” He scanned the area and pulled off on a side street, parking in a space out of the light. He turned to face her. “Ar—”

Her lips crashed down onto his, and she climbed into his lap. The minute their lips connected, his brain melted like a Popsicle out in the sun. He tilted his head, gripping her hips to keep her in place as he learned her taste. She was lush. Sweet and fulfilling like a ripe piece of fruit. Her lips parted, and he took the opening, needing more. Now that they’d finally arrived here, he lost all sense of restraint. She ground into his lap and moved her body back and forth. Her breathing grew heavy, and they paused their mouth mating only to take in air. A deep moan shook her body, and he gasped.

“Fuck, D, you’re going to make me come in my pants.”

“Do it for me, baby. I want to know I affect you the same way you do me,” she said. Her voice was smoky and full of need. He moved her over the bulge straining against his zipper. “Oh God, yes,” she whispered. Her head fell back, and he was taken off guard by how beautiful she was in the moonlight, caught in the heat of the moment. She brought her hands up to grip his shoulder, and her movements turned wild.

“Jesus, Demi.”

“Mhmm, geek girls go hard too, baby.”

“So fucking sexy,” he growled, thrusting upward as they dry humped like horny teenagers.

“I’m going to come, Pierce. Are you going to come with me?”

“Yes.”

She cried out, and he exploded, not minding the warm liquid soaking his boxer briefs.

A rap on the window made them both jump. Light shone into the window, and he cringed.

“You folks okay?” the man with the wide-brim hat asked. “Roll down the window, please.”

“I can’t believe this,” Pierce whispered, complying.

“Can I ask why you’re here right now?” the officer said, eyeballing them with disdain.

“I’m sorry, Officer, it’s my entire fault. My boyfriend here just gave me some incredible news, and I just had to kiss him senseless. So I had him pull over.” Demi looked at the cop and gave her most innocent expression.

The cop’s lips twitched up. “I’ll let you go with a warning this time. I don’t want to catch you guys around here again, understand?”

“Yes, sir.” Pierce nodded, and the cop turned and headed back to his car. “You’re trouble.”

“Hey, I saved our asses.” She climbed back over the seat and buckled up.

“I’ve never witnessed this side of you, D. How is that possible?”

“You’ve always brought out the best in me. With you, I can do anything.”

“Always,” Pierce said.

“We’ll see. Slow and steady. I think we might’ve gotten ahead of ourselves.”

“Would you change it?” he asked.

“No fucking way, man.”

Proud, he started the car and pulled out, headed to the hotel.
So far, so good.

THE EFFORTLESS WAY they slipped into their new roles astounded her. She might be bold, but she’d always been a coward when it came to love. After watching her father deteriorate right in front of her when her mother died unexpectedly of a brain aneurysm, she’d shied away from deep romantic attachments. The high that made her walk on clouds began to dissipate, and she began to regret her impulsive choices. There’d be no going back to what they’d once been. The only direction to travel would be forward.
Am I up to that? Things I should have asked myself before I plunged headfirst into this
. She ground her teeth together. How could she say no to Pierce of all people?

She’d do anything to see her partner in crime happy, even if it meant putting her own heart on the line. She gulped.
That’s what scares me
. They were going from zero to sixty. With no need to build a strong foundation, get past the awkward getting-to-know-you stage, or spill their guts, this train had only one destination. She toyed with the clunky silver rose ring on her index finger, spinning the circle around as she watched the buildings in the darkness.

“You got quiet. Are you okay?” Pierce said.

“Yeah, I’m just starving, and stunned.”

“You really had no clue?” He sounded almost disappointed.

“I never put us in that category, Pierce. It’s nothing personal. You were in the sexy-best-friend-I-love-to-death file.”

“Sexy, huh?”

She laughed, imagining his smirk. “You have a mirror, so I’m sure you’re well aware of how attractive you are.”

“But I didn’t know you thought that.”

“You got balls laying this on me.” She admired his bravery.

“I’d grown tired of thinking to death, honestly. I needed to know one way or another.”

“And you believe it’d work? You and me as a couple?” She nibbled her bottom lip.

“Yeah, I do. I mean, you said yourself on numerous occasions, we’re like peas and carrots. The attraction is obviously there. We’ve pretty much drawn out the blueprints. All we need to do is start building.” The confidence he placed in the words made her smile.
This is why he’s one of the best sports agents in the area.

“It makes me nervous,” she said.

“Our past?” he said.

“The intensity.”

“Some people search their entire lives for a connection like this, and we found it with one lip-lock.”

She snorted. “Oh, it was much more than that.”

“Yeah, it was.”

She giggled at his audible pride.

“Everything is new. We’ll go slow and figure it out. The cat’s out of the bag, you haven’t slapped me, and the apocalypse hasn’t begun, so already expectations have been exceeded.”

“You were that worried?” she said.

“Umm…yeah. I’m well aware of the fact we run in different circles, and some of my interests bore you to death. I was concerned you wouldn’t see past our differences. If we’re both willing, there’s plenty of common ground.”

“Where? I’m a video-game-designing free spirit who likes anime, cosplay, and cult classics, and you’re a sports agent hooked on outdoor activities, action movies, and fast cars.”

“Do you think that’s all we are, these labels you’re tossing out willy-nilly?” he asked, countering her excuses.

“Willy-nilly?” She smirked.

“Don’t change the subject, D.”

She sighed. “No, it’s not what I think. I was giving you a generalization of why I’m skeptical.”

“Where’s the brave girl who made me come in my pants back there, then conned a police officer?”

Heat dusted her cheeks and moved up into her ears. “She’s still here, just thinking with the brain in her head and not the one below her belt.”

“Sounds like a case of cold feet.”

She snorted. “We’re not getting married.”

“No, but you’re running scared when you weren’t before. Look. If we overthink things, we’ll ruin this weekend. It’s not a mandate we have all the answers now.”

The soothing baritone calmed her frayed nerves. “Right. I’m jumping the gun.” She took a deep breath.

“It’s all right. I figured once the freak-out set in you’d start to pull away,” he said. The resignation in his voice wounded her. He expected her to run.

No matter what, this was still Pierce. He didn’t deserve to be subjected to the bitch who came out when her too-close-for-comfort radar went off. Grateful for the night sky that hid her actions, she wrung her hands. Soon she’d be forced to make some tough decisions. She needed to be sure they were the right ones.

Chapter Three

Pierce pulled in front of the hotel, and Demi gasped.

“Oh my God! We’re actually at The Eagle Inn.” He reached over and squeezed her hand. “How can I ever repay you?”

“Just enjoy yourself…and walk in front of me, so they don’t notice my predicament.” He glanced down at the slightly damp blue jeans, and she laughed. The airy sound chased away the tension that lingered in the cab.

“You ready?”

“Hell yes!” She unbuckled the seat belt and leaped from the vehicle like a superhero off to save an innocent person from danger. He made his way out, following behind her as she strode into the three-story off-white building with dark green shutters and red trim on the bottom. The circular sign boasted THE EAGLE INN. Large windows lined the front beneath a dark green awning where the structure extended outward to hold the restaurant. An American flag waved in the crisp night air. Opened in the mid-1700s as a tavern, the place had a history of spirits not at rest. They walked into a room with high ceilings and ornamental wood beams. Shades of gray cobblestone lined the walls, and a fireplace against the wall. Carpets done in royal reds and gold ran over the floor. Antique settees were arranged to face one another with comfortable-looking plush velvet chairs.

The freestanding dark wood desk rested in front of the left wall. A woman dressed in a crisp white shirt, black suit jacket, and a black-and-white scarf greeted them with a smile.

“Hello, welcome to The Eagle Inn. How can I help you?”

“Hi, we have a reservation under Pierce Lane.” He dug into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.

Her fingers flew over the keys. “Oh yes, room sixteen. Tomorrow night you’ll have the run of the place for your investigation. We’re all terribly excited to see what will happen. They can be fickle, you know.” He glanced at her name tag, stunned by the lengths Andrea must’ve gone to make this happen.
I’ll never bitch about her fee again.