Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

A nd she wanted to kiss him too. She had done from the moment he’d crashed into her life like a loyal—but fierce—bulldog to protect her.

Still, she needed to be clear. “So, you’re attracted to me but felt guilty because you were worried it was betraying your dead wife? Or is it that you were afraid of letting yourself get close to anyone again in case you got hurt?”

“All of the above,” he said, his eyes sparkling.

“And you were too afraid to touch me, but now you aren’t?”

“Nope. Still terrified.” He smiled. It was slow and sensual, making her shiver with longing. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“You mean in the future, right? Not like with kissing and touching and stuff. I mean, you haven’t forgotten how to do all of that, have you?”

Noah grinned widely. “They say it comes back to you, no matter how rusty you are. I think we’ll be fine. And yeah, I’m scared of what will happen in the future.”

“Oh, Noah, you idiot. We’re all scared of that.”

“Yeah, but I’ve decided to feel the fear and do it anyway.”

Her eyebrows shot up her forehead. “Do it anyway? As in it with me? Your romance skills are seriously rusty.”

“Hey, you just called me an idiot; that isn’t exactly seductive.” He fought to suppress a smile, and the last of Annabelle’s weak resistance crumbled.

“You are an idiot,” she said softly.

“How do you feel about kissing idiots?” he asked, gazing into her eyes.

“Fortunately for you, my standards are low.” She leaned into him.

“That is fortunate for me.” His hand cupped the back of her head, his fingers threading through her hair.

Their mouths were only a whisper apart now.

“Still scared?” she teased.

“Terrified,” he whispered before his lips met hers.

They were warm and smooth and firm. Deliciously confident as they teased her to deepen their kiss. Annabelle’s arms wound around his neck as he gently urged her closer.

For a moment, suspended in time, there was no threat hanging over her. No court date pressing ever closer. No anxiety about what she should and shouldn’t be doing. There was just Noah, skillfully teasing her lips with his.

Suddenly, the scant distance between them seemed unbearably vast. Before she knew it, Annabelle climbed into his lap and straddled him without ever breaking their kiss.

That same sense of rightness she experienced whenever she hugged him enveloped her again. Only this time, it was even better. His hand flattened on the small of her back, holding her tight, and she reveled in the sensation of his strong, muscled body against hers. He felt solid. Powerful, yet tender. Holding her reverently, tempering his strength with control and care. His other hand tightened in her hair as they devoured one another. Her breathing became panting, and a small moan of need escaped her throat.

The room spun around them, and she never wanted it to stop. No, she wanted it to go faster and faster until they flew completely out of control. Lost in each other. Oblivious to anything else.

“Okay,” a female voice said, bringing her back down to earth with a thud. “I know this isn’t part of the job.”

Annabelle whined in complaint when Noah’s mouth left hers.

“Go away, Violet,” he said, sounding breathless and needy.

“You go away,” came the annoyed reply. “I’m on watch duty, and I sure as hell don’t want to watch this.”

“There is no such thing as peace around here,” Noah muttered, making Annabelle bark out a short, startled laugh.

Carefully, hands on her waist, he lifted her and placed her on her feet in front of him. She swayed slightly, overly aware of his hands on her body, her mind desperately chasing that sense of wonder she’d experienced only moments earlier.

“Come on.” He stood and held out a hand. “It’s late, and Violet, although rude, is right. We need to let her do her job.”

As Annabelle took his hand, her mind began to clear, and the ache in her body eased somewhat.

“I need a shower,” he said as they made their way toward the back of the loft. “Long day rolling in the dirt with criminals.” His smile was private, just for her.

“I’d better get ready for bed too. It’s late.” Even saying the word bed made her shiver with awareness. Would Noah sleep with her again tonight? Would there be more?

Heavens above, let there be more!

He stopped at the door between the guest room and the panic room. “See you soon?”

“Yes,” she said, perhaps a little too firmly.

With a grin, he gathered his things and headed for the shower.

Noah didn’t want to leave Annabelle, but he hadn’t been joking about needing a shower. He hurried down the hall to the bathroom he shared with the other guest room. There was no sound coming from Rochelle and Katrina’s room, so he could only assume they were fast asleep. Part of him wanted to wake Rochelle and explain himself before telling her how much he regretted going behind her back. But she needed her sleep, and his apology would keep until morning.

Besides, he couldn’t wait to get back to Annabelle.

He made fast work of showering and was in the middle of shaving when Therese appeared again. She looked ecstatic.

“Well done!” She did a speedy little finger clap in front of her face as she grinned at him in the mirror.

Noah set the razor on the edge of the sink for fear of accidentally slitting his own throat.

“Please tell me you weren’t watching,” he groaned.

“Just a little bit.” Her ghostly form patted him on the back. He felt nothing. “You did great.”

“Therese,” he said with long-suffering, “if you want me to move on, you can’t hang around watching me with other women. It’s creepy. Plus, I don’t need my dead wife grading my work.”

“Who said anything about women?” She glared at him. “What? You’re going to go wild on me now? I gave my approval for Annabelle. Nobody else.”

“Listen to yourself.” He picked up the razor and made quick work of finishing his jawline before splashing water on his face. “I don’t need you interfering in my fledgling love life.”

“Sure, you do. Without my interference, you’d still be crying alone at night, wondering if your libido died along with me.”

“Not funny.” He patted his face dry.

“But true.” She twirled her hair. “You’re going to bed with her now, right?”

Noah cringed. “This is so wrong. I’m not discussing this with you.” He spun toward her, pointing a finger. “And don’t dare hang around to critique anything that may or may not happen.”

She looked sympathetic. “I get it. Performance anxiety. It’s been a long time for you.”

Noah pinched the bridge of his nose. “Therese, please, I’m begging you. Go harass the triplets or something. This whole situation is hard enough without worrying about my wife’s ghost watching me.”

“Like I’d do such a thing!” She sniffed indignantly, fooling no one. “I don’t want to watch you with another woman. That’s just icky.” She batted her eyelashes with feigned innocence. “But I do believe you’d benefit from a few pointers beforehand. I mean, we don’t want nerves getting in the way of you sealing the deal. I’ve put a lot of energy into this for you, and now that I’m invested, it would be great if you didn’t screw it up.”

“Do not say another word.” Noah grabbed his gear and stalked out into the guest room.

The door between his room and the panic room was ajar—as usual.

“I just thought I’d remind you about the stuff you do that really works,” Therese said.

It was official: Noah was completely insane. And there was no switching it off; otherwise, he’d have pressed the silence button on his wife long before now. He pulled on some sweatpants and stalked over to Annabelle’s door. She was already in bed, Wonder Woman pajamas on and covers tucked around her waist.

“I need to pop downstairs to tell Rodrigo something. I’ll only be a couple of minutes. Are you okay with that?”

Her smile was sweet. “You don’t need to update me on every second of your day, Noah. Of course I’m okay. Rochelle and Katrina are just down the hall, and Violet’s pacing out in the loft.”

“Okay.” He nodded, still uncertain yet also very aware that he was behaving weirdly. The last thing he wanted was to take a detour before going to bed with her. But there was no way in hell he’d go anywhere near Annabelle with his ghostly shadow in tow.

He left Annabelle and stalked through the loft to the stairwell. Violet barely acknowledged him as he passed.

“Where are you going?” Therese demanded. “Get back upstairs and finish what you started with that woman!”

Noah didn’t reply. Instead, he went straight to the small office Rodrigo used for a bedroom. He didn’t bother knocking, just threw the door open to find his teammate sitting at a small desk near his bed. He was still fully clothed and, from a glance at the screen, was working the case.

“Why aren’t you in bed with Annabelle?” he asked as he swiveled his chair to face Noah.

“How did you…? Never mind. You were on the surveillance feed, weren’t you?”

Rodrigo grinned. “Better me than one of the triplets. Next time, head for the panic room. There aren’t any cameras in there.”

“Yes!” Therese glared at him. “The panic room, where you should be now.”

“I need help.” Noah sat on the edge of Rodrigo’s bed.

Rodrigo’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “And you came to me for advice? Has it been that long for you, amigo ?”

“What?” Noah let out an exasperated sigh. “Not sex advice.” He pointed at nothing because only he could see his wife. “Ghost advice.”

“Ah.” Rodrigo visibly relaxed, obviously far more comfortable with this topic of conversation. “What’s the problem?” He reached for his mug and took a drink of coffee.

“Therese feels the need to coach me on my physical relationship with Annabelle.”

Rodrigo spat his coffee all over the desk beside him. “What?”

“See?” Noah glared at his wife. “It isn’t normal.”

“Hell no, it isn’t normal. Nothing about this is normal. Is she here now?”

“She’s standing beside me.”

“I can’t believe you’ve come to him for advice. He doesn’t know you as well as I do. He’s practically a stranger.”

“And the only person on the planet who won’t have me committed for talking to you,” Noah pointed out. A thought occurred to him. “Is your abuela here?”

“No, dude.” Rodrigo looked offended. “She haunts my parents. She doesn’t follow me around like…”

“Like Therese does me.” He folded his arms and glared at his wife. “See? Other ghosts don’t do this.”

“We believe him?” Therese was annoyed now. “How do we know his ghost is real, not just in his head?”

Noah hung his head. “Rodrigo, please, I’m dying here. She’s arguing about whether or not your abuela is a figment of your imagination. In other words, my delusion is questioning yours. I need serious help.”

“No.” Rodrigo sat forward, staring at the space where Therese stood. “You don’t. I told you—this is common in my culture. Therese, you need to leave our boy alone so he can work out what he’s doing with Annabelle.”

“But he’ll screw it up!”

Noah sighed. “She says I’ll screw it up.”

Rodrigo ran a hand through his hair. “We’re gonna need a priest. As far as I can see, the only way out of this is to exorcise her.”

“I’m not a demonic possession.” Therese stamped her foot. “I’m a ghost.” She threw up her hands. “Your friend is a moron.”

“Not going to work,” Noah said.

“Okay.” Rodrigo nodded. “Therese, look around you. Can you see a light? A bright pathway that you need to follow?”

“I’m embarrassed for him,” Therese said.

“No light,” Noah said.

“Well, the only other option I can think of is that she stays here with me while you go do your thing.” Rodrigo sat back in his chair.

Therese perked up. “Stay with him?”

“Stay with you?” Noah said.

“Sure.” Rodrigo picked up his coffee again. “I need someone to bounce ideas off, and if Therese comes up with anything, she can tell you later. Plus”—he shrugged—”I’m lonely. It would be nice to have a woman to talk to.”

“Only if you could hear her talk back,” Noah pointed out.

“We can work on that.” Rodrigo was unfazed.

“I take it back,” Therese said. “I like him. I can stay here and talk to him.”

“You’re sure?” Noah asked. “No pretending to stay here then sneaking after me?”

“No,” Therese said. “You heard him. He’s lonely, and he wants to talk about his problems. I’m good at fixing problems. I always helped our friends.”

“Fine.” Noah stood. “She’s all yours,” he said to Rodrigo.

“My pleasure,” Rodrigo said, a glint in his eye. “Us crazy people have to stick together.”

With a shake of his head, Noah left the room, closing the door quietly behind him as Rodrigo updated the figment of Noah’s imagination on the state of the Demon case.

Whether it was the power of suggestion or Therese’s ghost really was in that room, listening to his teammate, Noah didn’t know. All he knew for sure was that he was all alone when he climbed back up the stairs to the loft.

After nodding goodnight to Violet, who was monitoring the streets around the building, Noah made his way to the guest room and closed the door behind him. The connecting door to the panic room still stood ajar, and he eased it open.

“Annabelle?” he whispered into the darkness.

The only reply was an adorable little snore. She was sound asleep, in exactly the same position he’d left her in.

Of course she was asleep.

His luck wouldn’t have it any other way. Just when he’d finally managed to get his head out of his ass, his dead wife cockblocked him, and the woman he cared about was out for the count. Life was cruel.

Noah walked back across the guest room and climbed into his cold, empty bed.