Chapter 2
Sky
Waking up alone in my bed sucked so hard. Especially after curling into King’s side with his arms holding me close—making me feel safe. “Gah! It’s not fair!”
Pounding the mattress with my fists, I allowed myself a little temper tantrum before shoving my glasses on my face and jumping out of bed and stomping to the bathroom to start my morning routine.
Was I acting like a baby? Yes.
Did I care? No.
King had to be the most frustrating man alive.
The first couple of days after we’d officially decided we were dating had been magical.
If we weren’t working, we’d been together, doing all that getting to know each other stuff.
Well, I giggled, it was more like me cramming his head full of facts about my life.
King hadn’t really said anything that I hadn’t already figured out about him.
I’d make a damn good private eye if I ever wanted a career change.
He didn’t know that, though. Not wanting to appear creepy, I drank in every word out of his mouth like I was discovering it for the first time. It wasn’t like staring intently at his mouth was a hardship.
But then, it was like someone flipped a switch.
He’d suddenly become busier than I’d ever seen him.
Sure, he and Jetty were training themselves on the art of fencing before their workdays began, and I got that he thought we should spend as much time with his gran as possible, but even with all my coaxing and cajoling, we weren’t spending our nights together. Like what?!
By the time I was ready to leave for the manor, my attitude had improved.
Not only would I get to see King, but I’d reminded myself—yet again—how lucky I was.
Most people didn’t get to hang out with their boyfriend or significant other in their sleepy time.
They might dream about them, but I actually got to be with mine.
Could that be why he didn’t seem to care we weren’t sharing a bed?
Was he getting enough of me while we were in the Dream-veil?
Huh. I paused at the door of my car, thinking.
Was I around too much? We both worked during the day, so it wasn’t like I was up his ass 24/7, not that I wouldn’t be if I could get away with it, but—
I shrugged off my own concerns as I got in the car.
That couldn’t be it. Kingston chose to fence with Jetty at the manor in the mornings, a place where I’d already been practicing yoga and learning magic from Elyse for months.
So really, he’d chosen to spend that time in my space.
Plus, it was a toss-up which one of us decided whether we spent time in the evenings with his gran in her kitchen.
Okay, yeah. It wasn’t a matter of King not wanting us to be together, so what was it?
Why did he welcome me with open arms once we were in the Dream-veil, yet seem so hesitant to be alone with me during our waking hours?
Whatever it was, I’d figure it out and get King back into my bed where he belonged.
Or me in his. I was easy like that. Not that there’d be any hanky panky under Gran’s roof.
I shuddered. No, thank you. Between Lee’s continued existence in the house and that woman’s face saying she seemed to know everything, the thought of trying to pleasure their grandson with them under the same roof made me cringe.
At the manor, I went straight to the kitchen and found my best friend, Chance, exactly where I expected him to be—perched on a stool in the picture window in the kitchen, drooling over the sight of his boyfriend doing his thing with King. Wait. It was Jetty he was lusting over, right?
Shoving him in the shoulder, I said, “You better not be perving on my man.”
Chance spared me a glance over his shoulder, rolling his eyes, then fixed his gaze back outside. “Please. As if…Jetty’s more than enough man for me.”
Grinning, I sat on the stool that had been set up for me next to him. We’d become quite the spectators. It was like bird-watching without the birds. A very important way to start the day.
Holy god, goddess, and whatever else holy there might be.
They weren’t in full fencing gear today, but King had stripped down to the waist, hanging his shirt out of the back of his sweatpants.
Why was that so sexy? Sweat glistened on his chest like droplets of dew on a flower petal, and I was sooo here for it.
As he and Jetty stood, taking a ready stance across from each other, they began some complicated martial arts moves.
I about swallowed my tongue as King’s muscles rippled.
He’d told me they were going to incorporate other physical activities into their practice sessions, but I hadn’t expected it to be this yummy a distraction.
Chance sighed next to me. “I’m not sure what I think about you dreamwalking, but I’m not complaining about the results of it.”
Phew. Me neither. Wait. What? My brow furrowed. “What’s wrong with me dreamwalking?”
Gaze still fixed adoringly on Jetty, he shrugged. “I don’t know. It doesn’t feel safe.”
I scoffed. “Are you kidding? Between Patchy and King’s newly acquired swordsmanship, we’ve got this down to a science already.”
Chance finally spun on the stool away from the window and focused on me. The weight of his intense gaze was heavy. “Let’s sit at the table,” he said.
Aghast, I clutched my hands over my chest. “Are you kidding? But…but…but the show.” I waved vaguely toward the window.
Chance snickered. “I know, right?” He hopped off the stool with one last lingering look out at Jetty, then made his way to sit at the head of the table. “Come on. We seriously need to talk.”
I drank in King’s large frame for another moment, then begrudgingly sat to Chance’s left side with my back to the window. I knew myself well enough to know I’d get distracted trying to catch glimpses of my man if I didn’t.
Harry materialized near the kitchen sink. “Skylar.” He nodded at me. “Can I fix you a cup of coffee to your specifications?”
“That would be awesome. Thank you.” Rubbing my hands together in anticipation, I asked, “Did Buck make any yummy pastries this morning?”
Buck appeared next to his fiancé. The whole engagement thing was a relatively new occurrence, but both spirits were happier than I’d ever seen them. They planned on tying the knot in all ways accessible to them in front of us—their family—and I couldn’t wait to witness it.
“I baked up a nice batch of pecan rolls this morning,” he said.
“Ah. That’s what I smell.”
Chance moaned. “You should’ve been here earlier this morning. The fragrance wafting from the kitchen had me salivating before I even made it all the way down the stairs.”
I snickered. It was only 7:30 am now, but my bestie had always been an early riser.
When I’d first met him, it was all about his drive to succeed, but since moving to Willowhope, he enjoyed starting the day with the sunrise.
Which was a good thing. Running the B&B with a couple of ghosts meant that he and Scotty, the front desk clerk and all-around boy-Friday, had to serve the guests the delicious food Buck and Harry made, and do all the things that were visible to whoever was staying here.
That reminded me. “How’s it going with Ego here?
When I suggested he stay here while we work on his mini-castle, I didn’t really think about how it would impact you all.
” My cousin, Ego, was a popstar, the current phenomenon sweeping the world.
We hadn’t been able to spend time with each other in years, between his writing, recording, and touring, and me building my own career.
But we were super close, more like brothers than cousins, and it was good to have him here.
However, Harry, Buck, and Stevie—the resident apparitions—had no problem staying out of sight when the B&B had paying guests, but usually people only stayed a weekend or maybe a week.
They were unused to having a customer stay here full-time.
It wasn’t ideal for our found family either.
We were so used to having a few nights a week where we had family dinner, played games, or watched a movie.
“It’s going well,” Harry answered, setting a steaming mug of coffee and a freshly heated pecan roll in front of me.
I took a sip of my morning elixir, humming my appreciation, then looked to Chance. “Is it really? Is it too much?”
He shook his head. “We’re good. Once he gets up, he’s generally out for the rest of the day at his new place, and he pretty much goes straight up to his room or out to the garden after dinner.”
“I’m actually going to miss him when he’s gone. Listening to him play his guitar is like being serenaded. Even with all the starting and stopping while he works on composing something new, his music is amazing,” Buck said.
As the music junky of our group, I wasn’t surprised that he was appreciating having a famous popstar around. Although… “I wouldn’t have thought what he plays would be up your alley, Buck.”
He snorted. “I’m not into that Top twenty crap that’s made him a household name, but he’s been working on something different, edgier.”
“It’s weird, though,” Chance said. “He said it’s all for fun. He doesn’t plan on releasing it or anything. He said his fans would hate it, so—”
“What?” Ego hadn’t said anything to me about any of that. I didn’t even know he was doing more than playing around when I saw him outside with his guitar, singing softly as his fingers ran over the frets.
We spent hours together at the house every day, but Jetty and his construction crew were there, so we didn’t get a chance to talk-talk.
I’d been so obsessed with King and the Dream-veil that I hadn’t really told him much on a personal front since he didn’t know ghosts were real or about dreamwalking or anything magical. Shoot. Was I missing something?