The Ghostly Guardians Collection

Chapter 1

Chapter One

NED

Ishuffle forward in the line at the convenience store, my hand going slowly numb where it grips the carton of ice cream, my brain completely numb after eight hours of accounts processing.

I just want to go home, become one with my couch, and watch mindless TV while eating my ice cream before I have to do it all again tomorrow.

Living the dream.

Especially since I won’t actually be able to do any of that. Except eat the ice cream. Because I have three roommates, and we share the TV. It’s highly likely that they’ll already have claimed it and the couch by the time I get home. Yay for me.

“Rocky road, huh?” a voice behind me says. “Having a rocky day?”

It takes me a second to realize he’s talking to me. I half turn to see a great-looking Latino guy with a magnetic smile and sparkling brown eyes. My facial muscles move stiffly into a hesitant smile back. It’s impossible not to.

“Uh… what?” Great job, brain. That’s definitely the way to impress the hottie. My dick, which hasn’t seen action with another person for too long to remember, desperately wants this guy to like me. Unfortunately, the rest of me has forgotten how to make that happen.

Hottie nods at the ice cream in my hand. “Bad day?”

I glance down at the frozen treat and scratch my beard as I try to think of something clever to say. “Does it count as a bad day if it’s the same as every other day?”

He winces. “Ouch.”

There’s not much I can say after that, so I just bob my head in a slow nod and return to staring at the back of the person in front of me, hating myself for not trying to flirt with him but unable to muster the energy to actually do it.

Is this what my life has come to? I’m thirty-three and too tired and worn down to respond when a hot guy shows interest in me.

The line shuffles forward.

This can’t be it, right? This can’t be everything life has to offer.

The woman in front of me asks for cigarettes and a lottery ticket. Maybe that’s the solution, a way to shake things up and take a chance. After all, a smoking habit and eventual death from lung cancer would be something new and different.

Probably expensive, though. And painful. And permanent.

The cashier makes eye contact, and I realize it’s my turn.

Stepping forward, I put my ice cream on the counter and mumble the standard “how you doing” greeting.

He grunts in return, which in my opinion is more polite than he really needs to be, and scans the carton.

As he opens his mouth to announce my total, a crazy impulse seizes me.

“And I’ll have a lottery ticket,” I announce, then blink in surprise.

Oh well. At least it’s cheaper than a pack of cigarettes.

He doesn’t look thrilled, but he gets the ticket for me and rings up the new total. I already have my wallet open—

Fuck.

Fuck fuck fuck.

I forgot about the candy bar I bought today in a desperate attempt to make paying invoices more interesting.

Swallowing hard, I muster a weak smile. “I, uh… I’m a dollar short.”

The cashier stares back at me, and I get the distinct feeling he wants to hit me.

“Here.” An arm reaches past me and slaps a dollar on the counter. I turn my head to meet the smiling gaze of the hottie.

“Oh, you don’t have to—”

“It’s my good deed for the day,” he says, holding eye contact. “I always wanted to be someone’s knight on a charger.” Heat rises in my cheeks.

The cashier clears his throat.

Snapping back to the reality that I’m holding up the line, I hurriedly hand over my cash and grab my purchases, then hover awkwardly while my rescuer pays for his milk.

This gives me the chance to check him out properly, and I’m not mad at what I see.

He’s only a few inches shorter than my stupid height, for starters.

His jeans hug muscular thighs and a tight ass, and the polo shirt with a construction company logo reveals mouth-watering forearms. His dark hair is cut short, but I get the feeling it would curl if it was allowed to.

All that combined with his killer smile and obviously sunny nature seems to be a sign from the universe that I’ve done something right lately.

Wish I knew what it was.

He finishes up, and we walk toward the door.

“Thank you,” I say awkwardly. “So much. Uh, I want to pay you back.”

“Dinner on Friday?” he asks immediately. “I’m Carlos, by the way.”

“Ned,” I say automatically. “Wow, it’s a new low when a date with me is only worth a dollar.” I stop dead. Fuck my life. “I mean… wouldn’t you rather have your money back?”

Jesus fucking Christ, what is wrong with me? This guy is into me, and I somehow managed to fuck it up beyond recognition.

And then, as we step out onto the street, Carlos laughs. It’s not a mean laugh, or a disbelieving or shocked one. He seems genuinely amused… by me. Which is a little scary.

“I’m not usually this big of an ass,” I confess, not ready to let go of him just yet.

“I like asses,” he replies, winking. “And I think you’re cute.”

I’m blushing again, I just know it.

“So… dinner Friday?”

“Yes,” I say before I have time to talk myself out of it. “But I’m still going to pay you back the dollar.”

He shakes his head. “I won’t take it.”

“Then the lottery ticket is half yours. If I end up winning like ten bucks or whatever, we split it.”

He purses his lips, thinking it over. “How about this: if the ticket wins ten bucks or whatever, we use the winnings to pay for our second date.”

“Deal.” I stick out my hand for him to shake, slightly giddy that he might want a second date with me before we even go on the first one.

“Deal.” He takes my hand, but instead of shaking it, he pulls me closer, leans up, and brushes a light kiss on my lips. “Now it’s sealed.”

“Sealed,” I repeat like an idiot.

He hands me a business card, then asks me for my number and writes it down on the back of another. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” he promises. I watch him walk away and wonder how my day could have gone from total shit to this in just the blink of an eye.

“Your ice cream’s melting,” he calls back over his shoulder, and I yelp and jerk back to reality—and the dripping carton in my hand—but I’m not upset.

I’m too excited about our date on Friday.