Chapter Fourteen
Chapter
Fourteen
I played along last night, watched as Elle and Xander took turns with the ghost goggles to talk with Laney. Followed them around the manor as they gave Laney a proper tour. I kept all my confusion and hurt out of my expression. Waited for Elle to bridge the gap between us and explain herself.
Like an absolute heartsick fool, I stayed up late into the night, staring at the ceiling, waiting for a soft knock at my door and an explanation of Elle’s sudden hot-and-cold treatment.
I ran countless possibilities through my head.
That the kiss was nothing but a surge of excitement about successfully haunting the B&B.
That it was a fluke. A spur-of-the-moment thing.
But then her words would echo through my head in my quiet room.
I’ve imagined this so many times I’ve lost count.
So, no. Elle wasn’t caught up in the moment, at least as far as the attraction goes. Acting on her attraction…that might have been an accident. One that will never happen again.
My chest aches at the thought, and I find myself glancing up from my lunch to watch her.
Elle is radiant with joy and purpose today, and fuck if it doesn’t feel good to know part of that joy is because of me. Well, not me exactly, but what I’ve managed to accomplish.
She and Xander are sitting across the table, in their usual seats, their attention focused on Laney. I spent the morning crafting a second pair of ghost goggles—and have the hot-glue burn marks to prove it—so now Elle and Xander can both chat with Laney at the same time.
Laney, sitting cross-legged on top of the table, is currently giving Elle a list of requested meals for them to smell.
“Pip? The glasses are fading.” Xander’s voice pulls my focus away from my experimental grimoire, where I was supposed to be making notes about the goggles instead of pining after Elle.
Ugh, why did she have to kiss me? I was perfectly happy longing from afar, but now I know what it’s like to kiss her.
I know what it feels like to have her soft lips on mine and her hands tugging at my waist. I know what she sounds like when I trail my hands up her thighs, how easily her body melts against mine.
The way she throws her head back when I give her the pressure she wants and—
“Pippa?” Xander says my name again, louder this time, and embarrassment burns across my face.
“Right. Sorry. The glasses.” I stand and reach across the table to bracket my hands on either side of the frames, funneling fresh magic into the series of crystals there. “Better?”
He nods, an assessing look in his face. “You seem distracted today. Everything okay?”
My gaze flicks to Elle, whose neutral expression shows the faintest hint of worry, and I wave away Xander’s concern. “Just trying to figure out how to fuel the ghost goggles when I’m not around. Maybe a selenite charging plate or something.”
“You know,” Laney says, looking between the three of us, “it’d be nice to have a way to communicate when no one is wearing the goggles.”
Elle picks at the remnants of the salad on her plate. “Like a Ouija board?”
Laney shakes their head, causing teal hair to swish around their shoulders. “You’d still have to be here and paying attention for that to work. Plus, I don’t think I could move the pointer thing.”
“The planchette,” I correct absentmindedly, my mind already spinning off in other directions as I shift into problem-solving mode. “I wonder if there’s a way to capture spectral energy and make it visible on a physical surface. Like a…like a ghostly chalkboard or something.”
“Yes! Exactly!” Laney grins at me, and beyond them, I’m aware of Elle’s attention.
She looks at me like I’m the most brilliant woman she’s ever seen, and it’s like she never went cold and pushed me away yesterday. Like she wants to kiss me again.
Before I can get lost in that train of thought, my phone buzzes loud against the table, bringing me back to reality.
The one where Elle did shove me away and has kept me at arm’s length ever since.
I check the email and find a response from the haunted country club I’ve been communicating with the past few days. A jolt of excitement zips through me.
“Xander, how would you like to go ghost hunting with me today?”
A flicker of emotion furrows Elle’s brow. “Did you get permission to visit the country club?”
“They had a last-minute cancellation, so I’ll have full access to the grounds.”
“I’d love to, Pip, but I’m meeting with a potential vendor soon.
” Xander checks his watch and pushes away from the table.
“Shit. Very soon, actually. You remember Callie from my programming class junior year? She has a side gig making organic hand soaps and lotions. I’m trying to talk her into supplying the manor. ”
“As long as you keep the cost reasonable,” Elle says, grabbing his plate and setting it over hers. “I already ran the budget, and I’m not doubling it for artisanal soaps.”
Xander ruffles her hair. “I know, Lou. You went over those spreadsheets a dozen times. If the standard bulk discount doesn’t work, I’ll see if Callie can sweeten the deal in exchange for promo space in the rooms.”
“Good,” Elle says, swatting him away and fixing her hair. “Anyway. Pippa, I’m free this afternoon. I can go with you to interview the ghosts.”
“It’s settled then. You two will find Laney some awesome roommates, and I’ll handle the deal with Callie.” Xander gives Laney a salute before removing the ghost goggles. “I’ll pick up dinner while I’m out. How’s everyone feel about Italian?”
“Ooh, tell him I want to smell garlic bread. And Alfredo!” Laney slips off the table and ends up standing next to me.
“I’m going for a walk. I won’t be back until dinner.
” They give me a meaningful look and nod in Elle’s direction.
Their words yesterday—Oh, you’ve got it bad—echo in my head.
Laney waves at Elle before slipping away, stepping through the exterior wall and out of sight.
I relay Laney’s request as Xander heads for the front door.
“Got it. Text me what you two want,” he calls from the coat closet. “I’ll tell Callie you said hello, Pip.”
“Like she’d remember me,” I mumble as I jot down a few notes about a possible ghostly message board system. I’m going to need Dea to do some shopping for me and overnight additional supplies. The shipping costs on this job are getting ridiculous.
Elle takes off her ghost goggles, collects my plate, and when I glance up, she’s staring at me like I’m some puzzle she can’t put together.
“What?”
She shakes her head. “Nothing. I just…I can’t see how anyone could forget you.”
I watch her leave with the plates, stunned into silence.
What the hell is that supposed to mean? For the past day, I’ve been driving myself insane trying to parse what that kiss meant, what it might mean going forward—half-convinced I imagined the whole thing—only for her to go and say something like that?
With Laney gone for now, I wipe away the amplification sigils and close the grimoire.
There isn’t time to worry about a single kiss.
If I want to impress Sloane McKinley and secure an endorsement for my work, I need to bring more than one ghost to Midnight Manor.
I need to get these ghost goggles self-sustaining.
I need to figure out the bulletin board and, ideally, the room I mentioned to Sloane where mundane guests could see the ghosts all the time.
Footsteps in the hallway draw my attention, but instead of coming back into the dining room, Elle continues down the hall toward the front door. Okay then…I guess she’s ready to go.
I grab my grimoire and head for the stairs. “I need a few things from my room before we leave.”
“Alex is gone,” Elle says, turning away from the front windows and coming back down the hall.
“Right, he—”
And then she’s kissing me.
The grimoire slips through my fingers, falling to the floor with a thump as my hands find their way around Elle’s waist. Her mouth is hot against mine, insistent and claiming, and she threads her fingers through my hair.
I kiss her back, caught up in the heady rush of desire that erupts at each point of contact.
But then the cold distance of last night rushes in, and I break away from the kiss.
“What are we doing?” I ask, my breathlessness stealing the bite from the words.
“Oh. I’m sorry. I thought…” Fire blazes across her cheeks. “You seemed into it yesterday. I assumed—”
“I was,” I admit, hurt and hope fighting for dominance inside me. “But then you shoved me away like you were embarrassed.”
You have disgraced this family for the last time.
Elle’s posture deflates. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just that Alex came home, and I…”
“You what? Couldn’t bear the thought of him finding out that you’re attracted to me?” I demand, my voice louder now. Edgier. “You threw me away like I mean nothing.”
You are no longer an Erikson.
The last thing I need right now is my mother’s disappointed voice echoing in my head, but I can’t turn off the shame that courses through my body at the onslaught of memories.
That first NACOW failure rears its head again, when I’d argued with a dignitary from the UK about the possibilities of altering traditional sigils.
I knew—from my own hidden experiments at home—that it was possible to alter sigils without weakening their effects.
I didn’t realize the stuffy old witch I was arguing with was a curator of magical history and a staunch traditionalist. I also didn’t know he was in town specifically to negotiate an agreement with my mother.
An agreement that my brazen disregard for tradition nearly toppled.
“Pippa?” Elle’s voice is gentle, and the way she studies my face with such earnestness makes my heart ache.
She reaches for my hands, a comforting touch instead of a romantic one.
“I’m sorry. I should have realized how it could look, especially with your family history.
I wasn’t trying to throw you away. I do like you, Pippa. ”
“Really?” I ask, unable to keep the surprise out of my voice.
“Yes, really.” Elle slides her fingers between mine and squeezes tight. “Under different circumstances, it would be totally fine if Alex found out. Although, I don’t love the idea of him walking in on me making out with anyone.” She shudders, the motion shaking down her arms and into mine.
The remembered shame starts to bleed away. “What circumstances?”
“The Barrett of it all.” Elle scowls, and if looks could kill, Barrett would be a dead man.
“I know Alex told you some of it, but you weren’t there in the immediate aftermath.
I’ve never seen him that devastated. The B&B is a helpful distraction for him, but I know he’s hurting. Way more than he lets on.”
My heart aches to think of Xander hurting so deeply.
I hate that I wasn’t there for him, that he’s still keeping some of it hidden away.
I wish I could make it better, and as much as Elle’s reaction yesterday stings, I do get it.
If she cares about Xander half as much as I do, the idea of making things worse for him would be unbearable.
“You don’t want him to know about…” I fumble for the right description. “About whatever’s happening between us, because it’ll reopen the Barrett wounds.”
“Exactly.” Relief softens her posture, and she leans close until I tip my forehead down to meet hers. “I’m not hiding this because of who you are, Pippa. I’m trying to protect him.” Elle reaches for my hips, and when I step closer, she folds her arms across my back.
“I get it,” I say, my words weighted in the tiny space between us. “I don’t want to hurt him, either.”
Her relieved smile makes this entire conversation worth it. “If you’re okay with being discreet, I would very much enjoy finding moments to be alone over the next eighteen days.” She tips her face up to mine until a single deep breath would close the gap between our lips.
“We’re alone now.”
“Yes, yes we are.”
This time, I’m the one who presses forward. I kiss Elle slowly, thoroughly, like we have all the time in the world…even though she already gave me a deadline. An expiration date.
I want to ask what happens after the eighteen days are up, but when her tongue explores the seam of my lips, I let myself get lost in the warm slide of her tongue along mine. I drown in the press of her hands against my skin, the caress of her sigh when I press my hips against hers.
It’s not the same white-hot heat of yesterday. There’s a sweetness this time, a promise of more to come, that leaves me breathless in a whole new way. Because this kiss is on purpose. We’re both on the same page. For now.
And maybe…maybe knowing there’s a planned end will be a good thing. We can have fun together, and I can keep my heart safe. I can do casual. I can let this be temporary without it meaning that I’m disposable.
Eventually, I force myself to pull away. “So. Shall we go find Laney some friends?”
“Only if I get to drive.” Elle smirks as she leads me out the door. “My car has a bigger back seat.”