I batted my lashes. “Men who kiss me always say the same thing.”
“That’s not—”
I glared. “You’re not about to insult me, are you?”
Zach shook his head, laughing. “Nope.” He took the files from me, placed them in the bag over his shoulder and headed off. He’d only gotten a foot away before he turned back. “You do know I only kissed you because—”
I raised my hand, not even needing him to go there. “I know.”
Zach grinned. He glanced behind him and spoke to where he apparently thought Kipp lingered. “Gotta admit I acted pretty impressively in there, didn’t I?”
Just to confirm what I had already suspected, I looked behind me and the hallway stood empty. “He’s not—”
“I’m here,” Kipp said.
He melted through the door, stopping in front of me, and his red-hot anger hadn’t dissipated. I never noticed the height of him, but with such intensity oozing from him now, he intimidated me. His muscular body made me feel like a little mouse hunted by a lion. “Um, is everything okay?”
“No.”
Thick silence filled the air until Zach sighed. “Personal shit aside, Kipp. We’ve got a case to solve, including yours.” Then he walked away and left me alone with a pissed-off ghost.
Too bad for Kipp I’d never been one to keep my mouth shut and my curiosity was too high to stay quiet. “What’s wrong with you?”
His jaw clenched. “It’s nothing.”
“Oh really? You just happened to all of a sudden scowl and sound like a rabid dog for no apparent reason whatsoever.”
He frowned. “I’m not scowling and I don’t sound like a dog.”
I would argue that point, he practically wagged his tail. “Oh yeah?” I pointed to his grumpy face. “What’s that?”
He arched his eyebrow, mildly flipping me off. “My face.”
“It didn’t look like that before, so what’s going on?”
His eyes went dark with coldness and shed all emotion. “You said you wanted me to keep my comments to myself, so I am.”
“You’re mad at me? What have I done?” He didn’t seem mad after I made the request, and furthermore, he twis
ted my words. “I never meant it like you’re taking it and you know that.”
He examined me. “Why do you care?”
Because I’m in love with you, you stupid ghost! “I-I don’t care.”
Arrogance stole his normally warm features. “Then why does it matter?”
My cheeks burned as my blood boiled. Why did he put me on the spot? I didn’t deserve his wrath. “Listen here, you.” I wanted nothing more than to poke his chest. “I’m here to help you, remember? But if you think for one second that I’m going to stick around when you’re being a complete ass to me for no reason whatsoever, think again.”
He scowled. “So now you want me to talk to you?”
I stepped in closer, angled my head up and raised up on my tippy-toes to get as close to him as possible. “You’re not going to put this on me. Whatever is wrong with you, deal with it. But don’t even try to suggest the reason you’re acting like a complete ass is because I asked you to stop trying to seduce me.”
He glared down at me and a challenging edge rose to his expression. “Well, if I’m not able to do that, what’s my reason to talk to you?”
I sucked in a deep breath and my vision blurred as my eyes lowered into slits. “So that’s the way it’s going to be?”
“I’m a fucking ghost, remember. Why pretend I’m anything different.” His gaze held steady and strong. “That’s the way it is.”