p; Of course they wouldn’t have a problem. Everyone wanted to see the freak at the circus show. I plopped down into the hard plastic chair and glanced between Eddie and Max while I waited for someone to say something.

Minutes later, the room remained silent.

I glanced over at Kipp. “Am I supposed to say something here?”

“Are you talking to him?” Max whispered, which caused Zach and Eddie to laugh.

A nasty retort rested on the tip of my tongue. I drew in a deep breath and forced diplomacy into my tone. “Yes, I am. He’s standing right there.” I pointed toward Kipp, who stood beside me.

My breath sucked back into my lungs, as Kipp’s expression could melt ice on the coldest of days. Intensity burned in the depths of his eyes. His focus showed the importance that the others believe me, but the look made me wonder if he held this expression when he had other passionate thoughts on his mind.

The longer I stared, the more I reacted, which made me squirm in my chair. I’d never been so attracted to anyone in my life. What is it about you?

Yes, he was drop-dead gorgeous and had the personality to boot, but I’d seen men like him before, even dated a few, and I hadn’t responded so intensely before. My body lived in a constant state of arousal around him. Maybe our first encounter together still lingered on the sound of his dirty talk? Or maybe because he’d been the first ghost I held an attraction for and the hands-off rule made him more tempting?

All things I couldn’t answer. All that remained was the knowledge I had a serious attraction to him and it proved undeniably strong.

I blinked, realizing I was ogling him, and tore myself away from my thoughts. Kipp’s gaze remained locked on mine, only now the intensity had grown, focused on me. I apparently hadn’t seen anything of what those amazing eyes could do, because it appeared he enjoyed the way I had watched him.

My suspicions were answered; he shared in the attraction, judging by the smolder in his gaze and the tense set of his jaw. The way he looked at me, so matter of fact, demanded I acknowledge my feelings toward him and almost dared me to respond.

I almost did.

Almost.

I focused back on Zach and breathed deep to settle myself, aghast at the fact I’d been so obvious. What the hell is wrong with you? “Sorry, where were we?”

“They asked if you were talking to Kipp,” Zach answered before he cleared his throat, a sound rapidly followed by a low chuckle. “Which, apparently, you were.”

My cheeks warmed. I acted like one of those ridiculous women from romance novels, all smitten and unable to control myself.

“Didn’t hide much there, did you…” Kipp all but purred.

I’d been so focused on my feelings for Kipp, I never noticed his cold presence had drawn closer. The icy breeze danced along my neck and I shivered. I swatted behind me so he’d catch the drift to leave me alone and forced myself to remain deaf to anything else he had to say. I wasn’t going to go there again.

“All right, let’s just get to this,” Max said. “We have questions. You’ll answer them, and until we’re satisfied you’re being truthful, we’ll keep you here. Understood?”

“God yes, please.” I had to get my head screwed back on straight and needed space from Kipp.

Max inhaled, pondering for only a moment. “How long have you been able to see and talk to ghosts…”

One question led to a hundred more. After an hour of questioning, they quizzed me on my ability, made me run through the car accident that caused my cursed gift. Then their questions shifted to how many ghosts I’d helped, what I did for them and so on. From there, the questions focused on Kipp. I learned his entire life story, which was the one part I hadn’t minded, and nothing he told me had been bad. A flaw would’ve been nice to see so I could stop my ridiculous behavior. The problem being, he didn’t have one.

Now the random questions were tedious and personal. I had my arms crossed on the table with my chin resting on top of my hands. “Your wife’s name is Cynthia,” I answered Max’s last question as I counted the little specks of black dots on the fake wood table.

“I’ve got one she can’t know,” Eddie exclaimed. “Where’s my birthmark?”

“On his balls,” Kipp replied.

“Balls,” I said, then realized what had come out of my mouth. I raised my head, glancing at Kipp, whose eyes hadn’t wavered from their position on me. “How do you know his birthmark is on his balls?”

“He told me,” Kipp answered, appearing comfortable with his admission.

“Y’all talk about birthmarks on each other’s balls?” I laughed. “Men think women get personal with each other, what a strange piece of knowledge to know about someone else.”

Kipp shrugged. “It came up one night.”

I shook my head in disbelief and glanced back at their stunned faces. Finally! “Oh, thank God. You believe me.” A burst of renewed energy swept through me and I straightened up in my seat.

Tags: Stacey Kennedy Frostbite Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net