“Why don’t you stay and enjoy the show? After all, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before, is it, now?”
I’m confused but also amused. She is standing in her bare feet, wearing no jeans, only the silk camisole and her panties, but with her hands fisted on her hips, staring at me as if she’s about to take me on.
I don’t know quite what it is about the situation that strikes me as amusing. Perhaps it’s her petite size as she squares up to me, when I’m at least a foot taller, but, either way, I can’t help the smile that twitches my lips.
“You think it’s funny, do you? Spying on young women? It’s sick, that’s what it is, Ghost. God, what is it with the men in this place? You’re all emotionally stunted. There’s Jack who masks any feelings he might remotely have. He holds me at arm’s length because he’s got some sort of martyr complex.”
She stomps around the room, picking up discarded clothes, I presume from an earlier trying-on session, while I try not to stare at her ass.
“Then there’s Rook,” she continues. “That man seems to need to take the blame for everything that happens around here. And then there’s you.” She stops her pacing as her eyes narrow. “The worst of them all. The one who drifts through this place like the ghost he’s named after, not connecting with anybody and staying on the outside, but you’re watching, aren’t you?”
The importance of her words suddenly hits. She knows. Oh, shit. Jack told her about the cameras, didn’t he?Fantastic, thanks very much, Jack.
He could at least have given me a head’s up, for God’s sake. Still, if she’d asked me, I would have told her the truth. I’m not proud of spying, but I didn’t plan for there to be cameras in her house, and I wouldn’t have lied about it.
“The cameras were already in here because of the previous occupant.” I gesture around as if to prove my point. “I didn’t realize that until I checked and saw they were still recording.”
“Oh, I see. And that’s the point you decided to turn them off, right? Right, Ghost? You turned them off.”
I don’t answer because we both know I didn’t.
“You watched me? During private moments, and with Ace and Rook. That’s so…” She lets out a cry of frustration. “I thought you were the one person in this place who was solid and dependable. I thought you were someone I could trust, but you broke every boundary.Why?”
“I don’t know, I guess…” I trail off, feeling like shit. “Fuck, Camile, I’m sorry. I guess I got caught up in watching you. I liked it. I liked it a whole lot, and I know it’s sick and wrong.”
“I bet you did, you pervert.”
I jerk back. “Whoa, that’s going a bit far.”
I’ve been in literal war zones where I’ve had to face the enemy armed with guns. I’ve crossed deserts littered with landmines, where one wrong step could see me losing a limb, or worse. And yet I’ve never felt the need to step more cautiously than I am now, because I sensethis girl is about to blow, and she’ll happily see me as a casualty.
“Is it?” she demands. “You’ve just admitted to enjoying watching me in my private space, and you don’t think it’s perverted?”
“I didn’t just enjoy watchingyou… you know, naked and stuff. I liked watching it all. I felt… close. To you, I mean.”
God, I’m making a hash of this. I palm the back of my neck and duck my head. Yeah, I might be six-four, but right now I feel about the size of a child.
“That’s even worse,” she screeches. “Watching me having sex is one thing, but you watched me just going about my normal life, or as normal as it can be right now, which isn’t very. I feel so violated. I’ve already had more than my fair share of men violating me.”
I flinch at that. Fuck, she’s so right.
“Camile, I don’t know what to say. I’m sorry. Truly, I am. But, like I say, I felt close to you, as if I was keeping you safe, but also maybe like your friend.”
Her laugh is bitter. “My friend?”
She stares at me for a moment, and I warily observe her. Then something in her face changes. A tiny smile plays about her lips, as if she’s decided to fuck with me. She steps toward me.
“Do you want to be close to me, Ghost?” Her voice is soft, silky, and seductive.
“Yes,” I admit. “And no, too. I don’t think I’m a good bet for a relationship. I don’t do romantic entanglements.”
She huffs out an annoyed breath. “See? Emotionally stunted to hell.”
“Well, this is an MC. An illegal one at that, and they don’t always attract the most well-adjusted people. A lot of us have had trauma in our past.”
“Ace has had trauma, but he’s well-adjusted.”
This is the second time she’s called him that. Is she insane?
