Page 10 of If I Stopped Haunting You

“Laszlo, you took the wrong turn. It looks like we need to go back a ways before taking a right.”

Neil moved behind her and peered over her shoulder, squinting at the phone. “How the hell did you figure that out?”

She motioned to the terrain view, her finger tracing along a thin trail. “Logic, which no one here seems to use.”

Neil almost snorted.

Almost.

Skinner handed the phone back to Laszlo and disappeared to the front seat of the van, slamming the door shut behind her. Neil stood there, flabbergasted. Daniela rolled her eyes before climbing into the back, and with a shrug, Laszlo slid in beside her.

A week, Neil thought as he clambered into the van and buckled in. He’d agreed to spend a week with these people, trapped in a castle. The thought made him want to eject his passengers and drive back to Edinburgh alone. But he needed this, needed a week away from civilization to focus and reconnect with his story—well, his outline.

Okay, his paragraph-long summary of anidea.

Oh, god. What had he been thinking? He came on this retreat without a plan, without an outline or a map. Neil needed to draft a book, but he’d never taken the time to figure out what he’d do once they reached the castle.

He started the van and pulled out as Skinner ordered him back the way they’d come only minutes earlier.

As it turned out, Penelope Skinner had a knack for directions. She swiveled in her seat and met his stony expression with a knowing smile as he took the turn.

She was right.

He’d rather be dead before ever admitting it.

Chapter 3

PEN

Much to her dismay, navigating meant riding in the passenger seat. She grunted as she squirmed in her seat, her feet barely touching the floor, her toes skimming the mat. Storm laughed sharply before clearing his throat and covering his mouth with a fist. Pen eyed him sidelong.

“What?” she snapped.

He pressed his lips together, shaking his head. “Nothing.”

Nostrils flaring, Pen narrowed her eyes, taking in his posture, the way he leaned forward, both hands on the wheel like a new driver. Holy shit, Neil Storm wasnervous.Well, that was new.

She knew she shouldn’t, but Pen found a bit of satisfaction in the knowledge. She watched him in her periphery, tilting her head as he ran a hand through his curls, fingers catching in knots.

When the light hit him just right (and really any other time), he looked remarkably handsome, and as much as she hated him, well, she would enjoy the view. As if sensing her stare, his green eyes slid to hers, face expressionless. She tried to ignore the way her nerves twisted, or the way she shuddered when she met his gaze through the tinted lenses, but something else lurked beneath the surface of his severe expression as his eyes lingered on her.

Pen frowned but returned her attention to her phone. When it seemed like they’d driven away from civilization completely, thearea surrounded by a smattering of homes and farms, she motioned for Storm to pull over. Before them was a run-down castle, the building merely ruins. Its stone walls dripped with ivy, and the whole of the property was surrounded by a chain-link fence. As soon as they shifted into park, Daniela quickly exited the car, dragging a sleepy Laszlo with her, and together, they disappeared around the back of the castle, phones poised for photos.

Storm brushed away a few curls, tilting his head forward to show off the thin streak of silver skin that cut into his brow. The very sight had the pit in her stomach dropping.

Pen grumbled as she opened her door and stepped down, pulling on her jacket with a shiver. She’d hated that she’d fallen to throwing books, hated that he knew how to push her buttons, whether he meant to or not. But there was a part of her, a small one, that regretted stooping so low. Teeth clenched, she rounded the van and hurried past him.

“You know, you never apologized!” he called. Pen staggered to a stop, her back to him, heart thundering as she froze in place.

He continued, “Even after everything that happened, you never even reached out. I don’t understand why you needed to make it all so public and leave me to clean up the mess.Poofand you were gone from the world.”

She spun toward him. “Well,youcould very well apologize for everything that happened. For writing Trent the way that you did, for all your books, for the hurtful stereotypes you include, catering to your white readers.” She stepped forward, jabbing a finger into his chest. “You had the chance to do something great, and you blew it.”

“So, you’re still blaming me for all of it?”

“Of course I am! I looked up to you once, Storm. I looked up to you and you failed me.” Pen hated how quickly the tears came, but she felt the heat grow behind her eyes and the disappointment sink in her stomach.

“Wait, are you crying?” he asked, hand inching up. She thought she saw something resembling guilt in his eyes, and the sight had her stumbling out of reach. What the hell was going on?