Page 48 of Dead Vengeance

That man is built. Damn, I’d love to see what’s beneath that sweater—

Shut up, Archer!

He’s here for one reason, and one reason only.

A relationship is not happening.

It’s just me sprinting through my living room like a totally normal and calm person. Just me throwing the door open and skipping down the stairs. Just me, “Good morning, Liam!”

Just that smile. God, that beautiful, glowing smile. “Good morning, Mr Gravely.”

Fuck, the way he melts me every time he calls me that. Does he realise? Is it deliberate? “I was hoping you’d be back today,” I say, not at all desperate-sounding, I’m sure.

If I am, he lets me off with a sweet and casual, “Well, you promised me pastries, so how could I resist?”

Going over the top with carbs was the correct choice!

When is it ever not, though?

“Come in.” I say it eagerly, then turn towards my door before I actually register that there is some other guy here. That probably needs addressing. So I swivel back, and Liam almost walks into me, which would be fine by me. He stumbles back with a blush, and he’s only here for a few ghost-pointers, so I don’t actually notice how cute that is.

“No guns,” I say to the other guy, because Liam would never.

To my surprise, Liam, indeed, does.

He pulls a weird little blue gun out of his pocket, but asks, “I should leave it outside? I don’t want to spook them.”

The other guy, who hasn’t said a word yet, cracks up, cackling like it’s the funniest thing ever. Liam and I both settle frowns on him.

“Spook them,” he repeats. “Good one.”

Who is he and why is he talking when Liam could be talking?

“Because they’re ghosts,” the new guy explains.

He should definitely go home.

I lead them in anyway, settle them at the table, then start pulling things out of my oven as casually as I can, like I didn’t make a whole breakfast feast for this man with the recurring daydream of this being more than a one-off event.

“Did you eat?” I call across.

“No,” Liam replies, much to my pleasure. “I got called into the office early, so I kind of had to dash.”

My hand pauses on the oven door. “Not about Raul?”

“No. No, apparently he’s okay.”

I knew he would be, but it’s still good to hear.

Liam continues, “He’s, um, I guess he made a full recovery because he was well enough to quit and tell them he’s joining the police force instead.”

I slide the friands off the hot tray onto a pretty yellow plate. “I wouldn’t trust that man with a real gun,” I mutter under my breath.

Liam must have heard, because he laughs out, “That’s exactly what I said.”

He should have a license to carry that smile.

You’re here to protect him and nothing more. Stop staring.