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“You were shivering so I wrapped my arms around you to keep you warm. End of story. Can I help it if you took advantage of my chivalrous nature?”
She shook her head. “What are you so happy about?”
“The hell if I know.” He stood and stretched his arms above his head.
Allie tried to ignore the way his biceps bulged and how deliciously sexy he looked with stubble covering his jaw. He turned and caught her peeking. She quickly looked away. Pockets of sunshine streamed through the closed windows.
Wait. It was morning? She had planned to take another walk through the senior center with her ghost detector. How could she have slept through the night when her entire career hinged on this story? Maybe if she hurried, there would still be time for one last walk through.
“So do you want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?” she asked. Although she knew perfectly well what he wanted to discuss. “That kiss was a freak one-time occurrence. Never to be repeated again. You have your life and I have mine. Right?”
His jaw tightened. “If you say so.”
“PEOPLE, STAY OFF THE SIDEWALK!” boomed a voice from outside.
Tom and Allie stared at each other in confusion, then he walked over to the front door and swung it open, letting in a flood of light. With a determined stride he took off for the parking lot. Allie instinctively ran after him.
The scene in front of them was chaos.
Like yesterday morning there were workmen and machines everywhere, but unlike yesterday morning there was a crowd gathered in the parking lot. They held signs and walked around in a circle.
“Keep the ghost alive!” yelled an elderly gentleman wearing a Gray Flamingos T-shirt. Viola, Gus, and at least a dozen other seniors marched alongside him.
There was another group, as well. A much younger, all female group, that Allie instantly recognized as Mimi’s Bunco group, the Bunco Babes.
She also recognized Tom’s foreman. He stood at the edge of the crowd with a bullhorn in his hands. “People! We need you to clear the premises. This building is scheduled to come down and we don’t want anyone to get hurt!”
Tom took the bullhorn away from Hard Hat. “I got this, Keith.”
“I did the best I could, Tom, but…” Keith raised his arm to blot the sweat dripping down his forehead, “they just keep coming!”
“What are all these people doing here?” Allie asked.
Keith turned to glare at her as if to say YOU. “I should have known it would be the Flaky Biscuit. Were you the one responsible for setting up this little protest?”
Tom’s gaze flew to her face. Accusation and something else shone in his eyes. Something that looked suspiciously like hurt. Which was ridiculous. Tom Donalan didn’t do hurt. He inflicted it.
“Me? No, I mean, I did ask the Gray Flamingos for help, but that was yesterday morning before I knew I was going to spend the night here. I had no idea they would organize anything like this.”
Allie couldn’t tell whether or not he believed her. “I’m going to make sure the equipment is secured before someone gets hurt.” He signaled to Keith and both men took off toward one of the construction trailers.
Allie was about to follow as well when Mimi’s friend Pilar stopped her. Her short dark hair was pulled back in a headband and her brown eyes were flushed with excitement. “Long time no see!” she said, wrapping Allie up into a hug. “I hear you’re joining us for Bunco this week.”
“Bunco? Um, yeah, maybe. What’s going on here? How did all this happen?”
“Mimi initiated the Bunco phone chain and filled us in on this ghost situation,” Pilar said. “As the city’s attorney, I can’t officially protest. Conflict of interest, and all that. But you have to admit, this is pretty exciting.”
“Mimi helped organize this?”
“Along with the Gray Flamingos, of course. That’s quite an email if you ask me. You really don’t know who sent it?”
“You read the anonymous email?”
“Viola forwarded it to the rest of the Gray Flamingoes, my parents included, who forwarded it on to me. As you can see, word spreads fast in Whispering Bay.” Pilar studied the building with renewed interest. “I knew the center had been vandalized a few times, but a ghost taking up residence? Do you think it’s for real?”
“Oh, it’s real all right,” said a voice that could only come from smoking three packs of cigarettes a day.
