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Oh, heavens. It was like putting honey out in the hot sun. She just melted. And though she fully expected him to kiss her, he folded his arms around her instead in a tight, protective embrace and justheld her.
He pressed his lips to her temple, his breath stirring the tendrils of her hair. His heartbeat thumped against her ear, a heavy, powerful beat that sounded as if it could outlast time.
Bee slipped her arms around him, her body sinking against his as if it were the most natural—
A prickle of cold air, icy and sharp, slid between them. The air seemed to crack. Her spine tensed, and goose bumps rose on her arms.
Adam stilled, lifting his head away from her. Though her first instinct was to press herself even more fully against him, to absorb his warmth and body heat, she put her hand on his chest and pushed him away.
Her heart jammed into her throat. He stepped back, his jaw tensing. She rubbed her arms, shaken by the intense contrast of their combustible heat and the sudden cold.
“Bee—” Adam dragged a hand through his hair, frustration descending over the desire in his eyes.
“The heating and air-conditioning unit goes a little wonky sometimes,” she said quickly, not wanting to argue or debate about coincidences versus science. “I’ll check it out. Just…um, text me if you need anything.”
Before he could reply, she hurried toward the stairs leading to the mezzanine. She veered right at the landing and took the second and third staircases all the way up to the cupola. The little room at the apex of the house was dark. Outside the windows, bare tree branches forked upward like skeleton hands.
Her breathing hard, Bee went inside and closed the door behind her, sweeping her gaze over the shadowed nautical instruments, the stacks of books, the display cases with the captain’s personal items, and the telescope pointing in the direction of the boardwalk.
Her heart knocked against her ribs. “Captain Marcus.”
Her voice sounded loud and strident in the silent space. She curled her hands into fists and tried to temper her tone. She had no idea if the ghost was even in the room, but he was most often seen in the cupola.
She’d never tried to make contact with Captain Marcus. She hadn’t had a reason to. They’d been coexisting very peacefully for four years. She ran the library and took care of the house, and he wafted through the rooms singing sea shanties and playing the violin.
He’d also never interfered in anything she did. Certainly, he’d never bothered her about her romantic life—although to be fair, she’d never brought her romances into the library until Adam.
But then, for the past few years, she hadn’t even had much of a love life. So whatever the captain’s problem was now, she had to put a stop to it.
“Captain Marcus.” She took a breath.
She had no idea how to contact a ghost. Maybe she needed to have a séance or weave a spell or use a Ouija board? But she didn’t have time for that kind of thing.
Under any other circumstances, she’d text Destiny for ideas, but there was no way she could explain that she was trying to get the ghost to stop roadblocking her and Adam’s physical encounters. Given her hostility about Adam, Destiny would cheer Captain Marcus on and probably find ways to help him out.
So Bee just had to give it a shot on her own.
“Okay, Captain, sir, please listen to me.” She turned toward the telescope, thinking that if he was anywhere in the cupola, he would be beside the windows. “I realize things are in a bit of an upheaval right now, but I think you’re forgetting I’m on your side. You’re the reason I invited the Explorer Channel here in the first place. I’m trying to save the Gardenia House.Yourhouse.”
She stepped closer to the telescope. “And yes, I get that you’ve realized Adam Powers is a bit of a skeptic…okay, a lot of a skeptic, but he’s not your enemy. He’s not the one trying to close the library and possibly tear the whole house down. He’s just here doing his job. I agree that he could stand to broaden his view of the cosmology, but hey…we can’t all have the same belief system, right? That’s what makes the world go round. Or…you know, the different planes of existence.”
She fiddled with the focusing knob as if trying to give herself something to do. Ridiculously, a flush began crawling up her cheeks.
“Also,” she added slowly, “I’m sure you’ve surmised that I like him. No, we don’t agree on everything, but somehow, that’s okay. I can respect his commitment to science, even if it’s a bit narrow-minded. And frankly, it’s been a long time since I’ve felt this way about a man, both physically and emotionally, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to lure me over to the dark side. I’m not weak, and you must know that by now.”
She turned away from the telescope and made a slow circle around the cupola in case the captain was standing in another location.
“I can be attracted to Adam and still fight for what I believe in, which is both you and this house,” Bee continued. “So I would be most grateful if you could please stop interrupting us every time he touches me. In fact, I’d appreciate it if you’d just leave the room when Adam and I are alone together. No offense, but the thought of you hovering around watching us is seriously killing the mood. Okay? Please?”
She didn’t expect a response. She really didn’t. So when her nose suddenly tickled with the faint scent of pipe tobacco, she wondered if Adam had taken up smoking and was standing near the house’s interconnected vents.
No. Adam didn’t smoke. He’d have a thousand scientific reasons why smoking was a terrible habit.
Bee looked at the display case. One of the captain’s pipes, monogrammed with his initials, rested on a pipe holder on the top shelf.
She unlocked the case and picked up the pipe, running her thumb over the engraved initials. A slight current ran through her. She thought of the smiling woman in the photograph. Bliss Cove. Syrup-glazed apples.M’s favorite.Dancing. San Francisco. Halloween. The boardwalk.
Mand Millicent Pepper were one and the same. She needed to find the 1891 journal to prove it, but somehow, she already knew the truth.
