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“You aren’t afraid of busy freeways, are you?”
“Nope. Not at all.” It isn’t the driving I’m nervous about. It’s the close proximity to this man.
“Good. It’s a great day to be on the roads. The air is calm, and the sun is out. We aren’t going too far, about ninety minutes or so.”
“Where exactly are we going? You didn’t say much about it.”
“We’re heading to Northern State Ghost Town.”
“I remember that place. We went there ten years ago. It was seriously spooky.” My whole body shudders.
“Yep, it was once the largest facility for mentally ill people in Washington state, and the hospital was a town itself.”
“That’s right. It was early nineteen hundreds when overcrowding at Western State Hospital came under public criticism, so they opened the new facility.”
“Yes, it took a couple of years to build and it officially opened its doors in nineteen twelve.”
“Those facilities give me the creeps. My logical brain says ghosts don’t exist, but being in places like that, I feel a presence, so it messes with everything I believe in,” I admit. I might say there is no such thing as ghosts, but there’s no amount of money in the world that could get me to stay a night in an old asylum. So, this might just be one more lie in a slew of lies I tell myself. I’d rather be logical and say evil spirits don’t exist. Let me continue to live in my delusions. It makes me happier.
“I’ve seen too much in my world travels to dismiss anything. It’s hard for our brains to comprehend something existing that we can’t see, but we’re all alive because people came together centuries before we were even thought of, fell in love, made babies, and the circle of life continues forward.”
“That’s a very good point,” I say, my mind whirling. “It’s odd to think that one person in our chain of ancestors could’ve altered our very existence. If only one of our great grandparents times a hundred hadn’t met and mated, we wouldn’t be here today.”
He laughs. “Or, maybe we’d still be here, we’d just look different since we’d have different DNA. Maybe our souls are the same no matter what body we’re put into.”
This blows my mind. Sometimes I had the analytical part of my brain that won’t allow me to have a light conversation without going deeper and thinking about five million different scenarios. “I don’t know. That’s a fascinating thought though. Do our souls float out in the heavens until they find a body, or do they come into existence at the moment of conception?”
He laughs again. “Or at the moment of birth?”
“Well, they’ve proven a child bonds with its mother in the womb, that when that child is adopted even from birth, it’s upset and searching for the familiar smell and sound of their birth mother, so I’d think the soul enters at moment of conception. Otherwise how is the bond formed with the mother before it even takes its first breath?” Then I add a bit more. “But adopted children can bond to their parents, it just takes a while longer.”
“Yes, for sure. That’s a whole other discussion of nature versus nurture. I like the idea of my future children’s souls floating out there waiting for me to get busy,” he says with a wink.
This is the second time he’s spoken of children. It goes against everything I know about this man. I have to remind myself againthough that I really don’t know him all that well. I also need to get us off of this subject that’s giving me way too many yearnings I have no business feeling.
“Why do you think there will be a clue at this particular place?” I ask, my trembling fingers failing to attach my seatbelt after all. Even having a discussion I’m a mess.
He reaches over and does the belt for me, and as his fingers trail across my stomach, I hold my breath. It’s still not enough to drown out his intoxicating fragrance that’s surrounds me in the closed space. With his hands on me at the same time, I worry for my sanity. Not wise right now when we’re heading to an old mental hospital. The ghosts might just pull me in and lock me away. Okay, maybe I’m starting to believe in ghosts more by the minute.
“I can’t figure out the clues. In fact, I don’t understand why someone wants me to play this damn game in the first place. I do remember we had fun when we went exploring ten years ago, though. Something in the clues made me think this is where we need to start. I might be wrong, but we’ll see.”
I feel the desire in him to get going — to be doing anything other than standing still — or sitting, in our case. I nod, and he faces forward, then pulls his hand away, allowing me to take in some much needed air. He starts the truck, and soon we’re pulling out onto the road.
As we make a turn, elation floods through me, taking away my nerves from being near him. I love road trips, haven’t done one in a long time, but there’s freedom in adventure, and I’ve longed for something like this for a while. It isn’t until my cheek grows sore that I realize I’m grinning.
“I can see you’re enjoying this,” Blaze says with a grin of his own.
Our eyes connect and that intense pull makes me want to lean over and run my lips across his solid jaw. It takes severalmoments before I’m able to turn away. We’ve just begun our day and already it’s too much. I’d better do my best to keep things under control.
Focusing my gaze on the land we’re flying past, we make our way out of the city. Other vehicles surround us, but it seems like it’s only the two of us, the rest of the world has fallen away. I enjoy the feeling a bit too much. If I can get out of my own way, I can have fun on this adventure. If when I’m with him I can pretend to be a tomb raider, then maybe I can let go long enough to be free of my own self-imposed burdens and rules.
The sun beats through the windshield, warming me to the point of being uncomfortable. I’m always overheated in the presence of Blaze. The drive will only take an hour and a half, but I fear it might be the longest hour of my life. Then we’ll have to make the return trip home on top of it. Blaze drives perfectly, and I sit still in my seat, not making a sound.
When he proposed treasure hunting, I was leery, but the excitement in my gut tells me that no matter how cautious I am, I’m still excited. I might never be Lara Croft, but this will give me a small taste of it. I’ll endure my raging hormones, I assure myself.
I relax as we continue to drive, and before I know it, I’m pressed closer to Blaze’s side instead of unsuccessfully straining against my door to get away from him. Turning my head is a bad idea, because his eyes are only inches from mine, and even worse, his lips are right here — right in kissing distance. Without thought, I lick my dry lips and his eyes spark, making the dip in my stomach ache in an almost unbearable way.
“I’m ready when you are,” he says in a throaty drawl.
