Shiver / Private Sessions: Shiver / Private Sessions. Tori Carrington

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СКАЧАТЬ interesting.”

      “I’ll be back.”

      She watched him walk through the burgeoning crowd, and though his hair still rebelled, he was all long legs and easy grace, and Carrie gave herself a quick hug, so proud of herself and her bravery she could just spit. She wasn’t one of those women who could snare a man with a come-hither glance. Her confidence was primarily in her pen, on paper. In sharp retorts and wicked double entendres, all the things she’d promised to keep under wraps for the duration of the conference. And yet, she’d managed to say just the right thing at the right time. What would happen from here was anyone’s guess, but things were definitely looking up.

       7

      BY THE TIME ERIN sat down on the opposite side of the table, Carrie was already into her first sketch.

      People were still settling in, raising their voices with excited chatter as they found their pumpkins and their seats. According to the program, there would be announcements about the nighttime activities, then a talk about the contest itself, explaining the rules and demonstrating how to make a pattern and transfer it to the gourds.

      “You look happy,” Erin said, gripping her coffee cup with the strength of one not fully awake. “Did you get laid?”

      Carrie darted a glance at the long-haired woman sitting next to Erin, who smiled at her enquiringly. “No,” Carrie said, trying to give Erin the eye, which didn’t work. “I didn’t. But I clearly got more sleep than you. What time did you hit the room?”

      “Too late. Or would that be too early? Sorry I missed you for breakfast. I had the best pancakes in the history of pancakes. I think I’m going to put on twenty pounds while I’m here, and I couldn’t care less.”

      Carrie ignored the complaint as she decided she wasn’t thrilled with her drawing. She crumpled it, then took another sheet of paper. “So, still no ghosts?”

      “Not yet. Some more suspicious temperature readings, though. The honchos are setting up inside the inn for later tonight. I’m going to be in the Old Hotel tonight. I’m so excited. It feels … Something’s going to happen tonight. I feel it. You know?”

      “Absolutely not, but good for you. Keep that positive thought. I mean, come on, what ghost wouldn’t want to meet you? They’d have to be insane to pass up the opportunity.”

      “Yeah.” Erin’s voice dripped with sarcasm. “I’m a bundle of delight.”

      “Shut up. You are.”

      “I need more caffeine.”

      “I’ll say. What do you think of your pumpkin?”

      Erin gave it a look, but her expression didn’t change a bit. “It’s a pumpkin.”

      “You don’t want to change it for another?”

      “I don’t care. I’m not gonna do anything with it. You’re going to win, and I want to bask in your reflected glory.”

      “I know just what I want, but I’m not quite getting it,” Carrie admitted. “I’m a bit distracted.”

      “Oh?” Only her best friend would have made the connection directly from that banal sentence to “something happened with Sam.”

      “Yes, oh.”

      “Do tell.”

      Carrie looked at Erin’s neighbor. Unabashed, the woman, who had a nice heart-shaped face that shouldn’t have been so hidden by her lank dark hair, smiled and waited.

      “Later.”

      “Spoilsport.” Erin moved the pumpkin and the supplies to one side, then put her head down in the hollow of her crossed arms. “Wake me when something juicy happens.”

      Carrie stared at her blank paper, but before she touched it with her pencil, she looked up. Sam was two aisles away, his back to her. Even though she knew it was a little sexist and definitely shallow, she loved the contrast between his broad shoulders and trim hips. With his hair over his collar and the way his black jeans hugged his ass, he was kind of perfect.

      There wouldn’t be time to discover the inevitable annoying things, for either of them. He didn’t have to know she liked to eat her cereal with juice instead of milk, or ketchup on her cold spaghetti. Or that sometimes she would get so involved with her comic that whole days would pass without her realizing it.

      He turned just then, as if he’d known she was looking at him. A smile curved his lips, and his right eyebrow arched with their secret. She blushed. Her stomach did that dip-and-swirl thing that hardly ever happened to her.

      A part of her wanted to forget everything and drag him off to her room right this second, but the bigger part wanted to keep this feeling for as long as possible. Anticipation, in her experience, always exceeded reality.

      One of the few children in the room tapped Sam’s shoulder, and the moment was gone except in memory. She bent to her paper, determined to get what she saw in her mind’s eye to come to life on a stencil drawing.

      NOW, THIS WAS WHY HE had no business hooking up with a guest. At least not right now. Sam was in the middle of dinner with the buyers and Mori was asking him questions about the local skiing and snowboarding. Sam was having a hell of a time keeping focused. Carrie might be hot, but she wasn’t multimillion-dollars hot.

      What kept tripping him up was that it was almost time for the contest to come to a close, when the group would pick a winner. He felt disloyal hoping it wouldn’t be Carrie, but he didn’t want her to get the in-room massage from anyone but himself.

      He answered Mori’s questions without making a fool of himself, glad the three of them were on the tail end of dessert. Of course Jody had outdone herself again, and both Heartly and Mori seemed sated and happy, and not just from the meal.

      “Are you going to stick around for any of the ghost hunting tonight?” Sam asked. “They’re setting up in the attic and in the garage. Oh, and the storage room, which should be warm. I’m not sure if they’ve picked out any of the guest rooms to monitor.”

      Heartly shook his head. “I’m reasonably sure if anyone had actually found evidence of a ghost it would have been in the headlines. I think I’m safe turning in early.”

      Mr. Mori took a sip of coffee then nodded. “That’s the thing with legends and folk tales. Hard to prove, but hard to disprove, too. My family has a long tradition of believing in the afterlife. Personally, I wouldn’t mind finding out they’re right. There are a few things I’d like to know about what happens next.”

      “What happens next for me,” Heartly said, as he folded his napkin and put it on the table, “is a shower and bed. I’m going to call my wife, hope there’s something decent on the tube, and relax. This has been an eventful couple of days. You have a fine property here, Sam. It’s well cared for and both your staff and your guests seem happy. I know your father would be proud.”

      “Thanks. He loved this place. It resonated with him.”

      “You won’t miss it once you’re gone?”

      “From СКАЧАТЬ