Christmas with the Prince. Charlene Sands

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СКАЧАТЬ is convinced it’s haunted.”

      Liv looked at him as though he’d gone completely off his rocker.

      “I take it you don’t believe in ghosts,” Aaron said.

      “The existence of spirits, or an afterlife, have never been proven scientifically.”

      He should have expected as much from a scientist. “Well, then, I guess you have nothing to fear.”

      “Do you?” she asked.

      “Believe in ghosts?” Truthfully, he’d never felt so much as a cold draft down there, but people had sworn to hearing disembodied voices and seeing ghostly emanations. There were some members of the staff who refused to even set foot on the stairs. Also there was an unusually high turnover rate among the laundry workers. But he was convinced that it was more likely overactive imaginations than anything otherworldly. “I guess you could say I try to keep an open mind.”

      He opened the door and gestured her down. The stairwell was narrow and steep, the wood steps creaky under their feet as they descended.

      “It is a little spooky,” she admitted.

      At the bottom was a series of passageways that led to several different wings. The walls down here were still fashioned out of stone and mortar, although well lit, ventilated and clean.

      “Storage and the wine cellar are that way,” he said, pointing to the passages on the left. “Laundry is straight ahead down the center passage, and the lab is this way.”

      He led her to the right, around a corner to a shiny metal door with a thick glass window that to him looked completely out of place with its surroundings. He punched in his security code to unlock it, pulled it open and hit the light switch. The instant the lights flickered on he heard a soft gasp behind him, and turned to see Liv looking in wide-eyed awe at all the equipment they’d gotten on loan from various facilities on the island and mainland. The way one might view priceless art. Or a natural disaster.

      She brushed past him into the room. “This is perfect,” she said in that soft, breathy voice, running her hands along pieces of equipment whose purpose he couldn’t begin to imagine. Slow and tender, as if she were stroking a lover’s flesh.

      Damn. He could get turned on watching her do that, imagining those hands roaming over him.

      If she were his type at all, which she wasn’t. Besides, he wasn’t lacking for female companionship.

      “It’s small,” he said.

      “No, it’s perfect.” She turned to him and smiled, a dreamy look on her face. “I wish my lab back home were this complete.”

      He was surprised that it wasn’t. “I was under the impression that you were doing some groundbreaking research.”

      “Yes, but funding is an issue no matter what kind of work you’re doing. Especially when you’re an independent, like me.”

      “There must be someone willing to fund your research.”

      “Many, but there’s way too much bureaucracy in the private sector. I prefer to do things my way.”

      “Then our donation should go far.”

      She nodded eagerly. “The truth is, a few more weeks and I might have been homeless. You called in the nick of time.”

      She crossed the room to the metal shipping containers that had preceded her arrival by several days. “I see my things made it safely.”

      “Do you need help unpacking?”

      She vigorously shook her head. “There are sensitive materials and equipment in here. I’d rather do it myself.”

      That seemed like an awful lot of work for one person. “The offer for the assistant is still good. I can have someone here Friday morning.”

      She looked at her watch, her face scrunching with confusion. “And what’s today? The time change from the U.S. has me totally screwed up.”

      “It’s Tuesday. Five o’clock.”

      “P.M.?”

      “Yes. In fact, dinner is at seven.”

      She nodded, but still looked slightly confused.

      “Out of curiosity, when was the last time you slept?”

      She scrunched her face again, studied her watch for a second, then shrugged and said, “I’m not sure. Twenty hours at least. Probably more.”

      “You must be exhausted.”

      “I’m used to it. I keep long hours in the lab.”

      Twenty hours was an awfully long time, even for a workaholic, and he’d traveled often enough to know what jet lag could do to a person. Especially someone unaccustomed to long plane trips. “Maybe before you tackle unpacking the lab you should at least take a nap.”

      “I’m fine, really. Although, I guess I wouldn’t mind a quick change of clothes.”

      “Why don’t I show you to your room.”

      She looked longingly at all of the shiny new equipment, then nodded and said, “All right.”

      He switched off the lights and shut the door, hearing it lock automatically behind him.

      “Will I get my own code?” she asked.

      “Of course. You’ll have full access to whatever and wherever you need.”

      He led Liv back through the kitchen and up the stairs to the third floor, to the guest rooms. She looked a bit lost when they finally reached her door.

      “The castle is so big and confusing,” she said.

      “It’s not so bad once you learn your way around.”

      “I don’t exactly have a great sense of direction. Don’t be surprised if you find me aimlessly wandering the halls.”

      “I’ll have Derek print you up a map.” He opened her door and gestured her in.

      “It’s beautiful,” she said in that soft, breathy voice. “So pretty.”

      Far too feminine and fluffy for his taste, with its flowered walls and frilly drapes, but their female guests seemed to appreciate it. Although he never would have pegged Liv as the girly-girl type. She was just too…analytical. Too practical. On the surface anyhow.

      “The bathroom and closet are that way,” he said, gesturing to the door across the room. But Liv’s attention was on the bed.

      “It looks so comfortable.” She crossed the room to it and ran one hand over the flowered duvet. “So soft.”

      She was a tactile sort of woman. Always stroking and touching things. And he couldn’t help but wonder how those hands would feel touching him.

      “Why СКАЧАТЬ