Мишель Роуэн - Hot Spell

“I totally and completely agree.” Jacob glanced at Amanda who rolled her eyes. “We will handle this, I personally promise you that.”

She beamed at him. “I’ll be staying at the Marriott. I expect a full report first thing in the morning.”

“And you’ll have it.”

“Very good.” Sheila eyed Amanda. “You’re very lucky to have a boss like Jacob taking the lead. I can tell he knows what to do.”

Her blue eyes widened. “But he’s not my—”

Jacob interrupted. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Sheila. And you can expect my call bright and early. Sleep well, now.”

He opened her car door for her and Sheila got inside.

“Be careful in there,” she told him.

“I’ll do my best.”

Jacob eased the door shut and after another moment, Sheila drove off down the driveway leaving the two of them alone.

“She thought you were my boss,” Amanda said.

“It must be my air of authority.”

“I don’t think it was necessary to flirt with her.”

“You don’t think so?” He raised an eyebrow. “What can I say? It comes so naturally. There are very few women who can resist me.”

Amanda looked as if she wanted to smile at that, but restrained herself. “Right. Well, let’s get this over with.”

Without another word, she turned away and marched up to the front door of Sheila Davis’s allegedly haunted house.

THE HOUSE was definitely haunted. No doubt about it. Amanda felt the presence as soon as she stepped inside.

“Grab the lights,” she told Jacob. He complied and flicked on the nearest overhead light and the front foyer was bathed in a warm, golden glow.

The house was gorgeous. It reminded Amanda of her grandfather’s house—the man she’d never got to see again after her father abandoned them. She used to play in that house as a kid and, in fact, it was where she’d encountered her first ghost.

She stroked her hand along the smooth wall. There was definitely a spirit here. Amanda frowned. No. She could sense more than one spirit haunting this house. But she wasn’t able to tell yet if they were going to be a problem or not.

“You okay?” Jacob asked.

She was surprised by the concern that edged his words. It made her realize that she’d closed her eyes and pressed both her hands flat up against the wall. A thin sheen of perspiration glazed her forehead from concentrating.

Yeah, that must have looked really normal.

Amanda the Strange rides again.

She self-consciously wiped a hand across her brow. “I’m fine.”

“What were you doing?”

Since they hadn’t worked together before, Jacob hadn’t witnessed the weird trance she tended to go into when she tapped fully into her abilities. It was one of the many reasons she preferred office work. She hated how using her “powers” made her lose control of herself, even if only a little.

She waved a hand dismissively. “Just…you know. I was sensing if there was any ghostly activity.”

“And?”

She eyed him. “You’re psychic, too.”

“Yeah, but empaths are different. I get my glimpses through touching somebody alive, like little Miss Attitude outside. I don’t normally get sent on these kinds of assignments. Obviously Patrick was really stuck tonight. You’re the only ghost whisperer here.”

“I do sense something.”

“Yeah?” His eyebrows went up. “So fast? What is it?”

“There are a couple of ghosts here.”

He glanced around the immediate surroundings. “Can you see them?”

“No. Not yet. But they’re here.” She drew in a sharp breath. “A male and a female. They were—” she paused, sinking deeper into her strange ability so she could get a better sense of the place “—involved in some way romantically. Not husband and wife, but lovers , I think.”

“You can tell that just from touching the wall?”

She pulled her hand back and cleared her throat. “Well, it’s just the vibe I’m getting. Maybe I’m wrong.”

After a moment when he didn’t say anything, she glanced at him cautiously. “What?”

He shook his head. “It’s just kind of amazing to me. I’ve been on assignment with lots of other agents, but you’re different from them, aren’t you?”

She crossed her arms. “You can save the judgment for another time.”

“Judgment?”

“I feel self-conscious enough about what I have to do without you making me feel bad about it.”

He blinked. “You’re serious, aren’t you? Are you actually trying to pick a fight with me about this? We just got here.”

“And we’re almost done.”

When people studied what she could do too closely it made her feel like a sideshow freak. Echoes of “Amanda the Strange” went through her head and she cringed.

“Let’s check out the rest of the house quickly.” She moved away down the hall but his strong, warm hand encircled her upper arm to stop her.

“Wait a second, Amanda.”

She slowly turned to look at Jacob who now had an odd look on his face.

“What?”

“You have a problem.”

“Tell me something I don’t know. That’s why I want to go to New York. I want to be normal.”

He just looked at her incredulously. “You seriously think that, don’t you? That you’re not normal.”

She shrugged his hand away. “It’s not normal to connect with the supernatural world. It’s creepy and wrong.”

He had a deep frown on his face now. “Who told you something like that?”

“Everybody.”

“Everybody? I find that very hard to believe.”

“My mother never approved of what I could do. In fact, she hated it. She made sure I knew on a daily basis it was abnormal and unnatural and freakish. And at school…” She trailed off. “Look, I don’t want to talk about this right now, okay? I know it’s strange and just because I can do it doesn’t mean I like it.”

He laughed then. At her. She felt heat come to her cheeks.

“Fine, laugh,” she said tightly. “I’m used to that.”

“You’re completely crazy, you know that?”

“I’m not crazy.”

“I think I’d have to disagree with that.”

She let out a sigh of frustration. “You don’t know me.”

“I think I do. And I’ll tell you why I think I know you. Because you think that after that little psychic display I think you’re a freak. I can’t believe your mother would say that to you.” He seemed actually angry about it.

“Forget it.”

He cocked his head to the side. “You’re all ruffled now. Lost that cool composure from before, huh? Do I really have the ability to make you lose control of yourself?”

“I really think I hate you.”

He snorted. “Now it’s hate. Awesome. Before, I knew it was indifference, maybe a little bit of disgust, but hate is so much more interesting.”

“Why are you baiting me like this?”

“Because I don’t think anybody ever does bait you like this. Nobody challenges you, Amanda. Nobody pushes your buttons.”

“Maybe I don’t want my buttons pushed.”

He raised a dark eyebrow. “Maybe your buttons have never been pushed by the right person.”

Her cheeks grew warmer. “Let’s leave my buttons out of this.”

“I don’t think that’s possible.” His gaze slid down her front and she self-consciously crossed her arms as a feeble form of protection from his intense scrutiny. “What you can do is amazing. You’re amazing, whether you realize it or not.”

“Amazing,” she said the word with an ironic twist. “So amazing that my father was freaked out by me and abandoned my family when I was a kid and my mom was stuck raising me.”

His eyes narrowed. “He did that?”