Billionaire Ghost Tour - Stephanie Fowers Page 0,12
if he suddenly regretted his words, and he rubbed wryly at the back of his neck.
“Oh, this is so cute!” His model friend picked up a Day of the Dead family of miniatures. Her accent was cute and flirtatious. Mollie hadn’t been overseas, so she wasn’t sure where in Europe Janson’s girlfriend came from, but she was definitely glamorous. The woman danced over to Janson and dangled the miniature in front of him. “It is so creepy,” she cried. “Only its mother could love it.” Mollie immediately noticed the dragonfly ring on her finger before the woman flitted away to look at more unusual knickknacks. So that’s where the famous Molinero ring had ended up. The amethyst bodies and emerald dragonfly wings glittered in the candlelight. Everything was a cruel reminder that nothing in Janson’s world belonged to her, including his heart.
She straightened. Where were these thoughts coming from? Mollie loved her life. Her choices had led her to the experiences and friendships that mattered most to her, so why not let bygones be bygones and try to redo her unfavorable first impression... or second impression of Janson? He clearly was over their fight. She should be too. Janson still stared at her over the counter and she attempted a smile and held up a pen and a clipboard with all the waivers. “Sign in.”
“What for?” He leaned over the counter. His fingers poked out from his thick gray half gloves and they caught hers first before he got hold of her pen. His touch sent a flame of awareness through her. “Am I signing my life away or my soul?” he asked.
He was talkative tonight. She pulled away from him, rubbing her fingers together, trying to forget that his hands had completely dwarfed hers. “Maybe you should read the fine print. I can’t give everything away.”
His brow rose at the rate that others smiled, as he collected the papers from her, too. She tried to avoid all skin contact this time, though he hardly seemed to notice. His breath came out harder as he concentrated on the waivers, his brow furrowed. No one ever read through these things. She hid a smile and tried to forget how cute his sudden earnestness was. Stop thinking that way! For goodness sake—his girlfriend is here with him.
Behind him, the door opened. The bells clashed together as two muscular men walked in. Both of them were bald—they had to be with all that testosterone running through them. Their arms and thighs were as thick as tree trunks and they dressed all in black and were just as inconspicuous as clowns in a nursery with their earpieces and wires and transmitters. Janson had inherited a few bodyguards since last time. She glanced over at him. “Are these your friends, too?”
“For now.” He reached the end of the waivers, and the pen scratched against the paper as he signed the agreements and handed them wordlessly back to her.
“Well, that wasn’t so bad.” She was jabbering uneasily now as the two burly men came up to her.
The tallest of the two nodded curtly, his stern eyes boring into her. “We need to inspect the premises,” he growled out.
“No, no.” Janson held up his hand. “That won’t be necessary.”
His bodyguard glowered at her, the fold of his skin seeming to make one eyebrow over his eyes. He crossed his tattooed arms across his barrel chest. She wiped fake sweat from her forehead. “Phew—thanks, Janson! I didn’t want them to find the body I stashed in the back.”
Nobody laughed. The bodyguard’s eyes narrowed. Tough crowd. With difficulty, she forced another smile and stood to gather her black leather jacket. It wasn’t snowing yet, but it was pretty chilly outside in the evening. She turned and caught Janson studying her intently, almost like he wanted to say something. Her cheeks burned when she realized that he was probably noticing that her whole outfit was black again, but at least it was cute! She executed a little curtsy with her flirty skirt that made him avert his eyes. He scanned the novelties to the side instead. He picked up a shrunken head. Man, if he didn’t think she was odd before... No. She took a deep breath. She wasn’t ashamed of where she came from.
His girlfriend took his arm, clinging to him. “That head is grotesque. Is it real?”
His considering gaze went back to Mollie again, and he gave her a knowing look before setting the shrunken head next to