Spooky Business (The Spectral Files #3) - S.E. Harmon Page 0,83
keys and phone. “You sure you’re okay?”
I bobbed my head like a puppet with a broken string. “Of course. Why do you ask?”
“Because you’re standing naked in front of the window, and your parents are outside, gardening.”
I whipped around, only to find my mother mid wave. I scuttled off like a crab to the corner of the room, my cheeks heated. “You could’ve said something,” I said exasperatedly.
“I just did.” He approached me carefully in my corner like I was a spooked horse. He skewered me with a painfully perceptive gaze. “Look, this conversation wasn’t meant to pressure you. I just thought it would be good to talk about everything. Get it all out in the open.”
“No, I… yeah,” I finished weakly. “Totally agree.”
“Did I throw too much at you all at once?”
“No… I, uh… no.”
I hadn’t been this incoherent since the time the team took me out for birthday drinks and karaoke. I sang “I Will Always Love You” with an equally drunk Kevin, and yes, we tried to hit all the high notes.
Feeling too exposed with him staring at me like a bug under glass, I waved a hand lamely. “You know, I have a session with Dakota soon.” We both glanced at the clock on the dresser. Neither of us commented on the fact that my session wasn’t for another three hours. “I should probably shower.”
“Okay,” he said slowly. “I’ll be back in a little while. Since I don’t have time for the crockpot thing, maybe we can go out to dinner.”
I nodded. I made a good show of standing in front of the closet, deciding what I was going to wear… at least until he called out goodbye and the front door slammed. As the sound of his engine faded away, I sat on the edge of the bed. It was only then that I realized my fist was still clenched around the ring box.
I flipped the box open and stared at the band. I was glad Danny had been in too much of a rush to take it back. Although he wasn’t a forgetful person by nature. Maybe he left the ring on purpose, just to give me something tangible to look at while I thought about it. If that was the case, it was an unnecessary measure; I couldn’t stop thinking about it. What do you say to a man who’s wanted to marry you for five fucking years?
I plucked the ring from its velvet bed and slipped it on my finger. As predicted, it was a perfect fit.
You say yes.
Chapter 22
I’d come to look forward to my Saturdays with Dakota. Cool, collected, and logical behavior was discouraged, which made our sessions an excellent way to let off some steam. Generally, I let him pick the venue, and he always opted for something where we could commune with nature. We talked about all things kooky and ghost-related and it was something of a relief.
Until today.
I hopped up on the surfboard, planting my feet as Dakota had instructed me to do. He kept telling me to channel my inner core. I did a mental body check and shook my head despairingly. I was pretty sure my inner core was made of marshmallow fluff.
“Again,” I said, going back down on my stomach.
He let out an exasperated laugh from his position, cross-legged in the sand. “God, you’re such an irritating perfectionist.”
“Well, I don’t think the waves are going to be quite as accommodating as the sand in the art of not killing me,” I informed him. “Now show me again.”
“You’re on your own,” he said, waving a hand. “I told you that you’re ready.”
He’d lost a lot of ground with this surfing shit. I should’ve known better. When someone begins a phone call with the word “brah,” you hang up immediately, and when that person also tells you to meet him at the beach and “don’t bring a thing,” you say no. Despite my better judgment, I’d thrown on some hideously orange, flower-patterned board shorts and headed down to the beach near Lighthouse Point.
I was relieved to have something to think about other than the ring Danny had given me. Technically it wasn’t mine, so I didn’t feel right wearing it. After all, he hadn’t really asked me yet. I hadn’t wanted to put it away, either. In the end, I’d threaded it onto the same cord as my pendant. Dakota’s eyebrows had gone up when he saw it, but he only smiled.