ZenithRising Read Free Page B

all,
they used to hold hands constantly. He hadn’t planned to be so touchy-feely
with her, at least not right away, it just felt so normal, as though only a few
weeks had passed. The fact she didn’t try to reclaim her hand made him think
she might feel the same way. “You know what I’ve been doing the last decade.
Tell me about yourself.”
    She shrugged. “There’s not much to tell. High school was a
lot less fun after you left. I did manage to get an associate’s degree in
business before I got sick of school. Worked a lot of different kinds of office
jobs over the years. I tend to stick with temp assignments because I get bored
so easily. And I love to travel so doing temp work allows me to take a week or
so off whenever I get the itch to go exploring. Never married but got close
once. No kids. Lots of good friends. All in all, I have a good life.”
    He closely watched her eyes as she sped through her
abbreviated bio. Only when she mentioned travel did he see even a slight spark.
What had happened to her that put the basket over her brilliant light? “Hmmm, I
seem to remember telling you to have a great life, not just a good one.”
    “I can’t believe you remember that too.” She smiled warmly
and gave another little shrug. “Some of us are destined for great—like you—and
some of us are fortunate just to get good. But now it’s your turn to talk. You
obviously knew I would be here. How?”
    He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Maybe I’ve developed
psychic powers.” He got a smirk for that. The familiarity of it made his
insides weak. He had been looking forward to seeing her but hadn’t expected to
still have such a strong attraction. It was almost as if she had never broken
his heart.
    He shifted his position on the couch and bent one knee so
she couldn’t see the physical effect her nearness had on his cock. Interlacing
his fingers with hers, he asked, “Do you remember what else I said that last
day?” She tilted her head and furrowed her brow. It had probably been foolish
of him to think his last words had been as important to her as they’d been to
him. “I told you if we were meant to see each other again, it would happen.”
    She chuckled. “I remember being annoyed with your nonchalant
attitude. I was really hurt that you could walk away from such a good
friendship without even trying to stay in touch. But I grew up and realized you
were right. We had different paths to follow.”
    “Looking back on it, I’m not sure how right I was about the
way I handled that but I meant the part about fate. Over the years I’ve found
life to be much more interesting when I let fate do her job.”
    “So you’re saying fate had something to do with my being
here today, with you.”
    “It’s the only explanation that makes sense. I had an idea
for a new book called Hotel Hellgate. One of those ‘you can check in but can’t
check out’ stories.” He noted how she wrinkled her nose and laughed. “I take it
you’re not a fan.”
    “Sorry. It’s not you. It’s the genre.”
    He shook his head. “Not a problem. I actually requested an
assistant who wasn’t a huge fan. Anyway, after doing a lot of research about
haunted hotels, I decided the Davenport had everything I was looking for but I
had to wait five months to get a long-term reservation in this suite.”
    “Yeah, I’ve heard they stay pretty booked up. Wait. Why this
suite?”
    “The founder, Robert Davenport, put a bullet through his
brain here in 1930. At least that was the official ruling. The family always
insisted foul play was involved. But this suite isn’t the only supposedly
haunted place. There were a number of other unsolved deaths and disappearances
in other parts of the hotel property. Plus there were thousands killed around
here during the 1928 hurricane. And for a while during World War II this place
was used as a hospital and not all the patients survived. In other words, if
ghosts really do hang around, it seems