“Please. No.” Ash started sobbing. “I didn’t want this. I am your friend. Please.”

“Ash!”

Ash startled awake, clenching the sheets and sweating. Kincaid was leaning over him, hand on his chest and a concerned look on her face. He looked around wildly, disoriented, taking in the surroundings. Not the bookstore. The apartment. His bed. Kincaid. The room was still dark. He looked at his palms. No blood.

He closed his eyes and let his head sag back onto the pillow, his heart hammering and head pounding. “Jesus. Sorry.”

“You okay?” she asked, worry tingeing her voice. “You were making noises like you were being hurt.”

He let out a long breath, trying to calm himself, trying not to see the images from the nightmare. He opened his eyes and gave her an apologetic look. “Yeah, I’m all right. I’m sorry I woke you. Bad dream.”

She frowned. “Wanna talk about it?”

Images of the nightmare danced in the front of his mind, and he shook his head, trying to shove them away. “No, it’s fine. Just a dumb dream.”

She reached out, pushing his sweaty hair off his forehead, and gave him a light kiss. “Want me to help you forget about it?”

The saucy smile she gave him was a lifeline he grabbed onto with both hands. He didn’t want to think about the nightmare. Couldn’t. He needed to purge the images, the words Graham had whispered, the dread he’d felt. None of them were real. There were no such things as ghosts.

He reached up and pulled Kincaid down to him. “Yeah, make me forget, KC.”

She leaned down to kiss him and chased away the demons for another night.

Seventeen

Ash grunted as the bed bounced and jolted him awake. He cracked an eye open and found Kincaid kneeling next to him on the bed, a sunshine smile on her face. She slipped his glasses onto his face. “Wake up, writer boy.”

His vision cleared. Kincaid’s hair was pulled into a sleek ponytail, and her makeup was fully done. She looked fresh and rested and not at all like they’d spent half the night sweaty and rolling around in bed. The only clue that proved he hadn’t dreamt the whole damn thing was that she smelled like his soap and was wearing the same sweater dress from last night. No tights.

Which meant… His gaze slid down. No panties.

His body stirred, seemingly never sated when it came to her. “You are wearing entirely too many clothes for this early in the morning.”

She lifted his blanket and peeked beneath at his growing state of interest. “You are not, my friend. And good morning to you, too.”

“There she goes again. Always ogling.” Ash pulled the covers over himself. “What time is it?”

“Time to get up and get dressed. I have to make a quick run to meet a family and give them the keys to their new house, but I’m taking you to breakfast first. You don’t have anything good to eat here, and I need to replenish all the calories I burned last night.”