Double Dating with the Dead by Karen Kelley (best fiction novels to read .txt) 📗

Barbara waved the pencil and pad she carried. “I wanted to see if I could get a story for my column.”

She looked at Trent, her gaze slowly moving over him. Damned if he didn’t feel like taking a shower.

“I’d bet next week’s paycheck you could fill my…column,” she said.

“Oh, give me a break,” Selena mumbled. “I’m going to change my shirt.”

Oh, yeah, leave me with the barracuda, he wanted to tell her, but she’d already left the room.

“So, can you?”

He dragged his gaze away from where Selena had been. “Can I what?”

She laughed low in her throat. “Give me something for my column?” She waved her pad. “You know, what’s it like staying in a”—she cleared her throat—“in a haunted hotel with our resident psychic?”

“You don’t believe she can talk to the dead?”

She covered her unladylike snort with a cough. “Do you believe she can talk to the dead?”

“No.”

“Would you like to elaborate?”

She walked closer, her scent swirling around him. She smelled nice. Not as good as Selena. He kind of liked Selena’s tropical scent. It was lighter, fresher.

Barbara swept around him and pulled out a chair. When she sat down, she crossed her legs. Her already short skirt rode up a few more inches.

He met her eyes and saw the knowing glint. She’d given him a taste, and he had a feeling she wouldn’t stop there with a little encouragement from him.

But would it be because she wanted him or because she wanted to upset Selena?

He already knew the answer. Hell, from the moment she’d walked into the kitchen, he’d seen SLUT flashing across her forehead. She’d do anything for a story, anything to tip the scales in her direction. She was a fraud, only in a different way, and he liked her kind even less.

What was she really after? It might pay to find out.

He pulled out the chair across from her and sat down. “What kind of column do you write?”

Her smile practically shouted victory. “I write the gossip column each week. You know, what’s going on in Garvey County and other small towns, and the city, of course.” Her hand fluttered close to the vee of her blouse.

A practiced move, he was sure. He leaned back in his chair. “So, what kind of gossip do you think you’ll find here that might interest your readers?”

“It looked like it might have been pretty intense when I walked in. Did I interrupt anything?”

“Like Selena said, she’d spilled her water.”

Barbara’s forehead puckered. Then she shrugged. “You probably are telling the truth. Selena doesn’t date much, so there must be something wrong with her.” She gave a short laugh. “The last guy she dated was such a loser.” A delicate shudder rippled over her.

Yeah, he’d pegged Barbara right. A real bitch.

“Your story?” he prompted.

As if she’d just remembered her excuse for being there, she picked up her pencil and tapped it on the table. “So, what’s it like living here in this…” Her expression held more than a little distaste. “In this dump. I mean, it was all I could do to walk up the steps leading to the front door. Even if it doesn’t have ghosts, the place is deplorable.”

“You didn’t notice the woodwork? Or that the floors are hardwood?”

She gave a little laugh. “I saw the grime and dust. I’m sorry. I’m a city girl. I don’t do old and dirty.”

He had a feeling she’d do old and dirty if it boosted her career.

“You haven’t answered my question,” she reminded him.

“You don’t like Selena very much, do you?” he countered with a question of his own.

Her eyes widened. “Why would you say that?”

“Just stating a fact.”

She hesitated for a few seconds before apparently deciding she had more going for her than Selena. “Why should I like her? I’d been at the paper two years when she comes waltzing in and immediately the editor gives her a column. Her own column!”

“And what does that have to do with you?”

“He cut the size of mine to make room for hers. She talks to dead people, for Pete’s sake. How idiotic is that?”

“Yours has a lot more to offer?”

She squared her shoulders. “Damn right. I let my readers know what’s going on. I had planned on asking for more room. You know, cover the trends and maybe branching out into the fashion world. Women need to know how to dress if they want to get by in the world.”

“As opposed to talking to the dead.”

“Don’t tell me you’re defending her? The man who claims ‘if you can’t see it, it isn’t there’? If you judge me, then you have to judge yourself because we’re exactly the same.”

“The same?” He came to his feet. “Lady, we’re not even close to being the same. You use people to get ahead.”

“And what’s so wrong with that? There are a lot of sharks in the water. You eat them before they can eat you. That’s the way the world works.”

“Not my world, sweetheart. You’re not going to find a story here, so maybe you’d better leave.”

She came to her feet. “Are you throwing me out?”

“It would look that way.”

“The least you can do is walk me to the front door. Just in case there’s a ghost or two.” Her words were brassy, and he had a feeling he was seeing the real Barbara.

Hell, she’d scare any ghosts off if there were such a thing, but yeah, if it would get rid of her quicker, he’d walk her out.

He followed her to the front door. There was an exaggerated sway in her hips. Not the sexy sway Selena had.

When they reached the front door, her attitude immediately changed, and the seductress came out. The lady had more personalities than he could count.

“I can’t interest you in giving me a story?” She pouted as she ran a long red fingernail down his shirt. “I guarantee I could make it worth every minute if you give me an exclusive interview.”

Before he could do anything, she moved against him