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

she was going to be sick. No, it was a bad dream. She’d wake up any minute. She swerved into the street, almost hitting a car, and tromped the accelerator.

“Ghosts do not exist,” she kept repeating. It didn’t do any good. She saw what she saw. Damn it, she hated being wrong.

She gripped the steering wheel. And if she was wrong, that made Selena right. That was a hard pill to swallow.

She glanced in her rearview mirror, then took a quick peek over the backseat.

All clear.

So she was wrong. Ghosts did exist. Who cared as long as they stayed out of her way and she stayed really far away from them. She could still get revenge on Selena, and now Trent. Boy would she get revenge!

A hot flush swept over her. He’d taken what she’d offered and thrown it back in her face. Well, just see how he liked her next column. She’d teach them both.

Cautiously, she glanced in her rearview mirror once more. Still clear. No ghosts. She was safe.

She smiled, a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, as she thought about how she’d word her next column. She’d drag them both through the mud.

Just as soon as she changed her ruined clothes and showered. She sniffed. There was a distinct odor in her car, and she knew without a doubt it wasn’t just the smell of her fear.

Oh, she’d make them both pay!

Chapter 13

Selena flung the covers back and climbed into bed. She’d avoided Trent all afternoon. He’d mumbled something about letting her cool off and then stayed out of her way as well. And so he should.

She flipped onto her side. He was more like his little brother than she’d thought. Hell, Tye probably took lessons from Trent. They were both players, and apparently, Trent didn’t care who he kissed.

Blech! Barbara!

Couldn’t he see what she was like? Dummy, of course he could. That was probably why he’d kissed her. Hell, half the men at the newspaper had probably kissed her and a whole lot more.

Damn it, but did Trent have to fall for her act, too? Not that she cared, of course. Well, maybe she did, but it was only because she disliked Barbara so much.

Fool. She flipped over to her other side and punched her pillow.

She’d so played right into his hands.

He’d accused her of trying to seduce him. Yeah, uh-huh, sure. The shoe was on the other foot. He’d been seducing her right from the start. And she’d fallen for his every rotten move.

Idiot!

But she had his number now, and his games wouldn’t work on her. Nope, it wasn’t going to happen. And when Dixie and Wesley finally showed themselves and he had a heart attack, maybe she wouldn’t start CPR. Except she’d have to keep him alive long enough for him to admit he’d been wrong about ghosts.

As soon as he told the world, then she’d let him croak.

Her stomach churned. Burning acid bubbling inside her. Lord, he’d given her an ulcer.

Stress wasn’t a good emotion, and it only made her newly acquired ulcer worse. She forced herself to relax. Working herself up over the fact Trent had kissed Barbara the Barbarian wouldn’t solve anything.

But did he have to kiss her?

Selena had wanted to wipe that smirk right off Barbara’s face when the other woman looked up and their gazes locked. Barbara had known exactly what she was doing. The bitch wanted her to know she could have Trent.

Selena balled the covers in her fist. Of course, she didn’t care what they did. They were made for each other.

Barbara was about as two-faced as they came. When Selena first went to work at the paper, it hadn’t taken her long to realize Barbara’s attempts at friendship were as thin as tissue paper.

So, yeah, that was a good enough reason to get pissed off, but neither one was worth losing sleep over. At least tonight she wouldn’t be lusting over Trent in her dreams and maybe she’d get some sleep. Sex was the last thing on her mind and certainly not with Trent.

“She seems pretty upset,” Wesley commented as he hovered above Selena.

“Do you blame her? Barbara planted a good one on Trent, and from Selena’s angle, it looked like the feeling was mutual.”

“Yeah, but you got even with her.” Wesley chuckled.

She grinned. “We both did. The look on her face was worth every bit of energy it cost me. You could smell her fear.”

“I don’t think it was fear you smelled.”

Dixie chuckled. “You’re right.”

Dixie nodded toward Selena, who was tossing and turning in her sleep. “But we still have to fix it between these two.”

“Some things can’t be fixed.”

“I don’t believe that. Any relationship can be mended.”

“Even ours?” Wesley spoke quietly.

Silence.

“It wasn’t your fault we were killed.” She downed her head. “I was trying to make you jealous because you were flirting with Samantha.”

He swirled around her in a mist of blue. “And I was flirting with Samantha to make you jealous. Didn’t you know how smitten I was with you?”

“It looks like we were both foolish.” She closed her eyes as his spirit blended with hers. If this was all they had left for all eternity, then she’d be satisfied.

“I hate to see the same thing happen to them.”

“I know,” she sighed. “They say they’re sworn enemies. Maybe we should show ourselves and let him see that we actually exist.”

“That wouldn’t prove anything. They have to realize there’s something between them before we show ourselves.”

“And if they don’t?”

“It’s all up to fate.”

One side of his mouth lifted, and Dixie knew immediately Wesley wouldn’t leave it all up to fate.

He blew across his hand. Yellow dust sparkled in the light of the moon before it drifted down to settle on Selena.

“Forgiveness dust. Perfect.” She raised her hand and blew across her palm. A deep red dust that landed on Selena. Her body jerked.

“That was blood red. Are you sure?”

Dixie smiled. “Oh, yeah. She shouldn’t be a pushover. He has to work