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

to flutter it rapidly in front of her face. “My shenanigans? It’s your fault we’re dead! If you hadn’t been flirting with every skirt in town, we’d still be alive. Have you forgotten about Prissy Lou McPhearson? Or Jane Billings? And what about little Miss Samantha—”

“Enough!” Selena said before they could say another word. Her teeth were already chattering from the cold chills sweeping over her.

Cripes, the water had long ago lost any of its warmth, and she was freezing while they were arguing about something that had happened at least a hundred years ago!

“Can you take your quarreling elsewhere? I would like to finish my bath if you don’t mind.”

Dixie raised her chin. “See what you’ve done now. You’ve angered her. She’ll leave, and we’ll be alone for the next one hundred or so years in this horrible place.” In a poof, she was gone.

“Women.” Wesley shook his head, but left right behind her in a flash.

“Finally!” Now maybe she could get out of the freezing water! She had so many chill bumps she looked diseased. She hurriedly jerked the plug and jumped out, reaching for a dry towel.

Warmth. She needed to get warm.

Trent straightened from the bathroom door where he’d been listening to Selena talk to herself. It was worse than he could’ve imagined. He might not have been far off the mark when he told his brother that Selena was demented.

She’d been arguing with someone called Dixie and Wesley. Her voice was the only one he’d heard, though.

Maybe she knew he was out here and thought she could convince him there were ghosts in the bathroom. That was really lame. He thought she’d be smarter than that.

The door suddenly swung open. Selena stood before him wearing only a pair of black lace panties that barely covered anything at all.

He couldn’t move. Not that he wanted to.

She gasped and grabbed for her top. It was too late. He’d already seen her luscious breasts, the dusky areoles, her hard nipples.

Damn, what did she do, take a cold bath? Did he turn her on so much that she had to cool her ardor? Nice thought. Almost as nice as the gentle curve of her hips and the way they tapered down to her long legs. In an instant, he’d taken in a lot more of Selena James than she probably wanted him to see.

His reaction was immediate.

She slammed the door in his face.

And so, apparently, was hers.

“Most people knock before they open a door,” she yelled.

His eyebrows drew together. Now what was she trying to pull? “I’m not the one opening doors. That only leaves you. But hey, if you wanted to impress me with your nakedness, it damn sure worked.”

“I didn’t open the door!”

“I suppose Wesley or Dixie opened it.”

Silence.

Busted, and she knew it.

Finally, she answered. “You may not have opened the door, but you’re definitely guilty of eavesdropping.”

Right, like she hadn’t meant for him to hear every word. “And I suppose you’re going to try to convince me there were two ghosts in there with you.”

The door flung open again. This time Selena was fully dressed. If you could call little black shorts and a yellow halter top dressed. Not that he minded. Hell, she was just as tempting with clothes on, even though naked was much better.

She shoved her damp hair over her shoulder and glared at him. “By the end of two weeks you’ll be convinced,” she huffed and marched toward her room.

Convinced the hotel was haunted? Not for a second. Convinced she was giving him a perpetual hard-on? Hell, that was a gimmie.

He knew her game. She had a bagful of tricks. Did she think to seduce him into believing in ghosts? Okay, the thought was tempting, especially when he couldn’t take his gaze off her tight little ass as she stomped to her room. She didn’t even look in his direction as she went inside, slamming the door behind her.

He drew in a deep breath, gathering his wits about him. Man, this lady was a first-rate con artist. And he’d better not forget it.

He left the hall and entered the bathroom. Hell, what did he expect? Conning people was probably as natural to her as breathing. Just look at her family. Her mother was certifiable. The whole time she was cleaning, she’d glared at him as if he’d crucified her daughter. And maybe he had—on television at least—but with her profession, she deserved it.

Then there was Selena’s father, the lawyer. Probably an ambulance chaser looking to help someone sue some poor unsuspecting sap. No telling what his influence in Selena’s life had been.

After shutting the bathroom door, he paused. Her father hadn’t looked like a shyster lawyer. Hadn’t acted like one, either. From the little he’d been around the man, he’d found him pleasant.

That could also work to her father’s advantage—reel in the unsuspecting fish, then scale it down until there was nothing left but the bones.

Since his father’s heart attack fifteen years ago, Trent had been conned plenty. He wasn’t quite the gullible nineteen-year-old he’d been back then. It wouldn’t be so easy this time. No, Selena had met her match. Things usually went bump in the night because someone was doing the bumping.

He turned the water on and began stripping out of his clothes. Just as he turned to shut the water off, the door creaked wide open.

“I suppose you wanted to tempt me with your body?” Selena’s words dripped with sarcasm.

He grabbed the towel and spun around to face her. Her heated gaze traveled over him. His gut clenched. He quickly wrapped the towel around him and knotted it at his side.

“Not bad,” she casually stated.

Not bad? What the hell did that mean? It wasn’t as if he stayed glued to his computer. He had weights and worked out every day. He could think better when he lifted a dumbbell. His abs were tight and his biceps defined. He’d been told his gluteus maximus looked pretty darn good, too.

Not bad?

He had