Chapter 85

Evie sat up and Sam saw her slight twinge.
He kissed her cheek before jumping out of bed and helping her to her feet. "I stretched you some. You're probably a little sore."
With no self-consciousness at all, she reached down and touched her pussy. Sam felt himself hardening again, even more. "A little," she admitted. "But it was worth every pang. We will do more tomorrow, right?"
"Promise." He hugged her tight then bounded across the room to pour some ice water from a pitcher he'd had ready into two tall glasses. "Here. I'll go start the shower."
Evie sipped the cool water as though it were ambrosia. After so many years of deprivation, the smallest comforts meant the world. She heard Sam moving about in the attached bathroom. Sam had done a wonderful job of remodeling it, just as he was in the rest of the house. He'd kept the feel of an old and beloved family home while seamlessly integrating modern conveniences. She looked forward to trying out the multi-headed, stone-lined shower and hoped Sam planned to join her there. She'd stood in there and watched him the night before but hadn't been able to feel the water, the smooth tile or even Sam.
"Ready?" He stood at the bathroom door and held out his hand. "Only a few minutes left."
She took his hand and let him lead her into the shower stall where he'd angled the jets to just below her shoulders.
"I didn't think you'd want wet hair all day, so here. One of my sisters left this behind when she was helping me paint." He piled her hair on top of her head and secured it with a plastic clip. "Now let's get clean before you have to spend twenty-three hours sticky."
He guided her in and reached for a plastic squirt bottle then lathered a glob of purple gel between his hands. The scent of lavender wafted up to her nostrils as he scrubbed her off.
"There." He used another soap to quickly sluice down his own body then turned off the water, stepped out and handed her a towel. "Dry off fast, if you don't want to be naked."
She toweled off her skin, let down her hair and then took the silky white slip he handed her.
"I thought this might be more comfortable than your own clothes."
She slid it over her head, the slippery fabric falling to her ankles. Thin straps held up the sheer bodice, which molded to her curves.
Sam smiled and kissed her. "Oh yeah. I'm going to be hard all day, envisioning you in that."
"Good," she said, feeling wicked and sexy. She kissed the corner of his lips just before she turned to mist.
She'd grown used to conversing with Sam all day long. At first it had surprised her that he didn't leave each day to go to an office, but he assured her he'd only taken some long-overdue leave time to work on his new home. The only time she made herself scarce was when one of his family members stopped by, which happened often. She hated that she was jealous of his siblings, but she was. She had so little time with Sam, she was jealous of anyone else who took his attention.
The exception was Ghengis, the friendly pup who seemed to see and feel her even when she was in her ghostly form. She'd already grown to love the exuberant rascal, and when Sam again left for a shopping expedition, she sat on the floor and watched another DVD with Ghengis sleeping beside her, his silky head on her lap.
Giving him up was going to be almost as hard as losing Sam, though she was coming to love the man in a far different way than she loved his dog.
How had she thought that she could give her body to a man without also giving her heart? Would it have been like this with just any man she'd chosen?
No.
It was simply Sam. She adored the way he touched her, but there was so much more to him than that. Just talking to him, even when they couldn't touch felt like a priceless gift. She'd fallen in love - just when she was destined to finally leave this world behind and move on to the next.
Wasn't that just the bee's knees?
She hoped desperately that he wasn't falling for her as well. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him when she was gone.
A knock sounded on the front door, and Ghengis ran to the foyer, his nails skidding on the slate flooring. A key turned in the lock, and Sam's sister Summer, the one who was expecting, stepped in and quickly calmed the young dog. She set down a thick manila folder on the hall table.
"I thought Sam was keeping you crated while you were here on your own," she said, leaning down to nuzzle his ears.
He isn't alone. Evie stood by the archway to the living room and stepped aside as Summer Holiday Warren moved through. It was eerie, even to her, when a mortal passed through her incorporeal body.
"Is anybody here?" Star frowned and looked around the room.
Just us ghosts.