Page 74 of It'll Always Be Her

Strands of her hair blew across her cheek, and he reached up to push them back. His fingertips stroked her smooth skin. His heartbeat increased. He slid his gaze over her face, down to her slender neck and the triangle of creamy skin exposed by her shirt.

“Is that a replica of your favorite book?” He indicated the little book-shaped pendant on the silver chain.

“This?” She glanced down, picking up the silver book. “No. Well, maybe in some ways. It’s a locket with pictures of my parents.”

She edged her fingernail into the seam of the book and opened it to reveal two miniature photos—a dark-haired man with glasses and a pretty, smiling blond woman.

“My father was an immigrant from Poland,” Bee explained. “He’d come to the US with his grandfather when he was five. And my mother was an only child. By the time they got married, my great-grandfather had passed away. My mother’s parents had gotten divorced, and both moved away from California. So they didn’t really have anyone except each other.”

An ache pushed at his heart. “And neither did you.”

“That’s why I know people exist in the afterlife.” Bee rubbed her thumb over her locket. “Once, when I was six or seven, I dreamed about a woman coming to sit beside me on the bed, but then I realized I wasn’t sleeping. To this day, I’m convinced it was my mother. I’ll never believe my parents are just gone.”

Adam’s throat constricted. He’d wondered about the foundation of Bee’s beliefs, but he hadn’t expected it to be embedded so deeply in her bones.

“I’ve never heard a reason that makes more sense,” he finally said.

Bee smiled slightly and closed the locket. “After my parents died, the social worker tried to place me with family, but there just wasn’t anyone left. That’s how I ended up in foster care.”

He didn’t know what else to say. His parents hadn’t been easy to live with, but he’d never imagined life without them or his sister.

“What about this?” He picked up the shiny black stone resting next to the locket.

“That’s from Destiny.” Bee watched as he rubbed his thumb over the stone. “Black tourmaline. It’s a protection stone.”

“What do you need protection from?”

“According to Destiny…” She twisted her mouth ruefully and brought her gaze to his. “You.”

Adam blinked. He’d sensed hostility radiating from the fortune-teller, though that was nothing new—most ghost believers didn’t like him or his skepticism. But they didn’t think he was dangerous.

He released the stone. “Why?”

“I think she intuited your lack of belief in Captain Marcus,” Bee said, “and ghosts in general. So she warned me not to tangle my energy with yours or let our frequencies touch.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means I’m supposed to stay away from you.”

But she hadn’t been. She’d come after him. And right now, they were standing so close that all he’d have to do was lower his head to kiss her.

He tapped the black stone. “It doesn’t seem to be working.”

“Mmm.” She lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. “I noticed that too.”

“In fact…” Adam curved his hand around the back of her neck, angling her head up to his. “I think our energies are already tangled.”

She met his gaze, sunlight sparkling in her irises. “Me too. And I rather like it when you touch my frequencies.”

A slow grin spread over his face. He started to lean in to kiss her, then stopped.

“Wait a minute.” He narrowed his gaze. “Speaking of the matchmaker, what are you going to do about the other men on her dating database?”

Warmth and amusement rose to her eyes. “What other men?”

Purely male satisfaction filled him. Spearing his other hand into her hair, he brought his mouth down on hers.

Damn.