A Christmas Spirit Read Online Free Page B

right next to her ear.
    When she looked, only her own reflection shown in the glass. “Well, yes. I suppose I thought it’d be different somehow. Or maybe I’d horn in on the bed-a nd-breakfast’s family Christmas.” She turned and looked at him. “I guess I was wrong.”
    Gabriel leaned against the wall and studied her. “Mayhap no’. Here we are. Together.” He smiled. “Aye?”
    Heat flushed her skin. “Yes. I suppose you’re right.”
    He leaned closer—so close, it made Paige shiver. “Then you dunna mind spending the Yuletide wi’ a lonely, aged warrior?” His mouth lifted at one corner, making the dimple pit his cheek on that side. One dark brow raised in question.
    Incredibly sexy .
    She smiled in return. “I don’t mind at all.”
    Of course she didn’t mind. Hmm. Let’s see. Nobody on one hand. A gorgeous, safe warrior ghost on the other. One with ripped muscles, a killer smile, sexy tattoos, and, well, just plain sexy. And fun to talk to.
    She’d be a moron to accept anything else.
    This Christmas—Yuletide, rather—was looking up more and more by the second.
    Gabriel’s gaze bore into hers for what seemed like minutes. Then that very same gaze lowered to her mouth, and even farther still, to somewhere lower than her neck, before slowly rising back to her eyes. “I couldna think of finer company, in truth.”
    Paige felt that infuriating blush scorch her skin. She cleared her throat and rubbed her neck with the palm of her hand. “Do you sleep?”
    Gabriel’s light chuckle made shivers race through her veins. It had to be one of the sexiest sounds she’d ever heard in her entire life. A total, carefree, guy laugh. And to think it came from a man who’d lost his life centuries before.
    “Nay, lass, I dunna sleep. But I know you need to. You look weary, and your nose is swelling.” He inclined his head toward the archway of the kitchen. “Come. I’ll walk you to your bedchamber. Rest tonight, and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.” He gave her a deep grin, dimples and all. “You’ll need your strength, no doubt. Aye?”
    She thought she could hear him say aye forever.
    Paige smiled in return and began the walk through a candlelit medieval castle with the most unexpected, gorgeous host a self-touring girl could ever wish for.
    Dead or not, Gabriel Munro set her insides on fire.
    She never would have guessed how happy she’d be to have her crappy rental car croak in a blizzard.

    Bloody hell, he couldna keep his lecherous eyes off the lass.
    As they crossed the great hall, he slipped glances down at her. So petite next to him, built slender, fragile. He’d never met a lass with shorn hair such as Paige’s, but damn him, he thought it adorable the way it swung by her jaw, and how she tucked one side behind her ear. And those exquisitely shaped blue eyes and full lips made him wish even harder than ever that he had a live body.
    He would have already tasted those lips by now.
    Mayhap ’twas a good thing he was a bloody spirit.
    “It smells great in here,” she said beside him, her voice and unusual accent a pleasant, tinkling sound. “Very Christmassy. It must be the pine boughs.”
    “Craigmire’s missus insists on decorating the place,” he said. They both started up the staircase, Paige carrying a candle. “I told her no’ to bother, since I’d be here alone.”
    “Sounds like you’re not too crazy about the idea of Christmas,” she said. “I suppose I understand why.”
    He glanced at her. “Is that so?”
    “Of course,” she held the candle closer to her face. “We’re a lot alike, you and I. While you avoid Christmas because of your murder—”
    “You avoid it because it reminds you of how alone you are.”
    Her crestfallen expression made him regret the words instantly. “Beg pardon, lass—”
    “No, you’re absolutely right,” she said softly and continued the climb. Once they reached the top she started down the darkened passageway. “It doesn’t