Ghost for Sale Read Online Free Page A

her rear. “Someone pinched me!”
    Marcy rolled her eyes. “Is there a full moon tonight? Caitlin’s been acting odd all evening and now you. The place is packed, but there’s no one within pinching distance.”
    “I’m telling you someone pinched me.” Kendra rubbed her right cheek.
    “She sat on me. What do you expect?” Liam shouted above the music.
    Gentleman, huh?
    “I’ll take a virgin wine fizz,” I told the waitress who’d stopped to take our order. Kendra and Marcy ordered the same.
    As they chatted, I put on my rapt-attention face and let my thoughts wander. What was the matter with me? I’d been carrying on a conversation with a ghost as if it were an everyday occurrence. Why wasn’t I locked in my room, shaking like a leaf? Or having hysterics?
    Maybe Liam was the imaginary friend I’d never had.
    The waitress returned and handed us our drinks, effectively breaking my brooding. She gave the table a cursory swipe with a damp towel, then left. I took a sip.
    “What are you drinking?” Liam looked at my glass wistfully.
    Marcy and Kendra were still chatting. I put my hand over my face and mumbled in a low voice, “Basically, a non-alcoholic fruit fizzy.”
    He looked down his nose. “A girl’s drink.”
    “Guys like it too.” Just then, the band stopped playing and the noise went down a few decibels.
    “What did you say?” Marcy asked.
    “I said the coolers hit the spot.” I raised my glass. She raised hers and went back to chatting with Kendra.
    “What do you think of Jimmy’s?” I asked after making sure my cousin and her friend were still occupied.
    He tipped his chair back, cupped his hands behind his head, and studied his surroundings. “Fascinating. Times have certainly changed.”
    I waited till the band started back up before I spoke behind my hand. “Thank goodness.”
    “Amen.” He leered at a blonde in a low-cut plum top and tight Capris.
    Men.
    Liam winced as the guitar shrieked. “The music’s not exactly gentle or melodious. But it has heart,” he added fairly. GRIT segued into a slow number while the soloist, Belamy Joyce, a young woman with blue-spiked hair, crooned about her brokenhearted lover. Liam nodded. “Now that’s more like it.”
    A young red-headed guy with a stocky body tapped me on the shoulder. He leaned forward, cupped his hands together, and shouted over the noise, “Care to dance?”
    Liam didn’t wait for me to make up my mind. “Don’t feel you need to babysit me. I’m going to mingle.” Poof , he was gone.
    Wow. My breath stalled.
    “Would you like to dance?” the guy repeated, throwing his voice to make it heard.
    “I’d love to dance.” I preferred fast music, but if the band stayed true to form the slow song would be short. He waved a hand at his ear, signaling he couldn’t hear me.
    “Never mind.” My chair scraped across the floor as I shoved it back.
    We got to the floor just as the slow song ended. The drummer beat out a rhythm, and Belamy Joyce belted out a tune in a high shrill voice. The redhead shrugged his shoulders and grinned. “I’m Daniel,” he said as he began to dance.
    “Caitlin.”
    “Pleased to meet you, Caitlin,” he bellowed as he waved his arms around and stomped to the beat.
    I did the same, occasionally bumping into one of the other dancers on the crowded floor. After six sweaty minutes, the music shifted to another slow song, and Daniel eased me into his arms where we swayed back and forth in silence, my hands on his shoulders, his wrapped around my waist.
    His hands dipped till they rested on my butt, and his lips found my neck. Crap! My muscles grew taut. I put my hands on his chest to shove him away when his head popped backward and his hands flew up, then flopped to his side. Wild eyed, he looked all around.
    Liam stood with his hands fisted on his hips, expression thunderous.
    “Someone jerked my arms right off you.” Daniel’s hand shook as he ran his fingers through his hair. The red