Page 22 of Ghost

“Are you going to tell me that you don’t think about sex?” I asked. “Ever?”

“Never.” She tried not to laugh but did anyway. After recovering from the laugh, she continued. “The thought of sex never crosses my mind.”

I laughed. “You don’t fart, either, do you?”

“I’ve never farted,” she said, stone-faced. “I have no idea what it feels like to pass gas.”

“Well, I do fart, and I often think about sex,” I said with a laugh. “Not at the same time, though.”

She tilted her head to the side and gave me a curious look. “Have you ever thought about sex with me?”

“Are we being truthful?” I asked.

She grinned. “Let’s try it for a while.”

“The day we met?” I locked eyes with her and leaned forward. “I thought about bending you over the couch and hiking that little dress of yours over your waist.”

She covered her face with her hands and slumped into the booth until she all but disappeared. “What else?”

I grinned at the sight of her. My honesty was either embarrassing her or torturing her. It was exactly what she deserved. “You sure you want to hear it?”

She spread her fingers apart and peeked at me through the space between them. “Uh huh.”

I grinned a sly smirk. “Poking my dick in your pretty little mouth.”

“Oh God,” she moaned. “It’s the lips, isn’t it?”

“It’s everything about you, really.” I lifted my chin slightly. “Hell, I’m thinking about fucking you right now.

She swallowed heavily and then lowered her hands. Her face was glowing red from embarrassment. “Are you like this with every girl you meet?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

“What. What uhhm. What…” she stammered. “What makes me different?”

“Everything,” I said flatly.

“Like what?”

“At first, I liked your outfits. The sneakers with a dress look pretty sexy in my book. You were eager enough to come sit with me. I liked that. I thought you were bold. The to-do list let me know you were goal-oriented A driven woman is attractive as fuck. Then, the entire rattlesnake thing? Yeah, you’re different. And, you’re pretty as fuck.”

In what I was sure was a subconscious gesture, she swept her hair behind her ear and scratched the bottom of her nose with her index finger.

“You do that thing with your hair quite a bit,” I said. “I like it. It’s cute.”

“It’s a habit.” She said, still glowing red. “I do it all the time when I’m nervous. Or when I’m in deep thought about something. I don’t even realize it.”

I rested my chin in my hand and looked at her admiringly. “What were you thinking about when you did it at the meeting?”

“I do it and I don’t even realize it, so I don’t really know when you’re talking about. It’s funny. George can tell when I’m thinking about something because of it. He always says, ‘what’s on your mind, Abby?’”

A tinge of jealousy washed over me. I’d never felt jealous in my life, and it took me by complete surprise.

“Who’s George?” I asked, my tone slightly bitter.

“He’s a retired Marine who owns a deli. He’s like my second dad,” she replied. “I eat there all the time.”

A rush of relief came from hearing her response, and it troubled me. I hadn’t had a girlfriend since I was in high school, and I had no desire to change – or at least that’s what I thought. For whatever reason, I felt attracted to Abby beyond simply admiring her looks. It seemed my swollen brain was changing my manner of thinking. I wasn’t sure I liked it. Nonetheless, I forged on.