Read Online The Last Kiss Goodbye by Karen Robards - Free Book Online
Authors: Karen Robards
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looked scary if she hadn’t progressed way past being afraid of him—and if he hadn’t been as see-through as delicately tinted glass.
More see-through than when he had followed her into the bathroom? She wasn’t even going to let herself answer that. Just asking herself the question was enough to make her stomach twist.
Damn it.
“Hell, yes, I was thinking about taking you hostage. I was thinking about trying anything that might have saved my damned life.” The soft sounds of the phone ringing on the other end as the call finally went through caught his attention and he squinted at the distraction. As Charlie reached for a towel, he added on a note of disbelief, “You calling somebody? Right now? Really?”
“Yes.” She ran a brush through her hair. Her cosmetics were kept in a small plastic case on the glass shelf. Her bare face was way too pale and tired-looking, so, after giving him a quick glare simply because he was in a position to watch, she picked up her blush, opened it, and brushed a little of the pink powder on her cheeks.
He was watching, critically. “Who?”
“What are you, my keeper?” she asked as she progressed to slicking a rosy lip gloss over her mouth.
He looked impatient. “Damn it, Charlie, I probably don’t have a lot of time left, and there’s a point I’m trying to—”
He was interrupted by the sound of the phone call being picked up.
“That you, cherie?”
The cheerful voice booming through the phone prompted Charlie to answer, “Hey, Tam. Yes, it’s me. Listen, I have a problem and you are the only one I can think of who might be able to help me with it.”
“I’m all ears,” Tam said.
Mindful that Michael’s time could very well be measured in minutes rather than hours, Charlie got right down to it. “I have a ghost who’s getting ready to leave this plane. He doesn’t want to go, and I need him to stay—and to stay visible to me. I’ve tried everything I know to do to fix him to earth, but I don’t know all that much about it and nothing I do know seems to be working. If you know something that might help, I’d owe you big-time.”
“You want to keep a ghost? Why?” Charlie already had been rethinking the use of the speaker phone as Tam’s incredulous voice came through loud and clear, but because time was at a premium and because she had needed to wash her face and hands and because she really hadn’t wanted to appear among all the people converging on her house looking completely unkempt, she had made the choice to multitask and here was the result: an initially intent look on said ghost’s face that was morphing into an irritating twinkle directed right into her eyes.
“Yes, I do. And never mind why.” Giving Michael a sour look, Charlie snatched up her phone and turned the speaker function off. Feeling hope spreading inside her like kudzu as her friend talked, Charlie listened intently, had a whole multitude of second, third, and fourth thoughts, then said, “Thanks, Tam,” as she finally accepted the inevitable and disconnected.
“Did I hear that right? You putting that savior complex of yours to work on trying to save me now?” The slow, mocking smile he gave her as she stuck the phone in her pocket, turned, and marched toward him would have infuriated her had it not been accompanied by an almost tender glint in his eyes. Rattled, she scowled at him.
“Shut up and move,” she said, hating to find herself in the position of having to do something that she feared (a) was a terrible mistake and (b) revealed way too much about the muddled state of her heart where he was concerned. Unfortunately, the thought of the consequences should she fail to act was enough to keep her with the program. “So I made a call to a psychic friend and asked her how to keep you here. Don’t go reading into it.”
“I won’t,” he promised as he obligingly moved out of the bathroom doorway to let her pass, and she guessed that he wanted what he hoped
More see-through than when he had followed her into the bathroom? She wasn’t even going to let herself answer that. Just asking herself the question was enough to make her stomach twist.
Damn it.
“Hell, yes, I was thinking about taking you hostage. I was thinking about trying anything that might have saved my damned life.” The soft sounds of the phone ringing on the other end as the call finally went through caught his attention and he squinted at the distraction. As Charlie reached for a towel, he added on a note of disbelief, “You calling somebody? Right now? Really?”
“Yes.” She ran a brush through her hair. Her cosmetics were kept in a small plastic case on the glass shelf. Her bare face was way too pale and tired-looking, so, after giving him a quick glare simply because he was in a position to watch, she picked up her blush, opened it, and brushed a little of the pink powder on her cheeks.
He was watching, critically. “Who?”
“What are you, my keeper?” she asked as she progressed to slicking a rosy lip gloss over her mouth.
He looked impatient. “Damn it, Charlie, I probably don’t have a lot of time left, and there’s a point I’m trying to—”
He was interrupted by the sound of the phone call being picked up.
“That you, cherie?”
The cheerful voice booming through the phone prompted Charlie to answer, “Hey, Tam. Yes, it’s me. Listen, I have a problem and you are the only one I can think of who might be able to help me with it.”
“I’m all ears,” Tam said.
Mindful that Michael’s time could very well be measured in minutes rather than hours, Charlie got right down to it. “I have a ghost who’s getting ready to leave this plane. He doesn’t want to go, and I need him to stay—and to stay visible to me. I’ve tried everything I know to do to fix him to earth, but I don’t know all that much about it and nothing I do know seems to be working. If you know something that might help, I’d owe you big-time.”
“You want to keep a ghost? Why?” Charlie already had been rethinking the use of the speaker phone as Tam’s incredulous voice came through loud and clear, but because time was at a premium and because she had needed to wash her face and hands and because she really hadn’t wanted to appear among all the people converging on her house looking completely unkempt, she had made the choice to multitask and here was the result: an initially intent look on said ghost’s face that was morphing into an irritating twinkle directed right into her eyes.
“Yes, I do. And never mind why.” Giving Michael a sour look, Charlie snatched up her phone and turned the speaker function off. Feeling hope spreading inside her like kudzu as her friend talked, Charlie listened intently, had a whole multitude of second, third, and fourth thoughts, then said, “Thanks, Tam,” as she finally accepted the inevitable and disconnected.
“Did I hear that right? You putting that savior complex of yours to work on trying to save me now?” The slow, mocking smile he gave her as she stuck the phone in her pocket, turned, and marched toward him would have infuriated her had it not been accompanied by an almost tender glint in his eyes. Rattled, she scowled at him.
“Shut up and move,” she said, hating to find herself in the position of having to do something that she feared (a) was a terrible mistake and (b) revealed way too much about the muddled state of her heart where he was concerned. Unfortunately, the thought of the consequences should she fail to act was enough to keep her with the program. “So I made a call to a psychic friend and asked her how to keep you here. Don’t go reading into it.”
“I won’t,” he promised as he obligingly moved out of the bathroom doorway to let her pass, and she guessed that he wanted what he hoped
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