If you've read "The Magic of a Billionaire", then you'll recognize my hero in this story.
He’s looking for an honest woman and true love. The beautiful woman he meets has secrets. Can he trust her with his heart?
She dreams of her ancestor’s past life who had been murdered. She can’t let anyone think she’s crazy or she’ll lose her reputation as a billionaire businesswoman
It’s up to the ghost to set them up and make things right.
In silence, they continued walking
and looking at the headstones in the cemetery. Nicole lifted the list of names up to the light. She
narrowed her gaze and her eyes shifted back and forth over the paper. Suddenly,
she gasped and straightened. Even in the shadows he could tell color was
seeping from her face.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Look,” she
said as she pointed to the name on the list. “It says Victoria Carrigan.”
“Carrigan? Is she a relative?”
Nolan inquired.
“I don’t know. I didn’t think we
had family here. It says she died in 1925.”
“Let’s look for her,” Nolan
suggested. “If we happen to find others, then we can check them off, but let’s
focus on Victoria.”
Nicole nodded. She moved next to
him and hooked her arm around his. Nolan’s heart softened. They weren’t holding
hands, but this was the next best thing. It made him feel heroic thinking that
he would protect her from anything scary.
Using the flashlight, Nolan scanned
each headstone as they quickened their pace to cover more of the area. As they
rounded a turn, Nicole tripped on a corner of a broken headstone. She stumbled,
and he quickly caught her before she landed on the ground.
“Oh, good grief,” Nicole muttered
and stood upright before placing her hand on his chest. “Thanks for stoppin’ my
fall. I’m sorry I’m such a klutz.”
“Don’t be sorry.” He grinned. “It’s
nice to find a girl who falls for
me.”
She laughed and teasingly slapped
his arm. “Oh, you are a funny one, aren’t you?”
“Well, you laughed, so I must have
been funny.” He gently squeezed the hand still on his chest. “Are you going to
be okay?”
“Maybe I just need to walk slower.”
She started to move away, but he kept their hands together until their fingers
just gradually entwined together.
“We can walk slower,” he said,
trying not to let the excitement rushing through his body come out of his
voice. “As long as you hold onto me, I won’t let you fall.”
They were not directly in the
half-moon’s light, but he noticed a blush filling her cheeks. Elation filled
him, and he hoped she was feeling the same giddiness bouncing around inside of
her as he was experiencing.
* * * *
There was something about this man
that just made her want to smile constantly and her heart race. She enjoyed the
way he watched her with such emotion in his glorious green eyes, but it was
more than that. She liked the way he talked, the way he smiled, and the way he
teased. She loved hearing the sound of his laugh when they laughed at the same
thing.
As she held his hand, she felt like
the luckiest woman in the world. It also amazed her that for once in her life
she wasn’t trying to act like the billionaire her uncle wanted her to act like.
She wanted to be a normal person, and right now, this normal person wanted to walk through the cemetery and hold this
gorgeous man’s hand as if they were the only two people here.
Warmth filled Nicole’s face. She
was relieved that night’s shadows kept him from seeing her face completely or
else he would know she’d been blushing ever since their hands clasped. The
rhythm of her heart increased, and she wanted to cuddle against him.
Thankfully, that wouldn’t be possible right now.
Nolan was a tall man with strong
arms, and just holding his hand made her feel so protected. She raised her gaze
to his face. When he looked at her, she smiled. She wanted to hold onto him as
he’d suggested, and never let go.
“Are you ready to find Victoria
now?”
“Yes.” She squeezed his hand a
little more.
She found it strange that he hid his
secret just as she was doing. He didn’t want people to know he was extremely
wealthy, and it made her feel closer to him since they shared the same secret –
even if he didn’t know that about her. But she was more convinced now that he
was Aaron Powers… or the cousin, Thomas Powers. It really didn’t matter that he
was as rich as she was – what made the difference in how she looked at him was
that he was such a sweet man who thought of her feelings. It was so nice to be
with a man who didn’t think the world revolved around him.
They wandered deeper into the
cemetery, looking at the headstones as they tried to find their list of names,
along with Victoria’s of course. It unnerved Nicole to think that she might be
related to Victoria in some way, and yet Nicole was excited to get to know her
ancestor.
He stepped over a fallen headstone
and quickly came to halt. He glanced at the empty space beside him and frowned.
“Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Wright. I didn’t
see you floating there. Please forgive me for stepping on your ghostly foot.”
A chuckle escaped Nicole’s throat.
Although he was being silly about it, she wondered if he really had seen a
ghost, because she didn’t see anything. “Nolan, you might want to ask him to
let you know if I get in his way.” Her grin stretched. “I wouldn’t want to
cause him any more harm.”
He turned to peer into the shadows
again. “Did you hear my friend?” He paused a few seconds and nodded. “Yes, I’ll
tell her. Thank you again, Mr. Wright.”
Nolan’s attention swung to Nicole.
His mischief smile let her know that he was joking. She was relieved.
“Mr. Wright wants me to tell you,”
he stepped around in front of Nicole, taking both of her hands in his, “that he
thanks you for your kindness. He also thinks you are a very beautiful woman,
which of course, I agree with him.”
Laughing aloud, she stepped closer
to him. His arms wrapped around her waist, holding her loosely. The closeness
raised her blood pressure a notch or two.
Within seconds, their laughing
subsided as she gazed into his eyes… the best she could, anyway. The urge to
kiss him was strong. Dare she be the one to initiate the first move?
He licked his lips and her heart strummed
faster. Perhaps she should wait and let him make the first move. He started to
lower his face toward hers and she closed her eyes, waiting for the moment
their lips would touch.
Suddenly, someone from behind
pushed her, and she fell against him. Gasping, she swung around to see who had
shoved her, but no one was there.
“What’s wrong?” Nolan asked in a
voice deeper than she’d been hearing today.
“I thought… I mean it felt like…
someone pushed me.”
He glanced around them. “No,
sweetie. We are the only two right here.”
She laughed uncomfortably.
Irritation grew in her chest. Someone had
pushed her, but that’s not what upset her the most. How dare someone ruin
their special moment!
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