When he didn’t immediately answer, I slanted my head to stare up at him. Our faces were very close. So close I had only to tiptoe to touch my lips to his—

“I’m here,” he called.

“Is everything okay?” she asked anxiously.

“Yes, fine. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Hurry in.” I heard the gate close behind her and a second later, the back door of the house slammed. But Devlin and I were far from alone. A breeze stirred, whispering through the leaves, and I felt the unnatural cold of his ghosts. I couldn’t see them, but they were there somewhere, floating in the shadows, driving a wedge between us just as surely as the unknown woman’s husky voice.

Devlin still held me, but now there was a distance between us. An uncomfortable chasm that made me retreat into myself. “I should be going.”

“Let me drive you home,” he said. “It’s almost dark out.”

“No, but thank you. It’s only a few blocks and this is a safe neighborhood.”

“Safe is a relative term.”

How well I knew.

“I’ll be fine.” I was already walking away when he said my name, so softly I was tempted to ignore the entreaty for fear I’d only imagined it. I turned and said on a breath, “Yes?”

His dark eyes shimmered in the fading light. “It was a mockingbird you heard. It couldn’t have been a nightingale.”

My heart fell and I nodded. “If you say so.” 

Chapter Two

Devlin didn’t call out to me again and I never glanced back. But the warmth of his touch lingered as did the frost of his ghosts. I’d spent many a sleepless night trying to convince myself that as long as I kept my distance, his ghosts wouldn’t be a threat to me. After tonight I could no longer delude myself. I had done nothing to lure them back into my life. They had come despite my best efforts, and I hadn’t a clue how to rid myself of them.