Their Virgin Secretary (Masters of Ménage #6)(105)

Belle's eyes lit up and she raced across the room to pick up her grandmother's journal. "That's what my grandma used to say about the men she liked." She flipped through the pages. "Look here. She says her friend, Harrison, was a good one. One of the good ones. My grandma is here."

"And she wants to pat their butts?" he asked incredulously. "Belle, really?" Maybe he should call in a shrink. 

"I know it sounds crazy, but there is something happening in this house and I'm going to figure it out. I need a computer." She looked up at Tate. "Would you help me do a little research?"

The faintest hint of a smile lit his lips, the first bit of happiness he'd seen out of Tate for days. "Yeah, let's do it."

They walked out, hand in hand. Belle might have scared the shit out of him, but at least she and Tate seemed to have put aside their problems. That alone might make the whole near heart attack worthwhile. Although if she got truly close to Tate and Eric again, where would that leave him?

"You okay?" Eric asked.

"I'm fine. I'm a little worried about her. I think the pressure must be getting to her. It's the only way to explain this sudden belief in ghosts."

Eric's brows rose. "I don't think it's sudden. Have you ever seen all the shows she tapes? Mostly it's shows where people buy houses and then like wreck them and shit, but she also likes shows where people hunt for ghosts. But that's not what I'm talking about. What are you doing, man?"

"I'm trying to figure out how to help Belle." What was Eric's problem?

"Belle's fine. You're the one with the problem."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that Belle's surrender is inevitable. She won't hold out on us forever."

He hadn't really thought about it. The truth was he'd been happy the last couple of days. Well, he'd been happy at night when they took her and he could be close to her. There had been a deep sense of loss every time the sex ended and he left her bedroom, but he couldn't do much about that. Sleeping next to her seemed even more intimate than fucking her, so staying the night cuddled up beside her would be implying a promise he couldn't make.

And now he realized just how little time he had left with her … maybe with all of them. "Do you think her belief that the house is haunted will send her back to Chicago with us?"

If she came back, Kellan had no doubt she would move right into Eric and Tate's house. What would he do then? Show up for sex? He couldn't see that working for long. And the night she finally shut the door in his face would fucking hurt.

"Hell, no. I don't think anything will induce Belle to leave this house. I've been thinking …  Next week, I'll be applying for my license to practice law in Louisiana. I'll take the state bar exam as soon as possible."

Kellan felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. "Are you serious? What about Tate? Have you told him?"

"No. I just decided today."

"Tate won't leave Chicago," Kell pointed out.

"He fears change and always has. Do you know the anxiety he went through when I bought a different brand of toilet paper? But there's only one thing he fears more and that's losing Belle. She's going to soften and let us into her lives. Once she does, he's going to give in. It's inevitable. She's the one. At least, she's the one for us."

"Oh my god," Belle stuck her head back through the door looking more animated than she had in days. There was an excited light to her eyes. "I saw a shadow person tonight. Tate just found all this information. It's so cool. Apparently when really bad things happen in a space, sometimes energy lingers and forms this creepy paranormal entity that appears as a black mass. It can sometimes feed off of negative energy in the house or the bad moods of people in it. Isn't that amazing? I also ordered a ghost hunting kit off the Internet. It gets here tomorrow. In the meantime, I have a dictation tape recorder. I'm going to see if I can capture some EVPs."



       
         
       
        

"What?" Kell wondered if she'd suddenly decided to speak a foreign language.

"Electronic voice phenomenon. Even if the human ear can't detect them, recorders have been capturing compelling sounds and voices for decades." Tate poked his head in, looking just as excited as Belle.

"Ghost voices?"

"Yeah." Belle nodded. "It would explain so much around here. I mean, when Gates first brought up the idea that the house might be haunted, I didn't want to believe it, but … it really makes sense."