Free Welcome to the Dream (A Celeste Cross Book, #1) by Odette C. Bell Page A

before, he let a slow smile spread across his lips. It
was something to do with the cute way she'd said it. ‘You're
house-sitting, you're not paying rent.’
    ‘ True. But does that mean that if
I don't do a good job on all the chores, or heaven forbid break
something, you'll hunt me down?’ Celeste gave a chuckle.
    ‘ No,’ he answered after a moment,
purposefully stopping himself from flirting any further.
    There was silence between
them, and Jack could hear the ticking of the clock filtering in
from the kitchen.
    ‘ Did you want something to eat? I
know it's a bit early, but—’ Celeste began, her eyes blinking open
a touch wider, interest clear.
    Jack paused. Then he gave up
trying to pretend he didn't want to stay. Just as he opened his
mouth to agree, his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and
answered it quickly.
    ‘ You need to come in for this,’
Gustaf said without bothering to say hello.
    Jack's fingers tightened around
his phone. ‘What?’
    ‘ It looks as if the
archaeologists did find something and they did remove it from the
dig,’ Gustaf explained, his accent thick, his voice almost
growling.
    Jack could have sworn. ‘Be there
as soon as I can.’
    Celeste had politely moved
several steps away, and was running her hand over the back of the
couch. ‘Is there a problem?’
    He shook his head. Though it was
a lie. Because there was a problem, potentially a very big problem.
‘Look, I have to go—’
    ‘ Sure, thanks for all your help
though.’
    ‘ You said you had to clean out
the gutters,’ he remembered, glancing towards the wardrobe. If
she'd managed to trip whilst standing on a chair, he didn't like
the prospect of her climbing on top of a three-story
house.
    ‘ Yes, but I'll be—’ she
began.
    ‘ This is my house, and
technically those are my gutters. So how about I clean them out?’
he dropped his phone into his pocket.
    ‘ Okay then.’ Her cheeks fattened
with a smile.
    ‘ How about tomorrow sometime?’ He
shook his head. He'd forgotten he was busy all day tomorrow.
‘Actually, scrap that, day after tomorrow?’
    Celeste shrugged. ‘I'll be here.
So whenever, I don't mind. Thank you though,’ she added
quickly.
    ‘ That's okay, ma'am,’ he dipped
his head as he spoke, noticing that on the word ma'am, she squarely
bit her lip. There was something about that word, or maybe it was
just the way he said it, that always got a woman's
attention.
    ‘ Good luck doing whatever you're
doing,’ she said as she followed him to the door.
    I'm going to
need luck. He thought as
walked to his car. ‘Don't get too hot and stay out of the sun.
Susie's chores can wait.’
    Jack walked back to the car,
pulled himself into the driver's seat, and glanced back at the
house. She was still in the doorway, and she waved quickly. He
waved back.
    He started up the engine,
turned the wheel, and pulled out. His bare forearms were still hot
and tingly from where he'd caught Celeste and had brushed up
against the underside of her breasts.
    No
Jack. He thought to
himself once more.

Chapter 7
    Jack West
    He had his arms crossed, and
he knew his expression was an unhappy one.
    ‘ It's probably nothing,’ Gustaf
said again.
    Jack shook his head, his neck
muscles tight. ‘We don't know that.’
    ‘ Look, the archaeologist in
charge said that it was a replica, just a copy, it wasn't real, it
wasn't an actual artefact,’ Gustaf explained, hands gesticulating
fast and furiously in front of his face.
    Jack knew he should loosen
up a bit and that he should listen to Gustaf, but still, he
couldn't shake this niggling feeling in his gut. Though he’d heard
Ami's story first-hand, something didn't seem right
here.
    Maybe he was kicking himself
over the fact that for three years he'd never noticed there was a
Solomon's Seal in the church, even though the building was pretty
much under his nose.
    Jack winced, running a hand
along his temple, trying to extract the tension with his
fingers.
    ‘ I checked