Free Ghosts of Coronado Bay by J. G. Faherty Page B

someone else. Especially a McHottie like Gavin.”
    The imagination-Lucy was right. She wasn’t tied to Blake. Forget the fact he was a ghost. They hardly knew each other. Besides, what if Gavin turned out to be the right guy for her. How would she know if she didn’t at least go on one date with him?
    The weird thing was Gavin was the total opposite of Blake. The fresh-faced, serious kid vs. the darkly sensual man. Day vs. night. Good guy vs. stereotypical bad guy. You knew they’d both open a door for you, but you also knew Gavin would check out your butt, maybe even snap a pic of it on his cellphone, as you walked past. Blake would always be there for you. Gavin would burn like fire for a month, and then you’d find out he had a girlfriend back in Boston. Or maybe two. Blake would become friends with your friends. Gavin would try to date them.
    And yet somehow, she felt drawn to Gavin, as if a dark, dangerous gravitational field surrounded him and it was pulling her in.
    The Lucy in her head laughed and rolled her eyes. “So do the horizontal mambo with Gavin and then go back to Blake.”
    “God, Lucy, all you think about is sex.”
    “Excuse me?”
    Maya turned from hanging up her apron and saw an elderly woman by the bathroom door giving her a confused look.
    “Um, I said, this hook is loose; it’ll fall off next.”
    The spinster-type stared for a moment longer then went into the ladies room, shaking her cotton-topped head.
    Great. Now I’m talking to myself. Get a grip, Maya. What are you gonna tell Blake when you see him?
    By the time she reached her house, she still had no answer to that question. 
     

 
     
     

Chapter 10
     
     
    When she saw Blake sitting on her front porch, a wave of guilt washed over Maya. How could she think about hurting him? He already looked like a scared puppy, hiding in the corner, afraid someone might kick him.
    “Hi, Blake.” She put extra sunshine into her greeting, and he rewarded her with a smile.
    “Hello, Maya. I got here early. I hope that’s all right. I didn’t really have anywhere else to go.”
    “No, that’s fine.” Maya rummaged through her pockets until she located her house keys. She found it really didn’t bother her, either. Yet, if Stuart had done something like that while they were dating, she’d have bitched him out, told him how creepy it was.
    Is that because Blake is dead and no one could see him there anyhow? Or because he’s a decent guy, and Stuart was kind of a creep?
    “Is this a good time to talk? I really need to tell you what’s going on. You could be in--”
    “So, this is the guy you dumped me for?”
    Crap. Not now. Wondering if thinking about Stuart acted like a spell and called him to her, she turned to face her ex-boyfriend, feeling her face already drawing into a frown.
    “What, you’re spying on me now, Stuart? Why don’t you just get a life and stay out of mine?” She walked across the porch and stood at the top step, staring down at him. A cold presence against her back told her Blake was standing close to her.
    Stuart Newman’s square face turned red as he approached the stairs. “Don’t tell me what to do. You’ve got some nerve after you lied right to my face about seeing someone else.”
    “I never lied to you.” She had to bite down on her lip to keep the rest of her sentence to herself. At least not about the dating part.
    “I call bull on that.” He pointed past her. “And there’s the proof, just like Mary Ellen told me.”
    “Oh, so now you believe the Wicked Slut of the West instead of me? You’re getting more whacked by the day. Just go home and leave us alone.”
    Stuart came up the steps until he was only inches from her. “Oh, I’ll leave you alone. Soon as I teach your little friend here that it ain’t okay to steal someone’s girlfriend.”
    Before Maya knew what had happened, Stuart pushed her to the side and charged Blake, his right hand already formed into a fist and