The book had changed color. It was now jet black and looked like the color of seduction. Gently lifting her covers off, Mia slowly made her way over to it as if she were trying to capture a bird.
Her fingers were trembling. Cold air chilled her hands as she reached out and picked up the book. Thick raised letters on the cover gave her instructions. Open Me. And she did.
Rows upon rows of names and numbers merged into each other. It was a phone directory. Mia was disappointed, but curiosity kept her flicking the pages, watching number after number fly by. She was about to close it and just go back to bed when she realized the numbers were all the same and the name wasn’t a name at all—it was another instruction.
Call Me.
Mia flushed with excitement. Was this her ghost lover contacting her for real? She reached for the phone and dialed before she could change her mind.
Silence.
Mia flopped back onto the bed and let the phone fall by her ear. She began to ponder the fear that she might actually be going mad when a voice startled her.
“Hello?” She thrust the handset to her ear and strained to hear. “Hello?” she repeated, barely able to breathe in her excitement.
“Mia?” came a breathy whisper that set her nerve endings alight.
“Yes?” she whispered back.
“I need to s…” The voice faded, and Mia started to panic.
“What? You need to what? Please…don’t go.”
“…see you.” The sound was so faint that Mia had to strain to catch it. “Meet me at the park at dusk.” The line went dead.
Mia was exhilarated. It hadn’t been a dream. She was going to meet her ghost lover once more! The memory of the icy touch made her horny, and she let her legs flop open and thought about what she would wear. She hadn’t been on a date in ages. Not since the insomnia had made her feel like a grumpy old hag. She suddenly felt young again—young and ready for anything.
* * * *
Mia waited nervously at the cast iron gates of the park. They were gothic and ornate and framed the entrance in grandeur. Biting at her thumbnail and shivering with excitement, she watched people bustle past on their way home from work. She felt very naughty, and it only heightened her arousal. She had chosen to wear her full-length sheepskin coat, a seventies classic that she had picked up in a vintage shop. It never failed to make her feel sexy, especially in her knee high boots. But tonight she had the added joy of being naked underneath. The sensation of the soft, lush wool pressed close to her skin made her yearn for her lover.
She waited.
And waited.
Her eyes flitted about, catching the gaze of passersby. With no idea who to look for, she glanced hopefully at any handsome man or pretty lady, then quickly averted her gaze if they looked back. Suddenly, she noticed a tall, dark man heading purposefully toward her. Her heartbeat quickened, and her throat tightened. He was stunning. He was more than anything she’d hoped for. And the way he strode directly toward her made her want to swoon in his arms. She pressed her thighs together and tried to look demure with a fierce heat rising from deep within her abdomen.
“Are you waiting for me?” The man stared at her intensely. His eyes were the palest blue with flecks of raven black.
“Yes,” was all Mia could say, and he linked his arm through hers, guiding her swiftly away, toward a waiting taxi. He was quite forceful as he pushed her into the backseat, but Mia noticed that he carefully protected her head from the door frame.
“You know where,” he told the driver, never taking his eyes from Mia’s face.
His voice was like velvet, and she let herself be wrapped up in it. Mia watched this stranger devour her with his gaze and caught her breath as a hand gripped her knee.
“You are gorgeous,” he said, and Mia was drenched in his thick, husky voice. “I want to eat you up.” His fingers squeezed her thigh hard, and her eyes widened. She was utterly helpless under his spell.
