Bewitching You(13)

“It’s okay, Rachel. All you have to do is agree to talk to me.” His voice breezed over her body, chilling it all the way to her ears.

God, it was freezing. She couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed a quilt off her bed and wrapped it around her body, but it was useless. She was just as cold, if not more so. As if she’d pressed him through her skin and into her bones.

“Go away, Hayes,” she yelled, unable to hold her tongue any longer.

“That’s my girl.” He’d slipped behind her this time.

Rachel swerved around and spotted him leaning against one of her pink-painted walls. A smile of victory was on his face, revealing his dimple. She didn’t know whether to be angry or overjoyed to be able to see him once again.

She gathered her wits and took a breath. “You have to leave me alone.”

His smile disappeared. “Not as long as you’re planning on marrying my brother. Tell me you’re not, and I’ll be gone forever.”

“Why don’t you go aggravate him? Why me?”

“Trust me. I’ve been doing my work on him.”

“Great. I’m glad to know you’re creating havoc even in your afterlife. Why can’t you let us be happy?”

“Happy?” He laughed. “Don’t kid yourself. Neither one of you is happy, especially you. And you’re not going to change that by marrying a man who doesn’t love you.”

The words hit Rachel hard, twisting a knot in her stomach. Down deep, she knew Grayson didn’t love her, but it hurt like hell to have that the assumption validated.

“Maybe he doesn’t love me…” She ground out the words. “But that doesn’t matter. He needs me. When you left him like you did, everything changed. He’s not the same man he used to be. It’s like he died inside when you died. I wouldn’t be doing him any favors abandoning him. I’m all he has left.”

“Don’t you think I know that? That’s why I’m here, sweetheart. To fix what I broke. I can’t go on—” He raised his arms toward the ceiling and let them fall to his side. “I can’t move on until you’re both happy, or well on your way.” He took a step forward, his gaze dark, pained. “And he’ll never be content if he marries you.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“Only because he’s not the man for you. You don’t love him. Not the way she loves him.” He mumbled the last sentence, but Rachel caught every word.

“Someone else loves Grayson? Who? Who are you talking about? Do I know her?” She pressed her palm to her chest. “Is he cheating on me?”

“No. The guy is too much of a goody-two-shoes to not be anything but completely loyal. I always hated that about him,” he said, but smiled and shook his head. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter who the woman is. Just know there’s someone out there who’s more his type.”

“That’s just great. Thank you, Hayes, for ruining my life from the grave. It’s not like you didn’t do enough damage while you were—” She stopped herself. “Just leave. Please.”

“Look, Rachel, you’ll find another man. Someone who will give you what you need, and considering how receptive you were to me the night we spent together, I’m pretty damn sure Gray’s not that guy.”

“Go to hell.”

He laughed half-heartedly. “That’s funny you say that, sweetheart, because seeing you about to marry my brother is hell enough for me.”

“Grayson needs me—” Rachel started to say.

But he had already faded into nothingness and was gone just like that.

“Fine.” She glared at where he’d been standing. “Leave me. That’s what you’re good at, after all.”

The small room was quiet again…and warm.

Rachel had never felt so lonely.

The doorbell rang out from the living room. No doubt Grayson stood on the other side of the door, waiting to take her to dinner so he could tell her about the promotion he’d gotten to make the start of their marriage easier.

The marriage she would never be able to bring herself to enter. How was she going to tell him?

~ * ~

Gray stuffed his hands in his pocket and forced a smile on his face when Rachel opened the door. “Hi,” he said, and stepped into her tiny apartment. He glanced around, looking from her flowery sofa to the rows of books she had lined on her bookshelf, to the burgundy rug on the floor.

But he couldn’t make himself look into her eyes. Not after being fired from his job. How foolish he’d been, to punch his co-worker, and in front of his boss too. Luckily, Beaver had agreed not to press charges as long as Gray agreed to leave the building and never step within a hundred feet of it.

Stupid.

He’d come up with a backup plan, though. He’d get another job. A better paying one that didn’t include him kissing anyone’s ass.

“Grayson.” Rachel’s voice was low and careful, different from her usual false cheerfulness.

Intrigued, he met her stare. Her face was paler than normal, her lips were pinched together, and her red-rimmed eyes brimmed with tears. She was sad about something, which was rare. Gray hadn’t seen her cry since Hayes’s funeral, and never before that. The woman was good at controlling her emotions.

“You okay?” He reached for her but she stepped back.

“No. I’m not feeling well. Would you mind if I postponed dinner?” A tear ran down her cheek as she wrapped her arms around herself and shivered.

“What’s wrong? Can I get you something?”

“No. I don’t want anything from you.”

“Okay.” This was interesting. Since when did timid Rachel talk like this? “What’s going on, then? Are you angry with me?” Maybe she’d found out about him losing his job.

“I’m not a virgin.” She blurted it out so fast, Gray had to rewind and replay the words in his head.

Then it hit him. She’s not a virgin.

He had to admit it wasn’t a huge surprise. Especially after seeing the type of guys she used to date. He teetered on his feet before asking, “Was it the piano player from the restaurant?”

More tears streamed down her face as she shook her head, leaving Gray feeling uneasy. Warily, he took a step toward her, but she backed away.

“It isn’t that big of a deal,” he said. “It’s not like it happened when we were together, right?” He watched as her body trembled. “Right?”

“I’m sorry, Grayson.”

Oh. Huh. “Okay. When did it happen?” His mind was numb, and he couldn’t think of anything else to say or feel. Should he be jealous? Angry?

Should he leave and never look back? His life plan was falling to pieces in the span of less than a day, and he had absolutely no control over it.

Rachel wept before him, pathetically. What the hell was wrong with her? The worst was said and done. He could forgive her and move on. That was possible. He had control over his own feelings, at least.

“You don’t have to tell me,” he said, trying to comfort her. Did he really want to know who it was anyway? “Nobody’s perfect. Just say it was a mistake, and we can forget all about it.” Some of his plan could be salvaged, at any rate. He could tell her about losing his job and they’d be even. It would all work out.

“I can’t forget. I’ve tried, but he won’t leave me alone.”

“Who?” Gray tensed. If someone were threatening his fiancée, he’d kill him.

She sobbed. “It was Hayes. I slept with Hayes.”

“My brother?” Gray’s voice cracked as the air was sucked from his lungs. This couldn’t be true.

“I’m so sorry.”

He put a hand up. “No. Don’t do that. Don’t apologize to me. Hayes wouldn’t have done that to me. Why are you lying about this?” Hayes might have acted like a fool all his life, but he’d had values and a strong loyalty to Gray. The brothers had made a pact in high school that they would never let a woman get between them. Ever.

You don’t sleep with my girl and I won’t sleep with yours. Gray clearly remembered the words they’d said on a handshake one night after a party where Christie McCrery had attempted to play them against each other. The evening had almost ended in a fistfight between brothers, until they realized how stupid they were being by choosing a woman over each other.

“This is bullshit.”

“I’m telling the truth, Grayson. I understand if you want to cancel the wedding.” She placed her freezing cold hand on his forearm.

He stepped away from her grasp, thinking her touch might tip the scales of his shaky balance. His sanity. Anger and uncertainty raced through his veins, making him woozy.

“Rachel, if any part of this is true, not only do I not want to marry you, I never want to see you again. And Hayes? My God. I can’t believe it happened. You were never even alone with him.”