Chapter 1
It’s tough luck when the guy of your dreams looks straight through you. Just ask Elle.
Well, perhaps not exactly her dream man, although Dean was tall, dark and good-looking with the type of body that came from long gym sessions multiple times a week.
He also ticked the box for funny, easygoing and confident.
And good in bed. Not that Elle knew from personal experience. Unfortunately. But objectively speaking, she’d gathered enough evidence from the many women who had no problem expressing the sentiment over the past two years they’d lived together.
Okay, living together may be a bit of a stretch considering Dean was...well...living and Elle...wasn’t.
Hence, the looking straight through her issue. Haunting a share house sucked. Not only did Elle suffer the indignity of dying in a fall down the stairs at the tender age of twenty-four, she still had to deal with housemate issues!
Sure, it had been hard when her best friend moved out not long after she died. But seeing her upset all the time hadn’t exactly helped Elle move on from her death. After she left, Elle remembered standing in front of the stairs for hours, days, maybe—time had a way of slipping through your fingers when you were dead. It had felt like she was waiting for something, but nothing happened.
No door, no light, nada.
She didn’t understand. If nothing was left for her here, why couldn’t she move on? It had been four long years.
Still, if she was doomed to haunt a share house for the rest of her afterlife, at least she had Dean. He even managed to be good company most of the time, an impressive feat considering she’d never had more than a one-way conversation with him. She wasn’t even sure what they’d talk about if they could speak.
Dean was more of an action guy than a conversationalist. Still, they do say opposites attract. Elle couldn’t help but recall that cliché now as she narrowed her eyes at her other housemate, Hailey.
As though it wasn’t bad enough that Dean didn’t know Elle existed, now Hailey had turned her gaze on him. Dean remained oblivious to the developing infatuation, but Elle could spot all the signs.
Nervous giggling—check.
Playing with her hair, followed by more giggling—check.
Laughing at all his jokes—check.
And now she was baking him cupcakes.
Elle perched on the kitchen bench as she watched her oblivious housemate peek into the oven to check on the red velvet cupcakes before returning to the bowl of cream cheese frosting she was attempting to put into a piping bag. She’d even bought cake decorations. Little pink sugar stars.
Cute, but thank god they weren’t hearts. At least Valentine’s Day wasn’t approaching, or they probably would be.
She shook her head as Hailey took the tray from the oven and left the cupcakes to cool on the sink. It was a sweet gesture, but Hailey clearly did not have a future as a baker. The slightly lopsided cakes looked a little dry. As she reached for the piping bag, Elle hopped off the bench and held a hand up to stop her.
“Whoa, girl, those cakes are too hot!” she warned in vain as Hailey positioned the nozzle over the least lopsided cake.
Elle huffed, one hand coming up to cover her eyes as she backed off and retreated to the kitchen table so she wouldn’t have to watch. It hardly mattered. Dean wasn’t the type of man who appreciated pretty cupcakes. He would devour them without even noticing those little pink stars.
“Oh no!”
Elle tried to smother her laughter but gave up when Hailey started flapping her hands in a belated effort to cool the cupcakes. After all, it wasn’t Elle’s fault Hailey didn’t listen to her.
She shot a last look at her flustered housemate before drifting out of the kitchen. Hailey was busy swiping at the edges of the cupcake as melted frosting dripped down the sides.
Elle lingered in the entry hall, eyes on the front door. Dean would be home soon. But whether he appreciated Hailey’s efforts (at baking or flirting), Elle could do nothing except watch it unfold. Which so far meant watching Dean be clueless.
Hailey had been less obvious when they had a third (living) housemate, but it had been just the two of them for the last couple of weeks. Or so Hailey thought. And apparently, the good girl had started to feel a little braver with their resident playboy.
Elle had quite liked Hailey before she started batting her eyelids at Dean. She might not be as fun to hang out with as him, but the quiet girl was the type of person Elle could imagine being friends with when she was alive. She was studying teaching at the nearby university, and Elle had little trouble picturing her in front of a classroom of young kids.
Elle had even developed a taste for the Twilight fan fiction she seemed to be addicted to reading while tucked up with her laptop in bed. Elle appreciated the laptop. It was much easier than trying to read a book over someone’s shoulder. They inevitably turned the pages too fast or too slow.
Not that Dean read much. Admittedly, there were more interesting things to watch Dean do rather than just reading about them. But watching Dean with his latest flavor of the week was one thing—watching him with Hailey was a whole other thing that Elle didn’t want to see. Ever. It would be like watching your crush with your kid sister.
The sound of a car pulling into the driveway intruded on her thoughts. Finally. Dean worked as an orderly at the local hospital and supplemented his income with bartending, but Elle was unsure which shift he was returning from now.
Forgetting Hailey and her lackluster baking skills, Elle leaned forward in anticipation as she waited for Dean to open the front door. Even though he couldn’t see her, Elle found herself straightening her back as the door handle rattled. A smile quirked at her lips.
As his broad frame cleared the doorway, she noticed a satchel slung over one shoulder and a six-pack of beer tucked securely under his other arm. He dumped the bag over the back of the couch and made a beeline for the kitchen fridge.
Elle followed, smirking when Dean paused, head tilted to scent the air. He grinned when he spotted the cupcakes. Hailey tried unsuccessfully to shield her poor attempt with her body.
“Are they chocolate?” Dean asked, a hopeful note filling his voice.
Hailey nodded, shifting on her feet as she fidgeted. “I was just trying out a new recipe.”
Elle snickered as she eyed the empty Betty Crocker packet on the edge of the bench, but judging from the way Dean smiled as he offered to be a taste-tester, he didn’t notice the evidence of her lie. Not that he would have cared.
Hailey beamed back at him. “They’re not quite ready, but we could have them for dessert if you like?”
“That sounds great, but I’ve only got time for a shower and to get changed. I’m heading out tonight.”
“Oh, I thought you might be staying in,” she replied, tilting her head at the fridge before she looked up at Dean.
Wait, was she fluttering her eyelashes?
Dean looked a little confused as his gaze shifted from Hailey to the fridge and back again. “You mean the beer? Nah, that was just from Harry for covering his shift at the hospital last night. He had a hot date.” He added the last with a rakish grin as he ran a hand through his short hair.
“Oh, so is that what you’re doing tonight? Do you have a ‘hot date’?” She raised her eyebrows as she spoke, but her eyes were a little too wide.
Oh god, she wasn’t going to start crying, was she?
“I wouldn’t call it a date,” Dean replied with a grin.
Hailey laughed, but Elle could have detected the false note from a mile away. Hailey turned back to her cupcakes, letting her long hair fall down to shield her face from Dean’s gaze as she responded. “Oh, well, I hope you have fun!”
“Thanks,” Dean replied, already leaving the kitchen as Hailey turned around to watch him, her bottom lip between her teeth, and yes, there was a definite gleam of tears in her eyes. Hailey hung her head as she turned back to the baking tray.
“You know, they should be cool enough to ice now,” Elle told her as she drifted closer to her side. “Although you should probably take them out of the tray first.”
When Elle’s helpful words went unheeded, she leaned against the bench until she could get a better look at her housemate’s face.
“You’d be better off hitting those textbooks again rather than wasting your time trying to flirt with cupcakes. I bet your mother told you the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, right?”
A lone tear dripped onto one of the more lopsided cupcakes.
Elle sighed. In no way was this a good idea. Dean was not boyfriend material. And Hailey? Well, she was the epitome of a hopeless romantic. Emphasis on the hopeless. Still, Elle had spotted all three Fifty Shades of Grey books on her bookshelf, so perhaps there was a little more to the girl than met the eye.
Elle shook her head. “If you really want Dean’s attention, you need to appeal to the region a little further south.”
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