The next two days flew by in a haze of passion, shopping and getting to know one another. Summer took Matt to the mall for sheets and towels. He treated her to ice cream cones on the beach. They swam and made love and occasionally came up for air.Monday, they waited at Matt's house while things were delivered, and Summer fell in love with the twenties-era jewel. Looking around, she could see how well their tastes coincided. They even tried out the pool - without swimsuits.Now it was Monday night and the idyll was over. Summer's family would arrive in the morning. Shortly before sunset, she put on her blue and white sundress and grabbed her turquoise beach blanket."Come on. I want to talk to you down at the beach." She took Matt by the hand, delighted that he was still wearing a pair of cutoffs, like her, mimicking their dreams.He came along willingly, taking the blanket and spreading it out on the sand. Both of them brushed off their feet before sitting down cross-legged in the

By morning, he'd almost convinced himself that Evie had been a dream. He would have, except for two things. The first was that weird stuff often happened around the Holiday family. The second was that this wasn't the first time in his life Sam had seen a ghost. They were all over the place at his grandparents' family home in England, and 'round about town here in Charleston.He had to admit, though, Evie was the first ghost who'd turned him on. All night long he'd had wild, sexual dreams about the blonde beauty. His body still quivered with frustration.Today, he was damn well going to find out who she was. He'd taken the time off from work to move into his house, so he didn't have anywhere he needed to be, not until after Halloween. Painting would wait. Finding out about his ghost wouldn't.Sam had a file on the history of his house from the local historical society, including some old newspaper articles. Flipping through them, he found her almost at once."Evangeline Bonnell, age

Throughout the day, Sam added questions to his list of things to ask Evie. He also had another goofy idea, and ran out to an erotic video store for a couple of possibilities. She'd said she could see and hear when she wasn't visible. While he was there, he picked up a couple toys he had ideas for later in the week. His plan wasn't entirely fleshed out yet - some of that would depend on Evie's answers to his questions. He also picked up some serious groceries. He was too old to live on pizza and takeout. Besides, Sam liked to cook - and he wasn't half bad, if he did say so himself. One of the reasons he'd bought this particular house was the big, sunny kitchen.He'd just started putting together a Thai chicken saté for his dinner when the front doorbell rang. His sister Star stood there with her husband Theo - the guy who had been Sam's best friend since college. Star and Theo had gotten married over a year ago and it had finally stopped feeling weird to Sam to think of them as a coupl

"Well then, we'll be careful with you, but I doubt we'll be doing anything life-threatening." Sam gave her a worried look. "You know the first time is likely to hurt, right? Maybe even for a day or two.""I know." She was an innocent, but she had talked to her older sisters.He checked his notepad. "Are you likely to vanish the moment the act is done or will you finish out your ten days before you move on?""I believe I'll stay the full ten days then be gone for good on November first.""That's too bad in a way, but good for you, I suppose." He tapped his list with one long finger. "Before we do anything else, I want to set some ground rules. The first is you tell me openly and honestly if there's anything I do that hurts, frightens or offends you. I promise to stop immediately. But I need you to also be honest about your pleasure. I can't deal with someone lying there like an inflatable doll while I fuck her. If you want to explore sex with me, you have to be a willing and active

The minute Sam woke, his mind reached for Evie.I'm right here.The voice in his head soothed him, and he lay back against his pillows. It was nearly noon, but that was no surprise since they'd been awake until three watching porn. His salacious little ghost had enjoyed every minute of it.Does that make me a bad person, Sam?The doubt in her question nearly broke his heart. "Not at all, sugar. It makes you human. There's nothing wrong with being a sensual person - on the contrary, that's a good and glorious thing. Face it, Evie. If you'd been a slut, you wouldn't have died a virgin at the age of twenty-four. Whoever your fiancé was, he would have been a lucky man to have you." Great, now he was jealous of a man who'd probably died in WWI. This just kept getting weirder.Gervase didn't die in the war."Oh, now you can read my thoughts too?"Sometimes. Are you really jealous?"A little. Why don't you tell me about him while I go downstairs and make some coffee."All right. Thou