Second Chance by Audra North Page A

little old. Broken. You know.” She knew she was acting strangely, but what if she told Collin about the ghost and he thought she was crazy? Or worse, what if Collin thought she trying to play a stupid prank on him?
    She didn’t think she could bear it if he ended up thinking she was some kind of creep.
    He was still frowning down at the drawer, but before he could ask any other questions, his phone buzzed again, and he pulled it from his pocket to look at the screen.
    “I’m sorry, it’s my assistant. I have to take this.”
    “No problem.” And definitely a relief. Saved by the buzz. She walked out of her office, still carrying the box, as he began speaking.
    “Rebecca. Hi. What’s going on?”
    Ah. So that’s who Rebecca was. Relief washed through her even as she chided herself for eavesdropping. She set the box on the circulation desk, intending to sit there while Collin finished his call in private, but to her surprise, he followed her out of the office, listening to whatever Rebecca was saying on the other end.
    He pulled a chair out for her and gestured for her to sit down, then he leaned against the desk. “I’m not sure when I’ll be back in the city. My car broke down—” He paused for a moment, listening. “Yeah, I know. I was telling Marnie that I just had it serviced.” His eyes flicked to hers, held. His gaze warmed, the air between them heating, as they looked at one another. “She’s the librarian at the Municipal Library. Yeah. Yeah.”
    Had Rebecca asked him anything else about her?
    Collin winked, and she shook off the feeling. But then he straightened, his posture becoming less languid and easygoing, and his face seemed to harden. “Don’t move the site inspection. We’ll have the plans approved by then. De Lorenzo is just playing his usual games, trying to hold out for tickets to the playoffs. I’ll take care of him.”
    He scrubbed a hand over his face, and suddenly looked weary. “I haven’t heard. What happened with the Granger deal?”
    All of his attention was focused on the phone conversation.
    Which happened to be the moment that Bill decided to appear on the other side of the desk, just behind Collin.
    For Heaven’s sake! That ghost was a nuisance. But Marnie couldn’t well tell him to back off without looking like a lunatic.
    Bill waggled his brows at her, almost by way of greeting, and she rolled her eyes, trying to ignore him but worried that he might get up to some kind of mischief that would hurt Collin. She didn’t know Bill very well, after all, and he’d been up to tricks all day.
    Collin was now speaking in a tense voice about schedules and planning committees. Bill pulled a pocket watch out of his vest pocket, and eerily enough, the light actually glinted off the phantom timepiece. He flipped open the case and checked it in exaggerated movements, puffing out his chest and tapping the watch face.
    He was making fun of Collin.
    That raised her hackles. Collin had been nothing but nice to her all day. He didn’t deserve to be mocked by a ghost, of all things. Bill leaned on the counter of the circulation desk, putting his hand close to the back of Collin’s neck, opening and closing his fingers to in the motion of someone talking.
    Marnie scowled at him just as Collin looked over at her. He immediately seemed chagrined, as though he thought she’d been frowning at him.
    She was going to kill Bill.
    Except he was already dead, so that was a bit of an obstacle.
    “Hey, Rebecca, I gotta go. I’ll call in tomorrow and we’ll sort this out.” Collin ended the call. “I’m really sorry, Marnie.”
    She shook her head. “No! I’m sorry. There’s no need for you to apologize. Really, I’m sorry you caught me looking upset. I was thinking about—something else.”
    Bill was doing jazz hands. Jerk . She focused on Collin with laser precision. It probably made her look like she had a staring problem, but she couldn’t let herself get distracted by Bill