Courting Carlie

By Ellie Lynn

Paranormal investigator Carlie Barnes is no stranger to ghosts and spirits. She finds it’s the living that cause the most trouble. Like the guy in the condo upstairs, who’d rather walk on glass than admit she might be right. She’d like to cross him off her list as just another uptight yuppie, but she can’t. He’s hired her to investigate an old federal bunker. Try as she might, she simply can’t ignore his sexy blue eyes that threaten to send her libido into a tailspin and her panties into a bunch.

Michael Denton is a scientist. He believes in what he can see, touch, and feel. And he doesn’t want to feel anything about Carlie Barnes. As far as he’s concerned, she’s a con artist who preys on people's fears and bilks them out of their hard earned money to satisfy those fears. So why does she makes his pulse race and his palms sweat by just being in the same room?

Science dictates that opposites attract, and when they do, fighting the inevitable is just as difficult as believing in ghosts and hotter than a beaker above a Bunsen burner.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Deslise Publications
• Release date: Aug 2, 2017
• ISBN: 9781537888651

Ellie Lynn

Ellie Lynn always wanted to be a writer, and since every writer she'd ever met said to 'write what you know', she started out writing romantic comedy. The comedy part she had figured out--y'see, she's a bit of a smartass in real life anyway. The romance part, not so much. Ellie writes under her own name, but other pen names include Jennifer Lynn and Rebecca Deslisle. Ellie lives in rural Saskatchewan with her husband, two incredibly spoiled dogs and Horatio the salamander. Ellie loves to interract with readers on her blog at http://romancewithsass.blogspot.ca/ on Twitter @ellielynnbooks or via Facebook www.facebook.com/ellielynnbooks

Book preview

Deslisle Publications

Courting Carlie

By

Ellie Lynn

CLIMAX, SK

CANADA

Table of Contents

Title Page

Other Books By Ellie Lynn

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Epilogue

Copyright

A Note From Ellie

About Ellie

Other Books By Ellie Lynn

Rebel Heart

Calico Bride

Wyoming Wild

Writing As Jennifer Lynn

Harper’s Treasure

Signed, Sealed & Delivered

Getting Over It

Melting Miss McCool

New Prints In Old Calico

Chapter 1

There has to be another explanation. Buildings don’t talk, and I don’t believe in ghosts. Michael Denton adjusted his lab coat and opened a manila folder on his desk.

I don’t know, Mike, but when I go into a federal bunker that is supposed to be empty, and I’m told to get out by no one in particular, I take it seriously.

So you want me to believe we have spooks? Michael raised an eyebrow. That’s ludicrous.

Well, at this point it doesn’t matter what we believe, his assistant said. It matters that the owners want us to find out what’s going on.

I’m a man of science, Kent. I believe in what I can see. Michael adjusted his glasses. And I can’t see ghosts.

"Yes, well, Mrs. Shepard believes in them. Kent crossed his arms and peered at the scientist. And you know what that means."

Yeah, yeah. What the missus wants, the missus gets.

Kent clapped a hand on Michael’s shoulder. And you know who the best paranormal investigator in town is, right?

Ah, Christ. That’s right. And you’ve probably already called her, haven’t you?

She’s in the conference room.

Christ.

~ * ~

Carlie paced the room and glared at the wall. She’d seen enough two-way mirrors to know that someone was probably on the other side, watching her every move. And since she was at the Shepard Institute, the only person who could be on the other side of the glass was Michael Bloody Denton, Senior Scientist and Chief Something-Or-Other. Fan-freaking-tastic.

She sighed. Michael wasn’t all bad if you didn’t mind uptight, unbending, narrow-minded personalities. He’d lived in the condo above hers for a little over a year and the few times they actually had to talk left her a little on the chilly side. That look of cool disdain that crossed his face when he looked at her probably had something to do with her initial dislike, too. The rest of the time was him pounding on his floor if he thought her stereo was up too loud or God forbid, if she was having sex too loudly for his liking.

Hell, a whisper was too loud for his liking. He probably did it in complete silence, with a minimal amount of sweat and energy expenditure. She tilted her head. Then again, she’d never seen him bring home a woman. Gay? Nah, she hadn’t seen him with a man, either. So what was he?

Despite being the most annoying man to walk the face of the earth, he was rather decent looking, if someone cared to look closely. Wavy jet-black hair kept clipped just above his collar line almost begged to be fingered. And if he’d only lose those coke-bottle glasses, those baby blues could actually be somewhat sexy.

But he thought what she did was silly and frivolous. He thought her chosen career was merely a hobby and that she preyed on the insecurities of frightened people. He thought she was a crook. No, it didn’t matter how cute he may or may not be, they differed on the very fundamentals of who they were.

A derisive snort interrupted her musings. So, the famous Carlie Barnes, here to solve our little ghostie problem.

She turned around as a scraping sound grated on her last nerve. Michael-Bloody-Denton pulled out a chair from the table and dropped his official looking folder on the table. He motioned for her to sit down. Did anyone tell you why you’re here?

Nope, but let me guess. She took the opposite seat and reached for the folder. "A little ghostie problem? Which is interesting since you told me...what was it you said again? Oh yeah, ghosts don’t exist and anyone who believes in them has shit for brains."

She leaned back in her chair and flipped through the pages, pausing on a grainy black and white photo. So either you have suddenly developed a case of poop-on-the-brain or something has happened. Which is it?

He reached for the photograph. "You’re right. I don’t believe in this nonsense. As a scientist, I believe in what I can see, what I can feel, and what I can hear. I have never seen a ghost. Can’t say that I have ever experienced cold spots, and I’ve never heard voices come out of nowhere." Michael turned the photo over end for end as his brow furrowed.

But someone on a restoration team thinks they saw something, and the owner’s wife is a bit of a paranormal nut-job, so I am obligated to look into the matter. He took off his glasses, pinched the bridge of his nose and squinted across the table at her. "That’s where you come in, Ms. Ghost Hunter Extraordinaire."

She grinned. And I’m guessing that calling me in makes you crazy, huh?

"I’d rather eat nails and have an iodine enema. And for the record, I didn’t call you in. He repositioned his glasses on his nose, and Carlie tried not to laugh at how big his eyes seemed to grow. She did."

"Duly noted. And why are you obligated to look into it? Aren’t you a lab rat or something?"

His lips thinned. I’m a scientist, yes. I like test tubes, radio frequencies, things I can quantify.

Radio frequencies? Her head jerked up.

He nodded.

Magnetic fields?

Well, yes, of course.

Then you, my friend, could be an amateur paranormal investigator. Those are just some of the tools that I use on investigations.

He clapped his hands together and gave an exaggerated smile. Oh, lucky me! I can look like a screwball too—running around talking to myself and seeing dead people.

Very funny. You shouldn’t mock what you don’t understand. I thought that was against the scientist credo or something.

If I can see it and touch it, it’s real. If I can’t, then it’s just a bunch of mumbo jumbo designed to milk the pockets of the lesser intelligent. The smile left his face. "I don’t need to be a believer—I don’t even need to like you—to coordinate your...inquiry."

She nodded and gave him a really obvious once-over, letting her eyes linger on his lips before moving down over his chest and toward the folder in front of her. Well, I don’t like you either, so we’re even. So, what’s the location of the place I’m supposed to investigate?

The company is renovating an old federal bunker underneath the downtown library. He pointed at the folder. One of the workers thinks they heard something the other day, and now anyone on the crew who has ever had a superstitious bone in their body refuses to return to work. With jobs like this, time is money. We need to get those laborers back to work, and we need to do it like, yesterday.

The bunker under the library? I’ve wanted to get in there for years. Carlie leaned closer and pushed her animosity aside. What did this worker hear that’s got him so spooked?

A voice. Nothing in the area, but the worker says he very clearly heard a voice tell him to get out.

"Seriously? Get out? That’s so Hollywood. Carlie laughed and shook her head. Are you sure he’s not just trying to get some