It's been awhile since I've had the first book in a new series release. Games We Play consists of three books set in and around a haunted hotel in Atlas Beach, New Jersey. The Wild Geese Inn is owned and run by three cousins--and, no, those aren't the cousins on the cover of Truth or Dare!
Each cousin gets his or her own book. Truth or Dare is Gwyneth's story. Here's a peek:
The door to the
reception desk showed no signs of ever having been stuck by the time Sheila
arrived to take over for Gwyn. Of course it didn’t, Gwyn thought sourly. It had
never stuck before and probably never would again. What she should have learned
growing up here was not to take anything she heard or saw—or felt, or
imagined—at face value.
A locked door was
not always a locked door. And the things a guy might say when he wanted
something from you often bore no relationship to actual fact. But for the hotel’s
ghosts to have betrayed her… Well, she hadn’t been expecting that.
“Stupid,
interfering haunts,” Gwyn muttered as she headed down the darkened service
corridor toward the back stairway. “If you’re not going to help me, then leave
me alone.”
She refused to be
charmed by the playful breeze that scudded about the hallway carrying the echo
of voices. And she didn’t even bother trying to make sense of what they were
saying. Gwyn never could catch more than a couple of words at the best of
times. Usually, she couldn’t even tell if the speaker was male or female, or
what language was being spoken. But even though she ignored them, the
conversation continued unabated, following her all the way up to her room, at
the top of the tower, just under the eaves.
The patterned silk
lampshade bathed the room in a warm, rosy glow when she switched on the light,
but the chill in the air had her shivering as she crossed the floor to plug in
the space heater she kept by her bed—or rather, the antique divan she used in
place of a bed. It was hardly the best room in the house, although it had, by
far, the best view of the ocean. Luckily for Gwyn, it was too small, too
inconvenient, and a little too uncomfortable to rent out as a guest room. It
was too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter; it was also lacking several
amenities most guests would consider indispensable—like a closet and an en
suite bath. But Gwyn loved it just the same.
Even with the
room’s supposed deficiencies, it was her special place. When she’d played here
as a child, she always pretended she was a princess imprisoned in a tower,
looking down at her kingdom while she waited for her knights to arrive and help
her free herself. Funny how there always had been two knights. She’d forgotten
that. No wonder it had been so easy for Berke and Cam to convince her to get a
little too adventurous, back in the day.
As she rifled
through dresses on the garment rack that functioned as her closet, familiar,
measured footsteps climbed the stairs to the tower. The creak of a door opening
and closing had the hair standing up on her neck, just as it always did, but
she didn’t bother turning. She knew there was nobody physically present. All
the same, she addressed her unseen visitor. “Well, since you’re so in favor of
this, what do you think?” She gestured at the rack of clothing. “Which one
should I wear?”
Why she was even
bothering to change her clothes was anyone’s guess. She should just go as she
was. This wasn’t a date, and she certainly wasn’t trying to impress anyone. In
fact, the last thing she wanted was for Berke or Cam to get the stupid idea
that she still cared for either one of them. Because she didn’t. In fact, she
cared so very little, she was seriously thinking of calling the whole thing
off. She’d phone the front desk and leave a message to let them know she’d
changed her mind…and then she’d be stuck hiding out for the next three days.
Yeah, that wasn’t happening.
Outside, the wind
moaned louder. A ripple of motion set the dresses swaying on the rack, as
though unseen hands were shifting the hangers. Gwyn paused in her perusal when
a voice that may or may not have originated in her head said, “That one.”
Gwyn’s eyebrows
rose. “Really?”
The lights
flickered as though in answer.
Well, all right
then. Gwyn studied the dress in question, feeling more than a little dubious.
It was considerably sexier than she felt right now. But maybe fake it till you
make it was the way to go? After all, if she was really going through with
this, she might as well do it in style.
“All right, fine,”
she addressed the empty air. “Have it your way. Now, clear out and let me get
dressed.”
Gwyn carried her
dress over to the dressing area she’d set up behind a folding screen. When
asked why she felt the need to dress and undress behind a screen in a room she
didn’t share with anyone else, she’d insisted it was because she didn’t want to
draw the curtains and shut out the view. Never mind that the view currently on
tap was night sky and snowstorm, or that she was too high up, in any event, for
anyone other than a skydiver to look in. Or that the only person who’d ever
really asked was Brenda. They both knew Bren didn’t want to hear the truth
anyway.
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