Page 37 of Shake Your Boo Thang

“That’s so sweet. I’d love to meet little Poirot someday. I’ll try to bring along an appropriate food offering.”

Dammit, is he asking to come back to mine tonight? I’m so out of practice. My cock’s already willing to invite him up, however.

I hastily ask, “How about you? Any pets?”

The knowing smile Beau gives me tells me he’s entirely aware of what I’m doing but letting me get away with it.

“I had a number of pets growing up, including a rooster named Henry. My last one was a golden-colored Persian named Dolly, after the great Miz Dolly Parton. My Dolly passed away about two years ago, after living to the ripe old age of eighteen and a half. I miss her something fierce, but I’ve held off on getting another new furry companion. I decided I wanted to see more of the world and do some traveling, and I didn’t want to leave Mama the burden of watching over my pets.” He gestures to himself. “And voilà, that’s partly how I’m here, sugar. Someday, I’d love to get another cat, maybe two even. A lot will depend on where the next couple of years take me.” He infuses that last bit with a wealth of meaning.

I squirm, my mind imagining all the implied possibilities.

Could I see someone like Beau being a permanent part of my life? Do I even have what it takes to be a romantic partner to someone else?

Fuck if I know.

I clear my throat. “Ahem. You told me about your podcast, but do you do anything else professionally, besides being a ghost whisperer?”

Beau’s lips twitch with amusement. “I was wondering when you might get around to asking me about that.” He sighs. “Because of my gift, I’ve often found it challenging to keep a job. Spirits can be quite distracting, and when they sense someone like me, who can see and communicate with them, they’re like a dog with a bone. They just won’t let me go until they tell me their life story or ask me to do some sort of favor for them. It can be exhausting. I try to honor their wishes when I can. After all, like Uncle Ben told Spider-Man, with great power comes great responsibility. I do feel like part of my purpose in this life is to help some of these poor souls let go and move on.” He shakes his head. “Anyway, I’ve had a number of different jobs over the years, but none of them have ever really stuck. Now I mainly run my podcast.”

He takes out his phone and pulls up the show on a podcast app to show me.

“It’s been gaining popularity in the last year, and I’ve got a decent-sized following of a couple hundred folks who regularly listen, but it doesn’t really make me much in the way of money. Anything I do earn goes back into the cost of making the show. It’s a labor of love, I suppose you could say.”

I frown. “How on earth do you make ends meet?”

“Well now, that’s a slightly more private question.” He licks his lips and lowers his voice. I can’t look away. “Do you want to get into my privates—I mean private business?”

And now I’m thinking about his bloody privates…

The way he’s looking at me, all bright-eyed and full of eager anticipation, is so ridiculous it startles a laugh out of me. “Haha! You really went there, eh?”

“Score one for me. I got a laugh out of you.” Beau grins. “Mission accomplished.”

I clear my throat and give him an apologetic look. “Sorry, I asked about your finances. That was rude of me.”

He waves a hand with a casual air of unconcern. “I don’t mind telling you.” His eyes go distant and his voice softens. “My daddy died when I was a child, young enough that I don’t really have any memories of him.”

My heart twinges. “I’m sorry. That must have been hard for you and your mum.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that. It wasn’t easy, but Daddy’s family came from money, and he left Mama a life insurance policy, so it was a struggle, but we did okay. Then it turned out that my grandparents had left me a trust. I’d never met them either, they died soon after Daddy did, but they left most of their fortune to me as his next of kin. Daddy was an only child, and I was their only grandson. It’s not the kind of money that aristocratic folks over here might have, but it’s enough for me and Mama to live comfortably for the rest of our lives. I’m careful with it, and thanks to Mama I have a good financial adviser who helps me invest and handles all that stuff.” He shrugs. “I have it easier than a lot of folks, but I like to think it’s the universe’s way of compensating me for having the ability to see and speak to the dead. While I do believe it’s a gift, it’s a double-edged one, as I’m sure you’ve realized from your own experiences.”

I wince in sympathy. “Yeah, people don’t understand. For me, it was maddening at first that I could see things no one else could, and nobody would believe me. Even Liz struggled to accept it.”

Beau gets a wistful look in his eyes. “It can alienate a lot of people, even those you thought you were really close to. That can end up leading you down a lonely path in this life.”

My heart squeezes in my chest. I can only imagine how much harder it would be to deal with this since I was a child, like Beau has. It’s only been five years, and that’s been maddening enough.

He tilts his head to the side. “Do your parents know? You don’t have to answer, but you mentioned that they still live in Edin—um, Scotland. And if you told them, how have they handled it?”

That produces a genuine smile from me. “I’m a lucky bastard when it comes to my family. Mum was so grateful I didn’t die that she’s accepted anything that came along with that, including me being able to see ghosts. She’s always been more receptive to that sort of thing anyway.”

“How so?”

“She’s a painter and has a rather open-minded artist’s view of the world and what can or cannot be seen. There’s more there than what’s on the surface, according to her.” I shake my head. “I swear she sees things I can’t, and she brings them to life in her paintings.”

“That’s amazing. She sounds wonderful.”

“Aye, that she is. Da took a lot longer to come round. I’m not sure how he felt about the whole supernatural thing beforehand, but he’s never dismissed anything I’ve told him since the accident. Granted, he’s a man of few words, my da.”