Spirits, Stilettos, and a Silver Bustier Read online

  Spirits, Stilettos, and a Silver Bustier

  From New York Times bestselling author Deanna Chase, the first book in the Pyper Rayne series (a spin-off of the Jade Calhoun Series).

  All Pyper Rayne—medium and coffee shop owner—wanted was the perfect vintage dress. What she got was a dead shop owner and a sexy ghost who’s suddenly everywhere—at her shop, in her car, and even lounging in her bedroom. But he’s not just any ghost. He’s a witch and able to appear in solid form…sometimes. If only he’d stop disappearing on her.

  And Pyper needs his help. When she becomes target numero uno and the prime suspect in the shop owner’s death, it appears her ghost holds the key to solving the murder. In between stolen kisses, Pyper will need to get to the bottom of all of his secrets if she wants to stay alive and out of jail…and maybe finally get that date he keeps promising her.

  Spirits, Stilettos, and a Silver Bustier

  A Pyper Rayne Novel

  Deanna Chase

  www.DeannaChase.com

  Bayou Moon Publishing

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2015 by Deanna Chase

  First Edition 2015

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  ISBN epub: 978-1-940299-26-6

  ISBN print: 978-1-940299-27-3

  Interior Design: The Printed Page, Phoenix, AZ

  Cover Design: Janet Holmes

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals, business establishments, or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.

  Bayou Moon Publishing

  [email protected]

  www.deannachase.com

  Contents

  Spirits, Stilettos, and a Silver Bustier

  Spirits, Stilettos, and a Silver Bustier

  Copyright

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  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

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  About the Author

  Other Books by Deanna

  Acknowledgments

  Thank you to all the readers of the Jade Calhoun series. This book’s for you. Enjoy! A special thanks to Anne Victory, Angie Ramey, Janet Holmes, and Lisa Liddy for your invaluable help.

  Chapter 1

  “There is no way I’m letting you wear a completely sheer dress to your gallery opening.” My friend Jade stood with her hands on her hips, scowling at me.

  “Why not? My models will be naked.” I stood in the common area of the dressing room and twisted to check myself out in the three-way mirror. The silky black vintage dress hugged me in all the right places.

  “They’ll be covered in body paint. It’s not the same.”

  “Still, compared to them I’ll be downright respectable.” I smirked, knowing I wasn’t swaying her. Jade wasn’t quite the free spirit I was when it came to modesty.

  “Respectable? Not Pyper Rayne. The illusion will be shattered forever,” a familiar male voice said from behind me.

  I glanced over my shoulder and grinned at the man who was a five-day-a-week regular at the Grind, the café I owned. “Tyler. What are you doing here?”

  “Drooling over you in that outfit.” His eyes filled with lust as his gaze dropped to my behind. “Please tell me that’s your new work uniform.”

  I chuckled. “Keep dreaming, bear-claw boy. This is for a party.”

  “No it isn’t,” Jade said, sitting on the settee with her legs crossed. “It’d be perfect for an event at Kane’s club. But to an art gallery where you’re the featured artist? No. You need something more professional.”

  I bit the side of my cheek to keep from laughing. She was right of course, even if I did love the dress. If I wanted art collectors to buy the photographed prints of my body-painted models, I was going to have to look the part of a serious artist. “What do you think, Tyler? Do you agree with Jade? Or is she being a stuffy old prude?”

  “Prude. Definitely.” He finally tore his gaze away from my ass and met my eyes. “Please tell me you’re buying that dress.”

  “I’m considering it.” I sent him a flirty smile and winked.

  “And that you’ll wear it out on a date with me on Thursday night.”

  “A date?” I twisted to face him and took in his long lean frame, jet-black hair, and dark, hungry eyes. He looked like he wanted to take a bite out of me right there.

  “Yes. Thursday night. Eight o’clock. I’ll pick you up.” A confident smile spread over his face as the wolfish hunger faded from his expression, replaced by the self-assurance of a man who wasn’t used to being turned down.

  Shock had stunned me into silence, and I glanced at Jade.

  She grinned at me, clearly amused I’d been caught off guard. I narrowed my eyes at her, giving her a thanks-a-lot look.

  “Don’t forget those stilettos,” Tyler added.

  I snapped my gaze back to him. “You’re pretty presumptuous, you know that?”

  His lips twisted into a small, sexy smile. “Is that a yes?”

  I wasn’t quite sure why I was hesitating. Tyler was an attractive man, and he had a hint of that bad-boy thing going for him. He was pretty drool-worthy actually. And most importantly, I hadn’t had a date in four months. “Yeah. Okay. But dinner had better be involved.”

  His eyes gleamed with anticipation. He strode forward and clasped his hand lightly over my cheek. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine in the barest whisper of a kiss. “Dinner it is.”

  As he stepped back, a tiny shiver of desire ran through my body, warming my skin. Damn, it had been entirely too long since I’d been touched by a man. Suddenly I felt very self-conscious in the sheer dress, and I crossed my arms over my chest.

  He glanced down and raised one curious eyebrow. “You’re blushing.”

  “No, I’m not,” I said stubbornly.

  “You are. And it only makes me want Thursday to arrive sooner.”

  “Here you go, Mr. Williams,” Ruby, the store owner said, holding a blue-and-white pin-striped seersucker suit. “You can try it on in here.” She pulled back the curtain to one of the dressing rooms and hung the suit up.

  “Thank you.” Tyler turned to me. “See you Thursday night.”

  I nodded, not at all sure what to say. It wasn’t often I found myself completely flustered by a situation, but for some reason, this
one had nearly knocked me on my ass.

  “Wow,” Jade said under her breath.

  “Yeah.”

  She stood up and moved to my side. Pushing her long strawberry-blond hair over one shoulder, she stared at me in the mirror. “It’s a cool dress, but I think we need to keep hunting.”

  I nodded, fingering the ribbon woven through the hem of the dress. “The theme is ribbons and lace. See if you can find me something appropriate while I change?”

  “Sure.”

  “Thanks,” I whispered to her as she shuffled me back into my dressing room. “Can you believe he just asked me out? It’s not like I haven’t seen him practically every day for the past three months.”

  “Seriously?” She shook her head in disbelief. “What did you expect? It’s not like you didn’t know the changing rooms were coed, and a man would have to be blind to not be affected by this.” She gestured to the barely there dress. “You’re wearing a thong for goodness’ sake!”

  I laughed. “I forgot all about my choice of undergarments. And considering I was planning to wear the dress in public, I didn’t think it would be a problem.”

  “You’re hopeless.” Rolling her eyes, she took off back into the high-end secondhand store.

  With Jade gone, I pulled on my white skinny jeans and my formfitting black tank top. The black heels I wore dressed the outfit up quite nicely. My face burned from Tyler’s words. Don’t forget the stilettos.

  It felt like forever since I’d had anybody to dress up for. My ex, Ian, was off hunting ghosts in the middle of the country somewhere. He’d left four months ago to chase his dreams, and after barely hearing from him at all, I’d had enough. We’d officially broken up three months ago, but it had been over for a lot longer.

  Sighing, I brushed my dark hair behind my ear and watched as my trademark electric-blue streak slipped forward. I’d considered changing it back to bright pink, but that seemed entirely too upbeat for my current state of mind. I wasn’t depressed so much as I was just pissed. Being blown off sucked.

  Well, screw him. There were plenty of interesting men in New Orleans. Men like Tyler, who clearly appreciated what I had to offer… err, or at least appreciated me in a sheer dress. I put the dress back on the hanger and paled when I checked the price tag. It was easily twice as much as I was willing to spend. Sadly, as much as I liked it, I’d have to pass, especially since I couldn’t even wear it to the opening.

  With my shoulders back, I strolled out of the dressing room area.

  The secondhand store was full of both vintage and designer clothes. It was my favorite place to shop in the French Quarter. Dressing fabulously was sort of my thing when I wasn’t working, and there was no better place to find unique pieces than Ruby’s.

  I spotted Jade across the store, rifling through a rack of one of-a-kind designer dresses. The contemporary stuff was much more suited for her than me. There was no way she was going to find something that excited me in that section. I headed for the retro racks and zeroed in on a nineteen fifties pinup dress. It was white with a cherry print. Adorable. And within my budget. But not at all sophisticated enough for my opening. I pulled it off the rack anyway. There was always room in the closet for one more. Right?

  “Someone needs to find me,” a soft voice whispered in my ear.

  I spun. No one. The store clerk was in the men’s section helping a short balding man, and Jade was still across the store.

  “I’m trapped,” the voice whispered again, barely audible.

  “Where?” I asked.

  She’s gone. The answer came from one of my guides. She was a sweet older woman whom I’d come to know as Tru. Not too long ago, I’d developed the ability to see and hear ghosts. Tru, along with Lily, were my two spirit guides who showed up when I needed answers or to communicate with another spirit I couldn’t reach on my own.

  “Who was she?” I did my best to keep my volume down. Looking like a crazy person wasn’t exactly on my to-do list for the day.

  Not sure. She just popped in and then popped out. No one on this side recognized her either.

  I bit my lip and glanced around. The spirit’s message was too ominous to ignore. Trapped? Needed to be found? What did that mean? The spirit had just been here in the store a minute ago. How could she be trapped? Did she mean she was trapped in the store? “We need to find her,” I said to Tru.

  I can’t. Like I said, she’s gone.

  “Who?” a familiar voice said from behind me.

  I jumped and clutched my chest. “Tyler. Jeez. You scared me. That’s one way to get my blood pumping.”

  His lips twitched and spread into a cocky grin as he ran two fingers lightly down my arm. “I can do way better than that.”

  My entire body went cold with unease, and I took a step back, putting plenty of space between us.

  Raising his hands in front of him, he shook his head and lost the swagger. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

  “No. You’re fine. Don’t worry about it.” But even as I said the words, I didn’t mean them. After years of working at a strip club, I’d learned to never ignore that internal creep alarm. Except I hadn’t felt anything odd while we’d been in the dressing area. He’d even kissed me. And I’d known him for months without ever getting a weird vibe. What was going on? Had the ghost vibe put something strange in the air that was affecting me? Anything was possible, I guessed.

  “I better go check out so I can get back to work.” Tyler gestured to the suit he was holding. “I’ll see you later this week, sooner if I stop in for coffee.”

  He strode away before I could respond. The air-conditioning chilled me, and I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to reclaim some warmth. I stood still, my gaze locked on Tyler as Ruby ran his credit card. He smiled easily at her, dazzling her with his impossible good looks. What had that vibe been about? He was charming, easygoing, and an excellent tipper… at least judging by the bills he put in the coffee shop tip jar. And he’d always seemed genuine. Disappointment that I was going to have to cancel sucked all the joy out of shopping.

  Ruby laughed at something Tyler had said and her eyes sparkled with pleasure as she watched him head for the door. He paused and gave me a wave before he slipped outside. I wiggled my fingers and suppressed a frown.

  Sighing, I turned my attention back to the rack in front of me.

  “Have you found anything yet?” Jade asked, strolling toward me, her arms full of dresses.

  I nodded and held up the cherry pinup dress.

  She stopped and eyed it. “For the opening?” A heavy dose of skepticism laced her tone.

  “No. But it’s too cute to leave here. I might need to look somewhere else for the ribbons-and-lace party.”

  “Go somewhere else?” Ruby asked in disbelief as she hurried over. “No. I’m sure we can find something.” She held her hands out for our selections. “What are you looking for?”

  I handed her my dress and glanced around again. “I’m not sure. Something sexy.”

  “And tasteful,” Jade added.

  “But not conservative.” I smirked at Jade.

  She gave the owner a rueful smile. “And it should be unique, just like Pyper.”

  Warmth spread in my chest, surprising me. I didn’t know why the fact that Jade seemed to know me so well moved me the way it did. Maybe it was because I wasn’t close to very many people outside of Kane, Jade’s husband, who was like a brother to me. Sure, I had a lot of friends, but I had a hard time letting them get close to me. I was positive some psychoanalyst would’ve had plenty to say on the subject. I preferred to blame my issues on my father, who’d spent more time with his whisky bottles than he had his family.

  “Sexy, but not too sexy, and unique. I think I can handle that. Right this way, ladies.” Ruby flipped her long, salon-dyed dark hair over her shoulder and led us towa
rd the register. “I’ve got some pieces that came in late yesterday. I haven’t had a chance to tag them and put them out yet. You’ll get first crack.”

  “Ooh, first crack,” I mimicked teasingly. “How exciting.”

  Jade elbowed me in the gut, and I grunted.

  “Trust me. You’re going to love these.” Ruby hung our dresses up on an empty rack and then led us into the back room. Waving to a stack of garments on a large table, she said, “Here they are.”

  Jade gasped. “Wow. They look like they belong on a movie set.”

  The shopkeeper grinned. “They came to us from the granddaughter of a costume designer for one of the old studios.”

  I ran my hand over a black-and-gold sheath dress. There was sheer netting on the top and bottom, with elegant gold beading on the bodice. “This is gorgeous.” I held it up to myself. “But not quite right.”

  Jade shook her head. “No. I don’t think so either.”

  We shuffled through a few more until the manager handed me a fitted white dress adorned with crystals. “This one would make a statement.”

  I ran a hand over the heavy dress, considering. She was right. It would make a statement. It wasn’t at all something I’d normally wear, but it was intriguing.

  Frances is here. She’s insisting the stove is on. Lily’s voice rang in my head this time.

  “Who’s Frances?” I asked without thinking.

  Ruby stilled. “That’s my mother’s name.”

  I bit my lip as Jade stared at me with a mixture of pity and amusement. She was a witch with empath abilities and could sense other peoples’ emotions. She knew what it was like to know things about people when you really just wanted to block everyone and everything out. I took a deep breath. “I know this is going to sound awful, but is your mother still living?”

  Ruby shook her head. “No. She passed a few years ago.”

  I dropped my hand from the white beaded dress. She says Sadie left it on this morning. Smoke is filling the kitchen.