“Favorite job?” His choice of career paths was interesting. For someone who dealt with the darkness, he certainly took jobs that helped people.
“Dog trainer,” he replied.
“Get out of town,” I said with a giggle. “For real?”
“Absolutely.”
My laughed drew attention, but I barely noticed. This was the best date I’d ever been on.
“Do you like your real job?” I asked.
“Do you?” he countered.
I wasn’t sure what he was asking. Being a paralegal? Being a Death Counselor?
“Paralegal? No. The other one? Yes,” I told him. “You?”
“Lawyer? Occasionally,” he said. “The other one? Again, occasionally.”
It was a little bit disconcerting to hear he enjoyed sending souls into the darkness, but people usually made their own beds during life. It had to be hard to do what he was destined for. Having his calling would tear me apart. I was curious what kind of life lived would call for the Grim Reaper and the Angel of Mercy to get involved.
And the Angel of Mercy… I hoped he wasn’t as pretty as Gideon. This town couldn’t handle two male models walking around in broad daylight.
While I was curious about the Angel of Mercy, I’d leave those questions for another time. Tonight was about getting to know the fascinating man sitting across from me.
The dinner was delicious and the wine was incredible. I stuck to one glass. Keeping my wits about me was imperative with Gideon.
“So,” Gideon said, leaning back in his chair and tossing his napkin on the table. “Did you have fun this evening?”
I smiled and narrowed my eyes at him. “Yes, I did. You are quite the charming dinner partner.”
His grin widened and my heart skipped a few beats.
“Excellent,” he announced, raising his glass to me. “This is just the beginning.”
I realized I was fine with that. However, I had a few rules.
“No sex,” I said. And then quickly added, “Not yet. I’m not ready for that.”
Gideon nodded and didn’t seem upset in the least. “I agree with you.”
“You do?” I asked, surprised.
He laughed. “I do—not the best scenario, but I promise I agree.”
I was in so much trouble here. “But… umm… making out would be… you know, fine,” I finished on a mortified whisper.
“Have you ever made out in a car?” he inquired with a sexy little lopsided grin that made me momentarily regret laying down the law about sex.
“No. Can’t say I have.”
“Me neither,” he said, quickly leaving a wad of cash on the table and standing up. “However, it’s on my bucket list.”
“You have a bucket list?” I asked with a giggle as he helped me into my coat.
“I do now,” he replied with a grin so wide, I laughed.
“Well, far be it from me to keep you from your bucket list.”
“Your car or mine?” he asked, swiftly guiding me out of the restaurant.
My excitement mounted and I felt like a freaking teenager who was about to be very naughty. It was liberating and fantastic.
“Umm… yours,” I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him out onto the street. “You drove.”
“You’re right.” His laugh rang out into the cold, starry night and I savored the wonderful sound.
One day at a time.
Gideon might not be my permanent happiness, but we made each other happy right now. I had no clue how long I had left in this life and Gideon could disappear at any moment.
It was okay to steal some happiness for myself. I deserved it.
Gideon’s bucket list… here I come.
Chapter Twenty-Four
My hair was a mess and my lip gloss was nonexistent. I hadn’t felt so amazing and free in a long time. Gideon wasn’t as put together as usual either. His jacket was crumpled up on the floor, his shirt was missing a few buttons and his tie was wrapped around the steering wheel. It made the man even sexier, as if that was possible. We were parked in front of my house and had steamed up the windows for the better part of an hour.
“What are you doing this weekend?” he asked with a smile that made my toes tingle.
“I’m tempted to say you,” I said and then pursed my lips playfully. “But that would be mean, since banging is off the table for a little while.”
“Banging?” he asked with a surprised laugh. “Did you seriously just say banging?”
I punched him in the arm and made a face. “I most certainly did. What do you call it?”
“With you?” He pondered for a moment and my stomach filled with butterflies. “I would call making love with you the best thing that will ever happen in my life.”
“Shit,” I muttered, leaning forward and pressing my forehead against the dashboard. “That’s very intimidating to someone who has no clue what to do. I mean, I’m not a virgin, but…
“Nope. Not going there,” he said, pulling me back and wrapping his arms around me. “It’s perfect. It will be perfect. I promise.”
“You can make up for my lack of skill?” I asked, shaking my head and moaning.
“Not sure how much skill I have going anymore,” he admitted with a grin.
I glanced up at him in surprise. “You haven’t been with anyone in a while?” Of course, a while could mean something vastly different to him than to me.
“A very long while,” he replied. “However, I do still remember a thing or two.”
“Okay,” I said, feeling strangely calmer about everything. “Can we make a deal of sorts?”
“Depends on the deal,” Gideon said, nipping at my ear and sending happy chills all through me.
“When we do bang,” I said with a laugh, “we have to talk to each other. You know, tell each other what feels good… and not so good. I refuse to go into my head and feel like a failure. That will make me close off and I’m done running away. I want the lights on—literally. You need to see what you’re getting so you can run like hell if you want to… and I want to see you naked in full light.”
“Where have you been all my life?” Gideon asked, sounding so much younger than I’d ever heard him.
It was silly. I was forty and he was a million and whatever and we were acting like teenagers.
“Well, not alive for most of it,” I told him.
He rolled his eyes. It was so out of character and so endearing.
“You think you’re funny?” he asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
“I’m hilarious,” I shot back, placing my hands on either side of his beautiful face and pressing my lips to his. “I do stand-up for my dead squatters every Saturday. You should come.”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
“Actually, I’m joking… kind of. But I would love it if you wanted to come by this weekend,” I said. I held my breath and waited for his answer.
“Oxygen is good, Daisy,” Gideon said. “Breathe. Yes, I want to come by. I want to spend every minute that you’ll let me spend with you.”
“Really?” I asked, still dumbfounded that this was real and happening.
“Really. I was thinking I could bring over breakfast in the morning, get to know Steve better, and then we can go for a drive and find a new make-out spot.”
“Works for me,” I said.
“Great,” Gideon said, getting out of the car and coming over to my side to open my door. “I’ll walk you to the door and get a kiss good night.”
“You haven’t had enough?” I inquired, feigning shock.
“Never, Daisy. I will never get enough.”
I was in big trouble, and I couldn’t be happier about it.
“Steve, I’m home,” I called out, locking the door behind me and letting my eyes adjust to the darkness.
I didn’t recall turning out all the lights when I’d left. Maybe I had. After Steve repeatedly let Gideon know we could have the pad tonight for a bang session, I hauled ass out. Whatever.
Turning off the lights was a habit I needed to improve on. My electric bill could use a little break. Leaving the TV on all the time for the ghosts wasn’t great for my bottom line, but that couldn’t be helped. However, the television was silent as well. Bizarre.
“Steve, my favorite dead husband, where are you? I’m not going to remove a body part. I promise. The dress worked out great. The side boob was a hit,” I yelled, dropping my purse on the foyer table, taking off my stilettos and looking at myself in the mirror.
Maybe Steve had gone to Gram’s after all. That was a bummer. I wanted to tell him about my evening.
The moonlight streaming through the window lit the reflective glass. My eyes sparkled and my lips were kiss-swollen. A blush stained my cheeks and my hair was wild. For the first time ever, I liked the way I looked. Happy and kissed looked very nice on me. My feet were killing me, but I’d suffered for my fashion this evening. I hoped Gideon didn’t have any kind of heel fetish. He would be shit out of luck in that department. I was more of a tennis shoe kind of gal. Comfort was my style.
“Your dead husband? How very, very interesting,” a female voice purred.
“What the hell,” I screamed. Whipping around, I held up my heels with the pointy part out, ready to attack. “Who’s there?”
“You said we were friends, Daisy,” the voice hissed.
Damn it. I recognized that heinous voice.
How in the hell did she get into my house?
Great, I forgot to lock my door tonight, yet I locked it earlier and couldn’t make a clean escape from the most mortifying moment of my life to date. Luckily, that ended up not turning out too bad. My swollen lips were the proof of that.
Flicking on the light, I spotted the nightmare sitting in the very same chair she’d been seated in a few days ago. It was an incredible buzzkill. I reminded myself to sage the chair. Clarissa cooties were not welcome here and neither was she.
“You’re breaking friendship rules,” she said flatly.
I noticed Steve and a few other dead hovering in abject fear in the far corner of the room. My dogs were nowhere to be found. What the hell was happening?
“Actually, you’re the one breaking the rules. You’re not supposed to come here. Ever,” I said, keeping a tight grip on my shoes. Gouging her eyes out wasn’t the best plan, but my squatters and Steve were freaking me out even more than seeing Clarissa in my house. Embedding stilettos into Clarissa’s eyes would send me to the big house for a while, but if she came at me, I was ready. “And just so you know, it’s not personal. Heather is offering better pay and benefits.”
“What are you talking about?” Clarissa snarled.
“Playing dumb doesn’t suit you,” I said, opening the front door so she would get the clue to leave.
Clarissa didn’t move. Apparently, polite social cues weren’t in her skill set.
“I know it’s abrupt and I’m sure everyone will give notice, but I have to say working for you sucked. It’s been some of the worst years of my life.”
God that felt good. I sure as hell hoped Heather would be up and running soon because I was pretty sure my honesty was going to ensure that I wasn’t allowed back in my old office ever again.
Clarissa still looked confused. I wasn’t buying it. Glancing over at Steve, I could see he was mouthing something to me as John nodded his head so hard, I was worried it would fall off. A head rolling across the floor right now could be a little awkward—for me.
Why didn’t Steve simply speak? Clarissa couldn’t hear him. I suppose after the Gideon porch debacle, Steve was a bit wary.
Staring at my best friend’s mouth, I could have sworn he was trying to tell me that Clarissa could see them. She gave absolutely no indication that she was aware of anyone but me in the room. There was no way Clarissa could see the dead. I suppose if John’s head flew off it would give me a better clue. It would be difficult for Clarissa not to notice a detached head if she could see it.
What I needed to do was get her to leave. Now.
“Your dad is a wonderful man,” I said, trying to end on a positive note. “I’ll miss him.”
“How stupid are you?” Clarissa inquired with a sneer, making her pretty face ugly.
Screw the positive note. I was too old to take this shit from her. My job at her father’s law firm didn’t own me anymore. I owned me. And thanks to Heather, I had a brand-new job. The song “Take This Job and Shove It” came to mind. I wished I could remember the words. I had no talent for singing whatsoever, but it was just Clarissa, Steve, John, some of my dead friends and me.
I grinned at the thought of me busting into song.
“I wouldn’t smile if I were you, Daisy,” Clarissa said in a tone so cold it made me extremely uncomfortable. “Things could get very bad for you.”
Done. I was done. Channeling Gram, I let Clarissa have it. “You know what? You are rude and socially unacceptable. Occasionally, I might be slower than a Sunday afternoon, but you have your nose stuck so high in the air that you could drown in a rainstorm. You’re mean and nasty. Working for you has been a living hell. If you can’t deal with that, you might want to think about having a personality transplant. Maybe the next set of paralegals you hire won’t want to jerk you bald.”
The shocked expression on Clarissa’s face was priceless. I would give almost anything if the girls were here to see it. Gram would be proud. I’d used at least three or four of her sayings. They felt damn good coming out of my mouth.
“You will regret this,” she snapped as she stood and glanced back at the corner of the room where my people were.
“It’s a job,” I said with an eye roll, unsure if she could see Steve and the others. However, I had no plans to ask her. I just wanted her to leave. If she kept showing up, I’d get a restraining order. “It’s not personal.”
“It’s a job. It’s not personal,” she mimicked in a squeaky, shrill voice. “Your foolishness will destroy you when you least expect it.”
I was definitely getting a damn restraining order.
“Out,” I said. “Get out of my house and don’t ever come back.”
Clarissa took her sweet time crossing the room. When she reached the front door, she paused and glared at me. Her perfume was cloying and her makeup was overdone. She was a hot mess of mean and I wanted nothing to do with her.
“I told you to stay away from him,” she said, narrowing her eyes to slits. “He’s mine.”
Oh. My. God. I almost burst out into laughter. This was about Gideon? No wonder she was confused.
“People belong to themselves,” I said calmly. “No one owns another.”
“We’ll just see about that, Daisy,” she said threateningly. “Won’t we? Give your husband my regards.”
Again, I almost laughed. Did she think I was married and seeing Gideon on the side? I was quite sure she’d use the information to let Gideon know what a hussy I was. I couldn’t wait to hear his reaction.
Part of me was shocked that she didn’t recall that Steve had died a year ago. It was preposterous but possible. Clarissa was all about Clarissa. If something didn’t pertain to her agenda, she couldn’t be bothered to remember. The death of one of her coworker’s husbands wasn’t important to her.
Clarissa Smith was a sorry excuse for a human.
With one last vicious glare, she walked out of my house. As soon as she crossed the threshold, I slammed the door shut so hard a picture fell off the wall. Quickly locking and chaining the door, I leaned on it and let out a long breath.
“Holy shit,” I muttered. “I can’t believe I ever thought I was nuts. She’s certifiable.”
“Daisy, are you okay?” Steve asked, floating across the room to me.
The others followed suit and hovered around me making clicking sounds. Donna and Karen, who had been hiding under the couch, popped out, trotted over and sat at my feet.
“I’m fine,” I told everyone. “Really.”
“I think she could see us,” Steve said.
“Did she speak to you?” I asked, still doubtful.
“No.” He shook his head and seated himself on the couch. “It was a feeling. She seemed to stare in our direction an awful lot to not be able to see us.”
“What emotions surround Clarissa?”
Steve shuddered. “Fury. Anger. Hatred. It’s not a pretty picture.”
I refused to let Clarissa ruin my evening. She was evil and stupid but there was nothing she could do to me. As insane as she’d seemed, I didn’t believe she would physically harm me over Gideon. If I still had to work for her, she could make my life awful. However, very soon she would never be my boss again. Thank God.
“Good riddance to bad rubbish,” I said with a small shudder. How did a man as nice as Clarence Smith produce a daughter as hideous as Clarissa? Not my problem. “She’s gone. Now let’s forget about her. Wanna hear about my date?”
The ghosts laughed and zipped around the room creating a wind that blew Clarissa’s nasty essence away. Steve’s smile widened and he patted the seat on the couch next to him.
“Was it good?” he asked hopefully.
I nodded. “It was magical. I’m not sure he’s my permanent person, but I like him a lot.”
“Why didn’t he come in?” Steve questioned, worried.
“Because I told him no sex. I’m not ready for that yet.”
“And he was good with that?”
“He agreed,” I said with a laugh.
“Yessssssssss,” Steve said as he floated to the ceiling, he was so excited. “A man who will wait is a keeper.”
“We’ll see,” I said, unable to hold back my grin. It was still odd to be discussing this with my husband, but we’d definitely had a nontraditional relationship in life. I suppose it made sense that we would have a nontraditional relationship in death. “He’s coming over tomorrow morning. He wants to get to know you better.”
“Outstanding,” Steve said, turning serious. “Daisy, no matter where I end up when I leave you, seeing you becoming whole will give me peace always.”
It's A Wonderful Midlife Crisis : A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel: Good To The Last Death Book One Page 23
