While he wasn’t complaining—he now was aging with Cara like a normal person—he still found himself a bit listless. He’d been looking around Avalon for a position he could fill, but had yet to find something. So he’d been doing little projects while Cara was at work to update the house. Those things Cara had wanted to get to but hadn’t bothered with yet. Like painting.
She brushed his nose. “You have paint on your face.”
He rubbed his nose. “Yeah, well, the fence is painted.”
She grinned. “Thank you. It’s nice to come home to a clean house, laundry done, and dinner ready. You know I’m not much in the cooking arts.”
“Well, cooking can be learned.” He escorted her to the dinner table, where he’d prepared salmon for dinner. He thought it looked good, but the test would be if Cara liked it. She drank most of her wine in one gulp.
“Thirsty?” Duncan asked.
“Rough day. Lots of paperwork. Migraine imminent.”
He rubbed her shoulders. “I’m sure I can massage the stress right out of you.”
Cara sighed. “I bet you can. But I might fall asleep before anything fun happens.” Her head rocked back and forth as his thumbs massaged her neck.
“Well, you’ll just have to make it up to me,” Duncan said. Cara reached up and caressed his hand on her shoulder.
“You know I will—” She was cut short by someone knocking on the front door.
They glanced at each other, and Duncan squared his shoulders. This could be Malik, who lingered like a shadow over every day, wanting his favor. Was today the day?
“Were you expecting anyone?” Cara whispered.
“No.” Duncan stared at the door, hoping to glean something off whoever was on the other side. However, since he’d retired, his telepathy was not nearly as strong, since no magic fed it. “I’ll get it.”
“Can you tell who it is?” Cara asked him.
He shook his head as he approached the door.
Cara nodded, though her eyes were wide and she looked almost terrified.
Duncan pulled the door open and blinked. It wasn’t Malik.
It was two Knights Templar.
“Sir Tabor, Sir Alexander,” Duncan said, nodding to the two immortal humans. While they weren’t in their formal white Templar chasubles, they did wear black polos with red crosses on the shoulders, and their huge broadswords, so Duncan guessed it was some sort of business that brought them to his—correction, their—door. He’d met these two when he’d worked a FID case a while back.
“Mister Molar,” Tabor said. “May we speak with you?”
Duncan opened the door and allowed them in. He had to push himself into a corner to open the door wide enough for the two men—both over six-five, and humongous, to fit into the small cottage.
And Duncan didn’t think he’d fit very well—these guys practically made the place feel like it was going to pop at the seams.
“What is this about Templars?” Cara asked as she approached.
“Sorry to intrude on your evening, Miss Wallace. We wanted to speak to your fiancé,” Tabor said.
She blinked and then nodded. “Oh! Oh, um, let me get out of your way.”
Duncan glanced at Cara. “What do you know?”
She just grinned in reply. “Nothing. I know nothing.”
He did not believe her, but he wasn’t about to share that conversation with Tabor and Alexander.
“So what can I do for you?” Duncan asked.
“It is more what we can do for you,” Tabor said.
Duncan raised an eyebrow.
“I understand you need a job. And we need staff.” Tabor put his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Something Duncan couldn’t help noticing. “To do what?” His gaze darted from Tabor’s face to the hand on the sword.
Tabor took his hand off the sword and crossed his arms over his chest. “In your case, to help us coordinate with the FID units when necessary, and to help us here on the island.”
“We require a heavy support staff to run one of our bases. To have someone on staff that is both familiar with the inhabitants and has strong connections to the Fairy Realm would be very beneficial for us.” Alexander added.
“Did Cara put you up to this?” Duncan asked.
“I most certainly did not!” Cara said. Evidently, she hadn’t gone very far when she’d left him alone with the Templars.
He raised an eyebrow at his almost-wife.
“She merely heard us speaking with the Magistrates about employing residents, and if they had any recommendations to fill those spots. Your name was already on the list, before Miss Wallace mentioned you to us.”
“Oh.” Cara sounded rather deflated.
He shook his head. “When do you need me to start?”
“As soon as you are available,” Tabor said.
“I’m available.” He held out his hand, and Tabor gave him a firm handshake. They went over a few of the particulars, and the Templars left.
As soon as it was closed, Duncan spun to face his fiancé. “What did you do to me?”
She grinned. “Thought you were getting bored.”
“I think you’re tired of me being in the house all the time, doing stuff.”
“I figured you would be,” Cara replied as he closed in on her.
He pulled her against him. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you.” She hugged him tight.
Duncan rested his head on top of hers.
So this is what it feels like to be with the woman you love…
He liked it. A lot.
About the Author
USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Candice Gilmer lives with her family in Kansas, admiring the beautiful skyline, watching out for tornadoes and occasionally writing. She can be found around the Internet here:
Website: www.candicegilmer.com
Blog: candicegilmer.blogspot.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/candicegilmerauthor
Twitter: www.twitter.com/candicegilmer
Look for these titles by Candice Gilmer
Now Available:
Fantasy Girl
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Mission of Christmas
The Mythicals
Saving Her Destiny
Guys and Godmothers
Under His Nose
Before His Eyes
Just His Taste
Coming Soon:
Mythical Knights
Dark Within
Don’t miss these other titles by Candice Gilmer
All it takes is faith, trust, and fairy dust. A swift kick never hurts, either.
Guys and Godmothers, Book 1
Christy is due for retirement from her fairy godmother gig, but she agrees to take one last case. Helping Roark Turner find his perfect girl shouldn’t be much of a challenge—after all, she is a veteran fairy godmother.
What makes this case interesting? She must use as little magic as possible to bring Roark his much-desired Happily Ever After.
Roark’s perfect match is his best friend Stephanie Bowers. It should be simple to bring two people together who have been best friends since kindergarten, and let their free will take its course. It probably would have been, too, if Cupid hadn’t started shooting arrows into Roark, forcing the mortal to fall in love.
Now Christy must use every skill at her command—just not her magic—to thwart Cupid’s meddling and get Roark and Stephanie together without changing their free will or ruining her perfect record. Or she’ll never get her own Happily Ever After.
Warning: Magic, fairy godmothers, a rambunctious god, and two stubborn people who need a kick in the butt to see what’s obviously meant to be.
Sometimes even a fairy godmother needs to call for ba
ckup.
Guys and Godmothers, Book 2
When Fairy Godmother Lilly Bloom gets her latest assignment, the rules send her into a minor panic attack. She must bring two people together—using as little magic as possible.
Photographer Bruce Matthews has finally found someone who really, really gets him. He and Greta like the same things, laugh at the same jokes. There’s just one thing—he’s never actually seen her face to face. Her social media profile bears no picture.
Much as Greta Vandecall yearns to leave her small town and meet her online prince charming, secrets chain her to the past and force her to hide her face from the world. Secrets she knows would destroy the friendship she values most.
A steampunk convention seems to be the perfect way to meet face to mask. And in the excitement of the moment they connect in a very warm, real way. But cold, hard reality isn’t far behind. And if Lilly fails, this time she’ll lose her fairy godmother status. For good.
Warning: Stupid decisions, a love of steampunk, and a fairy godmother willing to do whatever it takes to bring two people together.
Even Fairy Godmothers can make the wrong call.
Guys and Godmothers, Book 3
Avalynn Fay is not a typical Fairy Godmother. She wears leather body suits, rides motorcycles, and prefers bourbon to anything fru-fru. Probably why she is assigned new charge, Jason Gregorian—a PI who drinks bourbon and loves to cook barbecue.
Jason’s a good guy. Generally decent. Even willing to pretend to be his ex-girlfriend Tessa’s date for a wedding, so she won’t be alone while her ex struts around with his latest squeeze on his arm.
Should be easy, right?
All Ava has to do is talk to him, feel him out a bit, and she’ll know exactly how to get the wheels in gear. Except when she meets Jason, suddenly no one is good enough for him. Not even Tessa, his intended Happily Ever After.
It’s enough to make a fairy godmother want a healthy shot of bourbon—right before she breaks all the rules.
Warning: Contains a fairy godmother who’s ready to spread her wings—and maybe a few other appendages—for a mortal hot enough to make her drive her motorcycle right off the road.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
11821 Mason Montgomery Road Suite 4B
Cincinnati OH 45249
Saving Her Destiny
Copyright © 2015 by Candice Gilmer
ISBN: 978-1-61922-678-4
Edited by Holly Atkinson
Cover by Kanaxa
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: June 2015
www.samhainpublishing.com
Saving Her Destiny Page 19