Magical Midlife Dating: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel (Leveling Up Book 2)

by K. F. Breene

  He glanced down at his snug white shirt. The only thing he could say for it was that it was clean and wrinkle-free. “Thanks. I was just escorted by one of your dolls.”

  She shivered. “I’ve managed to get rid of two of them, but Mr. Tom keeps catching me before I can burn them in the yard. Once I’m better with this magic…” She drew her finger across her throat.

  A chuckle bubbled out of him. She was utterly serious about burning the horror-show dolls, and something about that tickled his funny bone. The mirth was short-lived. He’d been right to come. Something was bothering her, the worry of it creasing her face and hanging heavy in her eyes.

  “Do you need me for anything?” he asked. “Are you going to try flying again soon?”

  She sighed and trudged out of the circle of chairs, her back bowed in defeat. “You can’t help me with flying. I’m supposed to train with Edgar and Mr. Tom this afternoon, but we don’t need you for that. To be honest, I doubt we’ll get very far with the book. Edgar is in the middle of a tricky passage that he can’t quite make out. The book is written in all five languages that he knows, mixed together, with one of those being Sanskrit. It’s such a stupid way to divulge information. It takes him forever to translate, then make sense of it. In fairness, though, I doubt anyone else could do it. He’s very patient. Regardless, I’ll probably just practice close combat with Mr. Tom while Edgar scratches his head.” She stopped at the window, not taking a seat in one of the two chairs facing a little wooden table, and looked out at the garden beyond.

  “Not going well overall, huh?”

  “No, which would be fine—I don’t mind easing into all of this—but…” She shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “What do you need, Jess?” he asked softly, stepping into the room despite himself and standing at her side. “I’m here to help.”

  Her eyebrows rose and then fell. “Either you have excellent timing, or Ivy House finally got to you, huh?”

  This was why he’d come. She didn’t like asking for help, but she’d take it if someone offered. The house clearly knew that about her, too.

  “What do you need?” he repeated.

  She shook her head again and tucked a cluster of hair behind her ear. “At the moment, nothing, it’s just…” She shrugged. “Remember when we first met and you said you were really good at reading people?”

  “Yes.”

  “And remember those summons I sent out last week?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Well…” She put her hands on her shapely hips. “It feels like they’re coming. I can’t explain how, it just feels… Honestly, it feels like danger. It feels like whatever is answering my summons is going to be dangerous.”

  “We’ll handle it.”

  “Right, well, that’s just it. I’m not worried about you handling the town. You’ve got that locked down. Whoever is coming is basically showing up to work with me. I need to handle it. I need to be strong enough to lead, or possibly combat, a dangerous person. Maybe dangerous people.”

  “And you’re scared you won’t be able to do it?”

  “I’m scared I can’t, Austin. You saw what happened in the bar. I have plenty of power, sure, but I don’t know how to work it. It comes in random bursts, either by accident or when Edgar finally figures out a passage in that book. If someone dangerous waltzes in here, throwing their weight around, I’m not sure how I’ll handle it. Niamh and the others can probably fight them off, if it comes down to that, but that’s not going to win us any loyalty.” She paused for a moment. “I know you can teach me about leadership, but there’s just no time. This is happening soon, and I don’t think I’m ready. The little magic I know probably won’t be enough for the type of presence I feel coming. I’m…” She took a deep breath. “I’m not happy to admit it, but since things might start heating up… I’m not so confident, Austin. I want to be strong and dominate my role here, but…I’m nervous I won’t be enough. That the house chose poorly.”

  It hadn’t. He knew she’d blow everyone away, but she didn’t need someone to tell her that. She needed someone to understand. “It’s okay to be nervous,” he said, “and it’s okay to not feel up to leading yet. You have to walk before you run.”

  “I’m still at the ‘lying on my stomach’ stage of development, actually. My next goal is crawling.”

  He rubbed her back, her warmth seeping into his touch. “I’m here, okay? I have experience in leading. Obviously you don’t need my help with Niamh and the others, but if new people show up, you can count on me. I will put them in their place until you’re ready to step up and take over. You know my past—you know I won’t try to usurp power. Eventually, hopefully, I won’t be able to.”

  Her grin was slight, but she leaned into his touch, taking the comfort he offered. Yes, this was why the house had begged him. Jess desperately needed help and hadn’t felt comfortable enough to ask for it. He was happy he’d answered the summons.

  “I’ve been here for…what, three months? Less?” She leaned sideways this time, her shoulder fitting just below his armpit. He slid his arm around her and pulled her in tighter. “Suddenly I own a house with acreage, I have a staff, and I’m apparently filthy rich even though I haven’t seen any money or bank accounts or anything. And, oh yeah, magic is real and I’m supposed to have a crapload of it that I don’t know how to work.” She sighed. “Anyway, after a huge life change, suddenly I have all of this new…stuff that I haven’t a clue how to manage. And I don’t have time to figure it out, because I summoned some magical people who are coming to join this backward, incredibly odd operation. I’m in way over my head, Austin. Way over my head. I tried to tell Mr. Tom, Niamh, and Edgar, but none of them would listen. They think I’ll just miraculously know how to handle everything. I’m socially awkward and their minds are warped—how can we possibly have a chance in hell to make an impression on the magical world? If important people come to meet me or the house, expecting some sophisticated magical master with a well-oiled machine of a crew, and find this lot?” She shook her head. “I can’t even handle those freaking dolls!”

  “No one can handle those dolls,” Austin said without meaning to. “No one.”

  “I just… Did you ever feel overwhelmed by everything?”

  “I was too filled with rage, testosterone, and stupidity to feel overwhelmed when I really should have, and once I smartened up, I hid instead of trying to start over. I slunk into the shadows to lick my wounds and moan about the hand I was dealt. I realize that now. I wasn’t overwhelmed because I settled for less than I should have.” He squeezed her. “Your concern shows your responsibility. The way you always keep trying, despite everything, shows your courage. This house chose well. The more I see, the more I’m convinced of that fact. Don’t underestimate Niamh and the others, either. They might seem like nut cases, but they have a lot of experience under their belts. A lot. They’ll steer you true, and if anyone tries to throw their weight around and they can’t handle it, you have me. Worst case, you have those dolls and this house. You’re protected here, Jess. Trust in that, and allow yourself to learn and grow. You’re only going to get better.”

  She nodded, still looking out at the garden. “Thanks. You always know what to say.”

  “I have no idea why.”

  She smiled at him, and as he looked down into those sunburst eyes, he knew one moment of vertigo. The ground dropped away and the world spun on its axis, up and down, right and left.

  A moment later, when she moved away from him, he almost constricted his arm to keep her put. The woman was a beauty with a soft heart and fire in her core. This house had chosen its heir perfectly. This might all be new to her, but she would rise to the occasion easily, he had no doubt.

  He just wished this house hadn’t chosen him. That, or maybe he wished he were different. He hadn’t defined himself enough for a woman like her. She was entering midlife like a fallen star hellbent on taking out anything in her path. He’d entered midlife asl
eep, hoping everything didn’t crumble around him and wake him up.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked as she led them out of the room.

  “I thought you said you’d learned to cut off your receptors to your team?”

  Those receptors were yet another reason Ivy House’s magic felt like a cage. Jess had a magical connection to the people who served the house, something that allowed her to read their feelings. She’d blocked her connection to him to preserve his privacy. She’d then blocked the others so as not to get more insight into their lives, apparently. He didn’t blame her.

  Ultimately, though, Jess had control over that—she could reopen the receptors as easily as she’d closed them. He was trusting her to keep her word, a trust he wasn’t used to giving.

  “You look like you swallowed a toad,” she said, pointing him toward an exit at the back of the house. “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing. Just reflecting on my life choices.”

  “Aren’t we all,” she muttered, opening the door and gesturing him out. “Sir.”

  He reached above her hand and took hold of the edge of the door. “Ma’am.”

  She smiled and scooted out ahead of him.

  “Think Gary would’ve held your door open?” he asked with a grin, unable to help it. He’d let Niamh do the teasing about Jess’s terrible pick, mostly because he had never done online dating, and for all he knew, the guy had posted someone else’s picture and lied about his personality. But man, that had been a shitshow from the word go. The second that guy had walked in, Austin had known exactly who he must be, and had been giddy at the thought of how Jess would handle him.

  Granted, he couldn’t have known she’d evacuate the whole bar with an incredibly potent burst of magic that had gotten his heart thumping, but regardless, her facial expressions throughout the encounter had made his year. If it hadn’t been for the magic, he would’ve shushed Niamh so Jess could give Gary the wake-up call he’d so deserved.

  Of course, Austin had been plenty happy to do it himself…

  “Yes, actually.” She veered right through the wide expanse of grass. “He wouldn’t have seen holding the door open as a sign of respect, though, like most people.”

  “You think I respect you because I held the door open for you?”

  She twisted around in order to give him a you’re so dumb look. “Yes, but even if you didn’t respect me, you still respect yourself enough to be polite. You have manners. You’d hold the door open for an enemy.”

  “I’d hold the door for an enemy because I’d want to be at his back, and also wouldn’t want him at my back.”

  “Well…probably, yeah. It’s different when you do it than when most men do, is what I meant. I noticed that when we went wine tasting that one time, do you remember?”

  Of course he remembered. That was the day she’d reached into the center of him, dragged out his horrible past, blown fairy dust on it, and shoved it back in. She’d single-handedly changed his perspective on who and what he was. It was a moment suspended in time that he’d remember until the end of his days.

  “Yes,” he said, because he wasn’t sure how to tell her all of that—or even if he should.

  “I felt really safe with you. This probably sounds dumb, but it felt like you ushered me in front of you so you could guard my back. I don’t know, it’s hard to explain. My life was in flux back then, even more so than it is now, and my worldview was being turned on its head, but there was one thing I didn’t have to worry about: my safety. I knew you had it covered. You see, as a woman, I need to at least keep some semblance of awareness about my surroundings, but that day…I didn’t feel like I had to. It was a nice feeling. I mean, I did mostly pay attention, but… Blech. I’m babbling.”

  “You have it right. As the strongest, my job is to take the rear, to protect the most vulnerable. I’d do that for anyone in my territory.”

  “That’s not your job.”

  “It’s…my position.”

  “It should be your job. Ivy House is my job. These are my premises. The town should be yours. Officially yours. The people who come here should know they answer to you. Here, they answer to me.” She pointed at the trees up ahead. The brush hid the elderly guardians from sight, but their bickering gave away their position, Niamh and Earl arguing about the best way to set things up. “Apparently we are training in the trees today. Lord only knows why. They never tell me. But given no one is in the air, they aren’t planning on forcing me to fall as a means to fly today.”

  “Probably scared who else you’ll call,” he murmured, following her through the reaching branches.

  The first of the guardians he saw was Edgar, crouched off to the side of the clearing and bent over a large volume with yellowed pages. A bicycle helmet adorned his head and a baseball catcher’s chest pad was strapped around his body.

  Austin stopped and stared at Edgar for a moment as Niamh and Earl glanced over. That old vampire was unparalleled in his oddness.

  “Why should I create that distinction now?” he asked Jess, turning so he wasn’t looking at Edgar. The situation was just too distracting. He’d have a hard time focusing on what she was saying.

  She faced him, her expression serious. “As I said, it feels like I called something dangerous on that last summons. It’s coming, whatever it is. Ivy House will help me on this premises, I can feel that. Figuring out the whole leadership angle is on me, but the house will baby me, and push me, and coax me until I reach my true potential. The problem is that it has no influence on the town. Austin, I told you, I’m in over my head. I know I said I would, but right now, I can’t help you protect the town. I don’t know enough yet. I’m afraid I’m about to create exactly the situation you feared.”

  “The people coming to help you won’t tear up the town,” he told her.

  “Those who have chosen to help, no. What about those who don’t make the cut? What about those who show up for the sake of curiosity? It feels like more than I asked for are coming. They’re coming, and they’ll lurk in the town, swinging their weight around and asserting themselves. Obviously this is all just a hunch, but…the feeling is growing increasingly…” She shook her head. “They’re dangerous, that’s all I’m saying. Danger is coming. I feel it.

  “Right now, you’re just a guy maintaining order. You have no actual authority. You’re uncrowned. That means people who don’t know you won’t feel compelled to listen to you—most out of ignorance, and some out of stubbornness. You shouldn’t have to fight for dominance every time someone oversteps. You need a sheriff badge, like in the old westerns. You need to be legit. Otherwise, it’ll be mayhem.”

  The little clearing fell silent as he looked down at Jacinta’s worried face. He infused his words with his magic as he gently wrapped his fingers around her upper arms. “For as long as I’ve been here, I’ve always been just a guy maintaining order. Trust me, Jacinta, it’s more than I’ll ever need. I am the sheriff badge, and I like fighting for dominance to prove it. Don’t worry about the town—I’ve got it covered, no matter what comes.”

  7

  After finishing up my training in the trees a couple of hours earlier, mostly close combat, as I’d expected, and watched by Austin for the first time, I had excused myself to get ready for the date Niamh had set up. She’d taken over my online dating accounts because, in her words, I couldn’t be trusted to choose decent candidates. I hadn’t even argued—I was genuinely curious if she’d do a better job than I had. She couldn’t do much worse.

  I checked myself in the mirror and felt all the color drain from my face. I pulled my eyes away…then slowly let them drift back.

  That pep talk I’d given myself last week after the train-wreck date had prompted me to go shopping and pick up some new dresses. I hadn’t found any fun disco-ball outfits in my size, but I had picked a few dresses that showed off my curves and newly toned-up body—thank you, Ivy House, for tightening everything back up. Cheat to win.

  Wher
e the hell had all that courage gone?

  I stared at the woman in the mirror, standing in a tight, bright red dress that showed popping cleavage, pushed out and up by a push-up bra, plenty of leg, and every single plane and angle of her body. She might as well have a sign that said, “Look at me, I’m sexy and glamorous!”

  Which had seemed right up my alley when I was trying things on in a colorless dressing room and getting beaming nods of approval from Mr. Tom whenever I asked for his opinion. Now, ready to go into reality where strangers could see me, suddenly I wasn’t so sure. As a forty-year-old divorced mom…I wanted to gawk at myself, laugh nervously, and then slip into my PJs.

  “No.” I balled up my fists, my face now the same color as the dress. “I’m sexy, damn it. I am glamorous. I will not swim around in frumpy black dresses as a means to escape attention. Oh crap, I’m showing a lot of boob.”

  I thought about switching bras, but honestly didn’t want to fight my way out of this one, not to mention the dress. While the dress was actually quite comfortable, since the material stretched a little and the lace on the bodice and wrapping around my back wasn’t too tight, I worried I might break the zipper or bust a seam or something. I didn’t have the energy to pick out another outfit. Best to just go with it.

  “I hope this guy is not a turd,” I muttered, fastening on a sparkly diamond and ruby necklace. My ex had had his faults, but when it came to jewelry, he’d given amazing presents.

  I clasped the matching bracelet, chose dangly diamonds for earrings, and did one last check of my hair and makeup. My smoky-eye ability was much better this time—thank you, YouTube tutorials. My hair…well, there was a little curl in the otherwise straight sheet that fell past my shoulders. Good enough.

  I sucked in a breath, widened my eyes at my boobs, which now looked on the verge of popping out of my dress, and blew out my breath again. I must remember not to do that at the restaurant. I didn’t know much about the kind of guy Niamh had chosen—I didn’t want him to think my breathing was an invitation.