by Quinn, Taryn
Instead of making them all carbon copies of each other, he was making each one individual. Another job that Dahlia had been working on in small doses.
She’d helped me with the cafe and my own apartment. She actually put me to shame with her gothic touches. It had taken almost two years to get my apartment just right, but in the end it was pretty perfect for me.
“Are those…monsters?” Dani didn’t seem to know the term for the corner statues I’d tucked on the floor-to-ceiling bookcases.
“Gargoyles.”
“So cool.”
I grinned. “I need a shower. Think you can amuse yourself for a few?”
She hopped her way over to my stereo. “You said movies. Where’s the TV?”
I crossed to the projector tucked in one of the bookcases. “I’ve got one better.” I flicked it on and the large white wall across the room was filled with the menu on my Apple TV.
“Holy crapballs.”
I handed her the remote. “I bet you know how to use this.”
“Yep.” She plucked it out of my hand and hobbled over to my oversized beanbag chair and dropped into it with a laugh. “You have like every movie ever.”
“Not quite.” I crossed my arms and tried not to think about how cute she looked in my space. It had been a damn long time since anyone under twenty-four had been in my apartment. Even the new moms in my life rarely brought their kids over.
Mostly because my place would probably scare a lesser child.
I had a large collection of monster memorabilia as well as undying devotion to the macabre in its various forms. Anything from sugar skulls to antique glass. I had them all tucked in corners and on shelves like other women had knicknacks.
Dani Gideon looked damn comfy in my apartment though. She flicked through all my movies at the speed of a distracted teen, finally stopping on the Saw series.
“No.”
“Aww, come on.”
“No torture por—movies.”
“I’ve seen worse.”
“I doubt it, but good try.”
She squinted at me.
“Don’t make me try and figure out the parental lock. I’m very good at passwords. You’ll never figure it out.”
She sighed. “All right.”
“Try The Princess Bride. I promise you’ll like it.”
She made a face, but scrolled down to the movie and pressed play.
Making a pit stop in the kitchen, I found a bag of fruit snacks and peanut butter crackers. My fridge pretty much held coffee drinks in various forms, but I found a bottle of chocolate milk that was still within a good date.
I brought them back out to Dani, who was already engrossed in the movie. She was twisted around in the chair on her belly with her feet swaying as Trick slowly crept over to check her out.
I trusted my cat. She was the sweet one of the duo. Isis was still missing, but she probably wouldn’t make an appearance. She didn’t like strangers. Very much like her mama.
“This should keep you out of trouble. I’ll be back in fifteen.”
She accepted the chocolate milk with excited eyes. She Gumby-ed her way into a cross-legged stance and gave a delighted laugh when Trick hopped into her lap.
“She likes you.”
“What’s her name?” She coasted her hand down my onyx-colored cat.
“Trick.”
The cat instantly began a motorboat purr. Her bright green eyes were mere slits as she accepted the small human’s endless strokes.
“She’ll let you do that for hours.”
“That’s okay. I can keep doing it.”
“I bet.” I set the snacks onto the table between the couch and the beanbag chair. “None for the cat. She has treats on the kitchen island though. She can have a handful.”
“Cool.” Not that they seemed inclined to move. Dani’s attention was already back on the movie, and Trick had curled into a ball in the bowl of her legs.
I padded down the hall, my stocking feet quiet on the cheetah print runner. More antique mirrors lined the walls with stained glass accents. Some had little shelves that held tiny cat statuaries, as well as other animals like elephants and giraffes.
Whenever I went out to find things for the café, I always ended up finding something ridiculously miniature that ended up in my collection.
Isis wrapped herself around my ankles as soon as I entered my bedroom. I bent and lifted her, then absently tucked her onto my shoulder where she liked it best.
I took my huge purple robe off the back of the door and headed into the bathroom. She jumped neatly onto the black marble countertop and licked her paw.
“How was your day?”
She gave me her usual eerie yellow-eyed stare and continued her personal grooming.
“Mine was the same. Well, save for the little human I brought home. Be nice to her. I’m fairly sure her dad would be displeased with Dani going home with the same map of scratches that I own.”
Isis rolled over onto her back and stretched herself out until she slid into the sink. She held her face under the faucet and stared at me.
“I have to take a shower.”
She blinked at me and I rolled my eyes. I turned the tap on to the barest hint of a drip and she lapped at the water like the spoiled princess she was. I gave her a minute then turned off the faucet.
She batted at my hand, but I ignored her for the sheer heaven of my own shower. I turned both of my body shower heads onto full blast and stepped into the steaming water.
I flipped the switch to turn the rain hood on and simply stood under the water for a few minutes. Exhaustion weighed me down, and I swayed slightly in the stall.
I’d gone too many nights without sleep in a row. I needed at least four hours down, or I’d end up falling face first into whatever food Gideon picked for us to eat. Diner? Spinning Wheel? Maybe even the steakhouse at the edge of town.
I wasn’t overly particular, but I wouldn’t make it through the salad portion in my current state. If that was what we were doing. Gideon seemed a standard fare kind of guy.
Dinner. Awkward conversation. Maybe I’d invite him back here to bang it out.
I wasn’t stupid. I knew that was where we were heading. The minute we’d gotten our hands on one another, I’d known it would be part of our future in some form or another. I just wasn’t sure how the steps were going to go. Or the duration of it.
One and done? I tipped my head back under the water. Or a trio of secret bangs so our friends and neighbors didn’t link us up like the other fallen idiots infesting this town?
I lathered my hair and the familiar honey and milk scent of my shampoo filled the steamy air. I wasn’t like Rylee and her sister with their potions and weeping credit card to Sephora. I was more of a six-dollar bottle of shampoo and conditioner kind of girl. It did the job and didn’t break the bank.
I preferred to put my extra cash into my dream projects like The Haunt. It was a legacy I could leave behind, unlike my parents who hadn’t had more than a pair of pennies to rub together.
Between the medical bills for my father, and the shitbox apartment my mother could barely afford to pay for, we’d struggled most of my life. Eventually, my dad had withered away from his weak heart.
Nolan, my brother, had been the first to get out. He’d sent back money to help when he could, but he’d been more interested in his metal art sculptures that he made from pieces at scrapyards than keeping a steady job.
I’d stuck around to take care of my mom and had fancied myself in love with one of my brother’s friends. I’d been too much in my own way to see I was falling into the same patterns as my mom.
Caretaker. Support system. Doormat. It was really all I’d ever known.
The burn of tears sideswiped me. I hadn’t allowed myself to think about Chicago for a damn long time. I doused my tears with the spray as I washed away the conditioner and suds of my bath wash.
After my mom had died from exhaustion and her own heart issues—
hers more of a broken heart instead of the corrosive damage of drugs and alcohol like my father—I’d turned to building a life with the one man I thought loved me.
Lou had taught me that pain was relative. I’d already grieved for my parents long before they’d found their way into their matching cemetery plots. Losing my parents had been nothing close to the sledgehammer of pain he’d provided. I’d left everyone and never looked back.
And that was where my damn memory lane ended.
I obviously wasn’t fit for anyone tonight. I’d just tell Gideon the date wasn’t happening. Maybe I’d even get more than four hours of sleep.
Right. I’d be lucky to get ninety minutes.
I rested my head against the glass door of my shower for a second before opening it and slipping into my fuzzy, ancient terrycloth robe. I took care of my usual post-shower routine as I drip-dried.
Isis daintily licked droplets of water off my ankles while I brushed and flossed. I’d definitely taken way longer than fifteen minutes due to my stupid brain.
I quickly wrapped my hair up in a towel and rushed down the hall to check on my charge.
She was curled up in the beanbag chair with Trick tucked behind her shoulder. Both were sleeping soundly while Wesley and Inigo battled in a test of wills and swordplay.
The quick rap on my door had me tugging on the tie of my robe. Then again, I didn’t know how I was doing the handoff with Gideon.
I peered through the peephole and winced.
“Crap.” I looked over my shoulder. The kid was still out.
I swung the door open as I gathered the lapels of my robe together tightly. “Hey.”
Gideon’s gaze swept me quickly. I wasn’t sure if he was hard up or what. I was definitely not rocking an outfit to get that heated stare. I backed up, lifting my finger to my lips.
He tucked his hands into pockets, looked around the room and then backed up. “Shoes?”
I tried not to get gooey that he actually had enough manners to ask. “You’re good.”
He nodded and came in again. He smelled of paint and something with aerosol. Black and red spattered his white shirt and jeans, smudged his fingers, and dotted his beard.
I pressed my lips together. “Hard at work?” I whispered.
He looked down at himself. “Yeah. I texted you to bring her down, but you must have been in the shower.” He took a quick step closer. “If I wasn’t dirty as hell, I might ask what’s under the robe.”
“Wouldn’t that be the definition of dirty?”
His lips quirked in that almost smile of his. “Don’t tempt me to kiss you in front of my kid for a second time in the space of twelve hours.”
“She’s currently staring at the inside of her eyelids, so I think we’re ok.”
“So, I can steal a kiss?” He toyed with my purple belt.
“You smell like a paint can.”
“Hazards of the job. Especially when my client likes blood spatter and black everywhere.”
“Does that mean you’re getting closer to done?”
“Closer than we were yesterday.”
I huffed out a sigh. Ever the elaborator, that was Gideon. “Can I at least come over and see?”
“Nope.”
“You know I am technically the boss in this situation.”
His eyebrow hiked up toward his hairline, but he didn’t answer.
I glanced down at his attire. “Is that what I have to look forward to tonight?”
“I promise to shower.”
“No other details?”
“Nope.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that the date thing was a bad idea. We worked together, and Crescent Cove had a habit of playing cupid whether it was well-timed or not.
In fact, I probably should rethink the naked mamba part of things with him too. The law of averages was damning for any and all of the couples I knew.
Especially since he was obviously potent. The proof was ten feet away from us.
He lowered his mouth to the line of my jaw and tugged my towel free from my hair. It tumbled in a mass of dark ropes around my shoulders, the cold strands going right into the neck of my robe.
I shivered. Obviously because of my cold hair.
That was my damn story and I was sticking to it.
“I like the scent of you fresh from the shower. Then again, I like when you smell like coffee too.” He handed me the hair towel.
I dragged in a breath, but before I could step back, he retreated. And just like that, he went into dad mode, leaving me off balance as usual.
He crouched in front of his sleeping daughter. “Hey, sweetheart. Ready to go see Grumps?”
Dani tucked her hand under her cheek with a grumble. “Sleeping.”
He tugged on one of her pigtails. “Come on, kiddo. We took up enough of Macy’s time today.”
Trick burrowed further into the space behind Dani’s neck. “Looks like neither of them want to get up.”
Dani giggled at the wriggling cat. “Can I have a cat, Daddy?”
“We’ve talked about it.”
“I swear I’ll take care of it.”
He sighed. “We’ll see.”
She sat up and gathered the cat into her lap. “That means no.”
“No, it means we’ll see.”
She pressed a kiss to the top of Trick’s head. “Can I come see her again?”
“Sure,” I answered before there was a meltdown.
Gideon looked up at me. “Don’t make that promise. She’ll never let you forget it.”
I shrugged. “She likes the company. I mean, if you want.”
“I want.” She lifted Trick as she struggled to get her butt out of the hole she’d made in the beanbag chair. I took Trick from her before the cat got pissy.
Trick settled into the crook of my arm where she liked it best, and Dani gave me the big cow eyes I hated. She stood on her tiptoes and gave the cat a kiss. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Might not be tomorrow, squirt,” Gideon said with a wince.
“What if Karen is still sick tomorrow? Am I staying with Grumps?” She hissed as she stepped on her ankle.
“We’ll figure it out.”
“She’s fine at the café if you get in a bind.”
Gideon stood. “Are you sure?”
I shrugged. “She created a whole children’s reading hour today. There may be a riot if she doesn’t come back.”
“Is that so?” He ruffled Dani’s bangs.
She batted his hand away. “Better than crying kids. Besides, she’s got good books.”
Brewed Awakening had become a bit of a local library since my patrons had been using it as a dumping ground for old books. I didn’t mind. I’d stolen a few books off the shelves myself for the nights when sleep wouldn’t come.
So, that would be a damn lot of books lately.
Between the stress of The Haunt and my own inability to turn my brain off, sleep was non-existent. I yawned as if on cue.
Gideon scooped his daughter up, somehow managing the crutch too. “Looks like you might need a nap before tonight.”
“Yeah, about tonight.” Trick wiggled out of my hold and zipped across the room. I didn’t know what to do with my hands now.
“Nope. No renegging.”
I twisted my wet towel. “I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Dad, I don’t need you to carry me.”
“Indulge me.” He hooked Dani onto his hip, her long legs dangling even with Gideon’s height. “Say thank you to Macy.”
“Thanks for watching me. Even if I don’t need a babysitter.”
I tried to hide my smile. I understood how it was to want to be grown up before your time. I’d been the same to try to make things easier on my mom. “You’re welcome.”
“I’ll see you later.”
I rushed ahead of them to open the door. “Right.”
Dani waved at me then at Trick, who’d reappeared to wind around my ankles. “
Bye Trick.”
With one more smile over his shoulder, Gideon disappeared down the hallway to stairs.
I looked down at my cat. She was obviously contemplating a trip after them. Before she could dash, I scooped her up and closed the door. “We are taking a nap.”
Trick’s green eyes were unreadable, but she seemed amenable. Five minutes later, were were all piled in my bed—Isis had joined the party now that the enemies had left the field. I’d traded my robe for an old Garfield nightshirt and blinked out before my head hit the pillow.
Ten minutes later, Rylee was shaking my shoulder. At least it felt like it. “There better be blood or fire involved.”
“What?” Rylee hopped on my bed.
“Why are you waking me up?” I pulled the pillow over my head. It was so hard for me to actually sleep, but the fact that I’d blinked out half a second after Gideon left did not bear scrutiny.
Nope. Not at all.
“Uh, you have a date?”
“So.” I lifted the pillow to look at my bedside clock. “I have two hours. Go away.”
“Nope. I’m here to girlify you.”
“I’ve been dressing myself for a long time. I’m good.”
She smacked my ass. “Nope. We’re going to go with something a little more impressive than a rude T-shirt and yoga pants.”
I sat up with a groan. “I have a nice ass. Yoga pants work.”
“Jeans work better.”
“Jeans are binding.” I yawned and pushed my tangled hair out of my face. Sleeping while it was wet was never a good idea.
Rylee put her hands on her hips. “I have more work to do than I thought.”
“Gee, thanks.”
She grabbed her ocean-liner of a purse off the end of the bed. “Let’s get to work.”
“God, kill me.”
“Nope, we’re going to kill Gideon instead.”
“It’s our first date. Can we wait to slay him until I at least get a steak out of the deal?”
Rylee yanked me off the bed and pushed me into the bathroom. “I make no promises.”
Eight
“You’re going on like a real date? With kissing and stuff?”
I pulled on my jacket and narrowed my eyes at Dani. “Not all dates have kissing, young lady.”
“Boy, he sounds like a proper fuddy-duddy, doesn’t he, Ginger Snap?” My dad didn’t even look up from his newspaper.