Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Winter
Leaving Miles’s house this morning hadn’t been easy. I’d wanted nothing more than to curl around him, hold him tight, and sleep the day away with him in my arms. We could’ve had breakfast in bed, hung out for the day, and just… been together.
But obviously, that hadn’t happened. I had too much to do this morning, and I really wanted to tell my boss that I quit.
The thought made me smile a little bit.
After taking my puppers for a walk, showering, eating, and getting ready for the day, I gave Goliath a big hug and whispered, “I’m sorry I have to go to work, big guy. I’ll be home as soon as I can, okay?”
He leaned into me and licked my ear, making me jerk back in surprise and laugh. “Eww. Why my ear of all places?”
He licked my ear again.
“Blech.” I let go of him and stepped back. “Apparently my ear’s tasty today.” I petted his head, blowing kisses at his cute face. “I’m sorry you have to stay here all alone.” I kissed his snout. “Too bad you can’t stay over at Miles’s place with Odin—and maybe Sola?—while we’re at work.”
He tried to lick my face, but I jumped back with a laugh.
“Yeah, I knew you’d like the sound of that.
I wonder who would be watching who?” I stared at my big, goofy Great Dane and snorted.
“Yeah, pretty sure Odin will be bossing you around in no time. He’s a good kitty, but he’s still a cat.
” I kissed his snout again. “And we both know that cats think they’re the rulers of the world. ”
This time, he gave me a cheek kiss.
“But I don’t think it’s gonna happen anytime soon, buddy. It’d be weird if I was like, ‘Hey, Miles, can my dog hang out with your cat without us all day?’” I snorted at the thought. “No can do, bud. Miles already thinks I’m a weirdo. I don’t need to give the man more ammo.”
With one last pet and kiss on the head, I headed out to my car, ready to face my boss.
The man was going to be pissed. Pissed and surprised since I was a hard worker, hardly ever called out, was always on time, and he was fully aware that I hadn’t been able to find a job anywhere else since no one wanted to hire an ex-con.
A smile formed on my face as I thought about finally getting out of there, finally quitting Faerie Be Gone Pest Control and joining Miles at Carry A Faerie.
I honestly couldn’t wait.
Almost as soon as I pulled away from the house, my best friend, Lyric, called me. I answered, letting the call come through the car’s bluetooth.
“Hey, Lyric,” I said, turning off my street.
“Win!” Their voice came through almost like a screech, and I winced.
“Why do you sound like a damn banshee screaming at me so early in the morning?”
They snorted. “You’re an ass, you know that?”
“Yep.”
They chuckled. “So…”
“So… what?”
“So how did it go?”
Since I loved giving them shit as much as they loved dishing it right back, I said, “How did what go?”
“You know what.”
“Nope.”
“Win!”
“Ugh. Banshee!”
“Asshat!”
I couldn’t help but laugh, and after a few seconds, I admitted, “It went great.”
“Ooooohhhh. Really? That’s awesome. I’m not surprised. You two are sickeningly adorable together.”
That made me grin. “Don’t be jealous.”
“Of you? Psh. No way.”
Another laugh escaped me. “You totally are.”
“Ugh. Fine. I’m maayyyybee a tiny, itty bitty, little bit jealous that you’ve found the love of your life.”
I snorted. “We’ve been dating for like two days. Well, I guess this is day three?”
“Day three, yep. And don’t act like you don’t think Miles is the love of your life. You’ve been in love with the guy since high school.”
“I didn’t know him back then, and we’re still getting to know each other now.”
Lyric paused for a beat, then asked in a sort of rushed whisper, “What happened?”
Rolling my eyes at myself—of course Lyric picked up on it—I sighed as I made a turn. “Nothing.”
“Win. Spill.”
“Ugh, fine. So… we had a visitor last night.”
“From the sound of your voice, I can’t tell if this was a person visit, a ghost visit, or some other kind of… creature.”
“Why would I call a ghost or creature a visitor?”
“I don’t know, but now you’re trying to stall. Spill it, Winter Alexander Montgomery, or I’m gonna show up at your work and kick your little tush.”
“My tush isn’t little.”
“Winter!”
“My god, you’re feisty this morning.”
“I’m on my third cup of coffee. Sue me.”
I glanced at the clock in shock. “It’s barely eight-thirty in the morning.”
“I’m well aware. Stop changing the subject. Who came to visit you two?”
“This… guy. A detective.”
Lyric sucked in a huge breath. “Winter, tell me you and Miles aren’t in trouble.”
I rolled my eyes again. “Of course we aren’t.”
“Good. I can’t go through you in prison again. I won’t survive without seeing my bestie at least four times a week.”
Shaking my head at them, I snorted. “You’re ridiculous.”
“Yes, yes, I’m fabulous. You can tell me again.”
“That’s not—you know what? Never mind. My lovely, fabulous best friend, the guy was Miles’s ex-partner.”
“Ohh. Oh no. You met the ex already? I can’t believe Miles dated a detective.”
“No, they didn’t date. They were work partners.”
For once in their life, Lyric was quiet for a full thirty seconds—definitely some kind of record. Finally, they said, “Miles was a detective? Is that what you’re telling me?”
“Yep.” I popped the P.
“Wow.”
“Right?”
“I… never would’ve guessed.”
“Me either. I knew he quit his job five years ago to open Carry A Faerie, but he never told me what he did before. Apparently, he was a detective.”
Lyric let out a long whistle. “Wow. I did not see that coming.”
“Me either.”
“You’re worried. I can hear it in your voice. What the hell are you worried about?”
“He was a detective, Lyr. A fucking detective.”
“So?”
“And I’m an ex-con.”
“Again, so?”
“Lyric.” I sighed.
“You told me before that you told Miles about your past the first day you two worked together. He’s known this whole time, and he hasn’t treated you any differently.
He clearly likes you—a lot. Trust me, it’s almost disgusting when I look at you two.
It’s like you both have cartoon hearts in your eyes.
He cares about you, Win. Your past, his past, it doesn’t matter.
Right now, right here, he cares about you and wants to date you. You have nothing to worry about.”
I took a deep breath as I absorbed everything they were saying. They were right, of course. I knew they were. But there was still this little niggle of worry in the back of my head that didn’t want to go away.
“Win… you still like him, right?”
I barked out a strained laugh as I pulled into a parking spot outside the main office of Faerie Be Gone Pest Control. “Obviously. He’s the sweetest guy and sexy as hell and funny and just… everything.”
“Well, there you go. You like him, he likes you. Everything else is just noise.”
“Yeah, but… how does it look for a detective—”
“Ex-detective.”
“Whatever. For Miles to be dating an ex-con?”
“Winter, babes, you’re being so stupid right now.”
My eyebrows rose. “What?”
“You heard me. You’re being stupid. If Miles doesn’t care—which all evidence points to no, he doesn’t give two shits about it—then why the hell are you worrying?”
“I—”
“No. You have nothing to worry about. Miles likes you. End of story. Now stop being stupid and take advantage of the hot man in your bed—or you in his bed or whatever. You know what I mean.”
I couldn’t help but snort at them, but then I sighed, long and drawn-out. “I hear you.”
“Good.”
“I know you’re right.”
“I’m always right. Obviously.”
Shaking my head, I turned my car off. “Thanks, Lyr. That… that helped.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“I have to go. I just got to the office.” A thought occurred to me, and I couldn’t help but smirk. “I’m having dinner with Miles tonight, so I’ll call you before that. But I have to go.”
“You don’t start till nine.”
“I know, but I have to go quit my job. Alright, love you, bye!” I clicked the end key to the sound of their squawk of protest, the smirk still on my face.
Lyric had no idea that Miles had asked me to work for him, so they didn’t know why I’d be quitting. Ha. Take that, my know-it-all bestie.
Quickly, I sent the email that was waiting in my drafts. With a pep in my step, I headed toward the office and took a deep breath for courage before I stepped inside.
Gracie, the woman who ran the phones, waved at me, already taking a call and setting up a time for one of us to go out and take care of what sounded like a pixie problem.
I held up my hand in greeting and pointed to the boss’s office. She nodded and waved me in, so I went over and knocked.
“Come in,” a deep voice called out.
So with one more breath for courage, I pushed my way into my boss’s office.
I’d worked for the man for over a decade, and he still always looked at me like I was the scum on his shoe.
I didn’t like him. At all. And the feeling was clearly mutual, even though he’d never had to reprimand me for a single thing the entire time I worked here.
Derrick Geddie had a balding head that he tried to cover up with wisps of hair brushed over—it looked horrible; why not just embrace the baldness?
—and gray eyes that made me feel like I was under a microscope.
He had thin lips, rosy cheeks, a wide nose, and a bit of a beer belly these days since he was usually stuck behind the desk.
Back when I started working here, he used to come on jobs with us.
I definitely wasn’t sad when he stopped.
If ever there was a person who made me uncomfortable in their presence, it was Derrick Geddie.
“What can I do you for, Mr. Montgomery?” Mr. Geddie asked, only half looking up from the mound of paperwork on his desk.
Since I didn’t really know what else to do, I jumped right into it. “I’d like to give my two-weeks’ notice.”