It's A Wonderful Midlife Crisis (Good To The Last Death #1) - Robyn Peterman Page 0,23

manscaping, he really should have had a go at his back. From now on, she was going to stick to BOB—all he needed was batteries and he wasn’t hairy. And if she ever banged a dude again, she would be sure to check his back first. The end.”

“Brilliant,” Jennifer bellowed as she bent forward in laughter.

“Oh my goodness,” June said, fanning herself and giggling. “He was that hairy?”

“He was,” I said, wrinkling my nose. “And he showed up the next morning to tell me he was smarter than me.”

“Get out of town,” Jennifer shouted. “That deserves a knee to the balls.”

Heather was cackling. Missy shook her head and chuckled.

I felt awesome and free. Maybe forty would be a good year after all. My mortifying life could be turned into a stand-up act. June’s high-pitched giggle made me laugh harder. She was blood red and fanning herself like it was August. Even Donna the Destroyer thought I was hilarious. She sprinted around the shop barking and licking everyone’s shoes. I decided to go with the fact that she hadn’t peed on anyone as a compliment.

Taking a deep and ridiculous bow, I realized I hadn’t laughed this hard in a long time. Maybe I’d been taking everything too seriously. Of course, I was losing my mind and hanging out with dead people. Maybe I could work that into my act.

All of a sudden the laughter turned to silence—a horrible, eerie silence.

Son of a bitch. Had Stan walked into the shop? I didn’t like him or his pompous preppy ass at all, but I wouldn’t purposely call him out in front of anyone but my nearest and dearest. The saving grace was that I didn’t use his name. Thank God for small favors. When would I freaking learn to keep my mouth shut?

“We were just going back to work,” June said in a shaky voice.

“Yep,” Jennifer agreed, hightailing it out of the shop. “Just getting a quick coffee.”

Heather wasn’t in as much of a hurry, and I was still too terrified to turn around and see the fury—or heaven forbid, hurt—on Stan’s face.

“It’s all good,” Heather said smoothly, patting my back.

“Is it Stan?” I whispered.

“Umm… no,” she said. “Not Stan.”

“Thank God,” I muttered as I turned around—and wanted to melt into the floor.

It wasn’t Stan. It wasn’t Clarissa either, which would have been my next guess from the reactions of June and Jennifer. No. It was far worse. And the most awful part was that I wasn’t sure when he’d walked in or how much he’d heard.

“Hello, Daisy,” he said, looking like he’d jumped off the pages of one of the stupid romance novels we’d been making fun of. “I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself properly yesterday. My name is Gideon… and I’m not hairy.”

Shit. Well, there was the answer to my question. He’d heard the whole thing. How much more could I humiliate myself in front of the same man? Apparently, a lot.

“What are you doing here, Gideon?” Heather asked coolly as she leaned on the counter and eyed him suspiciously. “Shouldn’t you be lawyering right now?”

Holy cow, I couldn’t believe she’d used his first name. I didn’t know his last name, but I assumed Heather did. Her lack of fear was going to get her canned. I knew she was protective of me, but she wasn’t going down for me.

Gideon smiled. It was positively blinding—even Missy was charmed, and she was a tough nut to crack. And Donna the Destroyer? She was a traitor. She ran right up to the dangerous man and danced at his feet like she’d eaten a vat of sugar.

“Heather brought me some paperwork,” I said quickly in a voice that sounded suspiciously breathy even to my own ears. I held it up for proof with a trembling hand and stuffed it into my purse. “She’s going back to the office now. And I’m… umm… leaving.”

“Heather, I’ll see you back at the office,” Gideon said pleasantly, but clearly dismissing her. By the tone of his voice, it was obvious he wasn’t usually disobeyed.

Heather didn’t disappoint him. She narrowed her eyes and then nodded curtly. “Yep. See you back at the office.”

Giving me a look that I couldn’t decipher, Heather slowly left the shop.

“Daisy, may I have a word with you?” Gideon asked.

The way he said my name made my insides clench and my knees weaken. What was it about this guy? Sure, he was pretty to look at, but he was so clearly dangerous I