A Most Excellent Midlife Crisis - Robyn Peterman Page 0,38

he opened the driver’s side door and stepped out of the car.

Dammit. I probably should have asked a few more potential sex partner questions. However, banging outside in the winter hadn’t come up on the list.

“Why don’t we do it in the car,” I called out, shivering as a chilly wind whipped through the interior.

“You cold?” Gideon inquired with amusement in his tone.

“It’s winter,” I reminded him with an eye roll. “If you think you’re going to get me naked in thirty-degree weather, we need to chat.”

Again, he laughed.

As always, his laugh made me weak.

However, not weak enough to bang in a bone-chilling outdoor backdrop.

“Dude. Seriously,” I complained. “This really isn’t working for me.”

“Hush,” Gideon said, opening my door and extending his hand. “You said you trusted me.”

Nodding my head, I sighed. “I did,” I admitted. “But if this is your idea of sexy and romantic, we have a problem.”

“Come with me.”

Gideon took my hand and led me away from the warm car. The sound of frozen leaves crunching beneath our shoes didn’t really set the right mood as far as I was concerned, but I’d told him I trusted him. And I would keep on trusting him until he suggested removing even one item of clothing in this cold.

“How far are we walking?” I asked.

“Till we get there,” he answered with a grin.

“You’re one of those guys,” I muttered.

“Yep,” he agreed with a chuckle.

As we carefully walked down a wide tree-lined trail, the air warmed dramatically—to about eighty degrees. I sucked in a shocked breath and glanced up at Gideon.

“Trust me,” he whispered.

“I do.”

The trail opened up to a breathtaking garden that in no way, shape or form should have been alive this time of year. Enormous cream-colored lilies—bigger than any I’d ever seen—shone in the brilliant starlight and spilled from delicate trellises. Tall grasses swayed seductively and the warm breeze rushed over my cheeks like a caress. Flowering vines of riotous colors made a fragrant wall around the garden.

“What the heck?” I gasped. My mouth had fallen open and I wondered if we had walked into a different dimension.

“Still trust me?” Gideon asked, enjoying my reaction.

“Yes,” I said, grinning like an idiot. “How?”

“A beautiful woman deserves to be surrounded by beauty when…”

“When she’s about to check out the Grim Reaper’s balls?” I inquired, trying to keep a straight face, but failing.

“Among other things,” he shot back dryly, removing his winter coat and tossing it to the ground.

I shrugged and removed my coat as well. When in Rome—or wherever we were…

“Can I ask where we are?” I questioned, smelling one of the roses as I wandered the garden.

“You may,” Gideon said, watching me.

I waited for the answer but it never came. Eyeing him with amused annoyance, I blew out an audible sigh. “I have to ask twice?”

“I think there are many things you might ask twice for this evening,” he replied casually as he removed his shirt.

I almost fainted.

“Oh my god,” I choked out. “That should be illegal.”

Gideon was otherworldly beautiful—the ridiculous kind of gorgeous—gray-blue eyes, messy blond hair and a rock-hard body. It made me a little self-conscious about removing my own clothes.

However, the naked lust shining in his eyes did a whole hell of a lot for my ego.

Glancing away to squash the insane impulse to tackle him to the ground, I repeated my question. “Where are we?”

“Do you not like what you see?” Gideon asked, observing me bury my head in a lilac bush.

“I like it too much,” I told him truthfully with my head still in the bush. “I don’t really trust myself not to attack you.”

“The feeling is mutual,” he admitted. “Being attacked by you would be outstanding.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” I replied, turning around and squinting my eyes. It made him appear a little blurry. However, even blurred the man was just as hot. Damn. “I knocked down a tree and pulled a car door off its hinges. If I were you, I’d be worried about my balls.”

Gideon’s burst of laughter was all I needed to let go of my inhibitions. It was probably a very good thing he was Immortal, since I was unsure of my own strength.

“We’ll get to my balls shortly,” he said. “As to where we are? We’re on a piece of property I recently bought.”

Glancing around, I took it in. It was magical. I still had a difficult time getting comfortable with the magic, but it didn’t scare me. Magic was a part of the