Welcome to Pucker Up Monday

It’s not what you think, lol. Since Mondays do tend to suck, I thought I’d try to start the week off right for y’all. 

Tuesday Teaser

Chapter Six – Kit

THE NEXT few days were a whirlwind of activity , and the weekend had finally arrived. It’d been a good week. He and Beckett worked well together and even had exchanged phone numbers. He thought they were becoming friends. 

He’d also been told that someone would be tailing him after he left work too. Hudson had once again sent a picture of the dragon who’d be following him around after work. 

This time, though, his babysitter would just be keeping an eye on him. In other words, he wouldn’t be working with them like he did with Beckett.

Kit hadn’t been entirely sure how he felt about that, but it made sense. There wasn’t any point in only keep an eye on him during the day. That left all night for bad things to happen. At least Kit had been told. He was already paranoid enough without adding in someone following him that he didn’t know about.

Standing in the doorway of his office, Kit looked the space over with a critical eye. He’d finished painting the space and now had it furnished. He really liked the colors, and it gave the smaller room a bright, airy feeling.

He was rather happy with the outcome.

And speaking of happy outcomes, Beckett had been a godsend. Or maybe he should say a dragonsend. Was there such a word? If not, there definitely should be. 

Beckett hadn’t been joking when he said he was a book lover. He could talk about any author Kit brought up. They’d had long discussions over the classics—including funny little stories about a certain English playwright, poet, and actor from long ago that Beckett had met.

Shakespeare. Beckett had freaking met William Shakespeare.

It boggled Kit’s mind just how long Beckett had obviously been alive. In fact, he wasn’t entirely sure how old Beckett was. Was it polite to ask? Yeah, probably not.

Dammit. 

But after spending several days in Beckett’s company, it was fairly obvious the man was much older than he looked—and he looked to be in his early thirties at the very least.

And had Kit mentioned Beckett was drop-dead gorgeous? Kind too. He was always willing to lend a hand, whether it was something Kit or one of his employees needed. He treated everyone in the store with the utmost respect also.

Beckett was perfect in every way—and he did absolutely nothing for Kit’s libido. Not even a spark. Just nothing. Kit really needed to have a serious conversation with his libido. 

Maybe he could trade it in for a new one, because obviously there was something wrong with his. It made him want to beat his head against the nearest wall.

He’s only been half kidding about being terminally single, but it appeared his body took his comment as the gospel.

Fuck his life. 

“Hey. Ready to call it a day?” Beckett asked, coming to a stop next to Kit.

“Yup.” Kit followed Beckett to the front of the store, set the alarm, and locked the door. Beckett had made it a point to always walk Kit out to his car, which Kit appreciated.

Kit unlocked his car door and opened it. “Thanks. Have a good weekend. I’ll see you Monday.”

Beckett rested his hand on Kit’s car door. “Hey, listen, do you have plans this weekend?”

Oh no. Kit sincerely hoped Beckett wasn’t about to ask him out. The only feelings he had toward Beckett were those of friendship. “Not really. Why?”

“You know you have somebody trailing you, but if you do decide to go out, make sure you always stay with crowds. Just to be safe,” Beckett said. “I mean, in this day and age, that goes without saying anyway, you know?”

“Believe me, I know.” Kit wanted to hug Beckett. He really was the nicest person ever. “But no, more than likely I’ll stay home. I’m not really in the mood to party.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, but I do understand. Okay, I’ll see you Monday.” Beckett pushed Kit’s car door closed, waved, then walked over to his truck. 

Kit  started his car and pulled out of the parking lot, Beckett right behind him. He’d follow Kit all the way to his apartment complex before breaking off and heading home. Wherever home was for Beckett. 

Kit also knew what the dragon who was watching him drove. He thought his name was Leo. Maybe it was Leon. No, no, it was Leo. Like the Zodiac sign. Except he was a dragon, not a lion. 

But didn’t the sign have something to do with fire? Maybe? Which made sense, considering that Leo was a red dragon who breathed fire and… and good grief, can you say squirrel brain? 

Anyway, Beckett had introduced him to Kit. How Leo managed to sit there all night without drawing any attention was beyond Kit. But then again, Kit had no idea just how influential Hudson was. 

Oh, he’d definitely googled Hudson, and he knew the man was insanely rich, just like his good buddy Kage. No doubt about it, money talked. Must be nice.

Kit parked in the underground parking reserved for his apartment building. He lived on the tenth floor and had a fairly decent view, thank goodness. 

The layout of his apartment was one where you entered through the kitchen. The reason for that were the floor-to-ceiling windows at the other end. His apartment had lots of natural light, even if it was small. 

He hung his keys up next to the front door, then locked it. The kitchen was open concept to the living area with a small island between the two. The flooring was some sort of fake light gray hardwood and the walls were white. 

Even the cabinets in the kitchen were light gray. The countertops were gray marble. There was a whole lot of damn gray, so of course Kit combated it with pops of color everywhere. 

The living area only had enough room for a couch, a small chair, and the TV. The bedroom and bathroom pretty much followed the same theme: gray flooring and white walls. 

It wasn’t a bad apartment, it was just… an apartment. He’d grown up surrounded by nature with lots and lots of room to roam. Sometimes it was hard to breathe in this little boxy thing.

He’d kill to have a garden again.

Kit changed into pink yoga pants and an oversized T-shirt that looked as if it had been splattered with pink and orange paint. Tying one part of it into a knot on his hip, he padded out of his bedroom. Flipping his hair over his shoulder, he made a beeline for the kitchen.

Time for wine.

Curling up on the couch with his drink, he turned on the TV. It was a little early to think about dinner, so he decided he’d pick up where he’d left off rewatching Game of Thrones. Hello badass dragons! Then maybe he’d have dinner delivered from his favorite Italian restaurant down the street. 

Honestly, what could be better than that? Maybe if he said it a few more million times, he’d believe it.

Welcome to Pucker Up Monday

 It’s not what you think, lol. Since Mondays do tend to suck, I thought I’d try to start the week off right for y’all. 

Tuesday Teaser

 

Of course, Kit hadn’t explained to his employees why his ex-boyfriend was now an ex. All he’d said was that Don had done something horrible, and Kit had dumped him.

Which, basically, was true. Thanks to that, Kit had decided he was going to be terminally single.

“Right. But are they’re going to believe I suddenly hired a new employee with no warning, either?” Kit rubbed his forehead as he stared into space.

Finding out about paranormals was a huge pain in his ass. How did people deal with this stuff? Just lie all the time? He was a horrible liar. Just ask anyone who knew him.

“There’s no way around it, I’m going to have to act like he’s an employee. That’s the only thing that would make sense.” Kit sincerely hoped Beckett was willing to play along. 

While Kit waited on his food, he tried to get as much painted as he could. A picture of Beckett also came in. No doubt about it, the guy was good-looking, and in the picture at least, he looked friendly. Shrugging, Kit slid his phone back into his pocket. Frankly, after the disastrous ending of his last relationship, he was kind of off men at the moment.

About twenty minutes later, he scrubbing the paint off his hands so he could eat. Sitting at his desk, he dug in. He inhaled his sandwich he was so hungry. He’d really worked up an appetite paining, which was nice since that too had been off lately.

Kit had just eaten the last chip when another one of his employees popped her head into his office to tell him he had a visitor. Figuring it was Beckett, he cleaned up the remains of his lunch, tossed his trash, and made a quick trip to the employees’ bathroom to wash his hands.

Butterflies took flight in his stomach as he made his way up front. He was about to meet a real live dragon. That was excitingly terrifying. 

He spotted Beckett almost immediately, and he had to say, the picture really didn’t do the guy justice. He was simply gorgeous. As luck would have it, he was standing in a beam of sunlight that made his reddish gold hair blaze. 

“Hey!” Kit came to a stop in front of Beckett and held out his hand. “I’m Kit Meadows.”

Beckett shook Kit’s hand. “Nice to meet you, Kit. I’m Beckett Newhouse. I believe you’re expecting me?”

“Yes.” Kit took note of the red hair and brown eyes. “Why don’t we go back to my office?”

“Sounds good.”

As Kit led back Beckett back, the previous mentioned butterflies were now doing cartwheels in his stomach. And get this. Now that he knew paranormals existed, he was uncomfortable having one at his back. Which was silly, really. He had firsthand knowledge how useless he was at defending himself against one, so why worry about it, right?

Yeah, no. He was not gonna relive that again. Nope.

“Come on in. I’m in the process of moving my office, so things are a mess right now. Sorry about that. Damn.” Well, he was certainly an idiot. “There’s nowhere for you to sit. Just a second, let me go grab a chair from our breakroom. Sorry.”

“Hey, it’s not a problem. I completely understand.”

“Be right back.” Kit hurried down the hall, grabbed the chair, and rushed back to his office. Seriously, where was his brain lately? He said it down in front of his desk.

“Thank you,” Beckett said taking a seat.

Kit collapsed into his desk chair and blew a stray stand of hair out of his face. “Really, I’m usually much more organized than this.”

“Kit, it’s okay. Hudson explained everything. Of course you’re rattled after what you went through.”

Kit leaned his head back and stared up at ceiling. “It’s been an adjustment, that’s for sure.” Kit straightened up in his chair and then made eye contact with Beckett. “Anyway, sorry you got stuck with babysitting duty, but I really do appreciate you being here.”

“Don’t look at it as babysitting duty, and I’m thrilled to be here. Hudson did tell you I love books, right?”

“Yes, he did.”

“And he did tell you that I am more than willing to help out around here, right?”

“He did. I don’t want you to feel obligated, though. I don’t know if you have another job or whatever, but—”

“It’s fine, I promise.”

“Okay. Okay. Sorry.” Lord, he had already apologized twice so far. He needed to stop that. Gah, what an impression he must be making. “I guess I’m still somewhat overwhelmed.”

“Again, that’s not surprising, all things considered. It’s going to be okay, Kit. I’m pleased to be here and more than willing to help out. And also? Just so we’re clear? You’re not a burden, just in case that thought may be lurking around in your head.”

“I mean… yeah. It is. And I am. I’m just sorry Hudson got stuck with… me.” Oh look, third time apologizing.

“My king was asked by his dear friend to watch over you. In other words, Kage honored Hudson by entrusting your care to Hudson. I’m honored my king gave that duty to me.”

“Wow, that’s…. Yeah.” What a beautiful thing to say. “Thank you. That helps.”

“I’m glad, because I meant it. Now, I see you’ve started painting. Would you like to have a helping hand?”

“Seriously?” Because really, who willingly offered to help paint? Who did stuff like that?

“Seriously. Between the two of us, I believe we can get this done in a matter of hours. I like the color, by the way.”

Apparently, dragons did stuff like that. More than happy to have help, Kit stood. “That would be awesome and thank you.”

 “I never would’ve thought of combining those two colors, but they definitely work together. You have a good eye.”

“I know, right, and thanks! Oh hey, by the way, I’m going to tell everybody here you’re a new hire,” Kit said. “For a bookstore, we’re pretty busy, and several of the ladies here have been on me to hire somebody to help me out. So I’m going to say you’re my new assistant.”

“Excellent idea. In that case, let me assist you in painting this room.” Grinning, Beckett stood too.

Laughing, Kit led Beckett over to the cans of paint.