A Fool's Gold Christmas (Fool's Gold #9.5)(60)

Gideon’s face took on the expression of a trapped animal. Despite the ache in her heart, she started to laugh.

“I’ll stop talking now,” she said. “You look like you’re going to faint.”

“I don’t like the emotional stuff.”

“But you’re all one with the universe.”

“That’s different. I can be in the moment.”

“As long as it’s not an emotional moment?”

“So the system is flawed.” He seemed to gather strength. “Are you all right? Can I, ah, help?”

“You’re sweet, but, no. I’m fine.” She grinned. “So the big tough guy thing is just an act?”

“Some people are afraid of spiders.”

“You’re afraid of emotions.”

He shuddered. “I avoid them. But I could storm a South American country and overthrow a dictator if that would help.”

“Not this week, but I do appreciate the offer.” She stared at him. “You’re really strange.”

“I get that a lot.” He picked up one of the two microphones and handed it to her. “I’m ready whenever you are.”

“I’ll get the girls.”

She walked to the center of the stage. Gideon was dangerous, she thought. The kind of man who knew things, had seen things, the rest of the world could only guess at. But in the end, Dante was more lethal. Gideon might be capable of overthrowing a government, but Dante had shattered her heart.

The really sad part was if he walked in the door this second and begged her to take him back, she would. In a second. Which meant a trip to the self-help section of the local bookstore was in order. She needed some serious healing.

But that, too, was for later.

She turned on the microphone and faced her dancers.

“Thank you all for coming,” she said. “I’m so excited about this show. Each of you has worked so hard. You should be proud of yourselves.” She paused and smiled. “All right. Let’s start from the top, shall we?”

Chapter Nineteen

“Hey, big guy,” Evie said as she walked into her townhouse. She’d just taken her dancers through a second day of rehearsing the entire show. “It went really well. I’m so proud of them.”

She paused in the living room, not sure where to find Alexander. The cat had only been living with her for a few days, and they didn’t have much of a routine yet. But as she shrugged out of her coat, she heard a soft “meow” from the stairs.

Alexander stood about halfway down, his green eyes wide, his expression expectant.

“Hi, you,” she said, walking toward him. “How was your afternoon? Did you sleep in the sun?”

She moved up a few steps, and he moved down. They met somewhere near the bottom. She sank onto the carpeted stairs and began to stroke him. He stepped close and rubbed his head against her hand. His kitty eyes closed, and he purred.

“Wow, that’s some greeting,” she said. She slowly picked him up, careful to support his rear, and held him in her arms. He relaxed against her, his whole body vibrating with a contented rumble.

“I’m going to assume you’re happy to see me and not anticipating that dinner is in a few minutes.”

She set him on her lap. He planted his back feet on her thighs and put his front paw on her chest, by her collarbones, then pressed his nose to hers.

She laughed and scratched his chin. “Okay, so that act in the shelter was you playing hard to get, right? You were making sure I was committed before you gave your kitty heart. I can respect that.” Her smile faded. “I should have done the same with Dante. Then I wouldn’t feel so sucky about the whole falling in love thing.”

She scooped him up in her arms and carried him down the stairs. “I stopped at the pet store and got you some canned food to try.” She set him down and reached for the small paper bag she’d carried in with her. “It’s organic and supposed to be very supportive of your urinary health. Apparently we’re going to have to watch that.”

Alexander followed her into the kitchen. She served him a couple of teaspoons of the canned food on a dish and watched him polish off the snack. When he’d finished, he glanced up at her.

“Nice?” she asked. “That was the chicken flavor. I also got tuna.”

She put a lid on the can and stuck it in the refrigerator, then paused to survey the complete lack of people food. While she’d gone to the store, her efforts had been halfhearted at best. She had eggs and milk, along with a couple of apples. In the freezer were a few frozen entrées.

She could order a pizza, she thought. Or go get takeout. But that would be so much effort. It had been different with Dante. Easier. She missed that, and his energy. She missed how he made her laugh and the way she felt in his arms. Mostly she missed him.

Before she could make a decision, or simply collapse on the floor and give in to tears, she heard a knock on the door. For a second, her heart froze.

“It’s not Dante,” she whispered. “He’s gone. Off having sex with an old girlfriend.”

She walked to the living room and pulled open the door. Instead of a lost tourist or a kid selling who-knows-what, she found herself staring at Patience, Heidi, Annabelle, Charlie and several other women it took her a second to place. She saw her mother waving from the back of the group.