Page 90 of Filthy Fae

When one of the dragon sisters came charging down the hall, I simply called, “Is the building on fire?”

Tara halted and blinked her heavily painted eyelids at me. She was, of course, naked. “No.”

“Then it’s my date night—and my weekend. Call me on Monday.” I sprinted the rest of the way up the stairs only to find one of my tenants blocking my door. I was just about to scream at them when Gretel turned, and a wide grin spread across her wrinkled face. If Gretel had never told me she was a goblin, I would have just assumed that she was an elderly human woman. But like all mountain goblins, Gretel could adjust her age at will, waking up a child going to bed a ninety-year-old or aging anywhere in between. Beside my door, she had leaned her two-handed axe, which from what I understood was a signal that she came to my house as a friend. Reaching out, she offered both of her hands.

The moment I wrapped my fingers in hers, the smell of pine, campfires, and fresh mountain air filled my senses.

“Thank you,” she said.

I shook my head. “All I did was tell the Witch and Wizard Union that if they were looking for an expert plumber, I knew someone who needed work. You did all the rest.”

“They need a lot of work.” She nodded. “Thank you for caring, sweetie. If you’re going to go around doing kind things for people, they’ll want to say thank you.”

She would be surprised.

Gretel smiled. “I hear you’re going on vacation?”

“Vacation?” I teased. “What is that?”

“Oh no. You work so hard.” Her smile dropped. “I hope you do go on vacations.”

“Yeah. I was just joking. Don’t worry about me. We’re going in April. My boyfriend just bought a lake house.”

Her lips puckered into a half-smirk. “Boyfriend or boyfriends?”

I hesitated, but it wasn’t like everyone I truly cared about didn’t already know. Why hide it? “Boyfriends.”

“Oh, that sounds like fun,” she said as she bunched up her shoulders and shook my hands in excitement. From her teasing grin, I could tell she thought we would be having quite a lot of fun.

“All right. I need to get ready for a date.”

She jumped out of my path with a sprightliness that no elderly human possessed. “Don’t let me keep you.”

I rarely took more than twenty minutes to get ready. My life just didn’t give me time for that. But today, I took a long, luxurious bath, blow dried and styled my hair, and tried on several make-up combinations before settling on one. Then I headed for the bedroom I shared with Aaron.

He lay on the bed, his hands behind his head.

I pointed straight at him. “Don’t you dare even consider messing up my make up.”

He held up his hands in surrender. “I am here to help you pick out your outfit on this most momentous occasion only.”

“Better be.”

He nestled back into the bed. “Were you going to try on lingerie first?”

We settled on a black set with sexy garters that held up my sheer pantyhose. Over my lingerie, I slipped into a strapless red dress.

Only when I was fully dressed did Aaron approach me with heat in his eyes and a wicked smile on his lips.

“You are not smearing my make-up, Aaron Knight.”

He leaned down and kissed my neck just below my ear. “I would never,” he whispered. “He’s not going to be able to take his eyes off of you.”

A flutter of anticipation started in my belly.

Aaron leaned back, his eyes simmering with heat. “On the date I’m planning, we’re going to have to wear jumpsuits.”

“Jumpsuits?” I asked with a laugh. “Do I want to know?”