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He raises an eyebrow at me. “Aren’t trolls largely galumphing idiots who mainly keep to themselves?”
I point at the sludge where there used to be plants. “You want all your woods to look like this?” When he shakes his head, I continue, “We can probably convince them to leave. Maybe I won’t have to hurt them.”
His face is full of concern, but he’s nodding. “Yeah sure. Let’s go back to the house. We can do some more research to see how we can talk—”
My daily “Go pick up the kids” alarm cuts him off. “Sorry. Time’s up for today.” I grimace but then divulge other insights I had read as we walk back to my car. “They need a place to hide from the sun, so I think that big hill must have some kind of cave in it somewhere.”
He murmurs a bit to himself as he thinks before letting me in on his revelation. “Now that you mention it, an old fox den used to be in there. I don’t know if it’s still there or if it would even be big enough for a troll, but we can look for it next time.”
“You’d be surprised. The myth of their size is purely conjecture. They’re pretty close to human-size in actuality. They can even disguise themselves to look more human.”
“I had no idea!”
I smile. “I know, me neither! I just read it today in your library. You learn something new every day, I suppose.”
As we approach my car, a thought comes to my mind. It’s probably reckless, but I don’t care anymore. “I have a crazy idea.” I say this as if it’s a throw-away line, but his raised brows tell me that I’ve piqued his interest. “Want to come over for dinner? Meet my kids?”
He rocks back and forth from one foot to the other, hands fidgeting, looking uncomfortable in his own skin. “Wha, what will you tell them?”
I shrug and look down at the ground, acting as if I haven’t thought about this exact scenario a million times. “I’ll tell them you’re my personal trainer. That you’ve been working with Jake sometimes too. And since you’re becoming a bigger part of our lives, you might be around sometimes now.” In response to his apparent hesitation, I add, “That is how I met Eliza. She wasn’t my trainer, but wedidmeet at the gym. So, it’s not like there’s no precedent here.”
He looks off into the distance before he looks into my eyes and responds, “This is going to be interesting. What time?”
We agree on a quarter to six, since my family’s routine pretty much dictates dinner at six o’clock sharp. Then I head off to get the kids, my stomach flipping with nerves.
There is a definite chance this is going to piss Jake off, but George is a big part of our world now, and the two men in my life are going to have to learn to play nice together. The last six months have been torturous, keeping my kids in the dark about this whole Guardian thing, hoping they don’t notice when I come home wincing after a particularly grueling sparring session. So far, I’ve been successful in my deception. But it doesn’t make lying to my kids any easier because I know they’re not picking up on the deception. I’m not ready to tell them tonight, but I think that time is coming fast, and maybe it will soften the blow if they know and like George.
Chapter 6
Jake
Atmydesk,Itap my pen, hoping that if I can move that little end up and down fast enough, I won’t lose my shit on my biggest client’s useless agent. Just as we finally get into the meat of our conversation, my phone lights up with Miranda’s face and starts buzzing. It’s four forty-five, so I’m technically not late, especially for a Monday night. She’s probably just calling to see when I’ll be home. Whatever it is, it will have to wait.
“Yeah, I hear you, Dave. But the thing is, he doesn’t care. You know he’s been looking for more serious roles. Why aren’t you getting him the auditions?”
I don’t listen to the hemming and hawing this guy fills his end of the conversation with, as Miranda is calling once again. I should probably get it. “No. No excuses. Just get him in the room, okay?”
And that’s when I get the text that snaps me right the hell out of work mode. “Dave, I gotta go. Yeah. You’re the best. Thanks.”
FYI, George is coming over for dinner. I’ll tell the kids he’s our personal trainer.
Oh, and I have to go back to his place later to hunt some trolls.
Real trolls, not the internet kind…
Thanks for understanding. Love you.
Umm, what now? I thought I made it clear that I want to spend less time with George. I can’t imagine she took that to mean I want the guy over to our house for dinner. And I don’t understand why she would want to bring this Guardian shit home to be around the kids. On some level, of course I realize that she had no choice in being The Chosen One. But it still scares the hell out of me that she has to be involved in this stuff. I hate that she is in so much danger at all times. And after what happened to me with the muses…I’m terrified of any part of that world coming near our kids. I don’t know how either of us would handle it if one of them was kidnapped or hurt.
I need to find out what could possibly be going through her head, so I put my office phone on do not disturb and call her back from my cell. My pinky taps on my desk like a hummingbird flapping its wings while I wait through three rings before she finally picks up.
“Hello?” Her voice lilts, questioning who’s calling as if her phone doesn’t display my nameandpicture when I call.
“Hi. What the fuck?” Perhaps my words are a little harsh for a greeting. But seriously, what the fuck?
“Wow. Okay then. Nice to hear from you too.” Her tone is dry and not nearly as offended as it should be. A piece of my brain thinks maybe I’ve made her nervous, but how could she expect any other reaction from me?
“Nope. Sorry. You don’t get to make me feel bad for how I respond to that text. Why is George coming over for dinner? Where did he get that idea?” The word “he” drips with vitriol.
