Page 5 of Did It Have To Be Gnomes?!
They killed anything and everything they came across, no matter how big or small the faerie was. It was inhumane, gross, and cruel. And I definitely hated them.
And they hated me too, even though I’d never done a thing to them.
At least not until they started messing with me.
I wasn’t sure what I ever did to gain their hate, but maybe they thought I was stealing business from them. Which was ridiculous. We weren’t the only two faerie exterminators in this city, and there were still plenty of pests to go around.
But they started giving me shit a couple of years ago, and I wasn’t one to keep my mouth shut for long.
Now I pestered them as much as they pestered me.
Maybe it wasn’t mature, but did I really have to be matureallthe time?
Sighing in frustration again, I said to the firebird, “Why the hell are they blocking traffic like this? They could’ve pulled into that driveway, for fuck’s sake.”
She let out a little squawk, and I could’ve sworn she was agreeing with me.
“Right? It’s so rude.”
She squawked in agreement again, and it made me grin.
“You’re such a good girl, yes you are.”
This time, she let out a little trilling noise that sounded happy. Damn, she was so adorable. I really did wish I could bring her home with me. But that would be illegal. Firebirds were wild faeries, not pets.
As the firebird and I finally made it up to the Faerie Be Gone vans, I rolled down my window, and when the jerkface known as Tommy came into view, I yelled, “Stop killing faeries, asshole!”
He turned and sneered at me, flipping me off. “Get the fuck outta here, you hippie dickhead.”
I flipped him off right back. “Fuck you.”
“Fuck you more!”
I wrinkled my nose. Did that even make any sense?
Before I could retort, another man walked out from behind the van, and my mouth went dry.
Winter Montgomery stood there, holding a canister, and I all but swooned right there in my car on the side of the road. Winter was taller than me by at least two inches, broad-chested with wide shoulders, toned muscles from walking his dog every day—
I wasn’t a stalker.
Winter lived in my neighborhood, so I saw him with his dog every day.
And if I drank my coffee on the porch each morning at a specific time just to see him walk by, well, no one needed to know that. He didn’t even know it because I sat in the corner that was hard to see from the sidewalk.
But not in a creepy way.
Ugh. That totally sounded creepy. Shit, was I a creep?
No, the guy was just… hot. And I had eyes.
Eyes that liked to eat him up.
I couldn’t help it. Even in the jumpsuit he was wearing now, he looked yummy. But I knew what was under those clothes because I’d seen him shirtless from afar, and phew-ee, I’d had to fan myself.
I swear I’m not a stalker.
Winter’s eyes met mine, and I just about melted on the spot.
