8. Monster Slayer

8

Monster Slayer

Alice

I'm running the bookstore alone today. Hayley is at an away game with the Raptors, and Emma has a dentist appointment. I don't mind, though. I have Mr. Darcy to keep me company and—wait, what the heck was that?

A black shape just sprinted in my peripheral vision, and I'm praying to every god that it's not what I think it is. My eyes narrow on the shape, and my worst fear comes true. There is a spider in my bookstore. A very big, unwelcome spider.

The monstrous thing scurries toward the shelf, and a shriek escapes me. If it disappears underneath, it'll contaminate the shelf, and I won't be able to touch any of those books. Ever.

Merde . It's headed toward the Historical Romance section.

What do I do?

I creep over to Mr. Darcy's corner and pick him up, dropping him a solid ten feet away from the spider.

"Kill it!" I order, but Darcy just looks at me, then at the spider, not understanding what I want with it. "Please," I beg.

Darcy stares at the spider, stalks toward it, and slightly extends his front paw to touch it, which makes it skitter in the opposite direction. Straight toward me. "Don't play with it!" I scream, and Darcy runs off.

Tears start flowing as I sprint to the front of the store and shut the door behind me. I can't go back in now. The spider is right there, between the two display tables. The new sign Deacon put up in front of his bar catches my eye, and a light bulb flickers on in my head. He does owe me a favor.

I rapidly ring his doorbell about a thousand times. This is life or death .

"Geez. What on earth?" he growls, opening the door. "Oh, it's you. What happened? Did you run out of books?" He tries to fold his arms over his chest, but I don't give him the chance. Instead, I grab him by the collar of his shirt.

"I'm cashing in my favor. There's a spider in the store, and I need you to kill it.

He arches an eyebrow, freeing himself from my grip. "Are you serious?"

I channel my inner Emma and drill him with the best death stare I can manage. It seems to do the trick.

"Fine." He breathes out an exasperated sigh and follows me.

I let him lead the way.

"Do you see it? It was just there, between the displays," I say, still lingering in the doorframe, my eyes sweeping the room.

"I don't see anything." He walks further in.

"Oh my goodness. We lost it." I'm fully aware of how high-pitched my voice is right now, but I can't help it. I can't believe we lost sight of it. I'm never going to be able to work in here ever again. Fresh tears start to well in my eyes.

Deacon bends down slightly. "Oh, here it is." His tone is way too casual for my liking .

"Kill it!" I yell, my heart leaping.

He stands back up and glances at the neat stack of books on the display table.

"Don't you dare!" I yell, taking a single step toward him. He's not using one of my books as a spider smasher.

He turns around to face me, a look of disbelief plastered on his face. "What am I supposed to kill it with?"

My gaze falls to his shoes.

His arms go limp. "You can't be serious."

The spider appears in my field of vision, speeding to the other end of the store. A shriek escapes me. "Deacon! It's moving!"

Taking his shoe off, he follows it and quickly smashes the offending spider.

I let out a long swoosh of relief, holding the display table for support. "Thank you."

Deacon turns to face me and puts his shoe back on.

"Can you do a sweep? Just in case," I ask, my chest still heaving up and down from this emotional rollercoaster.

He opens his mouth, surely wanting to protest, but I give him my best puppy eyes. He casts me an exasperated glance before embarking on a patrol of the store, scanning the room.

Just when my breathing starts to regulate, he stops, squinting at something on the floor .

I scream again. "What is it?" Gosh, if we have a nest in here, we're going to have to sell.

He squats down and picks something up. "Nothing. Just a part of your brooch, I think."

Standing up, he hands me a small book made of enamel. I glance down at my brooch, and sure enough, half of it is missing. I take the piece from his palm, my hands still shaking.

"Wow, you really are scared," he says, shoving his hands in his jean pockets. "You must have a blast during Halloween."

"Shut up." I cross my arms, suddenly aware that I'm completely alone with Deacon. I should probably stop listening to that audiobook. If only it wasn't so good.

"I think the words you're looking for are, ‘Thank you for saving my life.'"

I roll my eyes dramatically, but my heart hammers in my chest. "Puh-lease."

He lifts an eyebrow. "Tell that to your face, Frenchie."

I shake my head, swallowing hard. "You can go now. We're even."

He takes a step toward me, now painfully close. So close I can smell his cologne for the first time. His woody, spicy, intoxicating cologne. "Mmm, I'm not sure. I did just commit murder for you. If anything, you owe me. "

And just like that, he marches out of the store, leaving me speechless and out of breath. Why does Deacon have that effect on me? It's that stupid voice and that stupid body of his. And those stupid eyes, which have no business in my mind or my dreams. I wish my brain would get the memo, because Deacon was the main act again all night long. And now that I know what he smells like, things will only get worse.

"How was your morning?" Emma asks, entering the store with a bag of takeout from our favorite taco place at the end of the street. "Managed okay without me?"

"I did. Slow morning. Except for the spider who decided to visit us, it was pretty uneventful."

She stops with a grimace. "Ouch." Emma knows all about my little arachnophobia problem. Let's just say she's murdered a few of them since moving in, especially during the renovations. "How did you get rid of it? Did you kill it?" Her tone is brimming with surprise.

I bite my lip. "Actually, Deacon did."

"Deacon Collier?" She places the food on the counter. "Our neighbor?"

"Uh-huh." I nod, pretending it's perfectly normal .

She scoffs, pulling the containers out of the bag. "You're kidding, right? You asked him for help?"

"I had no choice," I say, sitting down next to her. "Besides, he owed me for helping with Lola's period."

She arches an eyebrow. "As if that was a favor. You get a kick out of helping people. And you like her."

I pick up the taco she ordered for me and grab a napkin. "Still."

"Well, well. Will you look at that?" she says with a smirk, unwrapping her own taco. "You finally had a Prince Charming come rescue you."

I spit out my bite of taco on my napkin and almost choke on the rest of it. "Deacon Collier is not a Prince Charming. He's an insufferable, grumpy old man who has no manners and little consideration for others."

She breathes a light chuckle. "Well, he did come help you, so I guess he had enough consideration for that, huh?"

I roll my eyes and dig into my taco again. She might have a point. Plus, I haven't heard him blast his music for a while, and he did help me slay that monster.

But that doesn't mean anything. Just because he's finally becoming a decent human being doesn't mean he's Prince Charming. Of all things! The guy is far from being boyfriend material. He's a grouchy alpha-hole at best.