Heaven Help Me, Or Hell Have Me (Heaven Help Me #1) (5 page)

He narrows his eyes,
assumingly at the ‘creeping’ reference, but he answers my very
straight forward questions. And it proves one thing:
Miracles
do
happen. “I had a little chat with him, and he saw the wisdom
of my words.”

I snort. “Fancy yourself
Dr. Doolittle, do ya?” He laughs and I’m glad he can take the
teasing in stride, ‘cause yeah, he’s gonna need to if we’re
supposed to get along. Which, I’m thinking, is the whole idea. “So,
I’m curious. What in the world did you say to Cat to get him to
listen.”

“
I threatened to fix the
window so you could shut it.”

I point at the window in
question, give it a glance. “You mean it won’t shut, even if I
try?” Crappy apartment. Crappier superintendent, telling me things
were in tip-top shape. I try to be mad about it, but eh...I really
don’t care. It’s my space, and I love it for what it is.
Mine.

His eyebrows shoot up, nearly to his
hair line. “You’ve never tried? Why do you leave it
open?”

“
For Cat. He’s gotta have
a safe place to go.”

G-man looks at me, smiles again, and
shrugs. “Goodwill towards animals. That’s something, I
guess.”

“
What does that
mean?”

“
I’m
just trying to get a feel for you. You
are
my charge. I need to learn as
much as I can about you.”

It makes sense, well...as much as any
of this does. And I wonder how all this works. “How does all this
work? I mean, I was lucky enough to have Heaven hear me and cover
my back. But why now? ‘Cause seriously, this help was a long time
coming. My life has always been one disaster after another.” I
throw up a hand to ward off the argument I see brewing in those
eyes of his. “I appreciate the help and all, but I’m just trying to
get a handle on it. Why now? Why not last week when Mr. Hands
almost caught me? Or last month when that guy almost mugged
me?”

“
You were almost
mugged?”

“
Yeah, but there were
people around and that scared him off.”

“
Oh.” He says it absently,
looking at the floor, and I’m wondering if he’s still with
me.

“
So? Why not then? Or last
year when I almost got hit by that car? Why now?”

“
You
what
?” His eyes bulge—such pretty green—and his jaw
drops.

I snap my fingers in his
face. “Hey, stay with me here. Why
now
?”

“
All I know is this: Your
plea the other night opened the floodgates and invited Hell to
corrupt your soul.”

“
Groovy,” I say, dryly.
“And so the PTB slapped a file in your hands and sent you off to
watch over me?”

“
PTB?”

“
Powers That Be.” I tip my
head and study him. He looks normal, sounds normal, seems like the
sanity is intact. “Don’t you ever watch TV?”

“
Nooo.” He looks at me
like I’m nuts. “You did catch the part about me being a guardian
angel right?”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, but
I just figured it comes with some downtime. So, G-man, what is it
you do for fun then?”

“
I study.” He shakes his
head. “G-man?”

“
Yeah. It was for Ghosty
Man, but now it’s for Guardian Angel Man. It’s just easier. A
nickname, if you will.”

“
Ooor you could just call
me by my name.”

I grin and point. Dork.
“I
could
, if you
actually give it to me.”

His back straightens. “I didn’t? Oh,
it’s Nikolas.”

“
Nikolas.” I try it out,
roll it off my tongue, toss it around my mind. “That works for
me.”

“
I’m so
relieved.”

And I laugh at his dry tone. “So what
do you mean you study? You have the bad luck of dying, and they
actually make you go to school up there?”

He smiles. It’s nice. “I attend the
academy. I’m in training.”

“
For what?”

“
Umm, to be a guardian
angel.”

I throw out my hands.
“Whoa. Back up. Heaven sent me a
trainee
? What am I, your class
project?”

“
No. I mean... I don’t
know.” He looks just as frustrated as I feel.

“
What do you mean, you
don’t know.”

“
A trainee has never been
assigned to anyone before. They have strict rules about
that.”

“
And how did you slip
through the cracks?”

“
They said they needed
someone in a pinch. That they weren’t expecting to have to assign
anyone to you, and no one else was available.”

And then I just laugh. No,
scratch that, I’m roaring. Tears, aching belly, laughing so hard I
have to tinkle. Isn’t it just my luck? I need protection from Hell,
and I get a guardian angel
trainee
.

Nikky-poo isn’t thinking it’s so
funny. He’s watching, scowling, and waiting for my fit to be over.
And once it is, he states the obvious. “I don’t think this is
funny.”

“
I get
that. And how can you
not
?” I snicker again.

“
Because it’s my ass on
the line, not to mention yours, if we don’t make this work.” He
groans and throws his head against the back of the couch, stares at
the ceiling. “Yup. The wings are getting clipped. It’s only a
matter of time.”

“
Now. Now. Let’s not get
dramatic. Look, you listed all the good deeds you did for me—thank
you, by the way. And I’m not seeing the negative here.”

“
For one, I made you fall
on your face this morning.”

I waved a hand. “Yeah, but
it was my back, and it would’ve happened eventually,
anyway.”

“
And you’re not supposed
to be able to see me, much less have a conversation with
me.”

“
Sooo...why am
I?”

“
I knew you could see me,
so I tried to make the best of the situation. I mean, I’d already
screwed up. I thought if I explained who I was and why I was here,
it would minimize your fear.” He tilts his head to look at me. “I
can’t watch over you without being around. And, apparently, I can’t
hide from you.”

I think about it, and try to offer a
bright side. “Hey, I couldn’t see you this morning. That’s
something.”

“
I wasn’t exactly here
this morning. I was taking care of the issue with your boss, but I
was checking in, so to speak.” He groans again, drapes his arm over
his eyes. “Transmutation 101 is a basic course. I should have this
nailed down by now, and I can’t even get that right.”

I feel bad, but it’s not like I can
take back seeing him. So I try to be helpful instead. “Well, you
must have done something right. Cici couldn’t see you.”

He shrugs, but doesn’t say
anything. And I still feel for the man, but how do you soothe an
angel? I pat his muscled thigh, innocent-like. (I swear!) “It’ll be
okay, G-man. We’ll figure it out.”

“
They’re going to take
away my license. I know it. Man, I just got this gig,
too.”

“
Gig?” I can’t help it. It
just flies out, leaky mental filter and all that. “What? Did you
die in the 70’s?”

He peeks out from under
his arm. “Hey,
gig
is timeless.”

“
Whatever.”

“
This
from the woman who says
groovy
.”

“
No...now
that
is timeless.”

“
Whatever.”

Sassy angel. But I’m feeling like
we’re back on familiar ground, and I smile at him. “To Hell with
it. You’ll be okay.”

He cringes. “Would you
stop saying that? What do you think got you in this position in the
first place?”

I giggle and shake my
head. “Look, Nikky-poo, if we’re going to work together on this,
you’re gonna have to loosen up. I don’t know what they put in the
file they gave you, but trouble—I’m a magnet for it. Always have
been, always will be. And I don’t think that’s changing, with or
without you.” I slap a hand on his knee and push off the couch. “So
you need to loosen up, stay on your toes, expect the unexpected.
All good things, my friend. We’ll take the punches as they come,
and we’ll fight the good fight. We will prevail!” I stick a fist in
the air for good measure.

“
Is this your version of a
pep talk?”

“
Yup. Working for
you?”

He smiles, stands, towers over me, and
sticks out his hand. “Yup. That works for me.”

I take his hand and tug
him into a hug. More or less to cop a feel of these big, strong
shoulders, but also ‘cause I’m a people snuggler. And then I step
back and slap a hand to his chest. This time,
only
to cop a feel. Damn, my boy’s
built. And yeah, I’m feeling like I’m molesting my guardian angel.
But then again, he’s not looking like he minds too awful
much.

“
Okay. I’m off to bed. I
take it I’ll see you in the morning?”

He nods, sticks his hands in his
pockets. Bless his heart. “I’ll be here.”

“
Umm...” I gesture in the
general direction of my room. “I’m gonna be changing my clothes in
just a few...” And you know what he does? An honest-to-God blush.
And, dammit, it’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

“
I’m... Ahh...” He shifts
his weight, looks away. “I won’t be watching. Don’t
worry.”

I nod and let him off the hook, ‘cause
yeah, my boy’s had a rough night. “Okay, then.” I push on my toes
and give him a quick peck on the cheek, not checking his response
before I walk away. “G’night.”

I wave over my shoulder, go to my
room, get dressed for bed, and crawl in with a sigh. My mind
swirls, my thoughts are jumbled, but I know one thing for sure. I’m
going to sleep with my very own guardian angel watching over
me.

And I’m okay with that.

# # #

Coming Soon…

FIRST HALO ON THE
RIGHT

a
Heaven Help Me
novelette

Now Available…

CONNECTED

a Twists of Fate novella
(Book 1)

A rock group’s rhythm guitarist, Rhys
Alexander, dies and finds himself bound inside the body of a woman
he’s never met. Can she help him move on to the other side, or will
he end up finding the love of his life…after his has already
ended?

Excerpt:

After a few minutes of digging through
her closet, Addison came up with two black dresses. She wanted
something simplistic to fit her style, but elegant. Something not
too revealing, but feminine; something that would make a man drool
but leave enough to the imagination to have him wondering what was
hidden underneath.

What are you
doing?

“
I’m trying to decide
which dress to wear.” She chewed on her fingernail as her eyes
shifted from one dress to the other.

Wear the one on the
right.

Her eyebrows shot up. “You can see
them?”

Hell, no. But your
inability to make a fucking decision is raking at my
nerves.

“
So you just picked one at
random?”

It’s a decision, isn’t it?
It’s not like you’re any closer to one.

She lifted a shoulder in
semi-agreement as she eyed the wraparound number on the
right.

Worked for her.

She shoved the reject dress back into
the closet before she went to dry her hair and throw on some
make-up.

Rhys was surprisingly quiet
throughout, and then she realized he had closed off their link.
Why? She had no idea, but at this point it hardly concerned her.
She was just thankful for the quiet.

After fluffing her blonde locks and
putting on her face, Addison shrugged out of her robe. She took her
time as she picked out some frilly panties and bra—because you just
never know—and then wiggled into the dress.