Good As Dead (Dying To Meet You Book 1) Read Free

and reached for a towel, rubbing himself down quickly. He desperately wanted to hit the vodka again, but that was no longer an option. He’d have to stay compos mentis, or clear of mind, until he managed to get rid of her after which he would then be able to make up for lost time with any luck. Alcohol, and alcohol alone, was the only thing that managed to take the edge off his grief. The ache was now going to be a permanent fixture to his life and it was almost unbearable. Currently, he didn’t have his shit together, and as the powers that be already knew all of that, they’d just have to take what was left of him and hope for the best.
    After returning to his bedroom, he dragged on a clean pair of denim jeans and a thick black sweater. He didn’t feel in the mood for colours. Sighing, he rubbed his eyes as he prepared to face the inevitable—one probable harpy of a woman who was about to be sorely pissed at the downward direction her life had just taken. Oh well, he knew it couldn’t be helped. He plastered his trademark smile across his face and prepared himself for a whole bunch of ear-splitting histrionics. Vampiric hearing was not always an asset.
    As he entered his lounge, he flicked the light switch just beside the oak panelled door. He might be able to see in the dark but the chances were she couldn’t, and what with the having been buried thing and all, he didn’t want any more theatrics than were absolutely necessary. Striding into the room, his bare feet hardly making a sound upon the polished wooden floor, he decided to examine his charge before she started shouting and waving her arms about.
    Leaning his upper body over the couch and peering down, he hoped she wasn’t going to be attractive. It was going to make his life a whole lot more difficult if she was easy on the eyes, and he didn’t relish the thought of yet another challenge.
    Starting at her feet, he noted she wore sensible flat pumps that once upon a time had been black, but were now a watery brown in colour. They’d obviously made her walk to the casket. Ouch . His eyes continued upwards taking in a set of long, shapely legs gloved in jeans so tight she’d need to peel them off to remove them, also covered in their fair share of mud. The tiniest sliver of bare flesh appeared, displaying a flat stomach with soft rounded curves before a dark black shirt came into view. The shirt had entirely too many buttons and unfortunately, all fastened tight. Spoilsport . For all the coverage, anyone would have thought it was a chilly December day outside.
    Progressing upwards, he found a set of soft full lips that were much paler than they should have been and a pretty, straight-edged little nose. She had masses of long blonde, shiny hair, which splayed everywhere, framing her face in a bright halo. Finally, his gaze settled on a pair of striking blue eyes that were wide-open and staring back at him.
    “Seen enough have we?”
    The shock of her words sent him tumbling backwards. Falling over with a thud, he stared at her amazed disbelief.
    “You were unconscious,” he whispered even as his mind was whirling. How on earth had she managed to wake herself from his trance? It should have been virtually impossible for any human to break it.
    “And you regularly ogle sleeping ladies?”
    The beautiful royal blue eyes that he had admired only seconds ago were not looking very friendly now.
    He frowned. “Now hang on. I have just spent my evening in a very large, very muddy field searching for a ridiculously small box, which I then had to dig out by hand. Next, I had to lug you…”
    His mouth snapped shut, halting his rant. She’d begun screaming and there wasn’t much point in continuing the conversation. Slowly counting to twenty in his head, he let her get rid of the worst of it, even though his ears were ringing with pain. When her time was up, he got on his feet, squatted down to her level and secured her eyes with his.
    “Stop.” The command