Howl at the Moon Read Free Page A

dream.
    “Aaron, I promise, this will fix you too.”
    “I don’t need fixing, heifer. I need to survive these ‘favors’ of yours, and then I’ll have a chance to do my life over.”
    “Aaron,” Lea began, shaking her head. Her curls bounced over her bare shoulder. She still wore a corset, though this one was aquamarine with white hip huggers to cinch it off. The girl had style. He’d give her that. Her diamond earrings twinkled in the fading sunlight like stones of fire, and he bet a jeweler would kill to get ahold of those. He’d kill her to get them, but he was sure that would hasten him to a quick death and an even quicker trip to down under.
    “This is more than a job, Aaron. At the end of this you will understand what you need to do as well.”
    “Look, even though I’m at your mercy right now, that doesn’t mean I’m some damn lapdog. Don’t play with me. Tell me what the hell is going on.”
    “No time right now. And stop saying ‘damn,’ it’ll ruin your complexion. You don’t want to be damned anyway. Eternal burning in the pit of Hell is no fun. Trust me. Your first client is coming up. Make me proud, Aaron.”
    Like she was never there, she simply vanished. Aaron still couldn’t get used to her powers. Things like that just didn’t happen in the real world. Things like that didn’t happen to him.
    Then again, I never thought death was coming so soon for me either, he thought as a woman stepped in.
    She was beautiful, in an understated sort of way. She didn’t carry herself like she had any fire and that was what made her look less than she was. A cascade of microbraids gave way to curly hair that slid over her shoulders a round, yet soft, face. Her eyebrows were perfectly manicured, and the hazel color underneath them was breathtaking. Her nose turned up a little at the tip, giving her a youthful look. Her lips, however, ruined that thought. They were full and bowed, even if she had a frown right now and looked close to tears. That mouth said hot sex on slippery sheets.
    Great, a pretty girl with a self-esteem issue. He just loved those. He could see her issue so plainly, he didn’t even need to ask her. She’d never get a man like that. He watched her as she went around the store, graceful hands touching things here and there. He wondered, though, what made her like she was. What pain ate at her from long ago that made her see herself as less? He supposed that was his job to find out, as Lea had left for her Heavenly duties.
    Bitch .
    “I heard that, Aaron. Just because I’m not standing in front of you doesn’t mean I can’t hear you.”
    “Do I get to hook you up one day?” He tossed back at her, irritated she was in his mind.
    “Angels are love. We don’t fall in love.”
    “Sad.”
    “Not in the least. We are loved and love the greatest being in the universe. We need nothing more.”
    “Maybe .”
    Tossing off that communication, he walked toward the woman who seemed in a world of her own. It was her or Hell, and he wasn’t going to Hell. Lea had already told him that his store, the one he had worked so hard on, would be invisible to any passerby that didn’t need his assistance. In essence, he would be exclusively available for his clients . He supposed he should be happy that to the world he no longer existed. His time was simply frozen in place until he was done. Then he would go back to his life, back to the night that Lea had walked into his door camouflaged as Ms. Ugly. The world would press play for him again, and he was supposed to be so changed that Hell would no longer beckon for him.
    Yeah the he — he meant heck — right.
    “Can I help you?” he asked finally, swallowing a sigh when she jumped and turned around.
    “No, sorry. I was just looking around. I’ve never seen this store before.” He bet she wouldn’t even think to come in if she did. The marquee had a drag queen dressed to the nines, complete with wings of gossamer and a wand spinning