Page 23 of Gardening and Gargoyles

My tail smacks the floor, and Lady June gasps and jumps back a step. “It is a life debt! I am yours, Lady June, for my life. You are the lady of this manor, and to me, you are queen of wherever you stand. You have my loyalty. Always. However you decide to use it.” I bow low and stalk away from her. “I will guard the grounds until the food is ready.”

WHEN DUNCAN LEAVES, I stand and clutch the counter for support.

Something just happened that I would not have suspected in a million years. Something wrong. Stupid.

I liked what Duncan just did.

No, I meanI liked it, liked it.

The protective, possessive, “You are a queen, and I am your loyal guardian forever” thing? It’s so not me.

But my insides are all fluttery. I feel valuable, after feeling like I was a puppet or a prop. I feel like Duncan might be fantastical, but he’s real and solid, and it’s refreshing after realizing I let myself live in a dream with Daniel, only to wake up in a nightmare.

Looking back on the past six months, I question every feeling I had. I wonder if everything between us was fake, just like Daniel turned out to be.

With Duncan, his passionate declaration, his fiery eyes, the physical aggression to back up his claims that he belongs to me... It feelssoreal—and it makes me feel sogood.

It’s so the wrong time. It’s also not right, even if I were justcurious, let’s say, about a huge, musclebound gargoyle with the face of a chiseled angel (or maybe a demon) and what’s going on under his newly restored kilt. Duncan’s kind have one love only, and he’s going to leave soon, and I’m going to leave soon, and I know I couldn’t possibly be ready for anything more than a rebound fling after only three days of dealing with a broken engagement and a broken heart.

So why is my heart racing, and why am I tempted to believe every word he says is hinting at more than just being a loyal friend?

Why am I tempted to turn it into something he probably doesn’t mean?

I stomp my foot and shake my head to clear it. “Snap out of it, June. Your Prince Charming was a cheater. There’s noBeauty and the Beasthere, either.”

“THAT WAS AN INCREDIBLEmeal, Lady June.” I finish the last bite of the juicy, succulent, heavenly-flavored roast pork with red and yellow peppers, garlic, onions, and other spices too numerous to name. Lady June ate two of the little rolled dumplings made of thin flour shells, fried and stuffed with pork.

I lost count of how many I gobbled down, moaning the entire time.

Lady June grins at me, but then scowls, and her hands fly to her hips. “I am thrilled you liked the food—and I’m glad I made three pounds of pork shoulder, because feeding one gargoyle is the same as feeding ten people. But,” her scowl turns menacing, “if you don’t stop calling me Lady June, I’m gonna flip out.”

“You are most talented. I once saw tumblers at the—”

“Not a literal flip. It means I’m going to get mad. Please, just call me June. I don’t need you to be my servant or guard.”

I nod once, face tight at her rejection. “As you wish.” In my heart, I vow to do as she says—outwardly. Inside?

No. A hundred years asleep, and a hundred years of life before—and I’ve never heard of a laird abandoning the lady of the manor. Leaving her unprotected.

Well, he made a mistake, one that will cost him dearly if he ever shows his face. June is mine to protect now.

Mine.

“I was never your servant, my lady, but a gargoyle can no more stop guarding an innocent woman alone than he could stop the sun from rising.”

“I get that, I guess. Look, don’t be mad. It’s not about you, not really. I know you can protect yourself, me, and an entire castle,but in this time period, women are told it’s dangerous to rely on a man to take care of them.”

“I am not a man. I am a gargoyle,” I say, and there is a low growl in my words.

June smiles softly. Sadly. “Yeah, I know. But I just learned my lesson the hard way. It’s not related to you, but I can’t handle being seen as ‘fragile’ or something right now.”

Because someone hurt her. Broke her. All the more reason to let someone mend her and guard her from being damaged again.

I hate this time, suddenly, and how it has made this great beauty so strong, but still unable to feel safe when someone wants to help her keep that strength.

June continued, “If there’s a crazy bad guy with a gun, you can protect the hell out of me. But I can’t stand the Lady June stuff, like we’re not equals. You’re my friend. You said you owe me a life debt and all that? Well, this is the first task. Just call me June, and be my friend. Tell me when you’re going to leave, and tell me where to send a postcard, okay? I want to stay in touch.”

I want to stay where she can touch me, too. And her friendship? That’s a treasure, a prince’s ransom. How could that fool Daniel have traded it away for some harlot? “In August, I will leave to meet my clan. I may leave sooner if you would have me dispatch your former lover.”