Free Ignite Me (The Annihilate Me Series) by Christina Ross

Irena—I can’t get a read on it.   But in just eighteen months, he’s about to get a full read on her —and
dump her sorry, cheating ass when he catches her with another man.   Oh, how I hate that my man’s heart will
one day be crushed!”
    “The world is
full of cheaters,” I said after I gave her a kiss on the forehead.   “I know that all too well.   But you’ll heal his heart.   That’s why the universe put you on this
earth, lovey.”
    She looked up
at me with her sparkling brown eyes.   “Thanks, toots.   And by the
way, you smell like patchouli.”
    “That would
just be the stink of sweat on me,” I said.   “Which I’m about to wash off.   I’ll catch you in ten minutes.”

 
 
    *   *   *

 
 
    When I emerged
from the shower, I felt cool and clean.   My hair was still damp, it fell straight down my back, and I wore
nothing more than a pair of black shorts and a white tank top.
    “Someone’s a
bit chilly,” Rhoda said slyly when she glanced at my breasts.
    I knew by the
tone of her voice that she was just trying to lift my spirits, and I was
grateful for it.   “Very funny,” I
said.   “This is the best I’ve felt
all day.”
    She leaned
toward me after I sat down on one of the two overstuffed chairs facing the
sofa.   “Here’s what I say—when
our pizza is delivered, you need to answer the door looking like that .   If you poke that delivery boy in the
chest with one of those torpedoes of yours, we might get a freebie, because I
can tell you this—he’s sure as hell about to get an eyeful, and that
young man should have to pay for it in pizza.”
    I looked down
at the two little tents protruding from my tank top and would have felt
embarrassed by them if it hadn’t been Rhoda pointing them out to me.   “Stop it,” I said.   “I took a cold shower—how do you
expect them to react?   They’ll calm
down in a minute or so.”
    “Not with
Bessie blowing on them, they won’t.”
    I cleared my
throat at that and got on with our usual end-of-the-day chat.   Generally, Rhoda wanted me to go first,
but right now I needed a distraction.   “How about if we discuss my day later?” I said.
    “Are you sure?”
    “I couldn’t be
more sure.   Tell me about your
day.”  
    “Today was
completely unremarkable except for one reading.”
    “So, tell me
about it. . . .”
    “Middle of the
day,” she said.   “Never saw it
coming.   In fact, I’ve never have
had anything like this happen to me before.   I had just finished lunch when this
older dude walked in.   And I’m
talking old—like ninety.   Or
maybe ninety-one.   Something like
that—I’m close.   Total
cutie.   Dressed in a light brown
suit, freshly shined shoes, his white hair slicked back as if he was going to either
a wedding or a funeral.   He had this
really charming, almost shy demeanor about him that was immediately
endearing.   I liked him at
once.   I also could sense that he’d
come to talk about his deceased wife, whom I knew at my core this man loved in
ways that all of us should be loved, Madison.”
    “Is this story
going to make me cry?”
    “Just let me
talk before the cute guy with the pizza gets here.   Because I’ve already seen him, and he’s
more than cute.”
    “Go on.”
    “So, anyways, I
was right.   All about the dead
wife.   He sits down opposite me,
says his name is Ed Nickerson, and asks me in this totally gentle voice if I am
just here to take his money, or if I really do have the kind of gift that might
put him in touch with his wife, who died thirteen years ago.   He told me that today was her birthday,
and that if my business was a sham, would I please take pity on him and just
tell him now so that he could go to church and talk to her there, like he
usually did.”
    “What did you
say to him?” I asked.
    “I told him
that Helen was already in the room with us.   And when I said that to him—oh, my
God, Madison—I thought I was going to