Killing Me Softly (Reaper Romance)

Chapter Seventeen: Dead Like Me

Briseis looked at Hal with ill-placed annoyance. She was glad to see him. Estatic even.  If only he wasn't nosy enough to come rushing out with the others to see that she was the one causing the commotion. And that she wasn't alone. Her eyes cut to Micah standing to the right of her then back to Hal's shit-eating grin.  How was she gonna explain her creepy hot friend?

Fuuuuuuuuck.

Hal pushed himself off the door and came over to hug her. "Well, hot damn. The prodigal gal returns to her favorite bar!" He enveloped her in a cloud of warmth as he greeted her. "I should've known it was you out here making trouble, woman." He finally released her and Briseis gently pushed him away.

"Shut up. I don't make trouble." She flashed her eyes filled with agitation at her tall, blonde stalker. "It just follows me."

Micah cleared his throat, vexation evident in his demeanor until Hal turned to notice him. 

"Hey, who's your friend?" Hal spoke eagerly.

Briseis sighed. Great. Either Hal will try to cruise him or think I'm dating him. Neither of those things can happen. She had to think of a lie and fast. Then get Mr. Meet Joe Black the hell outta there before the lie collapses on her. 

"Um, this is Micah." she motioned to the reaper with little enthusiasm. "He...he's um...my"

"Blind date." Micah added in a low, but confident tone. In his peripheral he could see Briseis' eyes balloon in shock, but kept his focus on Hal. "I kinda took her by surprise out here. Kinda a joke gone wrong, you know." His bright blue eyes almost sparkled with amusement.

Briseis watched with wide eyes as she saw Micah take the reigns on delivering the worst lie in the world complete with a stunning, but superficial smile. It was then she couldn't decide what was more impressive; the facade or the gorgeous smile he used to seal it.

Hal chortled a laugh. "No worries. Bree has always been a bit twitchy, and she hates surprises." He winked to Briseis who finally tried to straighten her face. "Right Bree?" 

She chewed her bottom lip in angst as she shared a knowing look with Micah.  A challenge deep in his eyes. "Ummhmm," she grunted in acceptance between clicking her nail between her teeth.

With a warm smile, Hal extended his hand to Micah. "Hi, I'm Hal. I work with Bree as an EMT."

Afraid to be rude to someone who seemed so friendly, Micah finally leaned in to shake his hand. "Nice to meet you." A strange vision flashed in his head as he shook his hand. It felt like static electricity and Hal laughed.

"Sorry dude, I think I've been rubbing my feet on the carpet next to the dart boards." He stepped back to lean against the door. "Well come on in at least. It's freakin' cold out here. I don't wanna cut in on you guy's alone time--"

Briseis whipped her head to Hal. "Oh, no you're not cutting in at all!  Actually, Micah works an early shift tomorrow and should be heading out. Right Micah?"

Micah narrowed his eyes to her.  He knew what she was doing and it wasn't gonna fly tonight.  She wanted nothing more to get away from him and dismiss the topic, but he. "Actually, I'm off tomorrow, so I can definitely stay for a bit." He said with a smirk as he walked along side Briseis. She blew out a frustrated breath as he steamrolled her ploy to get rid of him.  

Hal laughed as they moved through the crowd. "Well, awesome! Let's sit down and I'll buy you guys a round." He stopped at a small wooden table covered with little rings of water stains complete with two chairs. As Hal circled to one chair, Briseis quickly plopped into the other as if they were playing a pissed-off version of musical chairs. Micah looked over to another table with an older lady smoking and talking.  She had an empty chair next to her.