Gypsy Magic - J.R. Rain Page 0,51

It helped tremendously for the children afraid of Novocain shots.”

“Oh, good, I’m glad to hear that,” I said with a quick nod.

“Lorcan…” Roy began warningly, though I wasn’t sure why.

Lorcan held his hands out in a pacifying gesture, though the effect was somewhat ruined by the small, haughty smirk on his face.

“Calm down, you beastly man. I’m just being friendly.”

“Well, be friendly somewhere else,” Roy muttered darkly, so low I almost couldn’t pick out the individual words. When he turned his gaze back to me, his eyes were a little softer.

“What in the hell did I do to get your panties in such a bunch?” Lorcan asked, and the question caused me to giggle a little.

Roy’s expression wasn’t as congenial. “You’re being a flirt, as usual.” Then he faced me. “And you, my pretty new neighbor, would do well to stay as far away from Lorcan as possible.”

I swallowed hard at the mention of me as his ‘pretty neighbor’. So, I figured it was safe to say Roy was definitely interested. Not that it would have taken a genius to figure that much out—owing to the intensity of the looks he’d been giving me the whole time I was here with Marty and Finn.

Marty… what about McFly? I asked myself.

Marty and I aren’t anything, other than friends, I responded. It’s not like he’s let it be known he’s interested. And, furthermore, it’s important to have a male friend who’s just that—a friend. In your experience, friends stick around longer than boyfriends do.

Right.

And there’s also the fact that Finn loves him…

Yes, there was that.

McFly and I are definitely better as friends, I resolved. And that means…

I looked up at Roy again and swallowed hard. He was definitely attractive…

“Beast,” Lorcan grumbled.

“Parasite,” Roy muttered.

“Ahem,” I started, interrupting them both with a quick, apologetic smile. Then I looked at Roy. “The reason I came in today was to ask you a favor.”

“A favor?” he repeated as he paced away from the bar, almost smiling now that Lorcan had lost whatever pissing contest they’d just had. When Roy returned, he’d filled a plastic tumbler with iced tea and placed a lemon garnish at the top of the glass. He pushed the drink towards me.

“Iced tea with lemon, right? I remember you ordered that last time you were here.”

I blinked, amazed and shocked. “How on earth did you remember that?”

“I’ve got a good memory,” he answered with a shrug and then knocked on his noggin with a big smile. He had nice teeth and full lips… lips that begged to be…

Poppy! I yelled at myself. Jeez!

“And he’s got the hearing abilities of a wolf,” Lorcan answered with a laugh. Roy glared at him, and Lorcan took another swig of his drink. “Not to mention he usually smells like one.”

“Well, thank you for the iced tea,” I said to Roy, deciding to ignore Lorcan’s comment for the time being.

“You are more than welcome… Poppy,” he answered, and the way he said my name made it sound like it was a dirty word. I felt my heart start pounding. “Now, what can I help you with? You said you were here to ask me a favor,” he finished as I wrung the lemon twist into the iced tea.

I took a sip. “I was wondering if I could leave a few brochures for my store with you?”

“Of course,” Roy answered.

“Thank you,” I said with a broad smile and handed him a handful of the brochures in question.

“Cures for all ailments, huh?” Roy asked as he read through the first page of the brochure.

“Yes,” I answered with a little smile.

“Good looking brochure,” Roy continued, and the smile he gave me suggested the brochure wasn’t the only thing he found good looking. My heart started up again, making me feel a little winded.

“Oh, thanks, one of Haven Hollow’s residents did it for me. Marty Zach.”

“Marty Zach?” Lorcan repeated, snorting into his glass. A fleck of the viscous red liquid splattered onto his cheek. He licked it off absently, never taking his eyes off me. For whatever reason, the action made my cheeks heat all over again.

“Yeah. Do you know him?” I asked.

Roy laughed. “Everyone knows Marty.”

“Though some of us wished we didn’t,” Lorcan added.

“Why is that?” I asked, immediately feeling prickly towards him. Marty had been nothing but kind to me and I wasn’t about to let anyone put my new friend down.

Roy resumed polishing the bar with a sigh. “Lorcan’s referring to Ophelia, the owner of the realty company in