Within minutes Olivia had finished her work and asked if I’d like to have her phone number in case I needed anything at any time of day or night. This was going to take some getting used to.
As she left the room I said, “Looking forward to our lunch tomorrow.”
When she hesitated at the door, I could tell her shoulders had stiffened. I smiled. I was going to take some getting used to as well.
“Okay,” she said before continuing down the stairs. Among other wonderful things, Olivia was a fast learner.
After that I was, apparently, sucked into a virtual vortex of magic and surreality. Fairy tales and adventure. History and fantasy. It seemed that humans had virtually forever been sharing the world, side by side, with magic and its expression in animate form. It seemed impossible that the two could occupy the same physical space with such a thin veil of separation. On the other hand, it was clear to me that, at various times, the magical world had punctured humans’ fragile grasp on denial.
When I heard my phone buzz, I looked at the time and realized I’d been sitting there for hours.
“Hello?”
“Sorry to disturb you, Magistrate.” It was Maggie. “But there’s a rascal come to call for you. Somethin’ about supper at the pub.”
“Oh, gee. I got caught up. Please tell him I’m sorry and I’ll be there in five.”
“You’re on speaker. He heard.”
After hurrying to replace the book in the safe and leave the armoire in disguise mode, I eyed my tan leather ankle boots, because I thought I could use a little normalcy, but I knew the best choice was to slip back into the red shoes. I grunted out loud at the idiocy of thinking ‘normal’ would ever be normal again. If I stayed, extranormal, supernormal, paranormal… Strike the prefixes. Those things would be my normal.
I pulled on the shawl. It was all I needed to make me feel presentable. I was sure it was just a shawl, but it made me feel pretty enough to almost think it cast a glamour. As I dashed to the bathroom mirror to check lipstick, I reminded myself that it was not a date. It was outrageously silly for me to feel jittery like a cute boy passed a note in eighth grade.
I ran out the front door chastising myself for making too much of a casual dinner. Perhaps something in Esmerelda’s tea caused me to remember Keir Culain’s looks as being gorgeous enough to make a woman salivate. Since that was very unlikely, I scoffed out loud as I rushed around the corner and almost ran into him. He was waiting on the sidewalk in front of the shop.
And OMG.
My memory was fine, all cylinders firing. He was every inch a fantasy.
“Hello!” He laughed, as he (thankfully) caught me before I slammed into him. I had a feeling that would have left him unfazed, but me the worse for wear.
My responding laugh was pure nerves and embarrassment. “I’m so sorry I’m late. I’m never late. It’s almost like a religion with me. But I got caught up in this book about magical people and completely lost track of the time.”
He wore a deep khaki-colored sweater that made the green in his eyes even more intense.
“Slow down. All is well. I’m not on a schedule tonight.” He said this with a ‘fuck me’ smile that had me staring at his lips while appreciating the English soft c pronunciation of the word ‘schedule’. When my eyes came back up to meet his, he said, “You look beautiful in this.” He reached out and rubbed a section of the shawl between his fingers. “Matches your eyes. Is it from Esmerelda’s?”
“Um, yeah,” I said sounding stupid in comparison to his very smart-sounding British accent. “She tried to give it to me. Next thing I knew Maggie was talking about bribery.” Keir laughed. “I guess I bought it. Maggie said something to Esmerelda about putting it on the tab. No plastic was used. No currency was exchanged. But I’m the proud owner of this piece of art and I guess that’s what counts. Right?”
On the inside I grimaced at the way I was babbling and hoped that it didn’t show on the outside.
“Right.” He smiled. “Hungry?”
I nodded as I started walking toward the pub. “The thought of Molly’s menu may always make me hungry.”
He looked surprised. “You’ve decided to stay.”
“No. I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t. I thought it sounded like. Well, never