A Hippogriff for Christmas - Zoe Chant Page 0,13

settled around his heart like a warm, throbbing, golden glow.

His hippogriff let out a cry that seemed to reverberate through his soul, shaking him down to his bones.

Mine! Ours! She’s our mate!

Oh, Beau thought hazily, as he stared, thunderstruck, into Annie’s bright green eyes.

Chapter 4

Annie stared down at her fingers.

What… what was that?!

She wiggled them a little, but they didn’t seem to have suffered any harm from the weird mini-bolt of lightning that felt like it had just shot through them. She almost expected to see some kind of mark on the pads, but there was nothing.

Don’t be so silly, she scolded herself as she realized she’d just spent the last ten seconds staring down at her own hand. It was just a big static electricity shock. No need to be so dramatic about it.

Shaking off the strange feeling in her chest, Annie looked up, swallowing heavily.

She supposed she could cut herself a little slack for being shaken up – first, Scott had shown up and behaved even more piggishly than usual (if trying to steal from the register could even still count as mere piggishness!), and then just as things had started to go really south, the most handsome man she’d ever seen had just waltzed in and saved the day, no big deal, throwing Scott out of the premises without even breaking a sweat.

Looking at him now from under her lashes, Annie had to admit that handsome didn’t even really begin to cover it. The guy was six foot six of sex on legs. It wasn’t a description she ever could have seen herself using in the past, but, well – she’d never seen a guy like this before.

Everything about him seemed designed to appeal specifically to her, from the lean, muscular build, the broadness of his shoulders, the squareness of his jaw with its hint of stubble, the tousled black hair, and the deep, dark brown eyes, framed by thick black lashes. He looked like he could have stepped right out of her wildest fantasies.

Annie had known what Christina had been trying to do when she’d pointed out her shift was over and they could talk over coffee. But Annie wasn’t sure she had it in her to form a complete sentence around this guy. There was no way she would ever be bold enough to ask him out on an actual date.

No matter how hot he is, she thought wistfully. Or how well he handles slimy creeps.

Besides, the guy was obviously just trying to get home to see his family. He didn’t need her harassing him while he was attempting to go about his cookie-buying business.

She’d held him up long enough with her impulsive need to give him the cherry pie she’d been planning to take home with her. She hadn’t even really meant to – she’d just blurted out the words before she could think.

Now, she forced herself to clear her throat, take a deep breath, and look the guy in the face. It’s been fun, but it’s time to say goodbye.

“Well, I hope you enjoy your Christmas,” she said, as confidently as she could. “And I hope your family enjoys the pie.”

The man blinked at her, as if he was coming out of a trance. It seemed to take him a moment to find his words, his eyes wide as he looked at her, his mouth opening and then closing before he finally said, “Annie, I – sorry, I saw it on your name tag. Do you have any Christmas plans?”

Annie frowned. What’s he talking about?

It’d be easy to say that she did, despite the fact she’d given away the pie she’d been planning to eat. He didn’t need to know that those plans consisted entirely of sitting on the couch in my pajamas, shotgunning Netflix series.

But despite everything, she felt something within her compelling her to be honest.

“Not really,” she said – and then, having started, she found it was a little difficult to stop. “I mean… I don’t have plans with family, or anything like that. I was just going to, you know. Spend the time alone.”

Annie bit her lip in embarrassment. Saying it out loud made it sound even more pathetic than she already felt.

“Alone?” the man asked, as if he couldn’t quite understand what she’d said.

“She was planning on eating that pie she just gave you,” Christina suddenly piped up, almost making Annie jump – to be honest, after her interjection, she’d almost forgotten she was still here. She’d been