comment very carefully.”
“Almost as carefully as a Sidhe,” Kelly joked.
Kiki laughed. “It’s all the fae that have to tell the truth, really. Not just the top brass.”
“I resent that!” A warm voice came from Kelly’s other side and she turned to find Wren Oberon coming up to the counter.
“Wren!” Kelly cried. “How’s Brodie?”
“Hmmm…” Wren grinned, biting her lip. “How do I put this delicately? He’s…exhausted.”
“And you’re not?” Kiki asked coyly.
Wren grinned. “Never.”
“Speaking of hook-ups.” Kelly checked her watch. “I’m going to be late for mine if I don’t move my booty.”
“Jeez, Kelly.” Tiffany laughed. “Are you ever on time? Surely you knew when we left the house how late it was?”
“Take it as a compliment, Tiff. The company I was keeping was so enchanting that I lost track of time.”
Tiffany had the dramatic eyeroll thing down pat, but at least she was amused.
“I’ll hang out with Aurora,” she said. “You go. Don’t miss your date.”
“Thanks.” She gave Wren and Kiki brief hugs. “I’ll see you guys soon.”
Edging her way through the store, she found a quiet corner around the side of the building. Apparating herself home was easy, much easier than ethereal travel usually was for her. It was as if the house anchored her and drew her home the second she focused on it. The moment she found her feet on the front porch, she smiled and patted Ronun's stony head and skipped inside.
“Nathan?” she called to the echoing foyer.
Footsteps thudded up from the basement and he yawned when he joined her. “You’re back early. What’s up?”
“I need you to help me with an outfit. Come on.”
She started for the stairs but he refused to budge. “Um, if you hadn't noticed, fashion isn't one of my strong suits. I think I'll just go back down—”
“I thought we had a deal,” she said, jamming a fist onto her hip.
He turned toward the window and let the light bathe his face, looking like a perfect, pale god. With a small satisfied smile, he nodded. “So we did.”
Nathan allowed himself to be abducted to Kelly’s room without another comment. To Kelly’s surprise the room was perfectly neat and tidy. The brownies must have been working on it for her. Having a perpetually clean room would take some getting used to.
Kelly modeled for Nathan, starting with her tamer outfits—long, flowing skirts and pretty blouses—moving on to the really red-hot, man-snagging gear under Nathan’s directive. They both eventually decided on a hot red number. With its short skirt, and plunging neckline, it was almost indecent. Kelly felt super confident.
“Can't believe I'm saying this,” Nathan said, standing back to give her a thorough appraisal, “but you look too hot to touch.”
When she slipped into a pair of bright red, strappy heels, he blinked rapidly and slumped against the wall. Not in an ‘I wanna jump your bones’ way, but in a purely platonic gesture of approval. The more she got to know her basement vamp, the more she liked him—and the less she ogled him. Aside from the house's displeasure any time she had a slightly lascivious thought about Nathan, they were developing a real friendship and she didn't want to mess that up.
“Ha! Thanks. And thank you for all your help today.”
He gave her a long look, then chuckled softly. “And now I can't believe I'm saying this, but it was my pleasure. I wasn't so sure about yet another batch of witches moving in—I'd rather grown used to the silence between tenants—but you three…”
Kelly grinned and poked at his bare chest. “You looooooove us!”
Nathan tried to protest, but she kept teasing him until he admitted defeat—or at least that he liked them.
“And what if you didn't?” Kelly asked, honestly curious and hoping it would never come to that.
“I’d probably dig down under the basement and sleep for a hundred years.”
“Oh my god, that’s actually a thing?”
“Kinda. I've done it. If I’m really pissed or bored. It’s a lot of trouble though.”
“I can imagine,” Kelly muttered, putting on diamond earrings. “Did you want to take a look downstairs for me and see if my date’s here? I’ll be right behind you.”
“Sure.”
After he left, she took a second to slick on some deep red lip gloss before following him. She'd reached the bottom of the stairs and Nathan had disappeared when the doorbell bonged so she opened it.
“You must be Mark,” she greeted the man at the door, her smile faltering when she got a good look at him.
He was really cute, with big, beefy