Chick with a Charm (11 page)

“Maybe not. Maybe I could put a moratorium on us having sex until the spell gradually wears off. In the meantime, we could do fun things together. We could bond the way couples do during that montage in the middle of a movie, where there’s no dialogue or anything, just romantic music.”

“Lily, you’re demented. You and I both know you’re not going to stop having sex with him.”

Lily thought about the way Griffin looked naked. “Yeah, probably not.”

“So he’ll get more and more attached to you, and then your conscience will bother you so much you’ll confess about the spell. He won’t be happy. I can vouch for that. Jasper was furious with me.”

“Because you turned him into a
cat.
Hel-
lo.
Griffin’s still very much a man.” And how. “So what does he have to complain about? I put a spell on him so now all he wants to do is have lots of sex with me. I’m good at sex. What guy would complain about an arrangement like that?”

“The guy who likes to believe he’s in control of his own destiny. And that’s all of them, by the way.”

Lily wished her sister didn’t sound so wise, so blasted
right
. Then there was the other teensy problem, the one Anica didn’t know about yet. Griffin showed signs of invading Lily’s time and space. She hadn’t figured on that.

She should have. Daisy would be with her night and day if Lily allowed it. But Daisy was a dog, so Lily could make her stay at the apartment while she went to work. Daisy didn’t have the freedom to show up whenever. Griffin did.

“I guess I’ll take it one day at a time,” Lily said.

“You could always try reversing the spell.”

“Are you crazy? I’m not going to try a spell reversal on Griffin right before Mom and Dad arrive. Just my luck I’d screw it up and they’d be here to witness the whole thing. You’re lucky they were out of the country when you had your little episode with Jasper.”

“I was definitely lucky.” Anica gazed at her. “Are you still coming with me to the airport in the morning to pick them up?”

“You bet. Did you get a rental car?” Neither of them owned a car, both because of the expense and the trouble with parking. They made do with public transportation except for unusual situations, like picking up their globe-trotting parents from O’Hare.

“I did. Jasper offered to let me use his car and loan it to them for the weekend, but . . .”

Lily laughed. “I know. Dad’s driving. Wizards don’t make the best drivers in the world. You got insurance, right?”

“All they offered.” Anica fidgeted with her cell phone, flipping the cover open and shut. “Speaking of Jasper, um . . . you won’t tell on me, will you?”

“I won’t tell on you if you won’t tell on me.”

“I promise not to tell Mom and Dad, but I have to warn you that Dorcas and Ambrose know.”

“Anica! What’d you do, call them up right after you found out Griffin had spent the night?”

“No.”
Anica looked insulted. “Dorcas called me. She knew you were thinking about it and she wanted an update. I’m not going to lie to a member of the Wizard Council, Lily.”

“I wish they didn’t know. They’re coming to the party, which means they’ll be talking to Mom and Dad.”

“They won’t tell Mom and Dad.”

“How can you be so sure?” Lily tried not to panic, but she
really
didn’t want her parents to know what she’d done.

“First of all, Dorcas and Ambrose aren’t the kind of people who go around spilling other people’s secrets, which is good for me because they know about me turning Jasper into a cat.”

“True.” Lily hadn’t thought about the fact that the Lowells were keeping secrets for both sisters.

“And second of all, they’re not allowed to interfere unless somebody asks them to, like I did when we couldn’t figure out how to turn Jasper back into a guy.”

“And you didn’t ask them to do anything regarding me and Griffin, right?”

Anica gazed at her. “No, because this is your deal.”

“Thanks, An. Thanks for letting me handle it.”

“I couldn’t have asked them, anyway. It would have to be either you or Griffin who asks.”

“Oh.” Lily laughed. “I see. You’re being noble by default.”

“No, I really wouldn’t have asked, even if I could!”

“Right.”

“Anyway, your secret’s safe with them. They won’t tell, and I won’t tell as long as you’ll keep my secret.”

Lily smiled at her. “Blackmail is a glorious thing, isn’t it?”

“Uh-huh. Now let’s eat. I can’t plan a magical party on an empty stomach.”

 

Griffin had found a private moment at the office to tell Debbie he wouldn’t be going out with her on Saturday night. He’d explained that there was someone else. From the way she’d rolled her eyes, he thought she probably knew who that was.

She’d made a snide remark about men who preferred blatant sexuality to women with a more refined appeal, and he’d said nothing. Intellectually he preferred subtle to blatant himself. But his mind wasn’t running the show these days.

Debbie didn’t join the group when Kevin, Miles and Griffin headed over to the Bubbling Cauldron for their normal happy hour. Griffin had given Kevin permission to bring Miles up to speed on the situation, so both friends were eager to see how the new status would affect their routine.

“You’re welcome to take her into the storeroom for a quickie,” he said, “as long as I get my drink first.”

Griffin knew that sparring with Miles would only make him ramp up the teasing. “I’ll see if she’ll go for that,” he said as they walked in the door. “I’ve never had storeroom sex.”

“Oh, I have,” Miles said, looking worldly.

“Here?” Griffin was trying to picture that happening without him or Kevin knowing.

“Not here. At that bar we used to go to back in college.”

Kevin didn’t look convinced. “Yeah, right.”

“I have! I have great memories of storeroom sex. The smell of cardboard boxes can still get me hot. And it would work great in this setup, too. I’ve noticed that the storeroom isn’t off the kitchen, like in some places. It opens off the same hall as the bathrooms.”

As they sat at their usual table, Kevin shook his head in obvious disbelief. “If you’ve made it with a chick in a storeroom, then I’m Clarence Darrow.”

Miles stuck out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Clarence.”

Their banter made little impression on Griffin. All his attention was focused on Lily. She stood behind the bar and leaned casually against the polished surface while she talked with the long-haired waiter. What was his name again? Sherman. Yeah, that was it.

Lily had glanced over at him when he’d first come in and given him a brief but dazzling smile. That smile coupled with the low-cut black tops she favored when she was tending bar had him salivating. He’d needed every last ounce of his self-control to keep from marching over to the bar, cupping his hand behind her head and French-kissing her blind. But this was her work environment and he wouldn’t compromise that.

Sherman was entirely too friendly for Griffin’s taste, though, and Lily seemed perfectly happy in Sherman’s company. The guy was a little young for Lily, but some women liked younger guys. Maybe he should wander over to the bar and give her their order.

“Earth to Griffin. Come in, Griffin.” Miles waved a hand in front of his face.

He turned to Miles. “What?”

“I asked you twice if you wanted to order a sandwich. There’s not a huge selection, but it’s better than my alternative, which is to go home and nuke a frozen pizza. We figured you’d go for that plan. Am I right?”

“Sure. Let’s do that.” Griffin swiveled back to continue watching Lily, who was busy mixing drinks. Sherman had left and was now on the far side of the room, taking orders. Griffin didn’t expect Sherman to take theirs, however.

Any minute now Lily would come over and take their order, the way she always did. Pretty soon he should figure out how he wanted the evening to go. He hadn’t thought about spending the whole night at the bar, but on the other hand, he didn’t want to go home until Lily was ready to leave.

He also had to decide what to do if he spent the night at her place again. Waking up with no change of clothes, no razor and no toothbrush wasn’t his idea of suave. Maybe he and Lily should go home, pick up Daisy and anything Lily would need, and then go to his place. If he was going to work the next day that would make it easier.

“You know, it’s like sitting here with a robot, a robot who looks like Griffin Taylor,” Miles remarked.

At the sound of his name, Griffin turned his attention back to his friends. “Excuse me?”

“Kevin and I were wondering if you were going to partake in any jovial guy talk tonight, or if we could expect you to spend the entire happy hour staring at Lily.”

Griffin didn’t like appearing to be a lovesick fool in front of his friends, so he leaned back in his chair and loosened his tie. “What sort of jovial guy talk did you have in mind?”

“Oh, the usual. Whether the Cubs are likely to move up in the standings this weekend. Whether Britney Spears is hotter than Jennifer Lopez. Whether you’re aware that your fly’s down.”

Instantly Griffin checked, and just as instantly knew he’d been had. “Funny. You guys are a real riot.”

“So are you,” Miles said. “Kev warned me about the state of your brain, or what’s left of it, and I thought he was exaggerating.”

“As you can see, I wasn’t,” Kevin said.

“Nope.” Miles folded his arms. “But I predict we’ll see the old Griff in another week or so. He’s been depriving himself, so this reaction is natural. Pretty soon sex won’t be this shiny new toy, and then we’ll have our buddy back.”

Griffin took comfort in Miles’s matter-of-fact evaluation. He was feeling a little out of control, but Miles was probably right. He hadn’t been indulging in sex recently, and then he’d repressed his attraction to Lily. Now that he’d turned those urges loose, he was feeling consumed by them.

But it wouldn’t last. Nothing this exciting ever lasted. That was the whole point. You didn’t build a life on the basis of a momentary infatuation. His buddies would keep him grounded so he wouldn’t do that.

Even so, when he caught Lily’s scent and knew she was on her way over to the table, his pulse leaped and his groin stirred. He thought about Miles’s joke about storeroom sex, and it wasn’t such a joke anymore. Griffin wondered if he could tempt her to go back there.

He hadn’t brought condoms, but every bar worth its salt and lime had a condom dispenser in the men’s bathroom. It was a thought. Not a particularly noble thought, considering that he’d recently vowed not to bother her on the job. But a thought nevertheless.

“So, gentlemen, what will it be tonight?”

Griffin looked up and his face was level with her cleavage. If he grabbed her around the waist he could bury his face there. He wouldn’t do that, of course. But the storeroom was looking like a better option every minute.

Lily was good at her job, which allowed her to do it while only part of her brain was focused on tending bar. The other part was absorbed with watching Griffin. She could tell from the way his friends teased him that they knew about her. That was an encouraging development. If Griffin had told his friends, then he wasn’t ashamed of the connection.

Tonight she’d ask him to Anica and Jasper’s engagement party on Sunday. If nothing else, she’d have a cool date for that party, and she’d been worried about that ever since the plans were made. She should be past the point of competing with Anica, but when she was completely honest with herself, she admitted she wasn’t past it.

When her parents came, Anica would be introducing them to her fiancé, a really great guy even if he wasn’t magical. At the very least, Lily wanted to show up with a really great boyfriend. Her parents had always predicted she’d end up with a bad-boy type, and she would be delighted to present Griffin, who was everything her mom and dad could want for their daughter.

Well, except for the fact that Griffin wasn’t a wizard. But mixed marriages were becoming increasingly common in the magical world, and her parents would just have to get in step with the new millennium. Whoops. Had she just let herself think about the M word?

That was making quite a leap. She might have bound Griffin to her sexually, but marriage was a huge step beyond that. She must be influenced by Anica’s upcoming wedding.

Still, as she served hot pastrami sandwiches and beer to Griffin and his friends, she pictured Kevin and Miles as groomsmen. Kevin might be Griffin’s best man, because he seemed a little closer to him than Miles. But both of them would definitely be in the wedding.

She’d have Anica as her matron of honor, and Jasper might be a groomsman. That meant coming up with a couple more women, but Lily would have no trouble with that. She had two girlfriends from high school that had moved out of the Chicago area, but Lily still kept in touch with them. They’d expect to be in her wedding. Oh yeah, they’d be excited for her.

“Lily?” Sherman reached across the bar and touched her shoulder. “Are you about finished with those margs?”

Lily jerked out of her wedding daze and looked at the two margarita glasses in her hand. They had salt on the rims, and that was about the extent of her preparation on those two drinks. “Coming right up,” she said brightly, as if she hadn’t been standing there daydreaming about a wedding that might never take place.

When Lily was a little girl, she’d loved pretending to be a bride. Then puberty had hit with a vengeance, and she’d differentiated herself from her sane, responsible sister by being a wild child. She hadn’t stopped to figure out that men don’t usually propose to the wild child.

After Kevin, Miles and Griffin finished their food, Lily expected them all to leave as they usually did. Kevin and Miles did leave, giving her a wave as they went out the door into the spring night. Griffin, however, moved his base of operations over to the bar and perched on a stool.