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“You cook?” She looked hesitant.
“A little.” I had a few go-to dishes that I loved to make and eat.
“Okay. Those will count too. A dinner, either out or homemade, for every time you called me Little Thief.”
“I wasn’t exactly keeping count,” I said, amused. Was this her way of hinting she wanted to keep seeing me after all this was over? Because if it was, it was a resounding yes on my end. I liked her. A lot. She was brave, and quick-thinking, and flipping gorgeous.
“Oh, but I was.” She looked smug.
“Were you, now?”
“Yes indeedy. You called me a thief eight times. So, you owe me eight nice dinners.”
“You pulled that number out of your ass.” Kind of like how I’d made up three days. Was that just yesterday?
She chuckled. “I did, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.”
Eight dinners. That would take some time. It meant eight more dates, and eight more opportunities to impress upon her the benefits of staying around after. I’d originally set out on this mission to catch a thief, but now I was quickly catching feelings for a bold little blonde spitfire I couldn’t get enough of.
Eva leaned back on her chair, holding her lime soda. “That was so good. I think I ate too much, though.”
“Impossible. You barely ate a thing.” I’d eaten at least three times the volume she had, and I was perfect. Full, but not overly so.
“Maybe compared to you, but trust me, I’m stuffed.”
We cleaned up quickly and were just leaving the kitchen when my phone chimed, alerting me there was someone on the premises. Moments later, there was a knock on my front door.
“It’s Prax,” I said, groaning and turning my phone to vibrate before shoving it back in my pocket.
“Maybe we should let him in,” Eva said, getting up from the kitchen table. “I mean, aren’t you two supposed to be working together to find this locket?” She paused in the foyer just outside of the living room.
Like many Victorian homes, the foyer was spacious, with a staircase going up to the second floor. It also connected the kitchen, living room, and the hallway leading to the other parts of the home. Prax’s shape was outlined in the frosted window next to the front door. Placing a hand firmly on Eva’s shoulder, I guided her into the living room and away from the incubus.
“He doesn’t have to be in my house to help me find it. He knows the collectors forums we need to check, and he knows how to use the internet now, so there’s no reason for him to be here.” I sat and pulled her down onto the couch next to me.
She sat with a few inches of space between us, but in seconds, gravity had pulled her down into the little ditch my body made, and she was pressed up tightly against me.
“What do you mean he knows how to use the internet now?”
I explained how, after being freed from the wizard’s bonds, Prax had enlisted with Desmon, hoping to learn how this new world worked before making a go of it on his own. It must have been shocking for him to find out that magic and monsters were accepted by almost everyone in this world, and that technology beyond his wildest imagination was now a fact of life.
He’d been tricked and imprisoned by Nastafar’s grandfather so long ago that flush toilets hadn’t yet been common. So he’d been spending the last few months catching up, learning simple everyday things like using a computer and driving a car.
“Oh! Those pants make sense now. They must have been in fashion back then, but now? Yeah, if he wants to fit into today’s society, he’s going to have to change the way he dresses. I mean, now that The Wall has fallen we’re used to all sorts of weird stuff, but certain things still draw attention.”
“Which is why I don’t think he’s a good choice to protect you. Can you imagine walking through the streets with him following you around looking like a dead poet?”
Eva giggled. I felt the movement of her laughter in all the places where we touched.
“Well, you draw a lot of attention, too, you know. And you’re already in illusion.”
My phone, which was currently squashed uncomfortably between us in my pants pocket, vibrated. She made a move and wriggled away to give me room to reach it. It was an alert for yet more motion outside my house.
Prax. With her peering curiously at my screen, I clicked on the live feed.
The incubus was waving at us from one of my cameras. Grinning, he held the fingers of one hand in a circle, then moved his index finger in and out suggestively, waggling his eyebrows cartoonishly.
He was implying that we were too busy fucking to answer the door? I wish! But I wanted to take my time with Eva, especially after being such a jerk to her earlier.
