Luna pinched her lips. He was obviously fishing for an address, but she didn’t give that out freely. No one knew where she lived, not even her aunties. “Well,” she said, folding her hands in front of her on the counter, “I’m glad to see you’re back all in one piece.”
A sudden scurrying motion brought her eyes shooting upward. Her stomach knotted. If that drat-blasted mistletoe eventhoughtabout descending over Ward’s head,Oh!she would absolutely murder it.She cast about for the pruning shears, which still lay where they’d fallen on the floor behind the counter. She made a half-step to retrieve them, but themistletoe, peeking over a pipe, saw and hastily retreated again, leaves and berries whisking out of sight.
Luna lowered her gaze once more, forcing her face back into pleasant lines.
“So,” Ward said, tipping his head slightly to one side, “did you remember to pray for me?”
“Why of course!” Was that a lie? She honestly couldn’t remember. Surely she must have prayed for him once or twice?
“Good thing.” He grinned. “Because it ended up being a nasty business up north. The sorcerer was something of a milksop, but his connections proved rather more interesting. I can’t go into details, but what was supposed to be a simple dive-in and scoop-him-up turned into a hounds-on-the-scent pursuit.” He lifted his eyebrows. “Can you picture it? Me striding across gothic moors, sleuthing it up with the best of them?”
Itdidpaint rather a nice image in the mind. Ward certainly would cut a dashing figure, striding in tall boots, wind sweeping back his long coat and tossing his dark curls. Granted, the pea-green officer’s uniform probably didn’t suit the aesthetic quite as nicely, but no reason she couldn’t imagine it however she preferred.
“And did you end up tracking down the sorcerer’s connections?” she asked.
“Only one.” Ward made a face. “Nasty bugger. They’re still trying to get him to reveal his associates, but that’s notmydepartment.”
Luna shuddered.
“Anyway,” Ward continued, shifting his angle against the counter, “I don’t want to bore you with all that. What have you been up to while I’ve been away?”
“Oh, nothing much.” She shrugged. “Business as usual.”
“Any interesting tea-visions recently?”
For an instant, she recalled the vision she’d glimpsed inhisteacup. And blushed. Ward, after all, had no idea she’d peeked at his future. A gross breach of scrying etiquette. How her aunties would despair! “We’re not supposed to talk about it,” she said stiffly.
“Is that tea witchery law?”
“Something like that.”
“In that case, I solemnly swear to ask you to betray no secrets over dinner tonight. Agreed?”
Luna swallowed. Her throat felt very scratchy. “Tonight?”
“Yes. You’re not busy, are you?”
She wasn’t. She was planning to attend the midnight service tomorrow for Green Yule’s Eve, and . . . and she sort-of-kind-of had a date with Mr. Grimm. Didn’t she? Did she? Maybe not. She really had no idea. Oh gods. They were going to have to . . . to talk about it. The . . . well, not the kiss. It wasn’t a kiss. The mouth-bump. They were going to have to talk about it. And the other thing? The arm-grabbing bit? That moment of exquisite intensity and . . . and . . . Did they have to talk about that too? Probably. Because that was more of a thing. Than the mouth-bump. More . . . revealing? No. Maybe? She didn’t know. She just didn’t know—
“Luna Talbot?” Ward dropped his head, brow wrinkling as he tried to catch her eye. “I asked, are you busy tonight?”
“No,” Luna blurted. Then she drew a long breath and forced a smile. “No, I . . . I have no plans tonight.”
“So, can I pick you up at seven?”
“Um . . .”
“You’ll have to give me your address.”
“No,” she answered a little too quickly. “Let’s meet somewhere.”
“All right.” His expression was a bit rueful, but he didn’t push the matter. “Here?”
“No!” Luna’s mind scrambled about for an alternative. “Huck ‘n Clover’s,” she blurted. “I, um, I have a little shopping I need to do.”
“So . . . you’re going to pick up your tinned peas and peachesbeforewe go out to dinner?”
Luna pursed her lips, embarrassed. “Um.”
