"It seems Jacinthe isn't happy about us getting together," I said, stepping back to give us a breather.I hadn't come here for that and I didn't want to overwhelm Faye when we hadn't even talked about it.
Faye cleared her throat, clearly in need of a moment to compose herself.She rubbed her neck, lingering on the spot where I kissed her, and looked up at me."What did you need me to do again?"
"The bow tie.For Balthazar," I reminded her.
"Oh, yes.Right.Yeah, let's do that before we get too carried away.It shouldn't take too long."She fluttered her hands over the front of my body, briefly touching my hips before moving into the living area."Do you want to wait while I make it or do you have to go?"
"I've got nowhere else to be."
Her mouth tipped up in a genuine smile."Then take a seat.Can I get you a drink?Tea?Wine?Juice?"
"A cup of tea sounds lovely," I said, settling on her couch so I didn't lose track of my hands again.I hadn't struggled with desire or arousal before but it was taking me off guard how much I could feel the want throbbing through me.Especially because it hadn't felt like this when Faye and I were just friends.
But now...Now I felt like something had been unlocked inside me and it was surprisingly distracting.
Faye returned with two hand-painted wonky mugs of tea and set one down in front of me."You can put something on the TV if you like."
"I would rather watch you work."
"Oh."She suddenly looked shy."It's not very interesting.I'll just be stitching the bow into place and then making a loop for the collar."
"I think it's cute when you concentrate.You get a little crease in your brow," I said, touching the spot between my eyebrows.
Faye sat down at the table with her sewing machine."And how do you know what I look like when I concentrate?"
"It's how you looked in school when you were trying your best to solve a math problem or figure out the position of the stars.You were cute back then, too."
Her ears got red."Drink your tea, smooth-talker.I know you didn't see me that way back then."
"I didn't have feelings for you but I still had eyes.I've always thought you were pretty and cute."I leaned forward, enjoying the reaction I was getting from her.I'd discovered a while ago that bold flirting just made her roar with laughter but honesty got her flustered quicker than anything else.It was nice to see that was still true.
The sewing machine started its familiar clattering sound and the conversation lapsed since Faye's focus was needed on the project.I watched her work, shoulders rounded over while she fiddled with the bow tie and her scissors.She scrunched her nose while she did the small detailed work and rolled her neck when she adjusted her posture.
She always did carry the stress in her shoulders.
I thought about getting up and offering her a massage but I didn't want to break her flow.I'd seen how cranky she could get if she was interrupted in the middle of the process.For now, I was happy to sit back and watch some nonsense on the TV, simply enjoying being with her.
If this was anyone else, I would feel antsy and uncomfortable but not with Faye.Being with Faye was peaceful and when I imagined a whole life of this with her, I could feel myself fall in love even more.
THIRTEEN
We only hadonefancy tablecloth and for the life of me, I had no fricking clue where to find it.It wasn't with Gran's fancy porcelain, it wasn't in the cabinet with the other tablecloths or dish towels, and it wasn't in the linen closet.
Even more frustratingly, Gran was not replying to my messages as if Faye wasn't coming over in fifteen minutes and I was running behind with...everything.The chicken was still raw when I poked it and yet, the skin was already starting to burn.I still needed to change but I wanted to do that after I ran a hoover through the kitchen to clean up the broken wine glass on the floor.
This would be a good time to be a powerful witch.
I reached for my wand, pointing it at the invisible shards of glass.My magic was weak from only relying on my connection with the Wild Spirit so only some pieces levitated, leaving me unconfident that I got everything.
I would still need to hoover and Faye was going to be here in...Thirteen minutes!
Thirteen minutes and still so much to do!Why did I think hosting a cute date was a good idea again?This was just chaos, pure chaos.The only saving grace was that Balthazar had excused him when he found out about the movie night so there was nobody to witness this catastrophe.
A timer beeped and I rushed over to the stove, although for the life of me, I couldn't rememberwhatthe timer was for.Definitely not for the chicken, that was probably still pink and mocking me.Was it for the parboiled potatoes?Were they ready?I stabbed a fork in them, nodding when they seemed tender...enough.
I glanced at the clock.Twelve minutes to get everything under control.
I rushed through my tasks which meant putting the potatoes in the oven where they were supposed to brown in the chicken fat.I didn't have time to question why there was so little chicken fat on the bottom of my tray so I just ignored it.The oven could sort that out by itself.I hoovered the kitchen at lightning speed, almost strangling myself on the extendable cord, and changed out of my sweaty clothes.
