Page 42 of Flirty Fall Fling

Again. I want to say it so badly, but I keep it to myself. This is the third time we’ve officially met. It’s almost a gag now.

“It’s nice to meet you as well.” I look between them all. “I appreciate the introduction. I really need to get to work.”

“I’ve heard Blaire is great at love spells,” Sharon singsongs, picking up her coffee with a smile.

Doris Jean takes a slow sip of her tea. “Mmm. I’m just sensing something between you two.”

“Please don’t do this,” I say through gritted teeth.

Bitsy laughs. “Oh, sweetie. You know we have to keep your aunt’s memory alive. If Flora were here, she’d have already invited him over to the house and made sure you were there.”

Jamie laughs.

“Have a great day, all,” I say, turning on my heel, shaking my head.

They’re giggling at something Jamie said when I walk off. The Birds have him now. God help him for appeasing the town gossips and matchmakers.

I walk past the window, and his eyes don’t leave me. When we’re alone again, I’m going to kill him. It won’t even be with magic. I’ll use my bare hands.

I’m not even half a block down the sidewalk when Roasted Bean’s bell rings behind me.

“Ma’am! Excuse me.”

Jamie catches up in a few long strides, holding out a dollar bill, wearing the same polite smile he wore at the counter. “You dropped this.”

I did not. I don’t carry cash on me ever. Everything on my body is zipped, buttoned, or currently holding a macchiato. Behind him, through the front window, Doris Jean’s entire table is watching this exchange like it’s dinner theater.

“Thank you,” I say and take the money like it’s mine.

“Have a good day, Blaire.” He crosses the street toward his car without looking back.

I stand there for a beat longer than I should.

I unfold the dollar and see that he wrote his number on it, with the words call me next to it.

When I walk into Charmed Cauldron, laughter falls out of me. He’s wild.

I fold it back up and tuck it into my apron.

Josie and Winter show up on time, still bickering about the magic coffee they drank this morning. Josie sells more crystal jewelry before noon than we moved all last week. I might suggest she drink it every day. The thought makes me giggle.

I do two full readings. One is for a tourist who cries about her ex and tips better than anyone. The other is for a local woman named Peggy. She has had a standing appointment with my aunt every season for the past twenty years. After that, I’m hired to cast a few love spells and ward their names with protection spells.

Between customers, Winter reads the book I gave her and takes notes. I believe she’s curious about the practice, but that’s as far as it goes.

At closing time, I wipe down the reading table, thinking about my aunt and what she would say about Jamie. Honestly, she’d be the ringleader of the matchmaking and encourage it more than any of them.

I go home, and the night passes by quickly. Dinner comes and goes.

By ten o’clock, the three of us go upstairs.

By eleven, their doors are closed, and the hallway is dark.

The dollar is in the pocket of the jeans I was wearing today. I grab them from my hamper and pull it out, thinking about his eyes following me. I know down to my bones that I want him. The mutual attraction is undeniable.

I add him into my phone as Jamie, and then I type a message.

Blaire