Page 65 of Meet Cute Magic

“Oh, Rosie? We’re just neighbors. She comes in like that all the time, all excited.” Just neighbors. My breathing becomes shallow, and I force myself to even out my breaths.

“It seemed a little… friendly.”

“Well, yeah. We’re friends,” he says, and my gut twists.

“The way we’re friends? The kind of friends you want us to be? Because last I talked to you—” Jeanette starts, and this is going so badly. We’re going to have to find another way to get the mayor’s hair fast. I guess I could just use a spell to grab it from his trash, make multiple variations of the potion with whatever I find. And if we mess it up, we can try again next year and Jack and I can remain—

“No, no. Rosie and I aren’t the kind of friends you and I are. You know that,” he says, giving her a soft smile, reaching out and grabbing her hand. I stuff down the way that grates against me, but I can’t focus on it for long because he’s speaking again. “So. The schedule? I can make almost anything work. If you show me the calendar, I can see when I could come over here.” A beat fills the silence before she sighs.

“For you? Of course, Jack.” Then she slides the calendar toward him, shifting so she’s leaning across the desk and grazing his shoulder.

“Let me pull up my calendar to double-check,” Jack says, then lifts his phone and presumably starts tapping the screen to open his calendar. But when I tap my views, I realize his camera is pointed right at the schedule so my magic can get the best angle, and I start taking screenshots over and over, even as I see the mayor is supposed to come in the day after tomorrow for a haircut. I also happen to see it’s Jeanette’s day off, something I’m wildly grateful for because it won’t be too hard to come in and do my own flirting with Tom, the weekend receptionist who usually takes over when Jeanette’s not on. Tom has a soft spot for me and has been trying to get me to give him the time of day for years, though he’s totally not my type.

Perks of being in a small town: you know everyone’s business.

They make plans for Jack to come in next week for a haircut he doesn’t really need, and I secretly hope he cancels, not just because it’s a day Jeanette is working, but because I kind of like the slightly overgrown look he has going on, the waves of his hair a bit more unstyled and untamed than normal.

But that doesn’t matter, I guess, my opinion.

We’re just friends after all.

CHAPTER 23

Rosie

18 days until Halloween

I turn off my phone once I secure the information we need, but that uncomfortable feeling still pools in my belly, waiting for its opportunity to strike and torture me.

It’s not jealousy, of course. It’s probably the idea that he and Jeanette had—and, from that interaction, might in the future, have—something going on, and I can’t stand Jeanette. While I wait for Jack to be done, I get up and move a few benches down so he won’t be walking out right to me like we planned. I try not to think too much about what’s happening in there and find myself failing miserably.

You’re being stupid, I remind myself.

This thing between us will be over soon, as anticipated. We’re both going to go on our merry way, and I’m finally going to fall in love like in all of my books. I’m just a little nervous, is all, and who wouldn’t be, really? I’ve been waiting what feels like my entire life for this, and it’s so close I can taste it. It would make anyone nervous—the idea of knowing that the next person you date will most likely be the one you fall in love with and spend the rest of your life with.

I’m excited for it. Really, I am.

I’m still lost in my thoughts when Jack comes into my line of vision, a small smile on his lips, like even he knows he did well with his mission. I can’t help but return his grin as I stand, meeting him in the middle before we both start slowly walking toward our homes. It’s a warmer day today, the perfect fall afternoon, and since the barber is barely half a mile from our store, I had suggested walking. But with the strange and uncomfortable feeling swirling under my skin, I’m not sure how I feel about a twenty-minute walk with Jack.

“Did you get the time? I scanned it when I could, and I saw his name on there for tomorrow, but I didn’t catch the exact time.”

I nod. “Yeah, I saw it. Two o’clock tomorrow,” I say. We fall into another silence before he lets out a small laugh.

“That was easier than I expected,” he says.

“Me too.” I did think we’d need a backup plan, that I might have to send Poppy or Vi in later to try and get the info, or risk a spell at his house. “You… you were so smooth,” I say with a shocked laugh, and he smiles at me, wide and content like he knows he did a great job, but I’m still baffled.

How did he do that? He flipped the switch with expert precision. Like someone who… does that all the time. Which is completely unexpected from Jack.

“I’ve flirted with women before, Rosie. Believe it or not, some women are into the built nerd thing.” I blink a few times and shake my head, pushing at his firm arm playfully.

“I know that, of course.” I try not to add that I am one of those women, but when he smiles, I’m pretty sure he sees it written on my face. We’re taking the back way to our places, and I stop walking between shops, standing with my hand on my hips, too flustered to keep going. There goes playing it natural, I suppose. “But you’re you. You are not the king of flirting and cocky smiles. You’re… stuttering and getting mad and blushing as I push your buttons.”

He stops, too, turning to look at me, three or so feet between us, his brow furrowed.

“No, I’m not,” he says, and the tiniest smirk tips up at the edge of his lips, like he’s fighting it back. If I weren’t watching him intently, I’d miss it, but I am, so I don’t.

“Love the confidence, Jack, really, it’s adorable, but you are. You might not realize it, but you absolutely are the shy nerd.” His head tips to the side, but a bit before shaking his head.