Page 69 of Meet Cute Magic

“Jack Haggerty, you have a surprise for me?” I say with a gasp, hand going to my chest.

“Okay, don’t get too wild with it,” he says with a laugh. “It’s not a big deal. It’s just… a fun night.” I look at him skeptically before he leads me up the stairs to his apartment, where he unlocks yet another door. I smile and shake my head at him, and he gives me a bashful one back over his shoulder before pushing it open, and I stare… confused.

“What is this?” I ask, looking at his living room. There are bags and boxes all over, and the room is a mix of different smells.

“We’re traveling tonight,” he says, and the look I give him, wide eyes and raised brows, must be humorous because he laughs, pulling me into his side and pressing a kiss to my hair like he can’t help it. “From the comfort of my living room.”

“I don’t—”

“There are only three stops on the agenda today, but each one has some kind of food, a movie, or an activity, and some music.” I blink, still confused, and he must take it the wrong way before he’s taking my hand and leading me to one spot. “For an appetizer, we’ve got Japan. I thought it could be fun to make our own sushi. I went to the local Japanese restaurant, and they gave me all the food we needed, and I grabbed the mats at the store. I queued up a video for the how-to, but if it’s a mess, I also got us salads.” A lump forms in my throat as the reality hits me.

“Next is Mexico, and I got elote, chips, and salsa from that place in Diamond Ridge that’s been on TV a bunch. I’ve had it before and it’s wildly good, but that green one is deceptively spicy. For dinner, we’ve got Indian, and I googled a bit to find a good Bollywood movie, though I’m open to suggestions if you have one. Then we’ll end in Italy with cannoli.” He smiles wide. “Mostly because I love cannoli.”

After his speech, he stands there seemingly awkwardly, staring at what he’s set up for us—for me—but all I can do is stare at him, looking at him in a different light.

“Did you have an appointment today?” I ask low and then I see that blush move over his cheeks. Finally, he turns to me and shakes his head.

“No,” he answers, then his face goes nervous. “You said you had it covered, though, that it was easy. Was it not? Shit, Rosie, I—” Panic and guilt start to take over his face, and I cut in before it gets worse.

“No, no. It was. It was just a trip to the store.” I stare at him, trying to put pieces together, to understand what this means, and I… can’t. I can’t seem to make it make sense. “You lied so you could…” My brow furrows.

“So I could set this up. Yeah. I mean, I probably could have gone with you, but I wanted to make sure it was all… perfect. You said you wanted to travel, and I can’t afford or make time for us both to run off to another country, but I could bring a small piece of it here, you know?” I do, but I’m still baffled by the move.

“You did all of this because I mentioned I wanted to travel?” He shrugs like it’s no big deal, but to me, it is.

To me, it’s the biggest deal.

“You deserve to know what a grand gesture looks like.” That telltale blush moves over his cheeks and it warms my belly in response. “You know, before the curse is lifted. So you know what to look for. We don’t want you, uh…” he rubs a hand over the back of his neck, suddenly looking embarrassed, “… settling.” He looks around the room again as if not sure what to do, but I grab his hand and force him to look at me.

“Thank you, Jack. I can’t tell you what this means to me,” I say low, hoping he understands just how deeply I mean it. He gives me a small, gentle smile, pushing my hair behind my ear before dipping and pressing the softest, sweetest kiss I’ve ever experienced to my lips.

“Any time, Rosie. Any time.” Then he shifts back again and turns to our adventure. “Ready to make some sushi?”

Later that night, long after we’ve gone through each country and my stomach is perfectly full with amazing food (for reference, I was able to make a pretty decent sushi roll while Jack opted for what he called a “free form” version after his fell apart), Jack’s fingers graze along my arm as we lie on his couch. Some movie is playing, but I couldn’t tell you what it’s about or if it was a part of the travel date.

Night, I remind myself. Travel night. This was not a date. While Jack called it a grand gesture, it wasn’t actually a date. Just a reminder that if someone wants to give you an experience, they will. A friendly little push, a reminder for when this curse is broken and I’m able to find my Mr. Right for good.

Though, as of late, I haven’t even really thought much about finding my soulmate, something that is so far from my normalcy. I’ve been far too consumed with breaking the curse and finding the ingredients Phillip needs to pass to the other side. Right? Right.

After a few minutes, his hands move to my neck, looping a finger on the chain there and shifting it back and forth, a soothing and slow pattern that has my busy mind slowing. He moves in a way similar to how I do when I’m nervous, playing with the amulet to distract myself. It feels right, though, his fingers tugging at it, the tips grazing along my skin.

“You’re still wearing this,” he murmurs low, and my eyes open before shifting to look at him.

“Yeah. I always wear it.”

“Except at the club.”

I nod. “It holds magic: you can’t bring anything into that club that contains or wields magic. It’s against the rules.”

“So when you’re wearing it, you can’t kiss-bond people?”

I nod, though I’m confused by his line of questions, since we already went through this. “Yeah. It blocks it from taking hold. My sisters and I all got them when we were preteens. When it’s off, any nonmagical person I kiss is bonded to me temporarily.” My breath catches when his fingers move up and around my neck, before his fingers are at the clasp, undoing it. Gently, reverently, he removes it, clasps it again, and sets it on his coffee table.

“Let’s do it again,” he says, voice low once his eyes are back on mine. My brows furrow as I take him in, tipping my head to the side.

“Again?” My brain is working down lower with his hands on me, with his body so close, so it takes a minute to realize what he’s proposing. “You want me to bond you?”

He nods. “Just… just for the next couple of weeks. Until the curse is broken. It was a rush, you know?” I nod because I do. Bonding with Jack was unlike anything I had ever felt before. But I can’t help but recoil at his words, at him calling it a rush. Despite everything preceding our own bond, it’s supposed to be intimate and special, not something you do for the fun of it. His brows furrow; he’s clearly reading something on my face.