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I couldn’t stop a laugh. “Censoring yourself because you’re a good Catholic boy or…”
“Because you’re a lady.”
“Well, thanks. But I gotta go.”
My endorphins were on hyperdrive from a long dance session with my pole, and it had been a damn long time since anyone had made me want to say yes. I wasn’t being conceited when I said I got hit on constantly.
I worked in retail. Men and women approached me with wild abandon most days. I enjoyed it, even played into it for a sale. But something had made me throw up my shields the moment Caleb stuck his hand out.
Trouble.
His charming smile said harmless, and that he was a teacher should have done the same. But I’d learned to listen to the little voice who told me to close the damn door.
She was usually right.
But part of me always wanted to rebel. Especially when his aura had such a cheerful sunny hue with a lovely little buzz of creative red along the edges.
“Wait, you didn’t answer me.”
I gave him a half smile and closed the door in his face. I’d make the decision another day.
“You know you’re intrigued,” he said through the door.
He didn’t sound annoyed. That was always something a woman had to worry about when tossing back an overture. Especially since this dude was going to be living across from me.
I pressed my palm to the door over the oil sigils I’d painted on them. For protection, for peace, and most of all, for contentment. My home needed to be a safe space, especially for all the healing work I had to do. The door was warm from his energy.
“Guess we’ll find out,” I said just loud enough for him to hear.
Spinning on the balls of my feet, I put the delicious Caleb Beck out of my mind. I’d worked up a light sweat and needed a quick shower before I met up with the girls on the rooftop.
I rushed into the bathroom, stripping as I went. I didn’t have time to deal with my crazy hair, so I shoved it under a shower cap before I slipped under the water.
I was looking forward to hanging out with the ladies in my building. It was a new space that had just been finished at the end of spring. It was going to be blazes hot up there, but I was pretty sure the ever eclectic Bess Wainwright was going to make sure there were cool drinks and food. She was the ultimate entertainer.
Gavin Forrester, the owner, had some sort of renovations going in this apartment building all the freaking time. But it was too damn hot to do much right now since we were in the thick of a late July heat wave.
Not the smartest time for my new neighbor, Cal the hottie, to move in. Probably why there wasn’t an army of his fellow frat buddies—or even his brother—helping him.
Then again, August was the sort of man who picked up the slack at the end.
He was forever doing that for Kin at the store. The guy had a million balls in the air between custom work and his new furniture venture with his wife. But he was always there to help out when she got a wild hair about moving stuff around the store. One of the reasons why I loved working there so much. It was never the same for very long and kept me from getting bored.
I’d moved into this apartment building after I’d started working at Kinleigh’s Attic—now Kinleigh and August’s Attic, the combined storefront for both August’s furniture and Kinleigh’s eclectic store.
Since having their baby, they’d ended up going all in on the baby furniture deal. Kids’ furniture, vintage toys, and clothing had taken over half the store. I’d really gotten into helping Kinleigh embrace her new calling. With the baby boom taking over the town, things for children were in high demand. And Kinleigh was nothing if not an astute businesswoman.
I finished rinsing off and tucked my huge cotton bath wrap around me. While I drip-dried, I quickly did my usual skin care deal with crystal-infused oils and toner, plus some lotion from my favorite shop in Luna Falls. I never thought I’d find witchy products I didn’t have to go online to buy, but there were a surprising number of shops a few towns over.
I padded into my bedroom and hung up my towel, then I slipped into a light robe as I tried to figure out what to wear. I hated running the air conditioning in my apartment, but it was too blessed hot to deal without it. In fact, I wondered if we should reroute our little meet-up to Bess’s place.
Her apartment was big enough to cover all of us.
I picked up my phone to text her when one came in from her with a photo of her handiwork on the roof. Yep—scratch that.
Quickly, I replied to her that it looked amazing and pulled out a pair of cutoffs and a cute rainbow tie-dye tank top with a duo of daisies over my nipples. It amused me enough to pair it with some daisy earrings, necklace, and some citrine crystals. I tied a few more around my wrist and opposite ankle. Then I found my daisy sandals at the back of my closet and embraced a little more summer child energy with some sparkly makeup.
I checked in with Kylie and Tabitha, the other women in my building who were part of our girls’ night. We all agreed to meet with tarot decks, water, and notebooks in hand.
