Chick with a Charm (20 page)

Convinced that she had to let this weekend play out as if she and Griffin were a normal adoring couple, she set the roses in the middle of her coffee table. She decided to read the card before calling him, but the roses couldn’t be from anyone else. She pulled the small envelope from its plastic holder and opened it.

The words made her heart ache. The poor guy was pitiful, and all because of her. She’d thought this kind of adoration would make her feel good, but instead it made her feel like a manipulative bitch, and that rhymed with
witch
, and that stood for
trouble
.

With a sigh she went in search of her phone, which she’d left somewhere in the kitchen. Then she realized that she had no phone number for him—not for his cell or his work. She hadn’t needed to contact him, because ever since he’d taken the elixir he’d been the pursuer.

She could call information if she knew the name of his law firm, but she’d never taken note of that, either. Unless she wanted to forget her plan of calling him and inviting him to lunch, she’d have to use magic to get his number at work. Well, why not?

She knew why not. Doing magic, even a light information-gathering kind, caused her to get a little high. She wasn’t always totally rational after a magic session, and she tended to be way too agreeable and to forget things.

But then she looked at that gigantic vase of flowers and knew that the man who sent those was desperate to hear from her. He probably didn’t realize that she’d never paid attention to where he worked and had never asked for his number. She pictured him waiting to hear whether the flowers had arrived and getting only silence.

After all he’d suffered already, and knowing that nothing would happen this weekend to change that, she couldn’t let him agonize over the flowers. She’d use her crystal ball to find out where he worked.

Her crystal ball needed cleansing, though, and she didn’t have time to let it sit in salt water or put it out in the sun for a while. She’d use a smudge stick. Rummaging around in a cupboard where she kept all her magic supplies, she found the smudge stick and lit it with her small butane torch.

She’d always wondered if the makers of those little torches had been magical folks, because the lighters were so much handier than matches. She’d have to ask her dad, because he’d written a paper about the contributions magical people had made to society. He’d told her that wheeled suitcases had been invented by a wizard, and microwave popcorn had been dreamed up by a witch.

Waving her smudge stick over her crystal ball, she mentally divested it of any negative energy it might have picked up in the past couple of months since she’d used it. Once she was satisfied the ball was clear, she moved her furniture to the perimeter of the room and set the ball in the middle of her living room floor. Then she placed candles in a four-foot circle around it.

Daisy watched from the corner, where she lay with her head on her paws. She seemed curious but not particularly surprised.

Lily glanced over at the dog. “I haven’t worked with my crystal ball since you arrived.”

Daisy thumped her tail on the floor.

“I know this seems like a lot of trouble for one silly phone number, but I honestly don’t know how else to get it. I can hardly go through all the law firms in Chicago asking if Griffin Taylor works there.”

Daisy lifted her head and whined.

It was the strangest thing—at moments like this Lily could swear she could understand what the dog was trying to tell her. Lily tended to respond to those intuitive thoughts. “I don’t dare go over to Anica’s and use her computer to look him up, either. I don’t know her schedule for sure, and it would be just my luck I’d get there at the same time as her in-laws, which means it would take forever to get what I need and leave.”

Daisy sighed and settled back down.

“Trust me, this will be faster.” Lily walked around the circle, lighting the candles. Then she mentally closed the circle and faced the crystal ball. “Smoky orb, where secrets lurk, show me Griffin’s place of work.”

Crouching down, she stared into the depths of the crystal ball and finally made out a brass plate, one of several on the elevator wall of a large office building. “Biddle, Ryerson and Thatcher. Thanks, Crys.” She patted the ball. “You’re a pal.” She put out each candle with a snuffer, opened the circle and went to get her cell off the kitchen counter.

Within a few minutes she’d obtained the number, reached Griffin’s secretary and was now waiting, her fingers drumming on the kitchen counter, for him to pick up. As usual, working the spell had put her on edge. Patience was never one of her strong suits, and after performing magic, she was absolutely no good at waiting for anything.

“Lily?” He sounded eager, way too eager. “Did you get the flowers?”

“Yes, and they’re—”

“The buds were supposed to be just opening. Is that how they look?”

“They’re perfect, Griffin. It’s the most beautiful bouquet of roses I’ve ever been given in my life. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to.”

“Well, thank you. Listen, I—”

“Meet me for lunch.”

The low urgency in his voice sent shivers of desire up her spine. She’d missed him more than she cared to admit. And he’d asked her to do something. She liked agreeing to do things. “Where should I meet you?”

“There’s a nice little restaurant in the Hilton, and that’s close to my office. I’ll meet you in the lobby at noon, if that’s okay.”

“I should be able to make it there by noon. But go ahead in and get us a table.”

“I’ll do that,” he said, “but I’ll still meet you in the lobby.”

There was no point in staying on the phone, arguing with him, and in her frame of mind she didn’t want to argue, anyway. She would have trouble getting ready and down to the Hilton on time as it was. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Bye.”

Racing back through her living room, she realized that the candles and crystal ball were still in the middle of the room. Oh, well. She’d clean that up when she came back to get ready for work.

Griffin gave himself permission to be devious. Critical times called for critical measures. When Lily walked into the hotel lobby, he knew any man in America would forgive him.

Her hair was down around her shoulders, and she wore a short red dress and red sandals with at least a three-inch heel. A delicate silver anklet of moons and stars circled one slim ankle, a tiny detail that excited him almost as much as her low-cut neckline.

Judging from the fit of the dress, he’d be willing to bet she wasn’t wearing a bra. His nerves sizzled. He supposed she didn’t own any frumpy outfits, but she couldn’t walk around looking like that when he was feeling like
this
and not expect something to happen. Something would.

He walked over to meet her. “Hi.”

Her smile was as warm as ever. Whatever had made her decide they should stay apart the night before seemed to have melted away. Her brown eyes sparkled as she gave him the once-over. “Hi, yourself. That navy suit looks good on you.”

“I like that dress on you.” And he’d like it even better when it was off her. He cupped her elbows and pulled her in for a kiss that wouldn’t get them thrown out of the lobby but would let her know he’d been thinking of her . . . a lot.

She kissed him back with enough enthusiasm that he decided he’d be wise to end this activity before she shorted out every brain circuit he possessed. He eased back and gazed at her, drinking in the sight of her flushed cheeks and full lips. “It seems like forever.”

“I’ve missed you, too.” Her glance roamed over his face. “I suppose we’d better go in and order our lunch. You probably have a tight schedule.”

“I do, so I thought I’d save time and order for us.”

“Good idea.” She started toward the restaurant.

He caught her arm. “This way.” He turned her in the opposite direction.

“Griffin, I don’t mean to be difficult, but the sign says the restaurant is—”

He guided her toward the bank of elevators. “I ordered room service.” If he hadn’t been holding her arm he might have missed the slight quiver that went through her. But he didn’t miss it, and it made him smile.

Her reply was deceptively casual, though. “You did, huh?”

“Yeah.” He turned to look at her. “We have an hour.”

“Mm.” She nodded calmly as if they were discussing the length of a business meeting, but her breathing was a little faster than normal. “Do you think that’s long enough?”

“I hope so. I have an appointment at one fifteen.”

“So, what . . . ah . . . what did you order for us to eat?”

“Mostly finger food. Things that taste okay even if they’re cold or room temperature. Things that you don’t have to fool with, unless you want to fool with them.”

He let that suggestive thought dangle as the elevator opened and he guided her inside. He would have loved this to be a private elevator ride so they could continue the discussion of food. He hadn’t told her about the strawberry shortcake with whipped cream.

But a middle-aged couple, hotel guests who had been out shopping, judging from the bags they carried, joined them.

“So, where are you folks from?” the man asked.

Griffin’s brain stalled. He shouldn’t care what the people on the elevator thought, but he’d been a straight arrow for too long. He didn’t want to tell them he was from Chicago, which might lead to conclusions that would be completely accurate, such as he was checking into the hotel for a nooner with this gorgeous, sexy woman.

“Actually, we’re from Peru,” Lily said. “Just got back from studying native herbal remedies down there.”

“Really?” The woman gazed at Lily in obvious disbelief. “Were you tramping through the jungle, then?”

Griffin decided to jump in and help. “I did most of the tramping. Lily stayed in camp and . . . and . . .”

“Sorted through the data,” Lily said. “I’m a top-notch data sorter.”

“She sure is.” Griffin nodded. “I was lucky to have her on the dig—uh, I mean, in the field, or rather, not in the field but in the camp, where she sorted data. Lots of data to sort on one of these trips.” Sheesh. He should have kept his mouth shut. He was terrible at lying.

“Well, that’s interesting,” the man said. “I’ve never been to Peru. What’s the climate like?”

At the same time Griffin said
hot
Lily said
cold.
She widened her eyes at him before turning to the man. “It depends on the time of year, of course. Like here, it’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter.”

The woman was gazing at them with barely disguised suspicion. “Except aren’t their seasons the opposite of ours?”

“Technically, that’s true,” Griffin said. “So what Lily meant was, during our winter, it’s their summer, so now that it’s almost summer here, it’s—”

Mercifully, the elevator jerked to a stop and the doors opened before he could dig a deeper hole for himself.

“That’s our floor!” The man ushered his wife out and gave them a wave. “Nice talking to you.”

The doors stayed open for a few seconds, which allowed Griffin to hear the woman’s voice as it floated down the hall.

“Jerry, those two are no more from Peru than my cat Fluffy.”

“Gabby, shh! They might hear you.”

“I don’t care. I’ll bet they’re . . .” The elevator doors slid closed, blocking out the last of her comment.

Lily grinned at him. “Here’s a tip. If anyone asks you to take a job with the Secret Service, just say no. You suck at espionage.”

“You, on the other hand, could get a job as a spy with no problem.” Although he was teasing her, he was also thinking about Kevin’s suspicions. How much of herself was she hiding from him?

He could ask, of course. But the elevator had just stopped at their floor, and asking her to explain herself wasn’t going to help his cause any. He hadn’t been able to keep his mouth shut before, but he sure as hell better do it now if he wanted the next hour to go well.

“This is it.” He slid his hand beneath her silky hair, cupping the back of her neck as he guided her out of the elevator and toward the room number he’d been given. Touching the bare skin of her nape made his pulse jump with excitement.

Their footsteps whispered on the thick carpeting of the hallway. Griffin wondered if he’d make it to the room or whether he’d have to throw her down right here. He was just that desperate.

“This feels decadent,” Lily said.

“It’s supposed to be.” Amazingly, his voice sounded normal and civilized, while inside he was battling his inner caveman. Primitive urges made him think of taking her by the hair and dragging her into the room so he could have his way with her.

“When did you set it up?”

“Right after I talked to you.” He couldn’t dial that phone fast enough. He’d considered reserving the penthouse, but decided that should be saved for a day when they had more time.

“And what did you say?”

“That I needed a reservation, that I’d be there a little before noon, and I wanted them to have food waiting in the room when I got there.”

“Wow.” She glanced at him as he paused in front of the door to their room. “You sound quite experienced at this kind of thing.”

“I’ve never done this before in my life.”

“Then I’m honored.”

“You inspire me.” He pulled the key card out of his pocket and noticed that his hands were trembling as he inserted the key in the lock. Finally he would get to hold her again, and it couldn’t be soon enough.

He opened the door and gestured for her to go in ahead of him. “Are you hungry?”

“Starving.”

“Then maybe we should have some of that food to start with.” He closed the door, flipped on the privacy lock, and turned back to her. “I—” Whatever he’d been about to say vanished from his mind without a trace.