Chick with a Charm (7 page)

She was afraid he still carried a torch. Staying away from his shop seemed silly when he could use the business and his was the only decent late-night café within walking distance of her apartment. She’d never brought a date here, though, thinking that would be mean. Maybe not. Maybe it was a good idea for Brad to realize she was interested in someone else.

Brad’s smile never wavered when she told him she’d come here with Griffin, but his gaze sharpened. “So he’s a customer at the Bubbling Cauldron?”

“Initially. He’s more than that now, of course.” Or she hoped he would be. From the corner of her eye she saw the café door open and Griffin emerge with their coffee drinks. “Here he comes. Let me introduce you.”

“Absolutely. Consider me the big brother you never had, the one who gives your dates the third degree.”

“Good luck with that. He’s a lawyer.” She turned as Griffin approached. “Griffin Taylor, I’d like you to meet Brad Harvey. Brad owns the café.”

Balancing the tray with his left hand, Griffin shook hands with his right. “Nice place.”

Lily couldn’t fault Griffin for the comment, which was perfectly polite, but she was amazed at the curt way it was delivered, without even the hint of a smile. Despite the brief handshake, Griffin wasn’t being the least bit friendly.

“Thanks.” Brad stuck his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “It works for me. I’m a night owl like Lil. We’ve spent many a wee hour together talking and drinking coffee.”

Lily almost choked. Between his saying her nickname, something he seldom used, and his implication they were really close friends, he was trying to one-up Griffin. She hadn’t seen that coming. But she hadn’t expected Griffin to be borderline rude, either.

“I’m something of a night owl, myself.” Griffin set the cardboard tray on the table and pulled out the chair nearest Lily. “Great to meet you, Brent,” he said with a total lack of enthusiasm.

“It’s Brad.” Brad made no move to leave. “Lily says you’re a lawyer.”

“That’s right.” Griffin didn’t look up as he took the drinks out of the segmented tray and placed one in front of Lily.

“Can’t be much of a night owl when you have to be in court bright and early.”

Griffin looked up at Brad. His gaze was direct. “I recover fast.”

Openmouthed, Lily stared at the two men. She’d never seen either of them act this way. They were both normally easygoing and affable. But tonight they were behaving like . . . She realized what they were behaving like and had to press her lips together to keep from laughing. They were behaving like two rutting elks vying for a female.

She had no intention of sitting here while the two of them pawed the sidewalk and locked antlers. Pushing back her chair, she untied Daisy’s leash from the table leg, stood and picked up her coffee. “Daisy’s had almost no exercise today,” she said. “If you don’t mind, Griffin, I think she needs a longer walk.”

“Great idea.” Griffin came out of his chair so fast he almost knocked over his coffee. “Let’s go.”

“See you tomorrow night, Lil,” Brad said.

“I may not make it tomorrow night,” she said. “My life seems to be on fast-forward these days. Take care, Brad.” She turned Daisy toward home because she didn’t want to continue down the street and have to pass Harvey’s on the way home.

“Right!” Brad called after her. “The engagement party! Can I pick you up?”

“Uh, thanks for the offer, but I’ll . . . I’ll probably have to go early.” Lily squeezed her eyes shut. She’d forgotten that Anica had invited Brad, but only as a friend, someone who knew Lily and was in the same coffee shop business as Anica. Lily had been fine with it until now.

“You come here every night?” Griffin fell into step beside her as they started back toward her apartment.

“No. I don’t know why he implied that I do.”

“Don’t you?” He took her hand and laced his fingers through hers.

Lily sighed. “Yes, I know why he implied that. We went on one date. One. It didn’t work out.”

“But he wants a second chance.”

“Yeah.” Now would be the time to ask Griffin to be her date for the engagement party, but she was still afraid he’d reject the idea. They hadn’t spent enough quality time together.

She’d envisioned lingering over coffee and discovering all sorts of interesting things about each other. Well, they could do that while they walked.

“If you don’t mind, let’s go down to the dog park,” she said. “Daisy really could use the exercise.”

“All right.” He didn’t sound overjoyed by the prospect.

“You can head home, if you want. I brought my cell, so I could call a taxi.”

His grip on her fingers tightened. “I’ll stay.”

Guilt swept over her again. He was probably sticking around because he hoped that eventually he’d be able to get her into bed. She had the opposite goal. She wanted them to become friends tonight, not lovers.

She took a fortifying drink of her coffee. “I’m going to be straight with you, Griffin. You can hang around until dawn if you want, but I’m not going to bed with you. If that’s all you want from me, then maybe you should take a cab home.”

“I won’t pretend I don’t want to have sex with you.”

“Thanks for being honest.”

“But I’ve never forced a woman in my life. I’m not about to start now.”

She glanced over at him. “You think you’ll wear me down, don’t you?”

The corners of his mouth twitched, as if he might be trying to control a smile. “That’s a very unromantic way of putting it.”

“You think you can seduce me, then.”

The smile broke through, a confident grin of male pride. “It could happen.”

If only he knew how easily. Just talking about having sex with him had dampened her panties. But she understood the consequences and she would be strong. He had no idea that he was dealing with a magic spell that could turn him into her love slave. If he knew, he’d be running in the opposite direction instead of walking along with her, hand in hand, casually and somewhat arrogantly talking about luring her into bed.

They reached the dog park, a grassy area dotted with young trees and enclosed by a chain-link fence. Releasing her hand, Griffin tossed his empty coffee cup in a nearby trash can, opened the metal gate, and motioned them through ahead of him.

“Thank you.” Lily waited for him to shut the gate before unhooking Daisy’s leash. Daisy had never shown the slightest indication that she’d run away, but Lily wasn’t taking any chances. “There you go, Daisy. Knock yourself out.”

Daisy circled around in front of them and stood gazing up at them, her tail wagging.

“Go on,” Lily said. “Run around. Stretch your legs.”

“There aren’t any other dogs. She needs someone to play with.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. I’ve brought her here when there are gobs of dogs, and she acts as if they’re beneath her. Sometimes she’ll take off running, but it’s usually her idea and not because she’s chasing or being chased.”

Griffin searched the ground at his feet. “Maybe this will work.” He picked up a short stick. “Fetch, Daisy!” He tossed the stick several yards away.

Daisy followed the direction of the stick with her gaze but she didn’t chase it. Instead she looked expectantly at Griffin, tail wagging.

“What do you want?” he asked. “A tennis ball? I don’t have one.”

“She wouldn’t do any better with a tennis ball. I’ve tried sticks, chew toys, tennis balls. She has no interest in playing fetch. It’s almost as if she’s too smart to do that kind of repetitive game.”

“Then maybe she’d like to run with me.” Griffin took off the jacket Lily had loaned him and handed it to her.

“Let’s see what happens if I invite her for a run. Daisy, would you like to jog around the park with me?”

Daisy gave a short bark.

“I feel as if I’m in the middle of
Lassie Come Home
,” Griffin muttered. “Okay, come on, Daisy! Let’s run!” He took off and Daisy bounded beside him, mouth open, tongue flapping.

Lily had never seen her dog so happy. If a running partner was what Daisy needed, then Lily would have to become that running partner no matter how much she loathed the activity. On the positive side, she’d have to go shopping for running gear. Any activity that required shopping wasn’t all bad.

Meanwhile, Daisy and Griffin looked like a clip from a dog food commercial. The security lights surrounding the dog park illuminated their joyful romp around the perimeter. Griffin zigzagged as he ran, challenging Daisy to figure out which way he’d go next. At one point he spun in a circle and charged back the other way. Daisy turned like a professional sheepdog and was instantly back at Griffin’s side.

His laughter carried across the distance between them, and Lily was reminded how much she loved his laugh. It was the first thing that had drawn her to him. She’d heard that laugh in the din of the Bubbling Cauldron and wanted to know the man it belonged to.

When she’d spotted Griffin, she’d been struck by how well he matched his laugh. She would have pictured a man like him—solid of build, the kind of cropped hair favored by athletes and a good-humored twinkle in his hazel eyes. That good humor had gone missing when Griffin had encountered Brad, though.

She had to assume the elixir had made him uncharacteristically territorial. As she thought back over the meeting, she decided Griffin had opened the hostilities by being less than gracious during the introduction. Brad had escalated the unacknowledged battle, and then both of them had completely lost their charm.

Griffin’s charm was back in spades at the moment as he cavorted with Daisy. Lily wished she could have a video of this. Maybe if things worked out between them, she could bring a camera to the park some Saturday morning and get footage of Griffin playing with Daisy. They did seem to get along exceptionally well.

Well, duh, they should. Griffin was currently operating under a spell that included a massive dose of Daisy’s essence. No wonder he felt such a kinship with the dog, and she with him. Maybe once the spell wore off, they wouldn’t delight in each other so much. That was a depressing thought.

Griffin spread his arms and started zooming around like a stunt plane, complete with sound effects. Daisy loved it. When Griffin crouched down as if going into a dive, Daisy gathered herself and leaped over him. He tried it again, and she repeated the trick.

“Did you see that?” Griffin called out to Lily.

“I did!”

“This dog could be in a show!” Griffin made a large half circle using both arms, and sure enough Daisy leaped neatly through it. Griffin let out a whoop and dropped to his knees to ruffle her fur and scratch behind her ears.

Lily snorted softly to herself. All she had to do was learn to jump through hoops like Daisy, and Griffin would be enthralled. Just like a man.

Griffin and Daisy trotted up, both of them panting.

“How about that?” Griffin beamed at her. “Did you know she could do those tricks?”

“Can’t say that I did.”

He stroked the dog’s head. “Makes me wonder what else she knows.”

You would be amazed.
But Lily thought it was a little early in the relationship to reveal her witch status and what she’d learned of Daisy’s magical tendencies. Lily had a theory about the leaping tricks. Daisy was bored with the usual doggie games like fetch, but once a human started playing with her, she became inspired to show off.

Not being the athletic type, Lily hadn’t brought out that side of Daisy. “Thanks for giving her such a great workout.”

“It was fun.” Griffin continued to fondle Daisy’s ears, but his caress slowed the longer he gazed at Lily. “I thought maybe if I wore myself out I wouldn’t want you so desperately.”

She didn’t have to ask how that was working out. His hazel eyes had once again begun to glow with lust. And his obvious emotional heat stirred an answering response in her. She swallowed. “We should walk to the corner and hail you a cab.”

“Please don’t.” He moved toward her. “At least not until I’ve kissed you. We can’t end this night without at least one kiss.”

“I think kissing would be a really bad idea.” Even so, she stood right there and let him pull her into his arms.

“I think it would be a really good idea.” His head lowered.

Behind him, Daisy whined.

“Daisy thinks so, too,” he said.

No doubt Daisy did think so. Lily wondered if by using Daisy’s essence for the spell, she’d unwittingly made Daisy a coconspirator in this match-up.

Then Griffin’s mouth touched hers, and every coherent thought melted. All her concerns, all her reservations, were swept away in a river of sensation. Needs that she’d been desperately trying to control flooded through her at an alarming rate.

She’d been kissed before, kissed a lot, in fact. Nothing had prepared her for Griffin’s all-out assault. From the moment his lips touched hers, she had no doubt of his ultimate objective. The urgency of the kiss delivered by any other man would have turned her off.

But Griffin knew what he was about. The skill with which he kissed her telegraphed the skill he would exhibit in the bedroom. What a dizzying prospect. She would be able to abandon herself to the experience because she had found a man who knew what he was doing.

Was it the spell that allowed him to know exactly how she needed to be kissed? Would it also guide him as to exactly how she needed to be loved?

As pleasure swirled through her, as she fought to keep her sanity, one question kept bubbling to the surface of her fevered brain. If she denied him on this fateful night, if she sent him away and allowed the spell to wear off, they might both miss the best sex of their lives.

Surely, given that circumstance, she would be forgiven for surrendering. Every woman, and especially every magical woman, deserved one perfect night.

Griffin lifted his mouth a fraction away from hers. His breath was warm and scented with chocolate-flavored coffee. “We need to go home.”