Enchantment (27 page)

“Delicious.”
Meeka
licked
her
lips.
“
Better
than
our
chicken.
You
are
a
good
cook.” Catz
purred,
licking
her
paws
and
cleaning her
face
to
extend
her
own
thanks.

Meeka
slid
her
hair
over
her
shoulder.
“
K
errigan…do
y
o
u
have
so
m
ewhere
I
could
freshen u
p
?
”

“Yes,
of
course.”

“Would
y
o
ur parents
m
ind
if
I
took
a
s
hower
?
”

He
hid
a
s
m
i
l
e
at
the
w
a
y
she
tugged
at
her
hair,
a
look
of
disg
u
st
in
her
e
y
e
s.
“I
am
certain
M
om
w
ould
be
hap
p
y
to
kn
o
w
all
y
o
u
r
needs
were
taken
care
of.”

* * * *

Meeka’s
bo
d
y
ached
from
head
to
toe.
A
sh
o
wer
would
be
great.
Perhaps
she
could
forget for
a
bit
about
sparks,
sparkles,
and
m
agic.
Kerrigan
led
her
to
the
bathro
o
m
and
opened
the door. There
w
a
s
a large
m
arble
shower.
M
eeka
could
feel
the
warm
water
running
over her
bo
d
y alrea
d
y
.

Meeka
glanced
toward
the
sh
o
wer.
There
w
ere
no
taps,
no
soap—nothing
that
looked fa
m
i
liar
to
ho
m
e.
With
a
puzzled
fr
o
wn,
she
bit
the
bottom
of
her
lip
and
looked
back
at Kerrigan.

H
i
s
laugh caused
her to
snarl.

“I’m sor
r
y
,
precious,
but that
look
j
u
st made
my
da
y
.
The shower is
m
ag
i
c,
of
course. It
will respond
to
y
o
u
r voice. When
y
ou
are read
y
,
j
u
st sa
y
,
‘
shower
on,’ or,
‘shower
off.’”

“Didn’t
y
o
u
r
parents teach
y
o
u it
w
a
sn’t
nice
to
m
ake fun
of
people
?
”

“Yes, they did,
but I just couldn’t
help
it. You
looked
s
o cute,
vulnerable,
and sexy all
at the sa
m
e
t
i
m
e.”
Kerrigan
place
his
hands
up
in
front
of
hi
m
,
but
she
noticed
the
look
he
gave
her. H
i
s
e
y
es
traveled
from
her
head
to
her
feet.
“
I
’m
sorr
y
,”
he
said.
“
I
f
y
o
u
need
a
n
y
t
h
i
ng,
I’ll
just be
standing
right
outside
the
door.”
P
ro
m
p
t
l
y
,
he
closed
the
door
behind
h
i
m
self.

Shocked,
her
heart
racing,
Meeka
gaped
after
hi
m
.

Did
I
hear
co
r
rectly?
Did
he
say
I
was
s
exy? Yes,
he
said
sexy.

Turning,
she
stared
into
the
m
irror
at
the
plain
wo
m
an
staring
back
at
her.
She
didn’t
see
a sexy
w
o
m
an.

W
h
a
t
does
it
matter?
You
won’t
be
here
much
longer,
and
he’ll
be
a
m
e
mory.
Accept
the compliment,
Meeka,
and
move on.
Yo
u
r
past
will never
let
you
have
m
o
re.

She
s
hook
her head
rueful
l
y
.
With
the absence
of
a toothbrush, she
rubbed
her
teeth
with her finger.

You’ll never
get away
from
the
s
hadow
of
your
delinquent
parents.
So
why
not
be
happy
for now?

Perhaps
because
she
was
stuck
in
another
world
with
a
veritable
A
donis
who
probab
l
y w
a
sn’t
real,
and
her
skin
was
s
hooting
sparks,
or
s
parkles,
or
w
hatever.

I’d
love
to
just
pretend
I
had
n
o
rmal
parents
and
that
a
guy
like
Kerrigan
would
like
me
for just
who
I
am.

D
reamer!

Meeka
scrubbed
harder
on
her
teeth.
She’d
definite
l
y
have
to
ask
for
a
toothbrush.
She’d v
o
wed
to
herself
long
ago,
falling
in
love
would
not
be
an
option.
E
m
o
t
ions
opened
a
door
to
m
ore
hurt
in
her
life,
so
m
et
h
ing
she
wouldn’t
do.

Meeka
re
m
oved
her
clothing
and
neat
l
y
folded
the
m
,
setting
them
on
the
vani
t
y
.
She
turned to
the
full-length
m
irror,
wearing
j
u
st
the
pink,
la
c
y
bra
and
m
a
t
ching
panties.
For
so
m
e
reason,
s
he
didn’t
seem
to
feel
s
o
tall,
a
n
y
m
o
r
e
.
Kerrigan
w
a
s
so
m
uch
taller
than
her
that
she
actual
l
y felt
like
an
average
height
instead
of
too
tall.
She
s
m
i
l
ed;
this
w
a
s
definit
el
y
a
hap
p
y
thought.

U
nderga
r
m
ents
re
m
oved,
Meeka
stared
at
the
shower.

Cautious
l
y
,
one
foot
at
a
t
i
m
e,
she
stepped
over
the
s
m
all ledge
and
into
the
large
s
hower.

Okay,
I’ve
made
it
this
far.

She
stood
ready
and
stated
the
com
m
a
nd,
“
S
hower
on.”

Strea
m
s
of
luxurious
l
y
warm
water
s
hot
out
from
various
places
within
the
s
hower.
It
felt heaven
l
y
.
Moving
on
its
own,
lavender
-
scented
s
oap
sensuo
u
s
l
y
caressed
and
slid
d
o
wn
the length
of
her
bod
y
. She
struggled
to
catch it.