Pink Princess Fairytini (Fairy Files #2) (5 page)

He laughed and took my hand, his fingers sliding between mine, like it was the most natural thing in the world. “Let’s go, Frangipani.”

“Bossy,” I muttered, but I couldn’t help smiling. This easy, fun side of Harvey was even more likeable than all the other sides I’d seen.

Harvey and I walked a block down the sidewalk to Poinsettia. “I hope this is okay,” he said. “I’ve heard really good things about it.”

“It’s perfect. It’s actually one of my favorite restaurants. I eat here all the time.”

He nodded and opened the door for me, before following me in. I shouldn’t have been surprised to find out he was such a gentleman, but I was. He just seemed so rough and practical, and I hadn’t imagined he also possessed gentility.

The waitress seated us and Harvey smiled at me. “I have one rule for this date. No shop talk. You can’t talk about the club, and I can’t talk about your case or any other cases. We’re just two regular people out for lunch.”

I nodded. “Sure, I can do that.” I wasn’t sure I could do that. The club was my life. And the only other stuff I had going on involved the fae. That was a hot mess I wasn’t ready to talk to Harvey about.

He watched me as the waitress came over and took our drink orders. He looked away and swallowed hard when I raised my eyebrows, and I realized I wasn’t the only one unsure, maybe even nervous.

“So, why don’t you tell me where you learned all of those nice manners and pretty words?”

He dropped his eyes to the table for just a moment, the only sign of his discomfort, before he met my gaze. “You suggesting police officers aren’t taught manners in the academy?”

I laughed and it felt good. “I’m not making any such implications. I’m just trying to get to know you better.”

He dipped his head in understanding. “Why don’t we talk about what we want to do on our second date?”

“Hmm,” I said with a smile. “Presumptuous.”

“Nope.” He reached for my hand and rubbed his thumb over my knuckles, his touch warming me all the way to my toes. “I’m just determined not to let you get away now that I’ve convinced you to go out with me.”

“How about dancing?”

He shrugged. “I’m not much of a dancer, but I’m sure I could handle watching you dance all night.”

“No. We have to pick something we can do together.”

“How about we go for a hike? I know a great place just out of town with fantastic views and a little bit of rock climbing.”

“I’m not much of an outdoorsy girl.” I deflated a bit at our lack of common interests. “How about we save that for the third date.”

He nodded, still smiling. “How about I cook you breakfast and then we show each other what we know in my home gym. I know you’ve been taking martial arts and self-defense training for years.”

“Again,” I said. “Presumptuous.”

He chuckled. “I meant breakfast after you get off work, but if you want it to mean breakfast after you get off on me, that can be arranged.”

I couldn’t help laughing. “Now that’s more the kind of talk I’d been expecting from you. How about we save that for the fourth date.”

“I like the sound of that.” He released my hand when the waitress set down our food. “But it still doesn’t answer the question of what we should do for our second date.”

“How about you take me to the flea market,” I said. “I need to decorate my new apartment.”

“New apartment?”

I stuffed a bite of ham sandwich in my mouth to avoid answering. I didn’t want to lie, but Harvey was going to wonder how I could afford a pent house apartment, and I was so not ready to tell the truth. “I was given a new apartment by a…um, a very wealthy relative who…died. I’ll probably sell it, eventually, but while I’m living there it needs a bit more of me in it.”

“Okay,” Harvey said. “You can take me to the flea market for our second date. I could use some help decorating my place, anyway.”

I nodded, hating the twist in my gut caused by lying to Harvey. I knew I should be upfront with him, tell him the truth, but I wasn’t ready for him to walk away, and I was pretty sure he’d run as fast as he could when he knew the truth. What sane man wouldn’t? We spent the rest of the meal talking about the weather in Sarsaparilla and all the new construction and how it was affecting traffic patterns. We also planned our sixth and seventh dates – local shows we’d both been meaning to see for years.

Harvey walked me back to Sapphire’s apartment, our hands joined, and I almost blurted out the truth to him. Our conversation at lunch had felt empty and I felt our friendship, at least, deserved more than that. I stopped in front of my door wanting him to give him some piece of myself. “Come on in,” I said, unlocking the door. “I’ll show you the sort of stuff we’ll be looking for at the flea market.”

He followed me into the apartment and whistled long and low. “Wow, this is …”

“Careful,” I said, as I’d once said to Knuffington. “I love this stuff.”

“It’s…well, it’s a touch overwhelming.” He must have seen something on my face, because he smiled and leaned in close. “But it’s pretty. It’s very, very pretty.”

I’m not an idiot. I understood that he was distracting me from the kitsch decorating every square inch of the apartment I’d shared with Sapphire. I understood that he didn’t love it, but I suspected that, given time, he’d learn to like it. I mean, really, who doesn’t love cat clocks and rhinestone studded kitchen chairs? Nobody, that’s who.

Harvey backed me up against the closed apartment door and distracted me from my thoughts. He pressed his hard body against mine and nipped my lower lip until I let him in. He kissed me like a man starved, and I held on and enjoyed the ride. I kissed him until I didn’t care if he ever liked kitsch or not, just as long as he kept kissing me.

He pulled away, a satisfied glint in his eyes. “I really hate to say goodbye, but if I want to keep my job …”

I nodded. “You have to work. Come by later. I’m having a party at my new place.”

He frowned. “I’ll try, but I expect to be working late.”

I pecked his lips and he left. I watched him go, admiring the way his shirt molded to his muscular body, and tried not to think about how awkward everything besides the physical was between us.

“Chloe,” Pierson said, tapping on the doorframe to my office. “Can we talk about Neil?”

I groaned and stretched, pushing away the sales reports I’d been looking over. “If he’s bad enough you need to come to my office to discuss him, that’s a pretty good sign that he should go.”

Pierson crossed the room and took a seat across from me. “If he were really trying…but he’s an asshole who thinks he’s better than the job.”

“Have we gotten any new applications in today?”

Pierson shook his head, as I’d suspected he would. I hadn’t gotten anything through our website, but he checked our PO Box before he came into work. No one mailed in applications anymore, but I never stopped hoping.

“Okay. We’ll keep him away from the customers until I can replace him. I’m meeting with a bunch of fae tomorrow. I’ll bring Pepper with me and see if she thinks anyone there would be a good fit.” Pepper was one of my bouncers. She was also a powerful empath and would be able to sense who might make a good fantasy provider.

“You working the floor tonight?”

“Yep.”

“See you downstairs.”

I waved him off and called Pepper to see if she’d be able to work the fae meeting the next day. She was always up for more hours, and I hung up with a bit of hope that things might be looking up for me and my club. There had to be someone at that meeting who would fit in at Ephemeral.

Ephemeral was hopping and busier than usual for a Tuesday night. I wondered if I should have put more planning into my housewarming party. I had no food or drinks and the way the night was going, I wasn’t going to have time to run out and get either. And I wasn’t one to steal from my club. When I had a break, I put in a call to Buddy. I probably should have just called his sister, May, and asked her if he was still raging mad at me, but I figured I deserved Buddy’s anger and I wouldn’t hide behind his sister. Buddy had been my best friend, before he’d been kidnapped and taken to Rubalia. In my attempt to rescue him, I’d drawn the attention and the wrath of the fairies, who’d killed Buddy’s wife, Evelyn, to hurt me.

“What can I do you for?” Buddy asked when he answered, the club loud behind him.

“Buddy, it’s Chloe. I wanted to invite you—”

The click and hum of the empty line echoed in my brain long after he’d hung up on me. I didn’t have time to dwell, though. I’d tried and he’d rejected me once again. At least he hadn’t returned the baby gifts I’d sent for his little girl, though that may have been May and not him. I’d keep trying until he forgave me, because I refused to let him stay away forever. I refused to give up my best friend.

I made my way over to Pierson behind the bar and helped him fill a drink order so I could talk to him. “Know anyone who can cater my party tonight? Cheap?”

He didn’t pause in his work. “I’ll do it. For my regular salary.”

“Really?”

He laughed. “What do you need? Some chips and some booze? I’ll run out and pick up supplies after we close. I can mix drinks for the folks who want ‘em.”

“Great. Just buy the cheap stuff, okay. I’m a tiny bit broke at the moment.” Damn me and my insistence on paying Frost every penny he’d earned helping me find Buddy. Frost had offered to waive his fees, since one of his employees had tried to rape me, but my pride and my annoyance with him had prevented me from accepting his generosity.

“Deal,” Pierson said with a grin.

I went back out to the floor, and Pierson returned to slinging drinks.

It was after three before I got back to my new apartment. I’d put in calls to everyone who didn’t work with me to let them know they could come over. I changed into a backless, cream, silk dress and put my hair up so my back would be on full display. I twisted to look at my tattoo in the mirror, the colors on my skin matched that of my actual wings and were almost as vibrant and bright. It made me long to see my actual wings again, so I let them free. They flowed from my skin and popped into place. I stretched my back muscles and flapped my wings twice.

It felt so good to have my wings free that I couldn’t stand the idea of pushing them back under my skin. If any humans at my party noticed them, I could just tell them the wings were an elaborate costume choice. It was amazing what humans failed to see when they didn’t expect it, though, and I didn’t think it would be hard to convince anyone that the wings were fake. The doorbell rang and I smiled. I was ready for a good party, for laughter and friends. A wallflower I had never been.

I opened the door to find three of my employees, who’d already started drinking. Each of them gave me big hugs, which was out of character. I was not a hugging kind of boss. “Nice wings,” Clint said, doing a double-take. “I didn’t know this was a costume party.”

“Costumes are appropriate for any kind of party,” I said. I led the three men in to the living room, set them up in front of the big screen TV, and let them choose the music from the service that came with the apartment. The doorbell rang again to announce the arrival of five more of my employees. The next to arrive was Pierson and he got busy setting out drinks and food. I helped him until the doorbell rang again.

I opened it and found Frost at my door. He looked good, in his casual jeans and fitted t-shirt. Then he smiled, his skin crinkling around his eyes, and my heart stopped beating for a moment. He was seriously too good-looking to be safe.

“You’re not invited,” I said, trying to sound serious.

He smirked. “I knew you didn’t mean it. Do you want me to leave?”

I sighed and pretended to be put out. “Fine. You can stay.” I opened the door wider to let him in, but he stood his ground.

“You look gorgeous,” he said. “It’s good to see your wings. You look more like yourself somehow.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I think.”

His grin widened. “It’s a compliment, sweetheart. There’s very little I could say about you that wouldn’t be a compliment.”

My cheeks heated and I gestured for him to enter, not meeting his eyes. I never blushed. And he never called me sweetheart. He must have been drinking, too. “Except that I’m a pain in your ass.”

He chuckled and stepped inside. “Except for that.”

I started to head to the kitchen to show him where the drinks and food were, but he grabbed my elbow. “Wait,” he said. “I brought you a housewarming gift.”

That stopped me, and I watched as he pulled a large box from behind his back and handed it to me. I took it and unwrapped it, feeling like a kid on Christmas morning. Inside was a hula girl wall clock, with the clock as her belly and an actual grass skirt. “Oh,” I said, a tiny bit of a knot in my throat. No one but Sapphire had ever gotten me such a wonderful gift. “Thank you. It’s…it’s perfect.”

“I thought your new place could probably use some kitsch.”

“This is exactly what it needs.” Overwhelmed, I threw my arms around him. He tensed for just a moment, before returning my hug.

“Chloe—”

The doorbell rang, interrupting whatever he might have said. “Go get some food and drink.” I turned from him, holding tight to my hula clock and answered the door.

Sapphire, in a pretty pink dress, and Knuffington, in slacks and a button-down, greeted me.

“Oh, my god,” Sapphire said, her gaze going instantly to the hula clock in my arms. “That is the best clock I’ve ever seen. Where did you find it?”

“Frost just gave it to me. You’ll have to ask him. He’s over by the kitchen.”

Sapphire and Knuffington made their way to Frost, and I ran to my room and put the hula clock on the bed, before heading back out to answer the door.

An hour later, the party was hopping and everyone was laughing and drinking and dancing and having a good time. I took a break from dancing and made my way over to Sapphire, who was chatting with Knuffington and Frost, I threw an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. She shook me off with a scowl.

“I love your wings,” she said. “They’re amazing.”