He thought back to when he walked up behind Pearl and Margaid and saw Margaid squeezing that chenille cock. He always thought those things were ridiculous, but when he saw Margaid handling it, he did picture her hand on his.
Stroking it.
He shifted, crossing his legs and trying to ignore that mental image of Margaid.
“No,” she chuckled. “I did buy a crocheted creature, but not a penis.”
“My mother has witchy tendencies, she charms those little creatures she crochets,” he grumbled.
“That explains the weird dreams I had the other night.”
He chuckled. “Probably.”
“I wanted to support Pearl and Hetty’s business. I like your family, Finn.”
“And?”
“And?” she asked.
“What about me? I know we didn’t get off on the right foot…”
Pink burned bright under her freckles. “I do like you, Finn. Quite a bit.”
Electricity ran through his veins, his pulse thrumming. “I’m glad you do. I like you as well.”
And he couldn’t believe he was admitting that to her.
What was it about her?
“Well, I’m glad we’ve established that.” She ducked her head and tucked a loose strand of her red hair behind her ear. He wanted to reach out and run his finger through her hair, but he resisted.
One thing he knew, he couldn’t sit here all day or he might not be able to control his compulsion to carry her off to his underwater kingdom. Not that he had one, but according to ancient legend that’s what his kind did. And honestly, that’s what he wanted to do right now.
His phone vibrated and fished it out of his pocket, reading a frantic text message from Pearl about some missing inventory.
“Drat,” he muttered.
“Is everything okay?”
“No. Issue at the store. I think I need to take care of it. Text me when you’re done, or Phineas can, and I’ll swing by to take him home.”
“No need. I can take Phineas home,” she offered.
“Thanks.” He slipped his phone into his pocket. Annoyed that his time with her was cut short, he decided to do something completely out of his comfort zone. “What’re your plans for dinner tonight?”
Her eyes widened. “My plans?”
“Yes. If you’re not busy, I’d like to invite you over for dinner at my place.”
She smiled sweetly. “I don’t have any plans.”
“Good. About six?” Suddenly he was sweating. He could feel it foaming on his coat. He was glad she couldn’t see it. It had been a long time since he asked a woman out. Actually, he’d never really been on a proper date. Usually, it was a hookup. He wasn’t even sure he knew what a date was.
“Six is great.” And she blushed again, which was absolutely adorable.
“Great. I’ll see you then.” As he clambered back up to the trail, he started to panic because yes, he was a pathetic grown-ass monster who had dinner every night at his mother’s house. He had no idea how to plan an impromptu date night. Or make it romantic.
Now, he was seriously panicking. He galloped down the trail back to his truck and headed straight for the shop. Pearl was waiting and he helped suss out the missing inventory, and then sat down in the small office to figure out how to go about planning a romantic date.
