“Idiot,” Jarred muttered loudly enough for her to hear, and then turned to glare at the smoke hovering above.He was wearing a black pullover that molded to his arms and chest nicely, and his brown hair looked messy in a good way.
The book was floating, and Wave was sure the damn thing was cackling.Normally, this wouldn’t be a huge problem to solve, but the power she would need to contain the mess wasn’t something she could exhibit in front of him.So, she would have to get resourceful.
“Mrs.Riverson,” she spoke into the stone in her necklace, “we need a cleanup at aisle five.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”Jarred, lying beside her, growled.That voice was too rumbly to belong to just anyone.
“Cat shifter?”Wave asked, actually curious.
“What?No!Who let you in here?”
“I work here.”
“Not for long,” he growled again.“And this is ridiculous.”
Wave pointed at the cloud.“Any ideas then?”
“Yes.”He managed to look disgusted and hot at the same time.In her mind, Wave wrote ‘hot jerk’ on a sticky note and stuck it on his forehead.The mental image helped her to keep her temper in check.
“Feel free to share those ideas anytime.”Wave couldn’t hold back her snark.
“I’d rather not.”He took a deep breath, released it, and clapped his hands decisively, like slamming a book shut.A rush of power radiated from his hands, and the book slammed shut, pulling all the smoke back inside in the process, and it fell to the floor with a thump.
Wave marveled at the ease and precision.“Neat,” she said, not able to help the smile.Power used precisely was her weakness.When it came in a glaringly hot package, she had a hard time resisting.
“Oh dear, what’s going on in here?”Mrs.Riverson asked as she hurried over.
“Your witless new assistant dropped a book and released a spell,” Jarred said and climbed back to his feet.“I’d highly reconsider keeping her around.”
“Now, that’s not very nice, Mr.Whitfurst,” Mrs.Riverson admonished him.“I’m sure Wayla did no such thing.”
“You startled me,” Wave huffed as she climbed to her feet, too, and pointed at the offending book.“And that one needs its own pile.I’m going to label it ‘antagonistic asshole’.”
Mrs.Riverson, well-versed in Wave’s habits of labeling everything by now, snorted out an unladylike laugh before quickly smothering it.
“Language, Ms.Spinwell,” she said, managing a straight face.Jarred threw his hands up in frustration and glared at Wave.
“I came to pick up the books for Professor Kilkenny.I don’t have a whole day.”
“You said that already,” Wave retorted.“Clearly, if you’d had more time, all of this could have been avoided.”
“The books are at the back.Wayla, would you mind going to get them?I’ll handle this… rascal,” Mrs.Riverson said and toed the book experimentally.
“I placed a containment spell on it.Should hold for a couple of hours at least,” Jarred told Mrs.Riverson with a much more moderate tone.
“That was very kind of you, dear,” Mrs.Riverson replied and gently picked the book up.“I still need to go and put it in its place.Wayla?”
“Sure.Follow me, Mr.Grumpypants.”
“I’m not grumpy,” Jarred snarled.
“Oh?Maybe you are hungry then?Would you like a saucer of milk?I think we have some coffee cream in the back.”Without waiting for an answer, Wave walked past him.Mrs.Riverson was polite enough to hold in her laughter until they were past the next shelf, but Wave could still hear her soft chuckles.
“No,” Jarred growled.“Just get me the books.”
“Sheesh,” Wave huffed.“You could use a personality transfer.That body and face are wasted on someone like you.”
Jarred stopped his marching and looked over his shoulder, blinking owlishly.“What?”
