“I have an excellent cellar at home,” Bas’s mouth said before he could stop it.
“I also have excellent skin that you might be planning to turn into a lampshade,” Bridget quipped.
“Why? Do you put lotion on it?” Bas shot back.
Laughter burst out of Bridget, and Bas’s whole body lit up at the sound. She was pretty before, but when she laughed, she was something else entirely. ‘Stunning’ didn’t even begin to cover it.
“Okay, you get some cool points for knowing aSilence of the Lambsreference when you hear it,” she said.
“What about Marge knowing me? Surely you can trust me a little if she does?”
“Marge sounds like she’s trying to nail your dad, so I don’t know if she’s the best judge when it comes to trusting you,” Bridget replied.
They reached the coffee shop, and Bas opened the door for her. “That’s okay. I’m happy for you to make me work for it.”
“You are something else,” Bridget replied as she moved past him to get inside.
Bas got a lungful of her scent, like cinnamon and fresh rain, and he had to physically stop himself from grabbing her and burying his nose in her hair.
His dragon roared to the surface, and Bas smiled wide. “Sweetheart, you have no idea.”
6
Bridget had nervous sweat pooling at the base of her spine. She put in her order for a coffee and didn’t have time to object when Bas paid for it. She was too shell-shocked by the encounter with Marge and how she knew him and his family.The Greatdrakes.
Fuck. She knew who he was now and why he had seemed familiar. The Greatdrakes were an intermarried family with the fae royals. Not to mention, Marge had real magic, and they both seemed to think Bridget did too.
“You look like you’re about to freak out on me,” Bas said, sitting down opposite her. They were tucked into a quiet corner where the other customers wouldn’t overhear them. He sighed. “It’s the family thing, right? What is it? You hate the fae?”
“The fae saved my life, so no, I don’t hate them,” Bridget replied. She shrugged out of her leather jacket to try and slow down her sweating. Had she put deodorant on that day? She couldn’t remember.
Bas’s dark brows rose. “Sounds like there’s a story.”
“There is, but you haven’t earned it yet.”
“Fair enough,” he said and smiled at her, his eyes doing their crazy sparkle at her.
Bridget ate one of her warm beer battered chips. “You’re weirdly accepting of that. Most people would push.”
“Most people aren’t as patient as I am. I told you I was willing to earn your trust, and I meant it.”
She couldn’t help but ask, “Why?”
He was a person who traveled in circles most people could only dream about. Circles with royal fae so ancient that humans thought they were gods.
Bas leaned his arms against the table. “Because I want to be your friend. Do you know how rare people like us are?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“People who can actually walk the astral plane and can create things in it. You have magic, Bridget. You know that, right?”
Bridget pulled a face. “Is this the part where you tell me I’m a wizard?”
“You’re not a wizard, but you are definitely a magician,” Bas replied, utterly serious. “I don’t have a letter for Hogwarts for you, but I do have an invitation to the Greatdrakes mansion, which is arguably better because it’s real, and we believe in trans rights.”
Bridget ate some more of her chips because she felt like she needed a week to process the last half hour of her life. Only carbs could save her now.
“I don’t know what to make of any of this,” she admitted.
