“Pfft, what is so hard about marshmallow? That was one of the first ones I taught you,” Granny scoffs.
I open my phone and show her the photos of the animals, and her eyes widen with surprise. “It’s not the actual recipe, but what I do with it that matters,” I explain. “I might make a video of myself, making them step by step so you have a guide.”
“Look at those. They are amazing!” Grampy exclaims, and I can hear the admiration in his voice. “Think of all the different things we could do!” He sounds excited.
I tell him about the white board in the shop that people leave suggestions on, and he starts to search the kingdom-wide network, which is a computer network that links the four kingdoms, allowing us to share information and ideas.
The three of us spend the morning going over my recipes and writing a list of all the things we produce for both breakfast and lunch. They are practically giddy with the idea of playing in my café. My grandparents are where my love of food came from. I have to keep distracting my grampy when he keeps going off on tangents, trying to come up with wild and wacky ideas. I’m pretty sure my customers are in for a fun experience over the next couple of months, but at least my baby will be in safe hands.
Chapter
Thirteen
Colbie
Nox picks me up in the afternoon. My grandparents can’t help but be nosy and hang around out front gardening, so I can’t avoid introducing him to them. He takes it in stride, though, shaking Grampy’s hand and telling Granny how fantastic her garden looks. It goes a long way, and Granny gives me an impressed wink as we walk away.
I chuckle as we get into the truck, and he looks at me questioningly as we drive away.
“What?” he asks, smiling, and I pat his leg reassuringly.
“You certainly know how to make a good impression. You’ve obviously done the meet the parents thing before.”
His smile drops, and he frowns. “Actually, not really. I’ve never really dated that much.”
My mouth drops open in shock as I stare at him. He has to be at least the same age as me, maybe twenty-five or twenty-six, and he’s fucking gorgeous. Women would have to be blind not to want to date him, and even then, with how good he smells, I’m sure that wouldn’t be a problem.
“Why the fuck not?” My polite filter fails me as I try to wrap my head around it, but then something occurs to me. Maybe he’s a hit it and quit it type, and he never got as far as the meet the parents stage. That makes more sense, and my stomach rolls at the thought. I don’t want to be another notch on his bedpost, but I’m not going to be able to start anything long term with him either. This is just temporary, and I guess a quick fling is exactly what I need. I let the hurt recede and decide to embrace this for what it is—a nice distraction from my life.
“I was an awkward kid and a late bloomer, and a little too nerdy for the kids in the town I grew up in. They were all into sports and the outdoors, and I preferred my books and computers. Then, when I finally had a growth spurt and filled out, I gained a reputation as a weirdo.” His cheeks blush red at his words, and I can hear the hurt in his tone no matter how casual he tries to sound.
“Eventually, I couldn’t take the taunting anymore, and I moved here. I have developed a love of the outdoors and surfing, but I like my solitude, though occasionally I do get lonely. My mom got me Stormheart to keep me company because she was worried about me. She keeps telling me people aren’t meant to be alone.”
“She’s right. I don’t have a lot of friends, but I think I’d be lost without my mom or the people I work with.”
“Well, maybe you can be my friend, at least for the time you’re here.” He sounds sad when he says this, like he knows our friendship has an expiration date. He probably thinks it’s because I will return to my life in the neutral zone, but little does he know, that’s about to change completely too.
I put my cuffs back on when I got ready earlier, and I fiddle with one as I murmur my agreement. “Of course, and maybe you can come visit me in the neutral zone occasionally,” I say, but I can tell from his reaction that’s not going to happen. We’resilent as we continue the drive to the lighthouse. The silence isn’t awkward so much as I think we’re probably both lost in our own thoughts.
When we arrive, I mentally shake myself and turn to face him. “Let’s not let thoughts of the future or the past ruin today. Let’s live in the moment and enjoy what time we have together, okay?”
The heaviness in his eyes lightens, and he nods and holds out his hand. “Agreed,” he says as I take it and shake it, a spark of static jolting us, but instead of pulling away, he holds on tight, looking down at my hand and nodding to the cuffs.
“Are you promised to someone? Those are fae mating cuffs, right?”
His hand is steady and warm in mine, but my heart races at his words. I hope he doesn’t want me to take them off so he can get a closer look.
I pull my hand from his and unbuckle my seat belt, not looking him in the eye. “No, they are just a pretty trinket my mother picked up on a shopping trip to the kingdom of Shayla. She liked the moonstones in them and said they would protect me.”
“They feel kind of magical,” he murmurs distractedly as he watches me, his gaze not leaving the cuffs.
“You can feel magic in them?” I snap, wondering if I made a mistake in assuming he is human. A human wouldn’t be able to feel magic. I can’t feel any magic in them, and I’m using them strictly because they cover my marks. Shit, maybe my marks feel magical, and he can feel that? I didn’t ask my grandparents if they felt magical to them.
He blanches and quickly shakes his head. “No, of course not, but they look kind of magical, right?” he says sheepishly before also undoing his seat belt and hurrying out of the truck.
I frown but follow him out of the vehicle. He puts his hand against my back as he guides me into the restaurant. There’s no weird static charge this time, but the breeze brings his scent to my nose, and my stomach rumbles. I have no idea what cologne he’s wearing, but the manufacturers surely knew their stuff when they made it smell like cinnamon and sugar. It’s mouthwatering, and I have a craving for cinnamon donuts.
The hostess shows us to our table and hands us menus before giving us a moment to look over them. The silence is a little awkward as I look over the menu, and Nox shifts uncomfortably in his seat before huffing out a sigh.
