“Good-bye, Torin.”
When Veronica replaced the handset, she looked up to see Jasper watching her again.
“You look pleased.”
“Yes, two of our clients called to cancel their memberships.”
“And that makes you happy?” he asked, his tone incredulous.
Veronica laughed. “Yes, because they were two clients we matched. Our goal here is to find your perfect match, so we’re always incredibly pleased when that goal is met.”
Jasper studied her closely again, his emotions locked down tightly and muted. “You mean that, don’t you?” he murmured.
“Yes, I do.”
He grunted. “Then, you have your work cut out for you with me.”
Veronica didn’t think that was true at all, but she didn’t say so.
Instead, she picked up the tablet and got back to work.
She would help him find his perfect match. She just didn’t understand why it hurt to think about it.
ChapterFourteen
Nova felt nervous excitement. Or excited nervousness.
She supposed neither of those was really a thing, but she felt them, nonetheless.
The day after their big conversation about ground rules over coffee and scones, Torin made the work schedule for the next seven days. Funny enough, he scheduled them both to have Wednesday off. Completely.
The night after he posted the schedule, he’d come into her apartment for a night cap and to hang out, something he’d done the night before as well. At first, her nerves had kindled, thinking he wanted sex, but he hadn’t done more than kiss her stupid at the front door when he left.
No, he wanted to talk. To ask her about how she grew up, where she’d traveled, the places she loved the most. Her favorite foods, books, television shows.
He seemed genuinely curious about her as a human being.
In return, she asked him about his favorite foods, which of course he waxed on about until her stomach growled and he’d had to fix her a little snack. They also discussed all the places he’d traveled. While he didn’t read physical books, he did listen to audiobooks and podcasts.
With each minute they spoke, he was revealing more and more of himself to her. The grumpiness was still there but, beneath it, there was a witty intelligence and a generous heart. He was so much more than she realized and she’d thought he was pretty damn great before.
In two days of “officially” dating, Nova Eckhart was dangerously close to falling in love with a selkie.
One subject they did avoid was past romantic entanglements. He’d mentioned before that many females had difficulty with the fact that he was a selkie.
Nova could understand. As a will o’ the wisp, she’d run into a variety of biases. Most other fae and immortal creatures assumed she was just bad luck or a bad omen, but some truly believed that her kind were harbingers of death.
While she couldn’t say that wasn’t entirely true, most will o’ the wisps were only dangerous when they’d lost their tempers. A great many of her family members, especially her grandfather, reminded her of the little lights in that animated movie. The one with the Scottish girl with red hair.
They were eager to help those who were lost and frightened. Whether it was through leading them to safety or giving advice, they wanted to help.
Nova had done the same a few times herself while out on her travels, but she didn’t seek out opportunities the way her family members did.
Having faced the kind of bias that Torin undoubtedly had, Nova wasn’t worried about the fact that he was a selkie. If he wanted to go to the sea, they would go. If he wanted to see every damn ocean on the planet, they would.
She would be happy. As long as she was with him.
Today, however, was their second official date and she had a feeling it was going to go much, much better than the first.
