Shade was settling into a table in the corner.
Weirdly enough, Chicken sat at the other stool.
Strange creature.
“Pour me another one of those.”
He wrinkled his nose. “For your friend? Are you sure?”
I curled my fingers impatiently. “Yep.”
“He better not waste it,” he grumbled, but he complied. He offered me the chilled goblet. “Do you want to take it, or shall I?”
I snatched the goblet from him in a fluid motion. “I’ve gotthis one. Carry on.”
I strode to the table in the corner, avoiding eye contact, and deposited the goblet on the table. “There you go,” I said quietly as I whirled, onto the next table.
“Ginger.”
I glanced shyly over my shoulder. “Need anything else? Stew?”
His brow furrowed. “Sit with me for a moment?”
I glanced around. The pub wasn’t busy, and it was my own establishment—I could take a break whenever I wanted.
But I was suddenly nervous. My cheeks heated.
“Sit with you?”
He nodded.
“Oh… Okay. Sure.”
I glanced at the stool the cat was sitting on to see that the creature was nowhere to be seen. Weird, I didn’t hear him leave.
I awkwardly sat down. I didn’t know what to do with my hands, so I settled for grabbing a towel from my apron and setting my palms on it.
That didn’t feel natural either, so I folded it into a small square and then squeezed it into a fist.
Shade cleared his throat.
I glanced up to meet his gaze to find him already staring at me.
“The weather is nice today,” I said. My voice sounded strange.
His eyes crinkled in a dazzling hint of a smile. “You want to talk about the weather?”
I shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong with talking about the weather.”
“Sure. Okay. Is this your favorite weather, then? Crisp and cloudy?”
I considered that. “One of them. I prefer warmer days. I like to run when it’s cold, though.”
He ran darkened fingertips idly over the stem of the goblet. I watched his hands so I could avoid his intense gaze. “You like to run.” He said this like a statement rather than a question.
“Yes.”
He nodded. “And do you run often?”
