“Because you’re fae,” I grumbled.
Lou laid a hand over his heart. “I am wounded.”
“Go put some clothes on.”
Lou grinned, a touch of heat in his smile. “Does my nakedness disturb you, Evie?”
I pressed a thumb to the middle of my brow. Men. They were all the same.
“Eight minutes,” I snarled as I pointed to the small restroom tucked into the back of the office.
The fae laughed out loud but carried the bag into the bathroom.
Chapter
Seven
I’d forgotten all about Caelan for a while. Turns out, dropping a naked fae from thin air was a good distraction from one’s troubles.
But now, I wondered if Lou might be another addition to our trouble.
It seemed like our errant fae didn’t want to return home. This was his first time “earthside” as he said, and he quite liked the look of the shop and the outside.
We sat around the small seating area in the shop, gaping at him.
“Let me get this straight,” Moira said slowly. “You popped out of thin air into a strange place with no clothes, no money, and no identification, and now you want to stay a while?”
Lou shrugged. “It has been far too long since I’ve had an adventure. And this…” he swept his hand out, “is more of an adventure than I’d ever hoped to find.”
Ash let out an exasperated breath. “Why haven’t you come here before now?”
“I never had a reason to, I suppose. It’s easy to never leave home unless you have to. Home is so cozy and warm. But now that I’m here, I find I want to see more.”
“You have no money!”
Lou laughed. “I am fae. We always have money.”
“If the Shifter Lord catches you passing sticks and leaves off as currency, you will find yourself in more trouble than you can imagine,” Moira murmured.
“I will be long gone before then,” Lou assured us.
“And the shop owners you’ve duped?” I asked.
He shrugged. “They should expect no better from the fae.”
Ash’s expression darkened. “And fae like you are the reason why. Many of those shop owners you seek to cheat are fae or descended from your people.”
Lou’s eyes flicked to me. “And her people.” And back to Ash. “And yours, though the dryads do not love being grouped in with some of the fae.”
“Regardless,” Moira said. “Stealing is wrong.”
“You stole me from my garden,” Lou said, his lips twitching.
“That was an accident!” Moira huffed and crossed her arms over his chest.
Lou held his hands up in surrender. “Fine. I promise not to dupe or steal while I am here.” He laid a hand against his heart. “I swear it upon my honor.”
“We have no idea who you are,” Moira grumbled. “So how do we know you have any honor?”
