11
The moment Xeni opened the door, Mason regretted leaving her. She still looked beautiful. She’d slipped on an oversized cardigan that somehow made her look even more comfortable and sexy, but the afternoon seemed to have aged her. There were bags under her eyes and there wasn’t even a ghost of a smile when she let him in. He’d planned to cook for her and hoped she’d let him spend the night fucking her into next Christmas, but first he wanted to bring the light back to her eyes.
Mason lifted an eyebrow and shot her a smile.
“What, you weirdo? Are you coming in or not?”
“I am, but first, I have one question for you.”
She rolled her eyes, then popped her hand on her hip. “Sure, but make it quick. You’re gonna let the bugs in.”
“Oh, right.” Mason stepped inside and used his body to playfully nudge her out of the way.
“Hey!” she laughed.
“Sorry, madam. I just need to put my groceries down.” He felt her behind him, following him into the kitchen. He set the groceries on the counter and turned to her.
“You wanna see a magic trick?”
Xeni shot him a confused look. “I guess, but my standards for sleight of hand are pretty darn high. I’m not Palila. I expect to be wowed.”
“First off, don’t insult my niece that way. Her standards for everything in life are top shelf. Secondly, when have I not wowed you?”
“I can kick your ass out any time, you know.”
“Okay. I’m gonna need a five dollar bill from a member of the audience.”
“Jesus.” Xeni grumbled, but that didn’t stop her from going into her pocketbook and pulling out a crisp twenty. “Here. Don’t rip it in half.”
“No destruction of legal tender involved, I promise. Now watch, as I make this twenty dollar bill disappear.” Mason made a big show of slowly folding the twenty in half and then in quarters. “One.” He pushed his hands out in front of his chest making sure she could see the folded bill between his fingers. “Two and three.” Mason tossed the bill behind him. Xeni eyes followed it as it bounced on the counter. Mason glanced over and saw it wedged behind a jar of sugar.
“Poof.” Mason said, waving his now empty hands in the air. “Magic.” It was his worst work by far, but he held the bright smile on his face as Xeni fought to suppress any kind of reaction. He knew he had her when her nostrils flared and her lips started quivering. She held out her hand.
“Give me my money back.”
Mason grabbed the bill and gently unfolded it before placing it in her upturned palm.
“All my terrible jokes aside, if we can find a deck of cards around here, I can show you a pretty fun trick.”
“All serious magicians should carry the tools of their trade with them.”
“Well, I forgot to keep a fresh deck in my pocket, but I did happen to remember these.” Mason reached into one of the grocery bags and pulled out a six-pack of beer. “And this,” a pint of cinnamon swirl ice cream. “And these,” a box of condoms.
“Thank you and good thinking.”
“For our main course this evening, I’d like to offer the lady a seafood alfredo.”
“Ooh, that sounds good,” Xeni groaned.
“Excellent.” Mason pulled his keychain bottle opener out of his pocket, cracked open one of the beers and handed it to her. “Please sit back and relax. This won't take too long.”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
Xeni collapsed at the kitchen island with a sigh as he went to work. Miss Sable’s kitchen was pretty well organized. She’d never let him cook for her before, opting to have him bring food from the cafe when he came over to jam.
“Would you prefer music or sparkling conversation while I prepare our meal?”
“How about you finally tell me what’s going on with your whole situation and we put on a little background music?”
