That’s when I knew I had to stay away from him. Away from temptation.
His braids fall in his face as his lean and muscled body bends down to pick up a box that went flying off the table. Our hands brush, and I can’t stop the smile that takes over my face. Now I feel like a schoolgirl who ran into her crush, but I don’t have crushes. I can’t have crushes. I had my chance at love. I had a soul mate. I shouldn’t be flushing at the sight of him.
I need to get out of here and find a new grocery store to go to from now on. What if I see him here again? I shouldn’t want to. I can’t betray my mate. Oh, my goddess, I can’t.
After making such a mess here, how could I show my face again? Bringing the box I was going to get to my chest, I give thebest smile I can muster up to my hero of the hour. His brown eyes pierce into mine. I’m sure my face is beat red, and even though I have a darker skin complexion, nothing could hide the heat radiating from my face. “Thanks, really, for your help.”
“No problem, sweetcakes,” he says. He is smiling at me, and gosh, did it make me blush about ten times harder. Eddie Enchanted is handsome. Of course, he had to be, or else this moment wouldn’t have been embarrassing enough. Eddie Enchanted is most definitely attractive. In fact, he may be too attractive. Milo was handsome too; he had deep dark skin since he loved the sun—maybe more than he loved me sometimes—and narrow eyes and thick lips. But Eddie has those corded forearms. Gosh, those forearms do something for me, I—no, no. I nothing. I’m not supposed to be looking, let alone drooling. Eddie has glasses,naturallyhe is automatically handsome. Glasses plus his smooth brown skin and braided hair that reaches his eyebrows. It’s not abnormal to think another man is attractive... right?
I mean, why did Eddie wear glasses? Paranormals don’t need enhancements like glasses or hearing aids since the magic that created us would fix impairments; at least, that’s what we’ve been told. So, it’s not my fault I think he’s attractive. He makes himself good-looking on purpose—there’s no shame in finding that he succeeds in his purpose.
He is dressed in business attire too. Goddess. Slacks and a loosely tucked in button-up shirt. His voice is deep and heavy, covering me with shivers in the best way. In a pleasant way—a way where I want to keep him talking but know I don’t have the social skills to keep him going. And he smells good. Too good. Like tobacco and vanilla. Gosh, I want to smell him again. I scrunch my face and dive my nose closer. Yeah, that smell is definitely him.
“Willow?” My eyes shoot up to his as I snap out of my daze. Oh my goodness, am I out here smelling men? Has it really been that long since my mate died that I’m desperately smelling other men?
“I’m—I’ve got to go to work,” I mutter. I nod my head in thanks before turning on my heel again, this time without tripping. I speed to the front of the store, paying for my tea bags and getting the heck out of here.
3
WILLOW
Gettingto work is such a sigh of relief. I can breathe normally now that I’ve swiped into the building. Walking into the small cafeteria, I pour hot water in my mug and drop a tea bag inside. Once I had made it to my car, I’d stuffed a few little tea bags in my purse in case I had run out at work, too.
Now that my tea craving is settled, I finally make it to my desk. I put my purse and work bag down by my desk as I crack open my planner. I’m a personal assistant to Flora Enchanted, CEO and head designer of her company Danity Rebels. We create all sorts of accessories, ranging from shoes to jewelry, for paranormals in the United States. Our designs are shifter focused with accessories designed to handle shifting into a multitude of animals.
Flora comes up with the hit new designs. I make sure she gets to all her meetings on time, send emails, get lunch on days we’re not having lunch at Clothes Before Bros, and whatever else she needs. Working for Flora has been the best job I’ve ever had. She took a chance on me, hiring me when all I had to sleep on was a plate on the floor since I had only took what could fit in my car and left Kaler City.
I love my job; taking care of people is what I do best, and what better job to do that than a personal assistant?
Flora Enchanted comes around a corner, and her sudden presence makes me jump in my seat. Am I going to be a jumpy mess all the time now? My eyes search around the room for anything else to focus on. One breath in, one breath out as she gets closer. I pray she didn’t notice my jumpiness, and if she did, I hope she won’t say anything.
“Hey, darling, glad to see you come in today.” Flora nods her head towards her office, signaling I should follow. I nervously laugh as I grab my planner and follow. My hands sweat as I follow. Does she know? About the break-in? About my feelings for Eddie. Is it written across my forehead? I wipe my forehead as if there is writing there. I’m overly aware of everything I do now that I’m keeping a secret from her. I can’t help but think of the little tells I may be giving to cue her into something being wrong.
Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine. I’m completely fine. Nothing out of the ordinary happened last night that she, of all people, should be worried about.
“I’m slightly off my rocker today,” I mumble, trying to brush off my tardiness as a small blush covers my cheeks. What’s up with all the blushing today? So much for being completely fine.
“I’m not mad you’re late—I mean, I just got here myself, but is everything okay? You’re never late,” she asks, sliding her long box braids over her shoulders. Opening her laptop, she reads over her version of today’s plans.
Off the bat, she’s asking if I am okay. I wasn’t ready for these questions, and I’m sure I’ll blow if she digs, I need to do better at acting like everything is normal.
“I had to stop at the store for tea bags this morning—nothing serious.”
“Didn’t you go grocery shopping recently?”
I knew it. I knew I wouldn’t have let my stash get low. I couldn’t function without a morning cup of tea. There is no way I would’ve let myself run out of tea bags. The intruder must have taken them along with my bras, but why?
“I must have been drinking more than I thought.” I brush it off. “I have your first meeting in thirty minutes with the design team to confirm the next line of hat designs. Are you ready?”
“Yeah, don’t let me forget my black book.” She giggles as she holds the book with all her designs up in the air. She’s forgotten her designs before, and it’s my job to make sure they make it there.
“Of course.” I smile, glancing over the rest of her plans for the day. She types away on her computer, and my eyes don’t stray from my planner. My mind, though, is not in the room with us. In fact, it’s still at the grocery store smelling that tobacco and vanilla scent I can’t push past.
My day moves along, as if it’s moving on without me. We jump from meeting to meeting till the clock strikes one. Lunch time. The one meeting Flora and I love most is our lunch meeting with our third, Luxe Wildflower. Lunch with the girls is routine—the one thing I can count on every week. Luxe Wildflower, Flora Enchanted, and I met at Luxe’s current place of employment, Clothes Before Bros, a retail shop in downtown Rainfall Avenue. It is a cute little clothing boutique, and the backroom is where the lunch is taking place.
Flora drives us over to lunch, rambling on about her designs, a conversation I love to be a part of anytime except right now. After we arrive, I pull a rolling chair to the round table in the center of the room and sit with my best friends of five years. Five years since I moved from Kaler City, five years since I met the first people I’d genuinely call friends. My salami sandwich lies open on the table.
Even with our weekly lunches, we weren’t always this close. We respect that each of us has a past, and it wasn’t something we ask each other about. We didn’t ask about family, and we didn’t ask about our shifter animals.
