To my surprise, Sophie Spellman Brownlee, the slovenly, outspoken faerie with the clipped wings and failing bakery, fits there like the last bars of a melody I’ve been humming all my life but never got right.
That’s when I realize what all the tingly, befuddled feelings have been trying to tell me. They’ve spelled trouble all along, very big trouble, worse even than winding up living in my old Caddy for a few months or sharing breakfast with a couple of gulls.
My grumpy faerie boss, the woman who’s providing me with room, board, and a job, holds one more key to my entire future.
I find it very hard to believe she’s going to be happy when I tell her, which won’t happen anytime soon, because even though Sophie hasn’t moved yet from my arms, as soon as her brain engages, she’s going to be pushing me away and pretending this didn’t happen. And all the while my heart, which she already possesses without my consent, is going to be mourning even that small separation.
How am I going to survive being in continual proximity to Sophie without being able to touch her, or tell her, or do anything except pine because of this single, irrefutable fact I’ve just discovered?
Call it love at first sight, call it a soul bond, call it the purest, truest magic; technically it’s all the above. What it means is that from this moment forward, I’ll have zero control over my emotional response to my boss.
Mongrels and moonbeams… I’m doomed.
Sophie is my fated mate.
Chapter 11
Clipped Wings
SOPHIE
Saturday Morning, June 23
Granny’s spell to clip my wings struck my magic with the force of a giant sledgehammer hacking out a piece of my soul. It hurt my spirit so much I burst into tears on the spot. But despite my weeping and hiccups, I’m feeling unexpectedly comforted… and warm… and kind of cozy. It slowly dawns on me, I’m leaning against someone’s brawny chest.
Wait… is it?
No blasted way!
Teddy Freaking Barker isn’t just giving me a little pat on the back; he’s wrapped his massive arms around me and pulled me so tight against his body I can feel his heart hammering through his tan safari shirt.
I give him a hard shove in the chest. “What are you doing, Teddy? I’m your boss, remember?”
Teddy drops his arms like I’m radioactive andscurries back a few steps. Although I miss the warmth of his arms around me, it’s inappropriate, even if he was trying to be nice. “I’m sorry, Sophie.” Teddy glances down at the toes of his giant combat boots. “You were so sad, and I wanted to help.”
“Well don’t! We have to maintain professional decorum.”
He mumbles. “Of course.”
“Make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“I’ll try.”
“What do you mean you’ll try?” I snap at him.
“I… I mean yes, of course, it won’t happen again.”
Then he reaches into his breast pocket, pulls out a neatly pressed, white handkerchief, and hands it to me. Since my nose is dripping like a leaky faucet, and I don’t have a tissue handy, I accept it and start mopping my face. By the time I’m done, black mascara streaks Teddy’s formerly pristine hanky, which is now damp with my tears and snot. Even a normal guy wouldn’t want this thing back; Mr. Clean would probably gag if I tried.
I stuff the balled-up hanky down my front pocket and survey the interior of my shop, which looks even worse in the morning light, probably because Granny magically cleaned the plate glass windows when she installed the shades. She wanted to protect our privacy, and I think also give me a little parting gift before she stripped away my magic; new window shades are one less thing I’ll have to invest in later.
“I don’t even know where to start,” I say lamely, feeling sorry for myself while also trying to process thefact that being held by Teddy wasn’t really all that bad. In fact… it was pretty nice.
But I remind myself it’s a bad idea. Besides, there’s another werewolf who promises to be more edgy and less uptight than Teddy, and who comes without any of the employer-employee complications to worry about. My phone pings, and I pull it out of my back pocket.
Speak of the devil—it’s Rafe!
I grin at his message. “Vreeland is taking Pru out on his boat tomorrow afternoon. He invited me and said I could bring a plus one. You’re the only plus one I want to bring. Can you make it?”
