My phone chirped.
Isaac:Sunburn
Isaac:Scorching
Isaac:Third degree
I scrambled to my feet and immediately jogged across the street. That date went by almost as fast as the first time I had sex. (No offense to Valerie Rivera. She was great. I was just... eager.) I had a feeling Isaac had decided from the start that this wasn’t going to work, but he’d invoked his safe word and I had to trust him. There would be more muses to delight in!
Without much thought to what I’d say or do, I pushed through the spinning front door of Kringle’s and found myself standing in the elegant bar with the pianist—an older man in a dusty velvet suit—playing “Last Christmas” by Wham!
“Sunny?” Isaac asked innocently.
I grinned at his acting abilities and then suddenly remembered that I was his escape plan and I needed to fake an emergency.
“Isaac,” I said and then nodded to Matt. “I... um... it’s Mr.Tumnus. He—I need you to come right away. I have to drive him to the nearest emergency vet and I’m just too... distressed.”
“Who’s Mr.Tumnus?” Matt asked.
Isaac slid off his stool and took his coat from the back of his chair. “A vicious feline cursed to roam the earth for what feels like eternity.”
I crossed my arms and pouted. There was acting and then there was insulting my son.
“Is he okay?” Matt asked. “What happened? I can help. I know Dr.Hinkle. She’s my dad’s next-door neighbor. I’m sure we could just run your cat over to her house.”
God, he was good and painfully helpful. “I think this situation calls for something more serious than a house call. He—he ate glass. So much glass.”
Matt gasped and so did Isaac, involuntarily.
“Oh my God,” Matt said. “You should go.”
Isaac nodded and took a stack of crisp bills from his wallet. “Thanks for the company.”
“I’ll call you?” Matt said. “Could I get your number?”
“I’ll text it to you,” I told him before Isaac said something about his cell phone haunting him like a ghost or something else creepy and sad.
“Good luck with the cat!” Matt called as the door chime rang above our heads.
Isaac took my hand and pulled me across the street to the car.
“Are we running from the law?” I asked, my breath puffing out in little clouds.
“He can still see us,” he said as he reached into my pocket and took my keys. “We have to keep up the act. We’re in a hurry and you’re distressed, remember?”
“Mr.Tumnus!” I howled like the “Stella!” line fromA Streetcar Named Desire. “How was that?” I was still shutting my door as he peeled out of the metered parking spot I definitely forgot to pay for.
He looked back over his shoulder like Matt might be tailing us. “A little much, but I found your commitment inspiring.” We turned the corner toward the center of town and his shoulders eased.
“So what was the big red flag?” I asked.
The car paused at a stoplight, and I glanced down the road to find a cluster of vendors and small carnival rides. A banner over the street read:the 123rd annual christmas notch holiday market. My mouth watered at the sight of a girl crossingthe street with her arms full of snacks as she balanced a hot chocolate in the crook of her elbow.
“It was really just a vibe, if—”
“Stop!” I screamed.
Isaac slammed on the brakes, and both of us jerked forward against our seat belts.
