Mercedes gripped his hand. Her hand was so small in his. Surprisingly, it was warm and all she could think back to was that moment where she was briefly in his arms, pressed against him. Quickly, she pulled her hand away.
“Well, I’m going to finish my dinner and then help with the tidying up.” She stepped past him and headed back into Hetty’s apartment at the back of the bait shop. Her heart was hammering as if it were about to burst through her sternum.
He smelled so good for being sort of undead.
Don’t think of him like that. Boss. remember?
She was glad her work life was going to be less stressful, but she had to get this attraction to Magnus out of her system.
He was off-limits.
Completely.
Chapter
Six
For a week, Magnus tried to put that dinner at Hetty’s place out of his mind. For a moment outside, he’d connected to Mercedes. He had no idea that her family was so toxic and horrible to her. She may look like the ancestor who’d cursed him, but he was beginning to see that she wasn’t Yrsa.
Far from it.
Although, the explosions during spell casting had him a bit worried, and for the past week, anytime he heard a loud bang, he jumped a bit. He did keep his distance though, because he wanted her to feel comfortable, and her list to help them get ready for their official grand opening was long.
As was his.
He had to cater the entire event, which he was fine with, but for some reason he was having a hard time focusing on what to serve. It’s like he couldn’t think when she was around.
Because you’re attracted to her, because even though she looks like the woman you loathe, you really like her.
It didn’t help that every night he closed his eyes he saw her. Things he used to relax, like movies, just reminded him of her and all those late-night texts.
Magnus scrubbed a hand over his face and leaned over the kitchen counter where he was trying to focus on one of the many menu ideas he’d come up with over the years.
“We have our first reservation,” Sven announced, excitedly materializing through the wall before solidifying.
“We…what?” Magnus asked, stunned.
“A booking.” Sven grinned. “This is what we were working toward when we decided to buy this place and fix it up. It’s happening.”
“That’s great. Monsters or norms?”
“How would I know that from the booking?” Sven asked, frowning.
Magnus shrugged. “I was always curious about that. What kind of clientele we would attract. Harmony Glen is a fairly open monster town.”
“It’s for the grand opening. I mean, Room with a Tomb Dead and Breakfast. They’re hoping it’s haunted.”
Magnus grunted. “I suppose. We don’t even know if this place is haunted.”
He always suspected it was, given that it was an old funeral home, but he didn’t know if there were ghosts. It was a little weird being a ghoul and not being able to see them or communicate with the dead.
“Mercedes says we do.”
And then Magnus remembered what she had said at dinner a week ago, about being able to talk to ghosts and spectres. “She did say that.”
Sven cocked an eyebrow. “She told you that?”
Magnus shrugged. “We were at Hetty’s for dinner. She’s a witch…not a great one though.”
