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My heart took a nosedive to the vicinity of my feet.

“I’m going to get supplies. The cleanup went surprisingly quick. If the wholesaler the minotaur told me about has everything I need, I can open the coffee shop this weekend.”

“What a relief.” The joy was not faux this time.

She furrowed her brow and then shook her head again. “You don’t need to go with me.”

I disagreed, but no need to argue that point. Instead, I said, “I want to.”

She turned in her seat and glared at me. “You didn’t even speak after we had sex,” she accused.

“I…” She was right. I had been dumbfounded by the sheer pleasure I’d experienced. By the fact that it had been with her. By the fact that I wanted to do it again, as often as possible.

But only with her.

I’d been shocked to the core by the idea that the woman I kept dreaming about and drawing was attracted to me. Wanted me. Hadn’t been put off by my story of how I’d ended up here in Arrythmia.

I wanted more, so much more, and I knew it was far too soon. She’d only just arrived in town. Given her refusal to use her magic, she obviously had a few internal demons to wrestle under control before she was ready to give herself over to a relationship.

So, yeah, I’d been a tad speechless for a long moment there.

I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry.”

She clutched the steering wheel and stared out the windshield. “About which part?”

“Uh, not telling you how much I enjoyed it?”

“Good.”

“Good?”

She nodded without pulling her gaze from the windshield. “Yes, good. I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

This was a weird conversation.

“I did too,” she said.

“I know.”

She slanted me a narrow-eyed glare.

I laughed. “Sorry. But it was kind of obvious. I guess I thought it was obvious that I enjoyed it too.”

“I was still a little floaty and sort of missed it when you came,” she admitted.

“Sounds like we may need a do-over. You know, just to see if it was as good as we thought.”

Her lips quirked. “Not a bad idea.”

I buckled my seat belt. “Are we going?”

She finally seemed to notice Wyldfire, who was sitting in my lap like she was a mascot or something. “Did you really bring the cat?”

“Not on purpose. I nearly tripped over her and grabbed her and didn’t stop to put her down. I was afraid you’d be gone before I got here if I did.”

She shifted the truck into gear. “Guess we’re going to find out if she likes car rides.”

She did, for the record. She simply sat in my lap and watched the world zoom past while Cassandra and I chatted.