Chick with a Charm

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

  Simone gazed at Anica. “Yes, but . . . does he truly accept that you are magical? That we are magical?”

  “He does.” Anica hesitated. “But I’m not sure if his parents would, so I’d rather they didn’t know.”

  Lionel sighed. “I was afraid of that. So no levitating the wineglasses, I suppose.”

  “Probably not.” Anica smiled. “But Lily and I have a few little tricks planned for the party, things that will look like movie special effects but are really magic at work.”

  “They’ll be very cool,” Lily added.

  Simone nodded. “Excellent. So, Lily, does your lawyer . . . what’s his name?”

  “Griffin Taylor.”

  “Griffin. I like that name. Does he know you’re a witch?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Which means he doesn’t.” Simone eyed her younger daughter. “Are you serious about him?”

  Lily wasn’t sure how to answer that. “I guess.”

  “That doesn’t sound very committed.” Simone waved a hand. “If he’s a passing fancy, then no need to tell him, I suppose. But if it’s anyone you think will be a long-term relationship, then you know where the magical world stands on that.”

  Lily felt like a five-year-old caught stealing cookies. “Full disclosure.”

  “It’s the reasonable thing.” Lionel draped an arm around Lily’s shoulders. “I’m sure it’s not an easy conversation to have, but those who date nonmagical people need to remember that it can be a shock, so the sooner the nonmagical person is informed, the better.”

  Lily had trouble accepting this sage advice from a man wearing three feathers attached to his forehead with what looked like a macramé headband. But she nodded, anyway. “You’re right, Dad.”

  “I’m sure Lily will do the right thing,” her mother said.

  That made Lily feel even more guilty. She could feel Anica’s eyes on her, but they had a pact. Neither would tell on the other. It was a workable method of mutual coercion.

  “My goodness, I almost forgot.” Simone rifled through the colorful carrying bag on her arm. “I’m giving this to Anica and Jasper as an engagement party gift. I’ll wrap it up, of course, and make a proper presentation, but I had to show it to both of you first. You’ll love it.”

  Lily was prepared for something bizarre. Her parents never gave ordinary gifts. But she wasn’t quite ready for the eight-inch carved onyx figure with the abnormally huge penis.

  Anica seemed equally dumbfounded as she stared at the generously endowed statue. His dick was bigger than his leg.

  “It’s an Incan fertility symbol!” Their mother seemed so proud of her gift that Lily couldn’t help but respond.

  “It’s magnificent, Mom.”

  “Yes.” Anica sounded slightly faint. “Truly magnificent.”

  Lily almost felt sorry for her sister, who would have to witness this gift being opened in front of her future in-laws. But at least Anica had taken care of business and told Jasper that she was a witch. Lily was running on borrowed time, and she knew it.

  Chapter 12

  When Griffin walked into the Bubbling Cauldron that night with Kevin and Miles, he paused just inside the doorway. “You guys go on over to our table. I need to talk to Lily.”

  “Do whatever you have to do,” Kevin said. “We know you’re obsessed with that woman, right, Miles?”

  “Obsessed is the right word.” Miles shook his head as he gazed at Griffin. “Biddle was remarking on how distracted you seemed today.”

  Griffin knew he should be worried about that. Nobody liked negative attention from a senior partner. But he was more concerned about how Lily’s day with her parents had turned out. “I’ll talk to Biddle tomorrow,” he said. “Everybody has days when they’re a little off, even Biddle. See you guys at the table in a few minutes.”

  “Right.” Kevin gave him a searching look. “See you in a few.”

  Griffin knew that look. Kevin was worried about his involvement with Lily. And maybe it was somewhat on the obsessive side. He had to admit that he’d found concentrating difficult today. He’d wanted to call Lily on her cell, but he didn’t want to do that while she was interacting with her parents.

  Having them arrive so soon after he’d hooked up with her put a whole new spin on the situation. He didn’t feel ready to meet her parents, but he couldn’t avoid it with the engagement party coming up on Sunday. For all he knew, they’d stop by the bar tonight, especially if they wanted to get a look at their daughter’s new boyfriend.

  Griffin was sure they were perfectly nice people. But parents tended to pick up on things, like whether a guy was sleeping with their daughter. Once they figured that out, they’d want to know his intentions. He had no intentions, no long-range plans.

  He just wanted to be with Lily . . . a lot. Her parents might think he only wanted to use her for sex, and that wasn’t true. Or was it? Why else was he hoping for all the sex he could get without any plan for the future? A not-so-noble part of him was hoping her folks had been delayed . . . indefinitely.

  Lily was dressed in her usual bartending outfit, tight black blouse and snug black pants. Her hair was piled on top of her head, and a strand that had come loose curled at the nape of her neck. He found that incredibly sexy. In fact, he was having storeroom fantasies again.

  “Hi, Griffin.” She smiled at him, but her brown gaze looked a little harried. “I’ll be over at your table right after I finish making these two daiquiris.”

  “I’m not here to bug you. I wanted to ask how it went—picking up your folks and everything.”

  “Okay.”

  “Good.” So they’d made it to Chicago. There went one of his cherished hopes.

  “’Scuse me a sec.” She flipped on the blender.

  Griffin waited until the whirring stopped and she poured the drinks into glasses. “So, uh, are they coming by the bar tonight?”

  “No.” Lily garnished the drinks with a cherry. “They went out to dinner with Anica and Jasper so they could get to know their prospective son-in-law. Then I’m sure they’ll go straight to bed. They’ve had a long day. Here you go, Sherman.” She slid the glasses down the bar to the waiter, who had walked over from the far side of the room.

  “Thanks.” Sherman loaded the drinks on a tray. “Hi, Griffin. How’s it going?”

  “Great.” He could say that now that he knew Lily’s parents wouldn’t be showing up tonight.

  Lily wiped the bar. “Griffin, as long as you’re here, can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.”

  She glanced up at him. “Do you read your horoscope?”

  “No, why?” Maybe she’d read it and thought the prediction was significant. But that couldn’t be right. He hadn’t told her his birthday. He didn’t know hers, either. That was something he should find out. Women expected a guy to pay attention to that kind of stuff.

  Or rather, they did if the relationship was serious, which brought him back to his original dilemma—the nature of this thing he had going with Lily.

  “A Miller draft and a gin fizz,” Sherman called from the end of the bar.

  “Coming up!” Lily put down her bar rag and picked up a beer glass from the rack under the counter. “I just wondered what you think of that kind of thing,” she said.

  “You mean astrology?” She’d told him she was an amateur magician, which was more of a party trick than a philosophy, but still, he decided to tread lightly. “I don’t know a lot about it. Do you?”

  She drew the beer and started making the gin fizz. “Some. I guess I’m wondering how you feel about . . . you know, stuff you can’t rationally explain but that happens, anyway.”

  “Like aliens?” He couldn’t figure out what she was trying to say. “Area 51 and all that?”

  “Well, no.” She finished up the gin fizz. “Never mind. It’s not important.”

  He had a feeling it was important, but she wasn’t making the conversation easy to follow. “Well, I should proba
bly get back over to the table so we can figure out our order. Want me to come back here and give it to you?”

  Her eyes sparkled. “Just how do you mean that?”

  Instantly he was aroused. “How would you like me to mean it?”

  She met his gaze and she flushed. Then she lowered her voice and leaned closer. “You can probably guess, but we’re in the middle of a crowded bar, so it’ll have to wait. I’ll come over and take the order, the way I always do.”

  He reached over and rubbed his thumb against her full lower lip. “Later, then.”

  Her voice was husky. “Yeah, later.”

  Knowing that she wanted him, too, fueled his storeroom fantasies even more. But he forced himself to think about something neutral so he could walk back to the table without embarrassing himself. He settled on baseball stats as the safest way to go.

  He mentally reviewed the ERA stats for all the starting pitchers in the Cubs lineup as he approached Kevin and Miles. “Her folks made it to town okay,” he said.

  Miles looked sympathetic. “Too bad for you. I’ve always thought dating orphans was the way to go.”

  “Speak for yourself, loser.” Kevin leaned back in his chair. “Parents always like me a lot.”

  “Sometimes better than the girl likes you,” Miles said.

  “That only happened once, and it was because they had their heart set on a lawyer for a son-in-law, and she had her heart set on a punk rocker. They still send me a bottle of Scotch every Christmas.”

  Griffin sat down with a sigh. “I’m not ready for this.”

  “No man is ready for this,” Miles said. “You’re sleeping with their daughter, so naturally they’ll expect you to be looking at rings. It’s the way it is.”

  “Maybe they don’t have to know I’m sleeping with their daughter.”

  Kevin shook his head. “Don’t kid yourself. They’ll know. Parents have radar for such things.”

  “You’re right.” Griffin glanced at his friends. “I’m not planning to marry their daughter, so what do I say to them?”

  Miles loosened his tie and unfastened the top button of his dress shirt. “Say what you usually say in this situation.”

  “The thing is, our buddy Griffin hasn’t been in this situation,” Kevin said. “He’s only slept with potential wives.”

  Miles stared at Griffin. “Is that true? I didn’t know that.”

  “It’s true,” Griffin said. “This is the first time I’ve slept with someone just for the hell of it, because I wanted to.”

  Miles blew out a breath. “I’m still back on the sleeping with potential wives part of this conversation. You were considering marrying Sharon?”

  “Sort of. For a while.”

  “Jesus, man, I had no clue or I would have stepped in. Sharon was pretty and all, but she would have been a disaster. Neurotic as hell.”

  “Yeah, well.” Griffin shrugged. “She had career goals. She knew what she wanted out of life. Whereas Lily—”

  “Did someone call my name?” Lily appeared at his elbow. He hoped to hell she hadn’t heard any of that discussion, but as he glanced up, her expression was open and friendly, so she probably hadn’t.

  After she left with their order, Kevin leaned toward him. “Okay, here’s what you say to her parents: You and Lily are just getting to know each other, and you think she’s fantastic, but you don’t want to rush into anything and neither does she.”

  “Sounds good,” Miles said. “And another tip. Don’t flaunt your sexual relationship in front of them. Keep your hands pretty much to yourself, and definitely no lip-locks in their presence.”

  “I think that’s why I’m so nervous about meeting her parents. I’ve never dated anyone who turned me on this much. I’m afraid I’ll forget and grab her right in front of them.”

  “You won’t,” Kevin said. “You’re a lawyer, for God’s sake. You know how to put on an act when you have to. We all do.”

  “I suppose.” Griffin glanced over at the bar where Lily was mixing their drinks. “At least I don’t have to worry about it yet.”

  Lily watched as Kevin and Miles left for the evening. Griffin stayed at the table, but she expected him to wander over to the bar soon. She’d debated suggesting that he go back to her apartment again tonight and take Daisy out, but now that her parents were in town, she felt like making the most of whatever time she had with Griffin when her folks weren’t around, even if it was at work.

  Business at the bar had slowed, as it usually did once happy hour was over. Maybe she’d buy Griffin a drink and he could sit at the bar and talk to her for a while. She liked talking to Griffin, liked hearing his voice. She wouldn’t bring up anything paranormal this time, though.

  Her horoscope question had gone nowhere, and she shouldn’t have been surprised. Griffin had never struck her as the kind of guy who would head for the tarot booth at a county fair. But after her dad’s comments, she’d decided to find out if Griffin at least had an open mind about events outside his own experience.

  She’d have to come at it from a different direction next time, though, because astrology didn’t click with him and they’d totally derailed when Griffin thought she might be talking about aliens. Maybe she could mention a couple of movies as a lead-in to the subject.

  But not tonight. Tonight she wanted to flirt and have a good time. She wanted to enjoy the good parts of this spell and stop worrying about the potentially bad parts. She wanted to enjoy the experience of being into someone who was also into her.

  “You’re smiling.”

  She glanced over and was surprised to see that Griffin had come to the bar and slid onto a stool without her noticing. She turned toward him and discovered the only other customer who had been sitting at the bar had paid up and left. “I was thinking about you,” she said honestly.

  “And smiling.” He seemed happy about that. “I’ll take that as a good sign.”

  “It is.” She met his gaze and allowed herself to bask in that admiring glow for a few seconds. Heat spiraled through her and settled in a predictable spot. Too bad they weren’t alone. “A very good sign.”

  “Did you want me to go take care of Daisy?”

  “She’ll be okay for a little while longer. I could buy you a drink, if you’d like to stay and talk to me until my break.”

  “You have a break coming up?” He looked interested in that.

  “In about twenty minutes. Sherman handles the bar for me so I can get off my feet for a little while.”

  “And how long is that?”

  “Oh, about fifteen minutes. But I can’t really leave, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  He shook his head. “Just wondering how long I could have you to myself.”

  The intimate way he said it, along with his steady gaze, sent more heat flooding through her. “You’d better stop looking at me like that, or we’re liable to cause a scene.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  She laughed. “Oh, it would be, until I got fired. So, what would you like?”

  He just smiled.

  Wow, the man packed a punch. “Besides that.”

  “I guess I’ll make do with a bottle of Heineken, then. And I don’t need a glass.” He pushed money across the bar.

  “Seriously, this one’s on me.”

  He pulled the money back. “Thanks. Remind me to do something nice for you soon.”

  “I will.” She winked at him as she opened the bottle and handed it to him. About that time Sherman arrived with a couple of orders, and she busied herself filling them while Sherman went to check on another table.

  “If there’s anything special you want to watch on TV, Griffin, say the word and I’ll change to that channel. You’re the only one sitting here so you might as well please yourself.”

  “There’s nothing on TV that beats watching you move around doing your job.”

  She flushed with pleasure. “That has to be boring. All I’m doing is mixing drinks.”

  �
�With great efficiency.” He leaned closer. “But also when you work fast, your breasts shift just enough to make the view really interesting.”

  She smiled but kept her eyes on her work so she didn’t mess up the order. “So you’re ogling.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I sure am. Does that bother you?”

  “Uh-huh.” She didn’t dare look at him or she’d never get this order filled. “I’m not only bothered, I’m hot and bothered.”

  “Too bad we can’t do something about that.”

  She finished the drinks and set them on the bar for Sherman. “It is a shame.”

  “Not many private spots in a place like this. I don’t suppose there’s a storeroom or anything.”

  She laughed. “Griffin Taylor, you know there’s a storeroom. You have to pass it to get to the bathrooms. You’ve been plotting this all along, haven’t you?”

  “Maybe. Any chance my devious plan would work?”

  She shouldn’t think about the possibility, but now she couldn’t help it. If they were quiet and nobody needed anything out of the storeroom, it could work. The guys in the kitchen had often complained that there was no door from the kitchen to the storeroom, so they had to go out in the hall and through another door to get anything. Funky old buildings like this one sometimes had odd layouts.

  “You’re crazy.” But she hadn’t said she wouldn’t do it. In fact, her body was telling her to go for it. “You’d have to go into the men’s room and get a—”

  “I know.” Griffin looked at his watch. “By my calculations, I should do that pretty soon, if we’re going to take advantage of your break.”

  She was already planning how they could do it. The thrill of the forbidden had always appealed to her, and doing something wild like this with Griffin was icing on the cake. “Go make your purchase,” she said. “I’ll call Sherman over and tell him I need him to cover for me while I take inventory of the liquor supply, so I’ll know what we need to order from the distributor.”