I took the beer as Charlie leaned over to me and whispered, “Proactive. That’s my girl.”
And that was when something happened that never ever happened to me. I got nervous.
My heart skipped a beat, and a cold sweat flushed the back of my neck. What was going on? It was just Nico. I was just bringing him a beer…after Charlie had bullied me into agreeing to act on my attraction. I’d ignored it this long, so why would I do this? It was like my instincts had just grabbed the wheel, yelling at logic in the backseat to shut the fuck up.
I pretended I wasn’t mulling over life-changing decisions—like ignoring the cards and Aunt Beryl’s vision—as I paraded around the tables to bring him the beer. When his eyes landed on me, they stayed there, luring me like the moon to the tide. Maybe moon metaphors were cliché where a werewolf was concerned, but that was damn sure how it felt. An undeniable, magnetic pull. A cosmic force.
Still, I kept it calm and casual as I handed him the beer. “Nice set.”
He swigged the longneck, and I couldn’t help but watch how his throat worked as he gulped it down. Why in the fuck was that so sexy?
“What’s the special occasion?” he asked as he balanced the beer on one knee, the other holding his guitar.
“Pardon?”
He chuckled, his brow pinching in confusion. “I’ve never heard you use that word in my life.”
“Sorry,” I said, propping a hand on my hip, trying desperately to look casually cool and feeling like an imbecile for some reason. “What special occasion were you referencing?”
Referencing? How did being nervous suddenly alter my vocabulary to formal librarian?
“Bringing me a beer.” He glanced down, peering inside the bottle. “You didn’t spit in it, did you?”
“Why would I do such a thing?”
He shrugged one shoulder and took another gulp, my eyes zeroing in on the cords of muscle in his neck. Apparently, I had a neck fetish I wasn’t aware of till this very second.
“You were so pissy at work this afternoon. I didn’t expect kind treatment. I’m assuming you’re being more friendly to your new hire, too.” He looked at Lindsey at the bar with Clara.
I’d totally forgotten about her. Damn, wasn’t I the hospitable host?
“Of course, I am,” I snapped.
“There’s the Violet I know and love,” he teased in a low, sultry voice.
He didn’t mean the words for real, but suddenly I was infatuated with that sentence. And terrified for some reason. Those giant balls I bragged about to Charlie were shrinking by the second. They’d be dried up raisins by the time I got out of this conversation.
“You okay?” he asked, concern etching his brow.
“Just a long week, ya know.”
I slid both hands into the back pockets of my jeans, needing to do something with them before I started biting my nails. That would be a travesty.
I’d finally broken the habit by making damn sure I wore nail polish 24/7. FYI, Nail polish didn’t taste good. On top of that, I spent inordinate amounts of money on my OPI nailcolor collection. This was my logical reason I shouldn’t be biting my nails since I’d be wasting money. And who wants that? Isadora said my logic was faulty, but it worked for me.
“Mmm. And you’ll have to do some training tomorrow.”
His gaze swiveled to Lindsey again. A flash of irritation flushed through me. Not because I had to train Lindsey but because that was the second time I’d seen his gaze wander to her in this conversation.
“Hopefully, she’ll live up to the reputation Zaire painted of her and won’t need hand-holding.”
“I can help you out if you need. Give her the ins and outs of the shop.”
“You’d like that?” I asked, knowing full well my aggravation bled into my voice.
He glanced at her again. “Sure.” Then took a swig of his beer, watching me.
Okay, time for a little investigative exploration. “She’s pretty, huh?”
He took a long moment to respond, his gaze skimming my throat before meeting mine again. “Fucking gorgeous.”
Ouch. Why did hearing him call another woman gorgeous make me want to hurl right on his size thirteen shoes? My nausea quickly turned to anger. “Nico, must I remind you about the company policy that there will be no fraternizing with employees?”
“Is it policy, though? Or just your personal opinion?”
“You can’t sleep with the new girl,” I practically hissed, my face flushing with heat.
Whoa, Violet. Pull back the aggressive reins.
“I think she’s attractive, so now you’re assuming I want to sleep with her?”
I scoffed. “That tends to be the usual progression for most guys.”
Maybe that was a little rude and presumptuous, but the idea of Nico being interested in the gorgeous new hire had me nearly hyperventilating.
He took another gulp of beer, examining me like a bug under a microscope. I even felt the sizzle of magic in the air. His wolf was near. Strange. Well, not so strange. The full moon was in a few days. There was a pressure, a push of dominance, rolling off of him, yet his demeanor was all cool and composed.
“That’s all you’re going to give me?” I shifted to my other foot nervously. “An mmhmm?”
“What else do you want, Vi?”
“I want you to say you won’t badger the new girl. She needs time to get acclimated to the new job, the city. Give her space.”
Don’t fucking sleep with her.
“Time and space.” He chuckled low before downing the rest of his beer and handing the bottle back to me, his long fingers brushing over mine. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Then he shifted back toward the mic and dragged it in front of him, introducing his next set.
I wandered back to the bar, a little off-center and confused. Then I looked back at the empty beer bottle in my hand, wondering why in the hell I’d decided to bring him a beer. It felt like a girlfriend move, not a business partner move.
Girlfriend?
Had I truly lost my mind? Why was I thinking things like this?
We were business partners. And friends. Who’d once had oral sex under the stars on a rooftop night club. A moment that I couldn’t get out of my head no matter how hard I tried.
“What—?” Charlie started to ask.
“Shut it. And goodnight.”
I made excuses to Lindsey, letting Clara take the lead. I needed to get out of this room filled with his intoxicating voice and my crazy ideas that included words like plowing and relationship and girlfriend.
Clara was right. I needed an attitude adjustment. Nothing some good ol’ masturbation, refined whiskey, and a good night’s sleep couldn’t handle. Tomorrow, everything would be back to normal.
Chapter 5
~VIOLET~
* * *
I’d established every other Thursday as our regular Staff Night. Even though we weren’t officially open to the public yet, I thought it would be a good idea to meet regularly, to discuss new ideas or share opinions.
At our first meeting, Tom reported that the plug in his workspace didn’t work to recharge his cordless tattoo machine. So we’d gotten an electrician over to fix that and do a check on the rest of the building, finding a few other electrical outlets that needed an overhaul.
At the last Staff Night, Sean had complained that our bookkeeping program was too antiquated and suggested something his cousin used for his businesses. At first, I thought Sean was a bit out of his depth and wouldn’t know a good program from a bad one. After all, he was only seventeen. I was wrong after conferring with Ruben, the vampire overlord and family friend, who owned several successful businesses himself.
So thus far, our meetings had been productive and fruitful. This would be our first one with the newest employee, Lindsey. I’d given myself a stern talking to about how I’d been a bit short with her and possibly a little rude yesterday when she’d first arrived.
So I swanned into the shop, all s
miles and bearing gifts. The bakery across from the Cauldron, Queen of Tarts, was Clara’s favorite place to buy sweets for her High Tea Book Club gatherings, so I picked up some lemon berry petit fours and chocolate raspberry tarts.
Lindsey and Sean were already seated in the lobby area on our comfy sectionals, which was the best gathering place since our office was pretty small. Besides, Nico had bought soft, plush furniture for our lobby.
“Whoa. Whatcha got?” Sean was already up and in front of me, helping with one of the pastry boxes.
“Thought we could have some refreshments to welcome our final staff member of Empress Ink.”
“Oh, wow. That’s so sweet.” Lindsey sat forward and peeked in the bakery boxes as I opened them.
“I’m going to get some coffee first.” I started backing to the hallway. “Anyone else?”
Lindsey raised her to-go cup from French Cup Coffee.
Sean muffled, “Nah. I’m good,” around a full mouthful.
“Chew, Sean. Don’t choke yourself,” I told him as I went to the kitchen and popped a pod into the Keurig.
“Meeting time?” asked Tom, coming in and grabbing a water out of the fridge.
“Yeah,” I told him. “Nico isn’t here yet, but we can go ahead and get started.”
Tom Bounyasang was the first artist I’d hired after my cousins Drew and Cole had introduced us when I was on a visit to Lafayette back in April. He was another warlock friend of theirs. Drew and Cole had invited me to the Laotian New Year celebration, a party that gave Mardi Gras a run for its money.
The best thing about that night, however, had been meeting Tom—tall, lean, and covered in artistic tattoos. When I learned that he’d been freelance tattooing for family members and friends, I snatched him up, offering an annual salary plus a generous percentage on his client’s work. I’d never seen such unique skill on tribal tattoos like his. He also could do portraits, which was something I could never do.
I wanted to cover my bases in offering a variety to our clientele, humans as well as supernaturals, which meant having a wide array of artistic ability. Tom also had that mysterious, badass quality that made women want to keep coming back. He was an Influencer warlock after all, like Livvy. But rather than have that effervescent personality that lured people in, he had that quiet, sexy charisma that magnetized people without him saying a word.
By the time I made my way to the front, Nico was there. Sitting right next to Lindsey and making her laugh about something. To be honest, they looked so adorable together, I thought I was going to be sick.
He was also eating a petit four as I walked toward the lounge area. Glancing up at me, he sucked a smear of raspberry off his thumb. The sight of his tongue as he swiped it across the pad set my panties on fire.
“These are delicious,” he told me all casual while my heart raced ridiculously. He scooted over toward Lindsey, creating a space for me between him and Sean.
I almost took a seat in the overstuffed chair across from him, but then he’d know I was pissed or jealous or turned on or whatever the hell I was feeling, so I casually sat next to him.
“Glad you like them. I wanted to celebrate finally having our first full Staff Night now that Lindsey has joined us.”
She beamed brightly on cue as they all gave her a nod and smiled in welcome.
“So,” I started, “anyone have something they want to share?”
“Yeah,” said Tom, “I was wondering about our artwork you wanted for matting and framing. I found a good deal at a printer over on Prytania Street. He works with local artists so his printing and framing is better than just some random place. He also said he’d cut us a deal since we want quite a few in lots of sizes done.”
“Oh, awesome.” I pulled out my phone. “What’s his name? I’ll shoot him an email this week. I’d definitely like to get those up by the time we have the grand opening celebration. I have a feeling we’ll be pretty busy after Livvy works her magic.”
Tom gave me the guy’s name and contact information.
“Sean, how’s the new bookkeeping program working?” I asked.
“Awesome. Just like I told you. It provides a much more detailed breakdown of ingoing and outgoing expenses, but also gives projections on what we should be aiming for in profit margins.”
To hear the kid talk about profit margins was a little surreal, but also comforting. We’d hired him as a favor to Ruben who’d asked on behalf of his brother, Henry Blackwater, a grim who worked for him. Turns out, the favor was no favor at all. Sean was kind of a whiz kid.
“How about you, Lindsey? Need anything in your workspace that you don’t have?”
“Not at all. Seems that everything has been accounted for.” She looked as if she wanted to ask me a question but bit her lip.
“Something else?” I raised my brows.
“It’s totally unrelated to work, but Clara told me you were a Seer, and I was kind of hoping you might do a reading for me. You know”—she shrugged a shoulder—“for my new life here in New Orleans.”
Her gaze drifted to Nico who’d been sitting back with his hand across the sofa behind both me and Lindsey. But his gaze was on me. Heavy and watchful.
“Uh, well, maybe after we’ve covered all the business stuff if we have time.” I glanced at my phone. “I do have to meet Clara at Maybelle’s to talk about something.”
That was a lie, but for some reason I didn’t want to do her reading right now.
“Anyone else have business to discuss?” asked Nico.
No one said a word. He moved his gaze back to me. “Looks like you’ve got time.”
“Okay. Sure. Sure thing.”
I stood and walked over to my workspace, uncertain why I was hesitating. Maybe because I’d never done a reading in front of Nico. Still, why would that make me nervous? It was like my magic knew something that I didn’t. Yet.
I grabbed a pack of Tarot cards I kept in my drawer, because honestly I had a deck stashed everywhere I spent any length of time, then strode back out to the lobby. Rather than sit next to Nico where I’d been, I knelt on the opposite side in front of the coffee table.
“So, do you mind if we keep it simple? A single card reading?” I set my phone off to the side. My nerves were jittery, and I still wasn’t sure why. My psychic line was already tapping along my bloodstream, pouring a shot of adrenaline through my body like an electric volt. “I need to get going soon.”
“Thanks! I haven’t had a reading in forever. My cousin in Austin used to do them for me, but she moved last spring so it’s been a while.” She leaned forward excitedly, arching a perfect brow with a tiny hoop piercing, dark hair falling forward in a silky wave.
I spread the cards out on the table, face down. “So we’re just going to focus on one card today.” I stared down at the pile of cards. “Your future here in New Orleans. Go ahead and pick.”
She reached out and hovered her hand over the pile, moving to one side then the other, then finally pulled one half-hidden beneath another and flipped it over.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
“Ten of cups,” I said with a smile and through gritted teeth.
The card I’d been wanting to pull forever. Specifically when it came to the man sitting next to her. Oh, no. Please don’t let the card be about her and Nico. Please.
“Is it a good one?” she asked, her pretty eyes bright with excitement.
“Yeah.” I laughed. “It’s a great one actually.” I cleared my throat, staring at the card and not her or the man boring a hole into my face with his gaze. “It means divine love and complete joy in relationships. Harmony in romantic love. So it looks like you’ll be finding your true love here in New Orleans.”
“Seriously?!” She laughed sweetly.
“Damn. My last reading wasn’t that good,” sniped Sean.
“You’re a teenager. I’d hope not,” Tom added dryly.
“That’s right,” said Sean playfully. “Still got oats to sow.”
<
br /> Ignoring Sean, I went on to add to Lindsey, “It also means bliss at home and true emotional fulfillment. So I’d say life looks good for you here.”
I forced a smile on my face as I glanced up at her and started to gather the cards. Nico stopped my progression by placing his giant paw on top of mine. I flinched and met his gaze across the table.
“Do mine.”
Gulping, I glanced at my phone. “No, seriously. I’ve gotta go.” My heart pumped faster because I was flat-out lying and because his touch, even as slight as this, set my skin ablaze. It had me imagining all the places his hands would feel so damn good on my body.
“You have time to pull one card.”
“Um.” I moved the cards around to get my hand out from underneath his. “Um, I really have to get going.”
“What’s the emergency? A crystal shortage at Maybelle’s?”
He knew there was no emergency and was calling me on it, dammit.
His gaze narrowed. “Why don’t you want to do my reading, Violet?”
The way he said my name—a mixture of familiarity and dominance rolled together—made me freeze and stare like a dummy. He clasped his hands together, leaning forward the way Lindsey was a minute ago. He arched a brow at me, the slightest tilt to his mouth, challenging me.
“Fine! Okay. One card. No problem. Would you like your reading to be about your future, too?” I tried to sound not-so-aggravated but knew I’d failed when Tom and Lindsey turned my way where they were chatting about something together.
“My near future,” Nico clarified.
Shuffling the cards, I focused my eyes on the deck, trying to ignore my racing pulse and the thrumming of my magic streaking like wildfire through my body. It was the kind of channeling of magic I usually only felt when in the witch’s round with my sisters to recharge our energy. I was surprised I wasn’t glowing like a lightning bug.
I stopped mixing the cards and told him, “Go ahead,” without looking at him.
In less than a second, his hand snatched and flipped a card. The gasp that escaped my throat was like something out of a sitcom.
Witches Get Stitches Page 6
