“Anything to go with the beer?” She asked the question with as much energy as she could pump into it. She’d be the perfect bartender tonight, and if that wasn’t good enough for them, that was their problem.
She had never been anything but nice to them. She’d served them with enthusiasm and made sure their orders came out fast and right. She’d even given Kevin and Miles an extra shot in their Harvey Wallbangers on Tuesday night.
“Nothing for me, thanks,” Kevin said.
Miles and Griffin followed along, shaking their heads and mumbling that they weren’t hungry.
Lily was working up to a real fit of anger when she realized it might not be about her at all. Something might have happened to one of them, or there might have been a tragedy at work. She was obviously on edge and had leaped to a conclusion that might be wrong.
“You guys seem a little down tonight,” she said. “I hope everything’s okay.”
Griffin’s head snapped up and both Kevin and Miles looked guilty.
“Everything’s fine, just fine,” Miles said. “It’s been a long week, I guess.”
Kevin jumped in. “Yeah, a really long week. You know what? Maybe we should have some onion rings. What do you say, Miles, Griff? Onion rings and maybe some pub fries?”
Miles nodded enthusiastically. “You bet. That goes great with beer.” He clapped Griffin on the back. “Join us in some onion rings and pub fries, buddy. In fact, don’t they have garlic fries on the menu?”
Lily was totally confused by the sudden attempt to be jovial. Whatever was going on with these three, they didn’t want her to know what it was. That could mean she was the topic of conversation, or it could mean they had some other issue going on. She’d have to ask Griffin when he wasn’t with them.
She got her chance an hour later. After Kevin and Miles left, Griffin made his way over to the bar and sat on a stool near where she was working.
She glanced up at him and smiled. “Hi there.”
“Hi.” His expression didn’t seem so tortured now, but then he’d had a couple of beers.
She continued to mix drinks so she wouldn’t get behind. “So what’s your pleasure tonight? Want to go back to my place and hang with Daisy, or stick around here until closing?”
“I’ll stick around.”
“Good.” She wanted to talk to him, anyway, and try to find out what was up with Kevin and Miles. Him, too, for that matter. “But I need to warn you that we can’t try the storeroom trick tonight. Devon’s here, and I’d rather not get fired.”
“That’s okay.”
She glanced up and found him watching her with an unnerving intensity. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“I don’t buy it.” She slid the drinks down the bar toward where Sherman was waiting for them. “Something is going on with you and your friends. There was a whole different mood at your table tonight.” She wiped down the bar as she talked. “Can you tell me about it, or is it confidential lawyer stuff?”
“I can’t really tell you.”
She could accept that. After all, the three of them dealt with issues that shouldn’t be the subject of barroom gossip. “But I’m not wrong, am I? You three are upset about something.”
“No, you’re not wrong.”
“I’m feeling a little paranoid.” She stopped wiping the bar, which she’d already polished until it shone. “At first I thought whatever had upset all of you had to do with me.”
The silence that followed that remark turned her heart into a lead weight. “Oh, dear. I was right. They don’t like me.”
“No, they do like you!” He reached across the bar and covered her hand with his. “They just think we’re moving too fast.”
She gazed into his eyes. “You told them you were in love with me, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“So what is it you can’t tell me? Your friends are upset because you say you’re in love with a woman you’ve been seeing for three days. I’m not particularly flattered, but I guess I can understand that. What’s the big secret?”
“Well, uh . . .”
She had another horrible thought. “Omigod.” She wrenched her hand away from his. “I’ll bet you’re married and she’s in the military or something like that. Or you’re separated and not quite divorced yet. Is that what you don’t want to tell me? You’re legally bound to someone else?”
“No! What kind of a guy do you think I am?”
From the corner of her eye she saw her boss, Devon, coming toward the bar. She immediately started washing glasses. “We need to keep it down. Devon’s on his way over, and he doesn’t like us conducting personal business while we’re working.”
Griffin drew back. “You’d better fix me a drink, then.”
“What do you want?”
“Another beer will be fine.”
Lily finished washing the glass she’d been holding and dried her hands so she could draw a beer for Griffin. Setting a cocktail napkin in front of him, she placed the beer glass squarely on it. “There you go, sir.”
“Thanks.”
“Hey, Lily.” Devon leaned on the bar several feet down from where she was working. That meant she was supposed to walk down to meet him.
She clenched her jaw. When she’d first come to work here, Devon had made a pass and she’d deflected it. He was an okay-looking guy, but he spent a little too much time worrying about whether his dark hair was combed just so, and he had an air about him that reminded Lily of the old-time Chicago mobsters.
When she’d turned away from his attempted kiss, he hadn’t fired her, which was a blessing because she liked the job. But now he tended to play power games with her. Calling out her name and expecting her to walk over to where he stood was one of them.
But she did it because he might have seen some of her interaction with Griffin, and that could be a firing offense. He’d especially hate it because Lily was interested in a nonmagical man, when a perfectly acceptable wizard—Devon himself—had tried to make it with her and had been refused.
Devon would have a royal fit if he ever found out about the storeroom incident. He’d tried to seduce her in the storeroom himself, so he’d be doubly furious that she’d taken personal pleasures during her work hours. She felt safe, though, because Sherman wouldn’t tell on her, and she’d fixed everything back the way it had been with a little touch of magic.
“So you and your sister are going to throw a bash in here on Sunday.” He was chewing gum. Devon always seemed to be chewing gum, and he liked to snap it, too.
Maybe that was why Lily thought of him as a gangster type. All he needed was a pinstriped suit and a tommy gun and he’d fit the profile. “That’s right, we are,” she said. “Anica really appreciates you taking on the challenge at the last minute.”
“I had to shuffle a few things, but seeing as how it’s your family, how could I not? I came to find out if there’s anything special you’ll need. Will you use the sound system we have or bring in a DJ? Personally, I recommend a DJ if you’re going to have dancing.”
“We will have dancing. There also will be a little entertainment, compliments of me.”
“Oh yeah?” Devon snapped his gum and looked her up and down. “Like what?”
She could almost read his mind, and knew he was picturing her pole dancing. “A few magic tricks.”
“Is that so? I thought this would be a mixed crowd.”
“It will be.” Lily lowered her voice. “But it’s a magic act.”
“Ahhh.” Devon nodded. “A magic act.” He leaned in close. “Only with real magic,” he murmured.
“Right.” Overwhelmed by the scent of his cinnamon gum, she backed away. “Listen, I’ll check on the DJ idea.”
“It so happens my brother-in-law is a DJ,” Devon said. “I could probably get him on short notice.”
Now she understood his eagerness for the DJ. His brother-in-law needed the work. But it wasn’t a bad idea. Sherman had already suggested the revolving mirrored ball, and a DJ would make the party more festive. “Let me check with Anica and I’ll get back to you.”
He tapped her on the forearm, to show that he could get away with it. “You do that.” Then he walked away.
She rubbed her forearm as if she could wipe away the unwanted touch. Suing him for harassment on the basis of a touch on her forearm would be a lot of trouble, and besides, she wanted to keep working here. So she let it go.
“I don’t like that guy,” Griffin said as she returned to finish washing the glasses. “He’s inappropriate.”
“Yes, he is.” She smiled as she realized that a lawyer sat right across the counter from her. He’d probably take the harassment case in a heartbeat, even if that wasn’t his specialty. “But I like tending bar here and it isn’t worth getting into a legal battle over his behavior toward me.”
“I wasn’t thinking of taking him to court. I was thinking of going back to his office and telling him to leave you the hell alone.”
“Well, thank you.” Having a champion, even if he was under the influence of an elixir, felt nice. “But that would only draw his attention to our relationship, and he could get ugly about that. As I said, we have a policy about no fraternizing with the customers during business hours.”
Griffin smiled for the first time since he’d walked in the door tonight. “If he only knew.”
“Yeah.” She smiled back at him and felt the tension between them ease. “You know, your friends are right about us taking this kind of fast. You may think you’re in love with me, but we should probably give ourselves some time before making any promises.”
Amazingly, he agreed with her. “Absolutely. Let’s take some time. But can we still have sex?”
She laughed. “You bet.”
Kevin showed up around ten, looking furtive. Griffin wished Miles had come, instead. Miles could pull off secretive stuff, but Kevin was too much like Griffin, meaning he was no good at lying.
Fortunately Lily was down at the far end of the bar, talking to Sherman, and didn’t seem to notice Kevin. Griffin left his seat at the bar, where he’d been eating a pastrami sandwich, and walked over toward Kevin.
“You look like a bad imitation of Maxwell Smart.”
“I love you, too. I have the salt. It needed to be organic and coarsely ground, so that’s what we got.”
“Where’s Miles?”
“He struck up a friendship with the girl at the organic foods store, and they went out for drinks. It’ll probably be something awful like organic persimmon juice, but Miles doesn’t care because she’s built.”
If Griffin hadn’t been so keyed up about the whole salt concept, he might have laughed. “Where’s the salt?”
“Like we talked about, I couldn’t come in with the actual container, which is the size of a Polish sausage, so I put some in a plastic Ziploc bag for you.” He pulled it out of his pocket.
“Good God, Kev. It looks like you’re dealing crack.” Griffin shoved it in his pocket, where the unfamiliar bulk reminded him of all he didn’t want to know regarding Lily.
“You should probably chant something while you’re sprinkling it around the bed.”
“Like what?”
“You know. Like
Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble.
”
“That’s Shakespeare, and I don’t know how Shakespeare is going to help this situation. I’ll be lucky if I get it sprinkled in the first place without Lily seeing me.”
“You have to find a way. This is important.” Kevin gazed at him. “How’re you doing?”
“I still want her more than any woman I’ve ever known.”
Kevin nodded. “That’s how it’s supposed to work.”
“Oh, and her boss is an asshole who tries to intimidate her sexually. I have the urge to rip out his throat.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Griff. It’s the elixir causing you to have those primitive emotions. Modern guys take assholes to court.”
“You know what?” Griffin flexed his hands. “Being uncivilized is a lot more fun.”
“Oh, boy.” Kevin looked nervous. “Well. We’ll do what we can. Sprinkle the salt around the bed. Then I’d advise you to sneak a peek at her magic books if you can this weekend and find out what else you can do. Barring that, go online. I intend to do the same. Then we’ll compare notes.”
“I’ve been thinking—is this really so bad? I have great sex with an amazing woman and I feel terrific, except that you and Miles keep telling me I have to get away from her because she’s ruining my life.”
“She could. You’re not doing so great at work, remember?” Kevin took him by the shoulders and gave him one of his
I’m serious
looks. “This is a strong magic spell.”
“Do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? I still wonder if it’s you who’s lost it here and not me.”
“Sprinkle the salt. If it changes the way you feel about her, you’ll know there’s something going on.”
“Since you went to so much time and trouble, I’ll sprinkle the salt, although how I’ll explain it if she catches me, I have no idea.”
“Tell her it’s room deodorizer.”
“That’s insulting, like I think her apartment smells bad.”
“Okay, then tell her it’s an aphrodisiac you found at the local sex shop. Make up whatever you need to, but sprinkle that damn salt!”
“Okay. Thanks, Kev.”
“I have your best interests at heart.”
“I know.” But as Griffin watched him leave, he wondered if Kevin had ever had sex this good. Probably not. Maybe nobody in the whole world had sex this good.
Chapter 19
Once again Griffin treated them to a cab. Lily told herself not to get used to such luxuries because she didn’t know where the relationship with Griffin was going, but for now the cab ride was nice. It got them home quicker.
As they walked into the apartment, the lamp in the living room that she left on a timer illuminated the scene, reminding her that she’d moved the furniture against the wall so she could set up her crystal ball with the candles around it.
Instinctively she walked over to her crystal ball and picked it up. That crystal ball meant the world to her, and now she regretted she’d left it in the middle of her living room.