Tiny Glitches: A Magical Contemporary Romance (11 page)

“Oh, I saw lots. He’s a good man. Very intriguing. He handled the cars breaking down well, don’t you think?”

“About how most people would.”

“And Kyoko and Jenny, he handled that about how most people would?”

“What are you trying to say, Sofie?”

“You know exactly what I’m saying. He’s attractive. He’s adaptable. He’s—”

“A career electricity man.”

Sofie shrugged. The finger puppets were replaced with the fairy godmother wand. “He’s attracted to you. I’m just saying you shouldn’t let little things get in the way of your happiness.”

I twisted to look straight at Sofie. She knew I wasn’t pining away for my Prince Charming, so why the campaign now? “You’re pushing. Why?”

“I like Hudson. He’s complex. He’s nice. I like what I see when he looks at you.”

“Like what?”

“Like the way he couldn’t tear his eyes off you when you were bathing Kyoko and when you were sitting on the couch. Like the way you sneak glances at him when you think he and I aren’t looking.”

“Don’t play games. What did you
see
? Did you see us together?”

“You know it doesn’t work like that.”

“Bull. You saw Nana Nevie with Theo the first time they met. A crossroads moment for them both.” Nana Nevie and Theo’s marriage had lasted two years and three months—a normal-length marriage for Nana. While they’d been together, you couldn’t be in a room with them without knowing in your bones that they loved each other. When they’d divorced, it had been an amicable parting, and they were still friends, as Nana was with all her ex-husbands.

“Mom’s a lot more open to love than you are,” Sofie said softly.

I opened my mouth to protest, then closed it. I was open to love, but I didn’t believe in the One True Love and it didn’t believe in me. Men were wonderful in short doses, which was all my curse allowed. Lasting love was a myth. On some level, Sofie agreed with me. She had never married. She had long-term relationships, but they were always an afterthought, something tucked in around everything else she enjoyed. No man had ever shared her home.

The women in my family didn’t experience fairy-tale, lifelong-monogamy love. Maybe we weren’t capable of it. Even Nana Nevie, so open to love, didn’t follow the traditional path. She had been married five times in my lifetime and three times before my birth. My mother had married once. It had lasted three months before the annulment. The man hadn’t been my father. She hadn’t married since, and as far as I knew, she’d never come close again.

“I want you to be happy, Eva.”

“I
am
happy.”

“You’re content. Happy is different.”

“Content feels like happy.”

“Content is a bland cousin to happy.”

“You think a man is going to make me happy?”

“No.
A
man isn’t. But finding the right person to share your love with? Yes, that will make you happy.” The wand disappeared. A plate of coffee cake sat on her lap.
Uh-oh.

“Where’s this going, Sofie?”

“The same place all your missed opportunities go, if you let the damn curse rule your life,” Sofie said, her voice sharp.

“It doesn’t rule my life. I have relationships.”

“You’re a serial dater. You play with men. You don’t have relationships.”

“Tell that to Antonio or Locke or Jordan.”

“You just proved my point.”

“I don’t know what your point is. Did you or did you not see something on Hudson?”

“Yes.” For a long moment, she stared at the cover of the book on my lap, or possibly at something else she saw there. “I saw danger represented—”

“Danger?”

“—and adventure and a puzzle that unlocked with a key you held.”

I swallowed. “That could mean a lot of things.”

“It does.”

“How dangerous?” I asked.

She shrugged. The coffee cake still sat on her lap. Despite her vague air, she was laser focused on meddling in my life. The problem was, she knew exactly which of my buttons to push. If she’d told me Hudson was safe or reliable—chemistry be damned—I would have kept my distance. A dangerous puzzle, though . . .

She stood, kissed my forehead, and then headed for the door. “This is going to be fun,” she said.

“Sofie . . .”

“Sleep tight, Eva.”

“Sofie!”

The door clicked shut behind her. I flopped back against my pillow and glared at the empty room. “Great. Now I want coffee cake.”

CHAPTER SIX

My first thought when I woke was of Hudson stripping in the hallway. The image had burned into my brain, right down to the tantalizing rise of his butt and that teasing grin. It wasn’t a bad way to wake up.

I replayed last night’s conversation with Sofie while I dressed. My aunt wouldn’t lie to me, but she wasn’t above omitting details that didn’t suit her purpose.
Danger
and
adventure
and
puzzle
were flame-bright words to my inner moth, and she knew it. Conversely, Sofie’s interest and her belief that Hudson might have long-term potential made me leery. I appreciated a short, hot relationship. No part of me wanted a lengthy romance.

I stuttered over the thought, then decided to pretend an infinitesimal part of me wasn’t calling my bluff.

I pulled on a skirt and V-neck, saw myself in the mirror, and immediately took everything off. It looked like I was trying too hard. I grabbed a pair of jeans and a tank top. Much better. The jeans hugged my butt and the creamy tank top made my skin look golden and flashed a hint of cleavage. Sexy without being overt. By the light of a Coleman glass lantern, I brushed brown mascara over my lashes, darkened my eyebrows, and slathered on sunscreen. I left my hair down and wavy, but I tucked a hair band into my pocket for easy access.

The sun was hidden behind the Santa Monica hills, but it glinted off the ocean’s waves. I paused on the pool house patio to take in the serenity of Sofie’s home, hearing the silence as much as any sound. No traffic noises, no sirens, no music. Just the ocean’s murmur scored by the cries of seagulls and the rustle of wind through the high fronds of the palm trees lining the property. I loved my apartment. I loved living in the city, where I could walk to everything I needed and buses circulated every few minutes. But I always missed this quiet.

Kyoko trumpeted, and a flock of pigeons burst from the eaves. Dali barked, circling Kyoko with a stick in his mouth. When he saw me, he galloped toward me, Kyoko thundering after him.

“Shoot!” I clutched my bag and sprinted across the yard to the main house. Dali thought it was a game, and he ran circles around me while I dodged the sharp end of the stick. Kyoko bugled again. In desperation, I grabbed the stick and threw. Both Dali and Kyoko spun and gave chase. I leapt the porch steps and burst through the back door, slamming it behind me. Hudson and Sofie laughed at me from their front-row seats on the couch.

“Thanks for the help,” I said, tossing my bag down and gulping air.

Hudson was fully dressed. Not that I expected him to be lounging around my aunt’s house without his shirt on, but a girl could hope. His gaze rested a fraction too long on my heaving chest before he looked down at his mug. Sofie smirked when she met my gaze. The wolf sat at her side, facing Hudson, its tongue lolling in a canine grin. A full moon floated above Hudson’s head. I glanced from the wolf to the moon and back. Not even Sofie could project an apparition to coordinate with someone else’s. It was a coincidental cultural association. And creepy.

“I’ve got pancake batter all ready to go,” Sofie said, rising.

Hudson grinned. “I haven’t eaten this good in years, Sofie.”

“Stick around, Hudson. You haven’t seen anything yet.”

“Do you want some help?” I asked Sofie when she passed me.

“Oh, no. This won’t take a moment. Sit. Relax.”

I narrowed my eyes at her and she gave me a false innocent look. I sat, selecting a chair far from the kitchen and across from Hudson.

“Good news,” he said. “I don’t know how, but the Suburban works. I drove down to the gas station and back without a problem.”

“Looks like your bad luck broke,” Sofie said from the kitchen.

“That’s great,” I said. “How’s it look?”

“Trashed.” A silver terrier popped into the air at his feet.

We sat in silent commiseration until Sofie called us to set the table.

“I got Jenny’s last known address,” Hudson said after we all helped ourselves to fluffy pancakes from the tiered platter in the middle of the table. “It’s in Arlington Heights, close to Koreatown. I thought we could drop by the gallery to pick up your car; then we’ll have a vehicle when we drop the Suburban somewhere to get it detailed.”

I stuffed a bite into my mouth and chewed while I thought of the best lie for this situation.

“Eva doesn’t have a license,” Sofie said baldly.

I bugged my eyes at her and swallowed too quickly. I gulped some orange juice and met Hudson’s gaze. His expression flattened, and thick black-rimmed glasses perched on his nose.

“You don’t have a license.” It sounded like an accusation.

“Uh, not right now. It got, ah, revoked.”

Sofie sighed.

“For what?”

“For . . .” I came up blank.

“For not paying her parking tickets,” Sofie said. Hudson likely mistook the irritation in her voice to be disappointment over my supposedly delinquent payments, not my lie.

“Wow. You must have had a lot of tickets,” Hudson said.

“Parking is limited near my apartment.” That, at least, was the truth, according to Ari.

“Huh.” Hudson leaned back in his chair. The glasses disappeared. He steepled his hands and a Rubik’s Cube popped into existence above his fingers. “Well, we can work with that, I guess.”

* * *

Sofie saw us off from the front porch, a wolf seated at her side. The wolf had a pipe in its mouth. I hadn’t seen that one before.

“Come back anytime, Hudson,” she said, giving him a hug before squeezing me tight. “Give him a chance, Eva,” she whispered.

“Hopefully we’ll be back later today with Jenny,” Hudson said.

We drove with the windows down even though the cool morning air pebbled my skin. With the windows up, the stench would have suffocated us, and the wind helped dry the back. Hudson turned the heater on our feet, and for a while it worked. Noise from the wind and traffic made it difficult to hold a conversation, so I didn’t try. I focused on keeping my emotions calm, which meant burying my guilt for involving my aunt. I had literally left my problem at her doorstep, and even though we had a plan, chances were it wouldn’t work. Jenny would prove to be insane, and I would be responsible for my aunt being implicated in this illegal fiasco.

I focused on suppressing my curse and picturing lush fields of grass and sky, open and peaceful. Hudson’s topless image overlaid it and my heart rate spiked. I pictured lounging in my bathtub, but then a naked Hudson was rubbing soapy hands down my body. The Suburban’s electric locks protested with a
zit-zit
sound. I pounced on a mental image of Chatter, Ari’s cat. As a Bengal breeding reject, Chatter couldn’t decide if she wanted to be a wild cat, a lap cat, or a dog, and I loved her. As we cruised down the 10, I replayed some of my favorite memories of Chatter as a kitten. Hudson—half naked or otherwise—didn’t intrude.

Miraculously, the Suburban survived over a half hour with me as a passenger. The electronic windows and locks, the dash displays and clock, and the heater didn’t, but the engine was only just beginning to putter and clunk when we coasted into a business park and bounced over an endless line of speed bumps. Five-story concrete buildings loomed on all sides, with pockets of trees cowering in spindly groupings. Hudson passed the parking garage and parked in one of the few empty spaces near double doors discreetly marked with EliteGuard’s logo. He pulled out a new flip phone he’d picked up on his morning gas run. The black screen stared back at him. He crunched the power button. Nothing happened to the phone, but tiles of the weird metal city on green plastic sprouted around Hudson’s torso like body armor.

“I guess I’ll be calling the detailer from inside,” Hudson said. “You want to come?”

Hmm, let me think. The headquarters of Hudson’s security company. A building full of computers and cameras. It even had an electronic security panel next to the door. “No. I’ll wait here.”

I hopped out and slung my bag over my shoulder once Hudson disappeared inside, trailed by a man-size winged marble cherub. Hudson joined me after a few minutes, just as a Prius parked next to the Suburban. A short Hispanic man climbed out wearing coveralls. The front had the name Diego embroidered on it. The back had a picture of a smiling industrial vacuum cleaner. Draped over one arm was an apparition of a full-size life preserver. In the crook of his opposite arm rested a scepter that would have done an Egyptian pharaoh proud.

“Is this the vehicle?” Diego asked after shaking both our hands.