Lane looked back at her fallen angel.
His concerned gaze made her heart skip a beat, and his voice was like the most darkly seductive melody as he murmured, “If you’re sure you’re okay…”
“I think I hurt my ankle,” she blurted out. God forgive me. “M-maybe you can check on me later?” She could feel a blush stealing over her cheeks at how unnaturally forward she was being. “I’m out in an hour.” Lane’s words had the stranger raising a brow, but even as her cheeks turned redder, she just couldn’t make herself take the words back.
“I see.” The stranger’s lips curved in the sexiest little smile, and his silvery gray eyes settled on her contemplatively.
His sudden scrutiny was unnerving, but Lane forced herself to meet his gaze. She had nothing to hide. She was just crushing on him, and now she was, well, flirting outrageously with him. Other girls did it all the time. So it wasn’t bad…right?
“You’re…different,” the stranger murmured.
“In a good way…right?” Lane clarified worriedly.
His smile widened, but he didn’t say anything.
Her heart slammed hard against her chest. Gosh, oh gosh. It was just a smile, but she felt hot all over.
When he took a step back from her, Lane caught her breath, the pain of the increased distance surprising her.
“I’m keeping you, aren’t I?”
He nodded.
Her heart sank. “You’re meeting with someone?” Please say no, please say---
Another nod.
“I see.” Her heart had sped up its descent at his response, and she struggled to paste a smile on her trembling lips. Infatuation and heartbreak at first sight, Lane thought numbly. Who could’ve imagined it would happen this way?
Slowly, she made herself take a step back as well. Not meeting his gaze, she mumbled, “Sorry for keeping you.”
“It’s nothing.”
Silence.
“I’ll check up on you later---”
“You don’t have to---”
The stranger cupped her chin and forced her to look up. “Why not?”
She refused to be excited, frowning unhappily at him. “Because.”
“Because…what?” Again, his lips curved in that sexy little smirk, which even in her pain didn’t fail to make her body tingle all over.
“Because you’re meeting with someone,” Lane snapped in a rare display of annoyance. “Happy now?” The words were supposed to come out a snarl, but she ended all choked up with hurt disappointment.
The stranger released her chin. “See you later.” And just like that, he turned and started to walk away.
“I said you don’t have to,” she muttered resentfully.
“Even when I tell you I’m only meeting up with the college dean for work?” the stranger answered without looking back.
Her eyes widened.
“And have I mentioned the dean also happens to be fifty years old, bald, and male?” But he was getting farther and farther away from her now, and she barely heard his next words, spoken in a musing tone. “But then, if you think I shouldn’t be checking up on you---”
“NO!” Lane clapped her hands over her mouth, shocked that she had actually ended up yelling the word out.
The stranger stopped walking.
She didn’t hesitate.
She hurried after him, and by the time she reached the stranger he had already turned to face her, a familiar smirk on his strong, beautiful face.
“You don’t seem to have a hurt ankle---”
She didn’t hesitate, pretending to limp on the last few steps.
His laughter rang out, and this time she realized what made it so different, what made her want to hear it again and again.
Lane stumbled to a stop.
She was suddenly perilously close to tears.
His laughter…reminded her of Laura.
Her brazen sense of joy, her indomitable spirit, her fierce love---
Against all odds.
“Are you okay?” Her fallen angel was in front of her again, his tone a mixture of wariness and worry, and she couldn’t blame him at all. She had to look crazy in his eyes right now, with the way she was flirting outrageously with him one moment and then fighting back tears the next.
“I’m not crazy, I promise,” she told him, trying but failing to repress her smile.
“If I weren’t a gentleman, I’d admit to being unconvinced.”
“You already said it,” she pointed out helplessly.
“Then I guess I’m not a gentleman.” And his silvery eyes gleamed in a way that told her there were other ungentlemanly things he wanted to do.
Oh, Looooooord.
And she heard herself ask breathlessly, “You’ll check on me later?”
“We’ll see.”
“Please?” She had never flirted in her entire life until now, but somehow the words came so easily to her, never mind if she couldn’t help blushing while she said them.
“We’ll see,” he repeated firmly. And it was clear in the way wickedness flashed in his silvery gaze that he liked hearing her beg, liked keeping her on her toes.
Lane watched him go, and not once did he look back even though he had to be aware of how her gaze followed his every movement.
Sadist, she thought absently, but for some reason, this didn’t displease her at all.

For those interested, here's a quick rundown of the books in this series.

The Greek Billionaire and I, a fast-paced read with lots of steamy, funny, and angsty bits, starts off with cynical Greek billionaire Mykolas finding the misplaced cellphone of schoolteacher Velvet, whose colleague is Mairi...and who happens to be the heroine of our next story, which is...

The Art of Catching a Greek Billionaire is the first of Damen and Mairi's story, and it is FREE to read on Nook, Kobo, iTunes, and Google Play. I want it to be free, too on Amazon, but Amazon's taking a bit of time to price-match. There are six installments in total for this story, and alternatively, you can opt to buy The Greek Billionaire Romance Serials to get the entire set. Mairi grew up with her spinster aunts reading her old school Harlequin / Mills and Boon novels as bedtime stories (the PG version, of course). It turned her into a hopeless romantic who then dreamt of falling in love with her own Greek billionaire. And as it turns out, she ended up having not just one or two but three (maybe even four?) Greek billionaires "vying" for her hand. While Damen ultimately ended up being her one true love, the other Greek billionaire, Stavros Manolis, ended up starring in his own book, which is...

The Greek Billionaire and His Secretary is the first of Stavros and Willow's story, and it is FREE to read. There are four installments in total for this story, and alternatively, you can opt to buy The Greek Billionaire and His Secretary Boxed Set to have all four parts in one book. Willow is a foul-mouthed literary editor who has a (sort-of) one-night stand with Stavros, who then ends up becoming her boss. This starts off as a workplace affair before turning into a globe-trotting romance that, similar to all the books in this series, will have you laughing and crying and falling in love all over again. Along the way, we also meet Willem and Serenity, and these two will then become the main couple of our next book, which is...

My Dutch Billionaire is the first of Willem and Serenity's story, and it is also FREE to read. Alternatively, you can read their entire story by downloading My Dutch Billionaire (Complete Trilogy) instead. Willem is a Dutch billionaire who's rather infamous for being icily handsome with his blond hair and blue eyes as well as icily efficient. Serenity, who met Willem when he was dating her older sister, became later on known as Willem Jr. because like Willem,  she's icily beautiful (same blond hair and blue eyes) and icily efficient. This is a bit of a Cinderella retelling, with an age gap twist (he's fourteen years older). Anyway, one of Willem's closest friends is Kyrillos Gavis, whom we meet in this series and will soon see again in the next book, which is...

Pollyanna and the Greek Billionaire is my first marriage romance, and I think this story is one of the books that made me cry the hardest. The first book is free, but you can alternatively buy Pollyanna and the Greek Billionaire (Complete Trilogy) to read the book in one go. Anyway, when we first met Kyr in MDB, he was already separated from Pollyanna, and we even met his kids! In this book, we go all the way back to the beginning, and we find out how he first fell in love with Anna. As for the next book in the series, we'll head back to Netherlands and say hello to the de Konigh family again. If you remember Willem's younger brother Jaak, well...

Bad Boy Billionaire is the story of Jaak and Ilse and it's free to read in Kindle Unlimited. The book is based in Amsterdam, and it's one of my favorites because of how the scenery just became such an integral part of their romance. Jaak is the de Konigh clan's "black sheep" while Ilse is a hard-working tourist guide in Amsterdam's famous red light district. After this, we'll hop on to another de Konigh sibling, Anneke, whose love story is up next in...

My Italian Billionaire is a two-part story of Anneke, the younger sister of Jaak and Willem, and Marcus Ravelli, who you may have already met in one of my college romance books. Anneke and Marcus met when they were teenagers and reconnected again ten years later. Anneke considers herself too sensible and boring, but with the Italian billionaire she ends up doing lots of exciting things like...well, you'll have to read their story to find out. But after this, we'll head back to Miami, where Damen and Mairi now live. And speaking of Greek billionaires, you've met Acheron ever so briefly in The Greek Billionaire Romance Serials, and it's now his turn to fall in love in...

Acheron's Woman is the story of criminal-turned-billionaire Acheron and his employee Pippi, who's the breadwinner for her happy but all-too-large family with her single mother, two aunts, and four younger sisters. Pippi definitely hasn't any time with love, which is a good thing since Acheron is only after an affair. Or is it really a good thing? As for the next book, it's a Greek billionaire's younger sister whose turn to fall in love has come up in...

Truly, Madly, Deeply is my first contemporary professor-student romance, and this book is what I am and will always be most proud of. TMD is free to read with Kindle Unlimited so I do hope you give it a try. The story begins with Mairi's former student (now her sister-in-law) Diana on her first day in graduate school in a European winter town (think Swiss Alps) and right away earning the ire of her sexy, sarcastic, and mysterious professor. I love this book so much that I personally read this every so often, and it never fails to make me cry! After this, we head back to the USA again, since it's the last of Mairi's Greek billionaires who will be falling in love in...

Belonging to Ioniko: The Greek Billionaire's Obsession is the story of Schuyler and Ioniko, whom you first met in The Greek Billionaire Romance Serials. Ioniko is in the States to visit his younger sister Katya, who now owns a co-working space. It's there that he finds himself obsessed with Schuyler, who's the only woman in the place who hasn't tried to capture his attention. 

What happens when a Dom and a Sub find each other too early in life? Should they turn their backs on their destiny just because they're too young?
Nerdy. Boring. Unavailable. 18-year-old Jaike Hepburn is happiest when those words are used to describe her. But then a billionaire playboy comes along, and it becomes impossible to deny her secretly submissive self.
Charming. Friendly. Perfect. This is what 21-year-old Derek Christopoulos strives to be for the sake of his parents' legacy. All his life, he's kept his darkness hidden, waiting for that one girl who'd take pleasure in belonging to him.
When Derek and Jaike finally met, they both knew the truth in an instant.
She is his, and he is hers.

Previously published as The Rockstar I've Loved for So Long

French rockstar Dylan Charbonneau didn't mean to be best friends with an innocent schoolgirl like Bree...

And Bree certainly didn't mean to have a crush on a rock god notorious for his womanizing ways.
Dylan does everything to keep her at a distance, but Bree is tired of waiting.
She's willing to risk it all for love, but because Dylan knows it could never work out between them...
He'll just have to hurt the only girl he's cared about...for her sake.

Note: This book is a steamy first love standalone contemporary romance. HEA guaranteed.

“You didn’t answer your phone, babe,” were the first words she heard when Bree finally managed to extract her phone from her gym bag and answer the call. The ringtone, assigned only to a single name in her contact list, said it all. She was so going to kick herself if she didn’t answer in time.
The words sounded more cool than accusatory, but since this was Dylan Charbonneau they were talking about, Bree knew it was secretly more of the latter.
“Sorry,” she apologized sincerely, a little out of breath as she collapsed on the bench, thoroughly winded after her hour-long run on the treadmill. “I left it in my locker with the rest of my stuff while I was working out.”
Bree’s words over the phone made Dylan want to groan. It called to mind all sorts of erotic images, of the now fabulously shapely Bree in a sports bra and tiny gym shorts, her skin sleek with sweat as he took her from behind.
Somehow, ever since Bree turned eighteen late last year, his desire for her knew no bounds. Dylan dreamt of taking her virginity and fucking her hard almost every night these days, forcing him to take a cold shower way too often for his liking.
It was hell, but he knew a far worse fate awaited him if he tried to act on his needs.
Bree was special. Bree was untouchable. Bree would and should…never be his.
“Be careful that you don’t work out too much,” he cautioned lightly. “I don’t want you turning yourself into a toothpick---”
“Like the supermodels you date?” she asked with acerbic sweetness.
Dylan chuckled, the sound intimate enough to make her shiver. “Don’t be a bitch, babe. You know they’re like that for work.”
“Ha!”
“Besides, I don’t give a damn if that’s what they want. It’s you I care about.”
He said the words so easily, Bree thought grumpily. Why couldn’t she do the same? Why couldn’t she just tell Dylan she loved him? They both knew he was – had always been – aware of her feelings for him anyway.
“Hmph.”
Dylan only chuckled again. “I miss you, you know.”
“Then come visit me so you won’t miss me any longer,” she said, doing her best to sound gruff. Just because the whole world knew she was head over heels in love with him didn’t mean she had to wear her heart on her sleeve all the time.
“If only I could,” he said, meaning it. He wanted so badly to fly to Florida and just be with her, but that would be suicidal. One look at a grown-up Sabrina Wyle and Dylan knew he would be on her and inside her, and to hell with the consequences.
“Why couldn’t you?” Bree winced at how whiny she sounded.
“Work,” Dylan said evasively, hating the fact that he was now forced to lie to her.
“Oh.”
And that sound of disappointment in Bree’s suddenly quiet voice? He hated that even more, but nothing was worse than knowing he was the reason for it.

When Greek billionaire Mykolas Sallis finds a misplaced cellphone...
Snarky-and-curvy schoolteacher Velvet can't believe the stranger she's been "texting" with turns out to be a man way, way out of her league.
Even more surprising: she ends up saying 'yes' to a marriage of conveniencewhile pretending she isn't head over heels with Mykolas.

Note: Steamy feel-good read with just the right pinch of heartbreak to make their happy-ever-after all the sweeter.

“Ms. Lambert? A gentleman found your phone in the faculty room.”
Velvet accepted the phone, bemused at the way the librarian was looking at her with interest. “A gentleman?” That seemed an odd way to refer to one of the male teachers, so she asked the younger girl, “Who is it?”
“He says he’ll call you.”
“Oh. Okay. Umm, thanks.” Slowly, she turned around and left the library, feeling like she had just had the oddest conversation in her life, and that was saying something. As she headed to the teachers’ dorm, her phone buzzed in her pocket, startling her.
Fishing it out and seeing an unidentified number, Velvet answered the call. “Hello?”
Mykolas leaned back against the plush cushions of his yacht’s custom-designed sofa. He had hoped to meet the intriguing Velvet Lambert – a little digging in her phone allowed him to figure out her name – but his meeting with his stepsister had to be cut short because of an emergency back in Athens.
Velvet’s frown was evident in her voice, and this made his smile widen. “You have found your phone then.”
The voice at the other end of the line was decidedly Greek, a deep accented baritone filled with sensual confidence and natural arrogance. Oh no, Velvet immediately thought. Her friend Mairi’s Greek billionaire sounded exactly like this, and look what had happened to her. Granted, Mairi and Damen Leventis were a couple now – they had just gotten engaged last night, in fact – but even so, the sheer amount of drama the two had gone through to earn their happy ever after was too much for Velvet.
And so she said crisply, “Yes, I did. Thank you for handing it to the librarian. Goodbye.”
Mykolas gazed at the phone in amusement. That was the first time a woman had hung up on him.
Velvet’s frown became more pronounced as her phone vibrated, signaling an incoming message. Persistent just like Mairi’s Greek billionaire. This really wasn’t good.
I have a confession to make, Velvet Lambert. I went through your phone and read a couple of your messages.
About to cross the street to get to the dorm, Velvet abruptly stopped walking with an infuriated gasp. How dare he?
All of them had come from your ardent admirers. Their devotion to you makes me want to see you and find out whether you are as desirable as they make you sound to be. However, I am not like most men who are easily swayed by appearance. I want my woman not only wonderful to look at but wonderful to spend time with as well.
I am sure that you are the same. So I propose a bet.
And that was that.
Velvet waited for another incoming message, but none came. If he thought leaving her hanging like that would make her call him---
Velvet’s phone rang, and she froze. Don’t answer it, Velvet, an inner voice cautioned inside her head. To distract herself, she resumed walking, crossing the street to get to the teachers’ dorm. She took the stairs steadily and tried to keep her heartbeat at pace with her steps.
Her phone stopped ringing just as she slid the key into the knob and unlocked her door.
Good, Velvet told herself. He’s lost his patience. She pushed the door shut with her hip and after dropping her bag to the floor, she threw herself on her bed and gazed up at the ceiling. Seconds ticked by. Slowly, she placed her hand on her heart, which was still thudding. Restlessness built inside her, and Velvet realized that she hadn’t been this annoyed – or this intrigued – in ages.
The librarian had called the person who found her phone a gentleman. Most likely, he wasn’t working for the school then. Was he a visiting professor? The thought had her wrinkling her nose.
Her phone rang again.
Before she could think twice, Velvet answered the phone. “Hello?”
Mykolas purred, “You sound breathless.”
Damn it, but she was. “Don’t take it personally,” she managed to quip. “I’m always like this when talking to potential stalkers.”
“You’d be lucky if I stalk you.”
Damn it, damn it, damn it but why did this man’s voice sound so sexy to her? He was arrogant as hell, which was usually a turn off for her but right now, it was the opposite. There was just something about his voice that told her this man had every right to be arrogant. He was that...desirable.

Click here to view all the other titles in the World of Billionaires series.

She was too pure for his world. Too good for a man like him. She had every reason to be scared, but instead she chose to fall in love...with him.
​
I should've gotten rid of her from the start.
Instead, I stole her away from her boyfriend.
I made her mine.
I made her believe I could keep her safe.
I made her think we had a future.
But instead I found myself breaking all of my promises.

Please click on my book list if you'd like to read the stories of the other BBFs.

When Igor came back after escorting the girl out, the prince said idly, “She’s different, isn’t she?”
“In a good way, I believe.” Igor took his usual place, standing at the side of the prince.
Leaning back against his seat, the prince remarked, “She calls me ‘prince.’” While he was known as the Prince of Darkness, no one had really called him that to his face.
“Which you are one,” Igor pointed out.
He rolled his eyes. “Not by blood or appointment, and you know that.”
“The people on the island think differently.” When the prince had turned eighteen, he had received a posthumous bequest from Rodrigo amounting to millions of dollars, all of which he had used to build new infrastructure on the island he had grown up in as well as set up livelihood programs for victims of gang-related crime.
The prince shook his head. “I’m just giving back what was theirs from the start.”
“Not many others would.” Igor’s tone was unusually cynical, but both of them knew he spoke the truth. Seeing the prince’s expression turn grim, he changed the subject, saying, “I believe you’ve made the right decision with the girl.”
“Do you?” The prince’s tone was unreadable.
Igor nodded firmly. “I am certain it has not escaped your notice that the last five women we dismissed had all made the mistake of thinking you were in love with them.”
The prince let out an inelegant snort.
“Exactly, sir. Ms. Cornwall, however, is unlikely to do the same. After all, she is engaged to Mr. Grant Bennett---”
“Who, according to you,” the prince interrupted in a lazy drawl, “is my opposite.”
“Your exact opposite, sir.”
The prince raised a brow. “Did you really need to emphasize that?”
The older man’s expression remained bland. “Ms. Cornwall has been fortunate enough to find herself a good man to love, and I believe that Mr. Bennett is equally fortunate to have someone like Ms. Cornwall as his fiancée. It would be a pity if her employment with us would cause problems in the relationship.”
“Is that your roundabout way of telling me,” the prince drawled, “I should keep my hands off her?”
“Your words, not mine, sir.”
The prince rolled his eyes. “She’s not my type, Igor.”
“I am overjoyed to hear that, sir.” But privately, Igor wasn’t so certain. After all, when the girl had answered back, the prince had neither reprimanded nor fired her, which he normally would have done. Instead, the younger man had almost…smiled.
A genuine smile, which Igor had only seen the prince doing in the company of his small circle of friends.
But with the women he took to bed?
Never.​

If you enjoyed the Bad Boy Mafia romance, then you might also enjoy my Club Afxisi series, which is also set in Christopoulos University.

Once upon a time, there was an ordinary girl who grew up listening to bedtime stories where there were no knights in shining armor or Prince Charming. Instead, it had Greek billionaires and this little girl dreamt she’d one day have Her Own Greek Billionaire to live happily ever after with.
When this little girl grew up, she discovered a painful lesson. Not all wishes are meant to come true, not all broken hearts may be repaired, and not all Greek billionaires love forever.
Not even hers.
This is my story.
I mean your story.
I mean, Mairi Tanner's story.

Note: Click here to view all the other World of Billionaires ​books on Amazon.

Join self-made witch Blair Vavrin as she takes on the challenge of being a rookie CSI agent while struggling to make sense of her growing feelings for gorgeous but enigmatic INTERPOL Detective Paul Theodore.

Which god has the power to cast out thunderbolts? What’s the difference between naiads and dryads, and who should you look for if you’re in search for gold?

In this witchy police procedural, rookie agent Blair Vavrin of the Circe Security Initiative (CSI) gets her first dose of supernatural danger when a storm of stray thunderbolts strikes down the magical town of Silver Mist.
As Mt. Olympus goes into lockdown and both humans and non-humans panic at the looming threat of a Category 4 Hurricane, Blair suddenly finds herself yanked out of Local Misdemeanors and tasked by her Horae boss to team up with mysterious handsome detective Paul Theodore.
Their mission: find an antidote for Zeus’ murderous mood swings.
Their first clue: a sprinkle of gold dust…that leads to one missing siren.
Their probability of success: not terribly good.
With the thunder god’s descent to madness growing deadlier by the minute, can Blair and Paul save the world before Zeus becomes mankind’s worst nightmare?

It was a fine Monday morning when I stepped out of the front door, and I flipped to the next page of A Witch’s Guide to Silver Mist as I made my way to Panda’s Diner. It was the only breakfast place in town, located just several blocks away at the corner of Green Street. With my nose buried between the pages of my guidebook, my body weaved automatically in between students on their way to school and housewives exchanging gossip en route to Demi’s Bakery.
Normal, right?
And I supposed it was, if you discounted the fact that the students were perched casually on broomsticks gliding waist-high in the air. And those housewives? Gossiping about the latest episode of Rich Witches of Salem, which – if what they were saying was true – was completely scripted and not a reality show as its producers kept insisting it to be.
An ordinary day in Silver Mist all in all, and if you’re wondering what other humans would think if they stumbled on this scene, well, that’s what this town’s name was all about.
Coastal towns like ours were always the foggiest in Maine, but Silver Mist was a little bit different. The faint mist that covered our streets all year round was a glamour spell, and it prevented human strangers from seeing what they weren’t supposed to see.
Like Panda’s, for instance.
Humans would only see a dilapidated, burnt-down motel, but in reality it was a sprawling, well-kept diner with the words NON-HUMANS WELCOME flashing in rainbow colors on its LED display.
Panda’s was unsurprisingly full by the time I made it to its doors, with most locals in the habit of coming in early so they could take their time chatting over pancakes and homemade brews before heading out to queue for the 8AM bus.
A quick glance around the panda-wallpapered-diner showed one vacant seat left at the end of the counter, and luckily for me it was also right next to Mr. Handsome.
I shoved my guidebook back into my bag before walking up to the counter, not wanting to appear like some neophyte witch (which I was, unfortunately, but nothing wrong about keeping that to myself, don’t you think?).
“Mornin’, Sleeping Beauty.” The diner’s owner greeted me in his usual booming voice, and I made a face as I slid into the high-backed stool and hung my tote bag on one of the hooks under the counter.
“Very funny, Mr. P.” P stood for Pan, as in the famed satyr from the Greek myths. His human form was a large, mustached man with moss-green eyes, dressed perpetually with a chef’s hat and apron over his striped shirt and pants. Nix – one of the diner’s regular waitresses – once told me that both the chef’s hat and apron were spell-protected. The former was to keep his horns away from sight, and no amount of headshaking would ever dislodge the hat off his temple; the latter, on the other hand, was a magical armor, just in case Mr. P had to protect his diners from supernatural trouble.
He was a nice man, really, but he’d be much nicer in my opinion if he would stop reminding me of the first time I had come to his diner. I had just moved in to Silver Mist that day, and I had been so tired arranging furniture that I had found myself falling asleep in one of his booths.
And I might have snored once.
Well, okay, twice, but it wasn’t polite to count.
“So what are you having?” Mr. P’s gaze slanted towards the man seated beside me as he spoke. Want him, for instance, the owner mouthed with a wink that had me choking and hastily shaking my head.
“Just the usual.” Picking the menu on the counter, I casually lifted it to hide my face from Mr. Handsome so I could glower at the satyr without being seen. That was another not-so-nice habit of Mr. P: he had sort of guessed about my embarrassing crush at Mr. Handsome, and he loved to torture me about it every once in a while.
The ancient satyr looked like he was in the mood to prolong my torment with more irreverent winking, but one of the other diners called out to him then, and I breathed a sigh of relief as Mr. P bustled off. I stole a look at the man seated beside me – his concentration remained fixed on the sheaf of papers he held in his hand – and I found myself releasing another inner sigh.
I had taken to calling him Mr. Handsome for good reason, believe me. His looks strongly reminded me of Robert Redford in his younger days (think Barefoot in the Park) with his thick blond hair, chiseled features, and tall, lithe frame that was as elegant as it was powerful. Add to that his unmistakable air of mystery, and can anyone blame me for being just a little obsessed?
You see, everyone in town was either non-human (like Pan) or a human (like me) employed by the former, and majority of the local men of Silver Mist were either small business owners (non-human) or daily commuters with blue-collar jobs (human) at the city.
Most of the time, it was easy to figure out who was which – with the glaring exception of Mr. Handsome, who fit neither bill. He kept mostly to himself unlike the other locals, and I only ever see him talking to Mr. P. There were also other ways he stood out, such as his penchant for beautiful, tailored suits, for instance (Savile Row, not Italian), and the irregular times he would drop by the diner.
Thanks to Mr. P, everyone working at Panda’s Diner also knew about my ridiculous infatuation, and most of the staff had taken to sending me real-time photos of Mr. Handsome whenever he dropped by.
4AM on a Tuesday, 1PM on a Wednesday, and even 11PM on a Sunday, which was unheard of for the respectable, hardworking townsfolk of Silver Mist. What kind of work could one possibly do to have so much flexibility with his schedule?
It was possible, of course, that he was simply a man of leisure, but I didn’t think so. There was the state of his hands, you see. I’m a great believer of a person’s hands saying a lot of things about its owner (it’s probably why CSI had placed me in the Palmistry Training Protocol), and Mr. Handsome’s hands certainly said a lot about him.
Prior to moving to Silver Mist, I used to be one of your run-of-the-mill, overworked, and underpaid workers trapped in a concrete jungle in California. Office guys were a dime in a dozen back in those days, and trust me when I say that none of them had hands like Mr. Handsome’s. Those guys had weak-looking hands and manicured nails, hands that looked like the most physical thing they did was carry a cardboard tray of Starbucks coffee every time they needed to buy their way into their superior’s good graces.
Mr. Handsome’s hands, though…
They were large, rough, and callused, the kind that men who knew what real work meant would have. Was he that type of man? I suppose I could just ask him, but---
“Morning, Blair,” Nix sang out as she emerged from the kitchen. Tall and slender, the younger girl was at that rebellious stage in her life where she equated hair color to an assertion of her individuality. Last week’s color had been ash gray. This week’s was cotton candy pink.
“You look beautiful as always,” Nix gushed as she reached me.
“Nix!” My voice was half-pleading, half-hissing (I’m not sure how I managed it, but I did). I loved that she and Mr. P were trying so hard to get Mr. Handsome to notice me, but at this point he would have to be an idiot not to know what was happening.
Nix’s eyebrows shot up in feigned surprise. “But you do look beautiful. Honestly, I can’t believe you’ve been living her for over a month---”
Oh no.
“And you’re still single,” the younger girl finished triumphantly.
Cast it!
Nix’s eyes danced with mischief as she cocked her head towards Mr. Handsome’s direction.
I shook her head. No way was I looking at him after what she said.
She cocked her head towards him again, more insistently this time. LOOK!
Oh, River of Lethe…here goes nothing.
I slowly turned Mr. Handsome’s way.
Magnetic hazel eyes collided with mine, and I quickly snapped my head back. As mortifying as it was to admit, having our gazes meet was already more excitement than I could handle; my breath had locked in my throat as my heart rate picked up speed – for Cronos’ sake, Blair, please act your age!
“Here’s your order, by the way.” Nix placed a steaming hot plate before me. It was Panda’s Breakfast Special: sunny-side-ups, bacon, buttered toast, and a healthy serving of Mr. P’s homemade potato salad. Normally, the sight of it was enough to bring a smile to my face, but right now I had a nasty feeling I might not even manage a single bite.
I could still feel Mr. Handsome’s gaze on me, and I wondered glumly if Nix’s words had him realizing how plain I was. Maybe he even thought I was unattractive? I couldn’t blame him if he did. I knew I wasn’t hideous or anything, but I also knew my features were far from eye-catching.
Wavy dark brown hair I always kept tied up in a bun, the same shade of eyes, skin so fair I could easily get lost in a white background, curves that had never left me since I hit puberty – and, oh, did I mention I was kinda on the short side, too?
Honestly, the only thing I had going for me was my love for clothes. Today’s outfit was a loose floral dress in shades of blue and gray, black tights, and a pair of leather oxfords. If I had to put it in words, I suppose it would be that I had an instinct for knowing what looked good, and it was a talent I found quite handy, considering how little I could afford to spend on my wardrobe.
“Enjoy,” Nix was saying. “And if you want another pair of toast like you usually---”
“Err, no, this is fine,” I cut the younger girl off hastily before she could say more. It wasn’t that I was ashamed of how much I ate (nothing wrong with a healthy appetite, you know?), but I’d also rather not have my love for carbs be one of the first things Mr. Handsome knew about me.
Nix left with a cheerful wave after pouring coffee into my mug, and I did my best to ignore Mr. Handsome’s piercing stare as I took out my textbook. I wasn’t actually in the mood to study, but I needed something to look at while I struggled to regain my composure.
Placing the copiously bookmarked hardback on the counter, I absently started flipping through it while taking a bite of my toast. It had the words Level 1: Spells and Brews emblazoned in pretty big letters on its dust jacket, but I wasn’t worried about anyone catching a glimpse of it. All of my books from CSI were spell-protected, and unless they were on the agency’s to-see list, both supernaturals and immortals would see the same thing humans did: a dusty, obscure economics manual published the first year Adam Smith started talking about modern capitalism.
Thirty minutes later, and I found myself gaping at my empty plate in surprise. I had actually ended up so engrossed with this week’s reading material I had finished my breakfast without even realizing it. I had even forgotten all about Mr. Handsome of all things.
Struck by a sudden urge to have another look at him, I casually reached for my coffee, hoping to peek at him over the rim of my mug---
Thunder like no other suddenly roared outside the diner, and I jerked involuntarily. My hand rattled, and coffee spilled on the opened pages of my textbook.
Brooms and sticks!
As I hurriedly pulled out a couple of tissue sheets from the holder, I missed the way Mr. Handsome frowned when he glanced at my book. By the time I turned around, Mr. Handsome had a charmingly polite smile on his face. “May I help?”
His voice was deep but gentle. It was my first time to hear him speak, and it had me stammering like a ninny. “It’s f-fine. I c-can---” My voice trailed off as Mr. Handsome pried the sheet of tissue from my hands and mopped the stain on my page.
After, he ran his fingers on the wet, dark spot, and when he lifted his fingers the page was completely dry and stain-free.
I blinked. “Umm. Wow.” I was genuinely spellbound. I had seen other witches perform similar tricks, but never with the same ease and speed that Mr. Handsome had displayed.
“It’s a fairly simple spell,” Mr. Handsome murmured. “I could teach it to you if you like.”
Before I could even think of what I wanted to say, he had already reached for my hand, and the impact of his touch was, for lack of a better word, incredible.
A thousand sensations bombarded my body – shock, thrill, excitement, fear, anticipation – I simply felt too, too much, and I kept feeling more as Mr. Handsome slowly guided my hand into repeating the necessary strokes for the spell.
I did my best to memorize them, but it was impossible. Every second of having his fingers hold mine had secret parts of my body trembling in acute awareness; in the end, all I could do was focus on keeping myself from fainting.
“Easy, right?” He let go of my hand, and I didn’t know whether I felt relieved or sad that he was no longer touching me. It still seemed so surreal, and my senses had yet to recover from the fact that Mr. Handsome’s hand had held mine in the first place.
“With enough practice,” he told me, “it should be doable for a Level 1.”
I started to nod and thank him when I realized what he had just said. My gaze flew to his, but he only smiled at my obvious surprise.
“How did you know I’m a Level 1?” I questioned uncertainly.
“Because your book says so?”
My jaw dropped. I had suspected that might be it, but having him confirm my thoughts was still a different thing altogether. If he could get past an agency-executed spell, then did that mean he was also working for the government?
His lips suddenly twitched. “You didn’t think I could read it, did you?”
“I…I…” My shoulders lifted in a helpless shrug. “I have no idea what to think about you.” I hated how boring my answer was, but I was such a bad liar it was useless to even try.
“If it’s any consolation,” he murmured, “I also think you’re a bit of an enigma yourself.”
I was?
His smile turned faintly apologetic. “I didn’t expect you to be working for CSI. I’d never have imagined you the crime-fighting type.”
“That’s because I’m not,” I answered somewhat guiltily. ‘Crime fighting’ sounded so violent, and I had always been more of a pacifist, the kind that insisted on seeing half-full glasses even if there was only less than an ounce left. “When I got recruited, I only signed up for Local Misdemeanors.”
“Missing cauldrons, vandal spells, things like that?”
I nodded. “I know most people find it boring…”
“But you enjoy it,” he concluded. “Don’t you?”
“I’ve lived 26 years of my life without magic, so everything still feels so new and exciting. I know it’s silly,” I confessed, “but I’m always looking forward to every case assigned to me.”
“No matter how minor?”
“No matter how minor,” I affirmed firmly. “There’s actually a running joke in HQ. They say I’m the only agent who’d cry at being given a day off---” I stopped speaking. Oh, cast it. I just realized I had allowed my mouth to run away from me.
Mr. Handsome, however, didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary, and he reclaimed the reins of our conversation with the enviable ease of a practiced charmer. He asked me about my Level 1 lessons and whether I found it easy or difficult. I had the most shameful urge to lie, but in the end, I simply opened my book to a random page and let him see the humiliating truth with his own eyes.
The page I had opened to was heavily underscored with neon highlighters, and the margins on both pages filled with my scribbles. “Be honest, please – does this say passionate about work or desperate to pass Level 1 exams so I won’t be the only neophyte witch in the agency?”
Mr. Handsome grinned. “It’s that bad?”
“Well…considering how my instructor asked me to start saving money so I could afford an expensive offering to Athena, what do you think?”
“Extremely bad,” he answered right away with a grin. I grinned back of course, all the while thinking that I couldn’t remember feeling any happier. Oh, be still, my bewitched heart.
It suddenly occurred to me that we had been talking for some time without having even exchanged names, and I took a deep breath, wondering if I could find the courage to ask for his first. I opened my mouth, but before I could say another word, lightning flashed outside the diner, followed by the power going out. Another second passed, and my phone started playing the theme song of Mission Impossible.
Oh, dear.
This was not good.