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“Magnus, wait a moment.” I pick up my mail and somehow resist touching him, resist tracing the lines of his veins on the back of his hand that rests on the counter. Then my gaze falls on the plate with the crumbs. “Did…did you have a cookie?”
He groans. “Four. I had four. I didn’t bring a protein bar today for lunch and I got hungry and I think they’re the second best things I’ve had in my mouth.”
“What’s the first?”
His gaze locks with mine and my temperature skyrockets. “You.”
All the air in the room isn’t enough. I can’t breathe. I fan myself with the mail.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. But it is true.”
“Magnus, you—” I shake my head and drag in an uneven breath. “You’re dangerous.”
“I’m not.”
“To women everywhere. To me.”
He raises a brow and comes around from behind the counter. He looks down at me, and slides a finger beneath my chin, lifting it. “Is that bad?”
“Yes. No.” I can’t help it. I trace my fingers along his chest, the heat of him a sweetness against my flesh, a little buzz racing through me from the touch. “You just make it hard to think.”
“You said you wanted to talk?”
“Yeah.” I want to move away. I’m lying. I want to move closer and draw him down to me and kiss him. “Friday or Saturday I’m going to go to the Catskills. There’s an estate sale and some great little stores I want to peruse for books.”
“You want me to helm the store?”
“No.” The words out before I can think. “Did you want to come with me?”
Magnus said yes.
The thought plays over in my mind. All through the rest of the day. All through my walk over to his gran’s.
When she lets me in, the tiredness in her face tells me I’m making the right decision.
“Zoey, dear, Magnus isn’t here.”
“I know.” I take a breath. “I came to see you.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No, I have a proposition.”
I make her sit and I get us both a cup of tea. As I set mine down on the coffee table, I lean forward.
“Zoey, don’t do anything stupid.”
“I’m not.” I might be, but sometimes stupid is the right thing to do and this feels right. I reach into my bag and pull out the plain white envelope. “I know Magnus is trying to help you and to pay for the surgery. And he won’t accept anything from me. But I also know you don’t want to leave here. After the surgery, you aren’t going to want to be somewhere else, and we’re fighting against a common enemy.”
“What did you do?” Her hands clutch the tea cup tight.
I smile. “I just did what anyone would do. I went to the bank—”
“No.”
“Yes. I went and I have in there a check for you to make out to your landlord. I left that part blank as I don’t know what holdings it’s under with Sinclair. But if this helps, then I’m happy.”
“You tear that up right now. I can’t take it. I won’t.”
