Page 67 of Fairy Godmothers Aren't Cheap

Heat flowed through me as I realized he was referring to me. He’d been staying in a boring job so he could see more of me? I could faint. Swoon. Dance.

He had to be lying, right? I mean, who did that?

But I was pretty sure he was telling the truth, and it made me want to float away.

“Well,” I said, reaching up to put his ears on. “If you’re feeling lucky, you could call her up and arrange a meet up.” I was careful not to say date, even though that was what I really wanted. It had taken us some time to get where we were tonight, slowly dipping our toes outside of the friend zone. I didn’t want to mess things up by cannonballing my way into something he might not be ready for. Especially since I still wasn’t sure how we’d work long-term. Did he want a cozy home life, or did he want spontaneity? He said he wanted spontaneity, but I could see that a cozy home life was important to him. And did the two go hand-in-hand? I wasn’t so sure.

“I should quit, huh?” he said.

I smiled. “You should do whatever you want to do.”

“Yeah.” The intensity in his gaze made me feel pinned to the spot, my breath catching. His thumb was caressing my neck, just below my ear, and I realized I had an erogenous zone I hadn’t known about.

“Yeah. You should.” I cleared my throat, hoping he’d devour me with that mouth and those dark sexy eyes of his. “How do I look?”

“Cute.”

I gave him a flirty flutter of my lashes. “I always look cute.”

“And beautiful.” He gently gripped my chin between his thumb and index finger, tipping it upward so he could lower his lips to mine. He kissed me slowly, like earlier. But when I kissed him back, suddenly the intensity level shot through the roof, his arms tightening around me, drawing me close like he’d been waiting to do this since the day we’d met. Like he’d lain awake for more hours than one could count, wondering just how amazing this might be.

And amazing, it was. My whole body felt light, but also very much here and now, alive in every spot that our bodies touched like I was playing with electricity.

We broke the kiss, my breathing jagged like I’d just crossed the finish line after sprinting the last half of the run.

James. Oh, James. Did he haveanyidea how sexy he was? And wearing those adorable kitty ears and owning them, not shedding them like wearing them would lessen his masculinity. He was perfect.

“Wow,” I whispered.

He breathed me into another kiss, long and slow and so filled with promises I wasn’t sure my legs would ever work right again.

“You’re going to give me diabetes,” he said, his hand finding mine.

“What?” I felt dazed, like I’d shot through a portal and into a whole new life.

“Your kisses are so sweet…” He kissed me again, like this would help him prove his point.

“I need whiskers,” I whispered when he seemed done kissing me. I swung my purse off my shoulder and rummaged through it, feeling suddenly nervous and unsure what to do with my hands, my mouth, and all of these feelings I’d kept so carefully hidden for so long.

I handed him an eyeliner pencil, my hands shaking. “Give me a nose and whiskers, please.”

With a slow smile, he didn’t question why I didn’t use one of the small mirrors hanging on the stand near us, but uncapped the pencil and shimmied his feet so he was even closer, like we might kiss again. I could feel his breath, warm on my cheek, his jacket brushing my chest.

“What do I do?”

I angled my face upward. “Triangle nose. Three whiskers each side.” I mimed where I wanted the whiskers on my right cheek. His face was so near to my own, it was impossible to meet his gaze without burning up.

He was closer than he needed to be and I loved it, sucking up the pleasure of having his body so close to mine. He gently placed his left hand on the side of my face, his palm cupping my jaw. My breath hitched as his large, rough hand brushed my skin, his eyes taking in every detail of me.

He took his time, sketching a triangle on the tip of my nose, then colouring it in with gentle, patient strokes.

His eyes seemed so blue whenever I flicked my gaze to his. He finished the nose, the act of applying the makeup feeling more intimate than if he’d kissed me again.

“You have flecks of green in your eyes,” he whispered, angling his hand to start on the whiskers.

Daring myself, I allowed myself to meet and hold his gaze, possibly the scariest, most intimate thing I’d done with him to date. This close I felt vulnerable, exposed. But also held and cherished and safe. I trusted this man more than any other.

“Mm. You have bits of grey.” I felt dazed and dreamy, as if I could float away like one of Estelle’s fairy coworkers.

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