Page 3 of The Little Shop of Grand Curiosities

“Oh, well, you can look around as much as you like. Everything is fifty percent off.”

The stranger raised his dark brows. “I’m not here to shop, darling. I’m just hiding from the creatures.”

I frowned at him, alarmed. “What creatures?”

“Believe me, you do not wish to know.”

Now, that was not only rude but wildly unacceptable, wasn’t it? Who came into a Curiosity Shop tohide?

I squared my shoulders and raised my chin. “This is not a hiding place, sir. You can’t hole up in here and bring in gods’ know what manner of trouble. I must ask you to leave immediately.”

To my immense displeasure, the stranger did the exact opposite. He sauntered inside the Shop, his heavy leather boots making the cherrywood floorboards creak, and stopped right in front of my desk. The plants on the shelf above stretched their saggy leaves toward him, curious and a little bit excited.

“Apollo,” he said.

“What?”

“My name is Apollo, notsir.” His eyes darted over my body, leaving an unspoken comment of the utmost impropriety. “Unless you like calling me sir, then I’m perfectly content with it.”

Every ounce of blood in my body rushed straight up to my head. I curled my fingers into fists and strode around the desk. “I beg your pardon!”

Apollo’s lips twitched with wry amusement, his eyes sparkling, his head cocked to the side—the portrait of schoolboy impudence. “Begging? Already, darling?”

“I—What—Who do you think you are?” I squealed.

“I think I’m Apollo Stranger. Who do you thinkyouare?”

I blinked, retreating. From this distance, he was so very tall. It made me nervous.Hemade me nervous, and no man had the right to come intomyShop and make me feel like that. “I—I’m Nepheli Curiosity.”

He rolled his eyes. “Why do Curiosity Shop owners do this? Every single one of you has the same ridiculous last name. Aren’t you afraid you’re going to end up marrying your cousin or something?”

I grabbed from the little shelf next to my desk a tiny viridescent bottle and offered it to him with a look of chill disdain. “Four drops on a piece of clean paper, and it will show you your entire family tree. Sixty percent off if you take it now and promise to never come back here.”

“How charming,” he mocked, grasping at his heart. “Now, darling, tell me, is this the only Curiosity Shop in Elora?”

“Yes,” I grunted.

“Since when?”

“Three years ago.”

“And where did all their merchandise go?”

He asked a lot of specific questions for a man who hadaccidentallywalked into a Curiosity Shop, didn’t he?

And then I realized…

“You can drop thedarlingsand the clever smiles now. You don’t have to flirt with me to get what you want. If you tell me what you’re looking for, I’m happy to help you out. There is no reason to be embarrassed about it.”

To my absolute delight, Apollo’s haughty expression faltered. He rubbed the nape of his neck. “Sorry, darling. A bit of a bad habit, I’m afraid.”

I scowled at him, crossing my arms over the bodice of my dress. “Flirting is not a habit one should so carelessly cultivate. It’s insulting when it is disingenuous. And I told you to stop with thedarlings.”

He blew out a long breath, his eyes hunting for something around the Shop.

“I’m guessing it is of apersonalnature—the thing you’re looking for?” I persisted. “Because I do have a potion for excitement that has some very interesting effects on men. It will do the trick, I promise.”

He shot me a truly scathing look. “I don’t have cock problems, darling.”

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