Page 78 of The Little Shop of Grand Curiosities

“I’m not judging you if that’s what you’re blushing about,” Thea reassured, taking on a scandalous tone. “That man is absolutelyscrumptious. I mean, those arms?”

“The eyes,” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

“The hair.”

“And have you ever noticed his hands?”

“Well, you know what they say about the size of a man’s hands.”

Our eyes met, and we started cackling so avidly that the poor guard at the end of the corridor startled, which only made us giggle even louder.

“Are you sure you’re leaving tomorrow?” she managed to ask, wiping tears of laughter from the corners of her eyes.

“That’s the plan.”

“Too bad,” she sighed as she linked her arm with mine. “I was really looking forward to us becoming friends.”

I blinked at her. “You were?”

“Well, Iama Lady of the Court so naturally we would spend a lot of time together if you married Prince Apollo,” she explained. “My best friend got married recently and moved to Kartha. Her wife is a scholar at one of the Academies there. And to tell you the truth, I’ve been pretty lonely ever since. The other Ladies are much older than me.” She bit into her lower lip. “I was close to getting married too. It’s why my parents sent me here, actually. But it didn’t work out in the end.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, Thea,” I said, understanding her position more than words could express.

I’d been absolutely devastated after my breakup with Ryker, and oftentimes I had questioned my decision out of sheer curiosity, a gnawingwhat-if. It was impossible not to wallow in the vague tenderness of faded memories, lovelier now than what they had been, as all things of the past were. In retrospect, the more irretrievable something was, the lovelier it got.

“Oh, believe me, it’s for the best,” Thea chirped. “I’m only twenty-one. I want to find myself first. Learn about magic. Maybe travel a little, make some friends. Boys can wait.” She glanced at me. “What about you, Miss Curiosity from the South?”

“Same as you,” I admitted. “Besides my Shop, I don’t have much else in Elora.”

She nodded. “It’s hard to form friendships as an adult, isn’t it?”

“It’s the worst,” I groaned. “I get all panicky and in my head every time I have to talk to someone I don’t know. And then I go home and overanalyze every little interaction until I never want to leave my house again. If overthinking was unlawful, I would spend the rest of my life in prison.”

Thea chuckled as she tipped her chin. “Come on, we’re here.” She stepped forward and put her hands on the twin golden doorknobs to our left, looking very excited as she announced, “The Sunset Quarters.”

I followed her inside the apartment, wide-eyed and open-mouthed in wonder. A gorgeous annular foyer led to a massive bedchamber with walls dressed in pink-and-orange damasks bordered with wide gold stripes. And the ceiling? Oh, the ceiling was the hour before dusk, when the sky was blushing, all grand sweeps of vermillion, orange, and violet.

Thea cast an equally dreamy gaze at the room. “Isn’t it gorgeous? As exquisite as the Queen’s. Prince Apollo requested this bedchamber for you specifically.”

My brows shot straight to my hairline. “He did?”

She narrowed her dark eyes at me in comical suspicion. “Are you sure there’s nothing going on between you two?”

Nervously, I nodded and picked up the first book I spotted on the round cherrywood table at the entrance of the room, just to make myself appear busy. I was flicking through the pages when my eyes fell on a rather…interestingchoice of words. I shut it at once and turned it over. The cover boasted a drawing of a half-naked man on a white horse, titledThe Rogue Lord Verlion.

“Thea! This book is filthy!”

She hooked a hand on her hip, grinning knowingly. “Filthy good, that’s what it is. Eloise loves this series, you’ll find copies everywhere around the Palace.”

I burst into laughter. “I think I’ll like it here. Very, very much so.”

Someone brought us tea, sandwiches, and cake, and we ended up sprawled over the plush duvet on the bed, talking, giggling, and plotting our futures. And for a little while, life wasperfect.

???

I was drifting off to sleep the way I sometimes did on my days off work when the late afternoons unfolded sweet and lethargic after a big meal or a busy morning of doing house chores.

There was a wide window next to the four-poster bed, and the sun blazed through and fell over me like a blanket, so hot and full I could almost touch it. And just as I was about to slip into blissful mindlessness, a curt knock came on the door. Grudgingly, as I forced my eyes open, I noticed the white lace gloves on my nightstand, over-bright under a strip of sunlight. It was probably Thea, I realized, returning to retrieve them.

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