Page 55 of Pixie Problems
So far, I hadn’t shot him.
The bucket seats of his car made it impossible to scoot over more, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. So far, even though I was falling for him, my personality was still shining through in frustrating things like: awkwardness with affection, awkwardness with praise, awkwardness with communicating sweet things to the elf I was falling in love with. And fun things, like—laughing after he kissed me because until then I’d been a complete stranger to an emotion called giddiness. And because the strange emotion had felt like the equivalent of a six pack of sodas to my poor pixie self, with a full jolt ofzing, and a body and mind full of a strange bubbly emotion that had made me so nervous for about five seconds that I felt like I needed to lie down. I’d laughed after he’d kissed me one night.
Rhys had not taken that well. In fact, he’d taken it like I’d raised a score card and given his kiss a 4.3 out of 10. He’d looked dismayed for about half a second and then, with a look of determination and unholy focus he’d proceeded for anhourafterwards to try to raise that score card number to a hundred out of ten.
And he’d succeeded. I knew Rhys was older than me, but heaven help me and my lips, because that elf couldkiss!
So far, we’d just been casually spending time together. This was our first official date, and he’d had it planned for the last several weeks. It was a surprise, and even though I was generally a pixie that liked to be in control at all times, I found I was enjoying having someone else in control for a while.
Rhys smirked at me, and I rolled my eyes at him. I was grateful he couldn’t read my thoughts, but because of my parasite, Michael, hanging out in my head, he could feel some of my emotions. Right now he was probably getting contentment with flavors ofI have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m strangely okay with it.
He kissed my hand, and I had a pixie moment I wasn’t proud of that swore for half a second that I was never washing that hand again before I mentally slapped myself and pursed my lips at my handsome date. Rhys didn’t have the full-on arrogance that most star elves had, but he had confidence in abundance. It made our interactions with each other very interesting.
Rhys was an anomaly. Goofy and playful one moment, suave, powerful and giving off spyvibes the next. And the scary part—I was falling in love with all of the various shades of him. The soft and sensuous shade, the playful shade, the real-life stressed out, sad, or depressed shade, the powerful007shade, and the shade that was currently looking at me like I hung the moon. The star elf had stars in his eyes. There was something poetic about that. I had no doubt that my eyes reflected the same thing back at him, because his smile turned soft, and he squeezed my hand.
We pulled into a parking lot of, what looked like an expensive Italian restaurant namedThat’s Amoré.It was so busy there were couples and families sitting on benches in front of the beautiful garden area waiting for their hand-held buzzer to go off indicating a table was ready for them.
Rhys bypassed all of these and made his way to the stand just inside the heavy glass doors where a maître d’ waited in a charcoal grey suit with a red carnation pinned to his lapel. “Welcome toThat’s Amoré.Name please?”
“Two under Liakis.”
The male checked our name off on his tablet with a stylus and grabbed two menus before indicating for us to follow him. He led us through a gorgeous main room where four floor-to-ceiling windows looked out over the ocean, deep green vines and soft white lights decorated the walls, and the tables were covered in fine china and off-white tablecloths. The tile under my feet was in fact marble that was a deep green color, almost black with ribbons of gold running through it. It looked insanely expensive. In fact, the whole restaurant did.
I fought with my instinct that screamed I didn’t belong in a restaurant this fine and admired the fact that in a town full of paranormals, not a single individual gave my wolf Naut even a passing glance. He followed me quietly, his nails quietly clicking on the marble floors.
The restaurant smelled heavenly, and my stomach growled. I laughed when Rhys caught my eye and wiggled his eyebrows. Yep, I was starving. I hadn’t had much of a chance to eat all day, and by the smell of this place I felt like I could order two dinners and it would only just begin to fill the empty void that was my belly.
Besides, whatever I couldn’t finish, Naut would. Or Rhys.
We were seated at a corner table, a quiet section that had a beautiful view through the huge window to our right, out to a patio filled with potted plants, elegant outdoor seating, and a burbling fountain. The ocean view was just beyond the patio, and even after being in Moonhaven for a few months now, it still took my breath away. I’d never seen the ocean before I’d come to Moonhaven. There was something about it that made me feel like I’d come home.
Our maître d’ handed us our menus. “Your waitress will be with you in a moment.”
We nodded and opened our menus. After a few moments, our waitress came. She was a quiet one, but efficient as she set waters down for Rhys and I. “What can I get you?”
Rhys nodded for me to go first. “Chicken parmigiana, lasagne, side salad with ranch, a raw steak for my wolf, and a lime for my water please.” Rhys’ eyes were round as he stared at me in stunned amazement and I grinned. “I’m hungry,” I said with a shrug.
He mouthed the wordwow.If I were a more sensitive pixie—which I wasn’t, thank all pixies and pestles—I would have been offended. As it was, I was almost proud of myself. I’d probably finish it all, too.
Rhys closed his menu. “I’ll have the artichoke spinach dip appetizer, spaghetti carbonara for my main meal, and a blackberry virgin mojito.”
Oooh yum, all of that sounded good. I might have to convince him to share. As our waitress gathered our menus, and Naut slid a bit under our table so he was out of the way, and lay down, Rhys’ lips tilted in a mischievous smile. “Halfsies?”
I laughed. “You read my mind. I especially want to try some of your mojito. It sounds good.”
“Of course,” he said with a fond smile.
The longer I was around Rhys, the more I realized what a good person he was. Yes, he drove me and others crazy sometimes. He was mischievous and acted like a goofball at times, but he was also unfailingly kind. Especially when it mattered. He wasn’t the type of person to use empty flattery. He was more like me in that what you saw was what you got with him. I appreciated that so much. I didn’t like playing games, and I abhorred the games people played with each other all in the name of love.
He reached across the table and gently folded my hand within his own, and under the table both of his feet found mine, and boxed them gently in.
I never would have said this, not in a million years, but Rhys had somehow, in some way, ferreted out my secret fantasy of being woo’d. I knew how I came off to others. My personality was abrupt. I was a tough pixie who didn’t take crap from anyone for anything, and I think to most males that translated for them that I didn’t enjoy romance. I did. I secretly did, but I would never say it. As a matter of fact, I was sure if I tried, I would gag at the sweetness coming from my mouth.
Yet Rhys knew. I could see it in his eyes.
“You’re up to something,” I accused.
“Always. I’malwaysup to something.” His smile was devastating, more so because it was filled with tenderness.
