Page 17 of Pixie Problems
His gaze heated, and I almost flinched away. Oh, no! No flirting! Jeez, this elf was potent!
“You haven't seen anything yet, angel,” he purred, his eyes warm with a special kind of promise. I stopped breathing and gulped. After a moment, he smirked, and the intense look was gone from his eyes, almost as though it had never happened—but I knew better.
I was tempted to flick him on the nose or squirt him in the face with a squirt bottle like a bad puppy who was being disobedient, but I restrained myself.
Besides, I didn't have a squirt bottle on me.
“Behave,” I threatened, growling at him.
He laughed lightly and helped me up. We moved behind the bar and he took an order, then filled a tumbler with rum and coke. I pulled out my phone from my back jeans pocket, reopened the tab with the drink recipes website and looked up into the eyes of a very impatient wizard.
“What can I get you?”
“Conchy Joe Momma.”
“Bless you,” I said. The wizard didnotlook amused. I tapped the drink name into my phone and went to work gathering the ingredients. Clearly he didn't have a sense of humor.
“I thought it was funny,” Rhys murmured as he passed me, and I smiled.
It was very possible this place might work for me. As long as I could keep the star elf on a leash . . .
* * *
After workI officially accepted the job and Rhys wrote out my schedule for the rest of the week while I filled out what seemed like an endless amount of paperwork.
“Welcome to the Laughing Elf,” Rhys said, handing over a front door key. “We’re glad to have you.”
I had one question. “Do you want me to use my Insight here?”
He tilted his head in thought. “Is it possible for younottouse it?”
I shifted, squirming a little. “I can keep what I learn through it to myself.” I had a lot of practice with doing that. You couldn’t just blurt out some of the things I saw, and not everyone appreciated the information that I could literally get just by looking at them. I didn’t blame them. Ironically, I was a very private person myself. Which made my gift all the more horrific for me some days.
His gaze probed mine. “I find that difficult to believe,” he said quietly. “If someone comes in, and you know they need help, I find it hard to believe you could abstain from saying something.”
I met his kind gaze. “I could. If you want me to.”
Rhys shook his head. “I hired you partlybecauseof your Insight. We need a system,” Rhys said decisively as he sat back in his cushy office chair and swiveled, looking out the open door that led to the employee lounge. His attention refocused on me after a moment. “How about, for the cases where medical intervention is needed, but is not urgent, you let me know, and I’ll make sure the PNR council spokesperson lets the individual know. We will keep you anonymous for now.” His brow lowered, and he looked concerned. “I don’t have to tell you that this gift you have is unusual, even among our kind. We want to protect you as much as possible, while also allowing you the freedom to help.”
I scooted back on the couch. I was vertically challenged enough that my feet no longer touched the floor when I scooted back, and I pointedly ignored when Rhys noticed this and his lips twitched suspiciously.
“And for those whose needs are immediate?”
“Let me know, if I’m here and working that shift, and I’ll help. If I’m not here, just try to help while keeping your talent as much under wraps as possible, using some of my staff as a go-between.”
He smirked. “I have a tip jar for the rest of the bartenders, but I have a feeling I’m going to need a separate jar for you due to all thehelpyou’ll be giving. I’ll make one tonight and put it up on the bar with your name on it.”
I winced. He might as well advertise to Hux and his pack that I worked here. I mean, I knew it was a small town, and they’d find out sooner or later; I just preferred later rather than sooner.
He leaned forward, elbows on knees, and his tone grew serious. “We have round-the-clock security here, Dice. We also have some advanced security features. Things I’ve created using my magic, that I’ll show you before you leave tonight. Also, I want someone to make sure you get home each night: either me or one of my bouncers.”
I started to protest, but he glared me down. “This is not up for discussion.”
I pursed my lips. “Deal,” I said. “But can we strive for a strictly professional working environment?” A pixie could hope, after all.
He smirked and leaned back again. “Now why would I give a promise like that when I know I’m going to break it?”
I sighed. I would have made some smart-aleck comment, but I could see the tiredness and worry in his eyes, and worse, he was making my Insight screech all over the place. I was getting so many messages about him that they were overlapping and blaring like a siren: worry, exhaustion, stress, recovering from being sick so his immunity was in the dumps, star power levels down, and emotional fragility because his best friend was in terrible danger. He was lucky. Because my Insight made me feel empathy towards him, I didn’t dump the bottle of water sitting on his desk on him.
