Page 56 of Cursed Luck
They each went through their morning routine with the ease of a couple who’d been together for months, if not years. After they ate a light breakfast of fruit and scrambled eggs, Edward insisted he drive her home.
What she had not expected was for him to stick around.
“Don’t you have to go to work?” she asked. They’d been at her apartment above the shop for half an hour already. She liked having him around while she got the shop ready to open, but it was a weekday. “Not that I don’t want you here. What I mean is—”
Edward pulled her to him by the back of her neck and kissed her stupid. “Now who’s acting like an awkward teen?”
She swatted his chest playfully. “Shush, you. I was just wondering why you weren’t working.”
He grinned and released her to lift a couple buckets of roses. “I didn’t have anything pressing today, so I emailed them and let them know I’d be working from home.”
“I didn’t want to leave you,”he said silently.
She smiled. “Yeah?”
By way of responding to her, he asked, “Where do you want these?”
She took him in and noted the way he watched her. Flutters of butterfly wings in her stomach lifted her spirit as she pointed behind the counter. “Set them there, and I can work on them between customers who come through.”
Edward nodded and called over her shoulder. “Have you considered hiring Claudia to help you? She’d be interested, and I can vouch for her as a good worker per Brandy’s experience.”
“No,” she said and watched his brows snap together.
Before Mia could say more, Edward asked, “Why not?”
Mia shook her head. “You didn’t let me finish. And while I appreciate you helping with this, whoever I decide to hire is my business, quite literally.”
“I’m sorry,” Edward said and hurried to her, stopping shy of his body brushing hers. “You’re right. I just wanted to help, and well, this would help Claudia have more stability where her daughter is concerned.”
“Don’t you guilt me into things, Mr. Broderick,” she said, poking him in the chest.
Edward snatched her finger and pressed it against his lips and waited.
Mia sighed. “What I was trying to say, before you rudely interrupted me, was that I thought having another person from our world was the best course of action. I don’t know her well, or much at all, but I’d be willing to give Claudia a chance. Plus, now I don’t have to make a sign and interview people and hide how I get my supplies.”
He kissed her finger and smiled against it. “Do you want me to tell her, or do you want to do the honors?”
“I’ll let you do it if—”
The door chimed, and they turned to watch a couple step inside.
“Welcome! Please don’t hesitate to ask for help if you need it.”
“If what?”Edward asked, his attention on the side of her face.
“Give me a second, not the time,”she replied.
“Not like they can hear us, baby. Maybe you wanted to talk about riding my cock?”he asked with a wolfish grin.
Mia smacked him on the arm. “Go call Claudia. Hmm…” she said, her cheeks flushing with the idea of entertaining his thought.
Edward chuckled and kissed her temple before walking outside. She watched him pull out his phone and face her. He winked, and his lips started moving on the other side of the glass. Mia shook her head and busied herself with the buckets of roses he had set behind the counter.
Her attention was split between the couple quietly discussing an aloe plant and Edward as he paced in front of her shop, his phone pressed against his cheek. She could not believe how quickly things had changed. It sucked knowing she had lost three days with him because she prevented him from speaking.
The baby’s breath in a vase next to her rubbed against the top of her hand, drawing a smile to her lips. Shutting her eyes, she soaked in the affection. “Yes, it’s clear I needed a timeout,” she whispered to the plant, hoping the couple didn’t hear.
Magic filled her up, and she nearly rose to her tiptoes in reaction. She could not think of a time in her life when she felt so alive. Ever since she and Edward united, her powers had strengthened.
