“I am such a freaking dork!”she mumbled to herself as she bolted back inside the café.
“Honey, what gives? Are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Clara pulled Gina to the side.
“A guy asked her for her number, and she freaked out,” Annie laughed.
“Annie!” Clara chided her. “Be nice. Not everyone is as outgoing …”
“You mean ho-ish,” Maggie said, interrupting their conversation.
Annie rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Sorry, Gina. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that. I just thought it would be nice if you found your happily ever after like Clara and I have.”
“It’s okay. I’m just not used to the attention of someone like that.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. She wasn’t used to some hot-ass guy asking for her number and calling her beautiful, but it was more than that. She was suddenly left wondering if somehow her spell had actually worked. How else was she supposed to explain a guy like that asking for her number out of the blue? Seriously? He could have any woman he wanted. Why her?
Her mind kept going back to her spell. What if it was the man of her dreams that she had summoned? Was she going to let him walk away without finding out if he was there because of her spell?
Gina suddenly felt like a damn chicken. Which was not like her at all. She didn’t back down from a challenge or a new situation. She had always been proud of the fact that if she saw something that she was interested in, she went for it. Why should she be all shy now? Just because the guy was hot?
With that thought in mind, she grabbed his bill. Added her own personal thank you and went to do what needed to be done.
* * *
Nick triedlike hell to stay still and not jump up and follow the waitress who had taken his order. He could barely believe his luck. He had waited his entire life to find the one woman who would call to his bear. The one who would be his mate.
It had taken every damn ounce of willpower in his body to keep his ass glued to his chair. Once her sweet scent of wildflowers and cherries hit him, he knew he was a goner. His bear began bouncing against his brain, trying to find an escape. He pushed it back twice as hard as he ever had, knowing the repercussions would be severe if his bear were to break free.
His body tensed as his mate made her way back to his table with his check. Gods, she was beautiful with long auburn hair that fell halfway down her back in loose ringlets. Her sapphire eyes were stunning. Her pert little nose was adorable. And those puffy lips of hers … fuck! He wanted those bitches all over his body, and he would gladly reciprocate. There wasn’t a single inch of her fine-ass body he didn’t want to kiss, lick, or nibble on. Those curvy hips of hers would fit against him perfectly. Of that, he had no doubt.
“Here’s your check,” she said, placing a black folder on the table.
Her voice was music to his ears and calmed his racing heart.
Flipping open the folder, he tossed a twenty inside and picked up a small, folded note that had been tucked neatly under his bill. He tried and failed to hide the smile that spread across his face.
Though she hadn’t said another word to him, he knew there was a mutual attraction between the two of them when he unfolded the paper and found her name and number with a quick message that she got off at two and would be free to chat after that.
ChapterEight
“Did you give him your number?” Annie asked with a smirk on her face.
“That’s for me to know,” Gina teased. She didn’t want to give away too much yet. Not until she knew what the hottie wanted or if they had anything in common. She’d had countless dates that she had told her friends about when she wished she would have kept her damn mouth shut. For now, she wanted to keep this to herself, just for a bit.
Her morning flew by with the flurry of customers coming and going. Those few and far between moments of solitude left her mind racing with possibilities. She couldn’t help but shake the thought that maybe her spell had worked. If that were the case, she should be jumping for joy. So, why did she still feel a sense of trepidation and hesitancy? Or was it guilt for taking away someone’s free will? Is that what the spell had done? Forced a man who wouldn’t have otherwise been interested in her suddenly want to be with her? Could magic even do that?
She really should have looked all this shit up before she decided to start playing around with something she knew literally nothing about. If she could go back and kick herself in the ass, she absolutely would. The anxiety that she felt was the price of the spell. Again, if that was a thing. Maybe she had watched too many episodes of Charmed or TVD that had her thinking that all magic came at a price, especially a love spell.
“Ugh!”She had to stop thinking like this. Maybe the hottie’s presence in town had nothing to do with her awkward attempt at a spell. Who knew? Maybe he was in town for business or visiting family or something else entirely different.
She sort of wished she hadn’t bothered giving him her number so soon.
At ten minutes after two o’clock, her phone buzzed with an incoming message.
“Thank you for giving me your number. I don’t usually hit on the staff of an establishment, but once I saw you, I couldn’t resist.”
Her heartbeat sped. A squeal might have left her mouth as she headed to her room to unwind for a bit after work. Okay, maybe she was happy she had given him her number after all.
“That’s awfully sweet,”she said. “What’s your name?”It would be good to start with the basics … like who he was, age, and so on, as she didn’t know shit about him other than he was sure to star in some hot fantasies over the next few days or weeks … or lifetime.
“Sorry. My name is Nick Carver.”