Chapter 9

NINE

“ I know.” He stepped even closer, and Clover had to tilt her head back to maintain eye contact. “We’d be working together closely. Spending a lot of time developing the right combinations, testing the effects...” His voice roughened. “If that’s something you’d be interested in.”

Her magic sparked at the loaded question. This was business, she told herself firmly. Just business. Even if his proximity made her skin tingle and her power hum with awareness.

“I’ll think about it,” she managed.

“Have dinner with me.” The words came out low and urgent. “We can discuss the details. The partnership. Everything.”

“A business dinner in addition to the business picnic?”

“Not what I was thinking, but if that makes you more comfortable.” His eyes sparkled with that same mischief she recognized from Sabine. “I wouldn’t object if it turned into something more... personal.”

“How are you single when you’re such a flirt?”

“Admit you like it.”

The simple statement delivered with such quiet certainty knocked her usual defenses off-kilter. “I’ll think about it,” she repeated, but they both heard the smile in her voice.

“I’ll take that as a maybe.” He stepped back, though reluctance colored the movement. “I should help track those rogues. Will you be all right?”

“I managed just fine.”

His grin widened. “I remember. The way you handled those vines was...” he paused, heat flickering in his gaze, “distracting.”

Clover’s magic sparked again. “Don’t you have rogues to chase?”

“I do.” He backed away, still grinning. “But we’ll finish this conversation soon. Over dinner, maybe?”

“We still have the picnic. Go catch your bad guys.”

His laugh echoed through the warehouse as he turned to leave, and Clover found herself fighting an answering smile. Only when he disappeared through the loading bay doors did she let out a shaky breath.

“Well,” Poe muttered from his perch on a nearby shelf. “That was interesting.”

“Shut up.”

“He fights good. For a cat.”

“I’m not discussing this.”

“Nice muscles too. Did you see how he?—”

“Going home now.”

“—and the way he looked at you? Like you hung the moon and stars just for him to admire. Though I noticed you weren’t exactly looking away when he shifted. Something fascinating about those tiger muscles, hmm?”

“That’s it. No more treats for a week.”

“Worth it,” Poe cackled, launching himself into the air. “Just wait until I tell Romi and Sabine about this.”

Clover groaned, already imagining their reactions. Between Sabine’s contract and Romi’s matchmaking tendencies, she’d never hear the end of it.

But as she made her way back to Spellbound Lights, she couldn’t quite banish the memory of Rook’s intense gaze or the way his power had called to hers during the fight. Her magic still hummed with awareness, responding to the lingering traces of his energy in the air.

The business proposition complicated everything. Working closely with him, developing scents and botanicals together... the thought sent equal parts excitement and nervous energy coursing through her. She could already imagine long hours in her workshop, testing combinations while he watched with those intent eyes. Him prowling nearby as she explained the subtle differences between lavender varieties. The way he’d probably lean too close, pretending to smell a test blend while actually...

“Oh no.” She pressed her hands to her warming cheeks. “Stop that right now.”

“Stop what?” Poe landed on her shoulder, radiating smugness. “Thinking about a certain tiger’s impressive... business proposals?”

“I’m thinking about the professional opportunities,” she insisted primly.

“Right. Professional. Like the way you professionally ogled his muscles during that fight?”

“I was assessing the tactical situation.”

“Is that what we’re calling it now?”

Clover shooed him off her shoulder, ignoring his cackling laughter as he flew ahead. But her traitorous mind kept circling back to the possibilities. The spa project could be amazing for both of her businesses. She’d been looking for ways to expand Weaver’s Botanicals’ reach, and this partnership could open incredible doors. The fact that it meant spending time with Rook was just... incidental.

Right.

Back at her shop, the afternoon sun caught her mood-matching candles, making their enchanted flames dance with shades of rose pink and golden amber. She pretended not to notice how perfectly they reflected the warmth blooming in her chest. Instead, she focused on straightening displays and checking inventory, steadfastly ignoring how her magic kept reaching out, searching for traces of tiger energy in the air.

“I am in so much trouble,” she muttered, reorganizing the same shelf for the third time.

But as she recalled his playful smile and the genuine warmth in his eyes when he’d outlined his vision for their collaboration, she couldn’t bring herself to regret it. Some risks, after all, were worth taking.

Even if they came packaged in expensive suits with a dangerous smile and enough raw power to make her magical senses sing. Even if accepting meant potentially losing her heart to a tiger who already seemed to know exactly how to make her pulse race.

“Definitely trouble,” she murmured, but this time, it sounded more like anticipation than warning.

A customer entered, setting the shop’s bells chiming, and Clover straightened her apron. She had a business to run, after all. She couldn’t spend all day thinking about handsome shifters and their ridiculous dimples and intriguing business propositions.

Even if her magic seemed determined to remember exactly how it felt when his power harmonized with hers.

“Focus,” she told herself firmly. But her smile refused to fade, and her candles continued to flicker with decidedly romantic hues.

It was going to be a very interesting partnership indeed.

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