9. Lucien #2
Two aisles later, he speaks again. “I like getting my nails done.” Sparkle keeps his attention on the shelves.
Maybe it’s easier to talk that way. “And sometimes I go shopping for clothes. Fun shopping. I like dancing when no one’s paying me to do it.
” His tail slows. “And sometimes I shift into my cat and find somewhere warm to sleep where nobody can bother me.”
“That sounds nice.”
“It is.” Sparkle finally looks at me. “You’re very nosy.”
“Don’t you ask your friends questions to get to know them?”
There it is again. That beautiful pink spreads across his cheeks.
“You care about everyone around you, darlin’. I want to know who takes care of you.”
“I can take care of myself.” Sparkle folds his arms. “Stop acting like I need someone to save me.”
That lands way harder than I expect. “I don’t think you need saving.”
Sparkle cocks out his hip. So sassy, this kitty.
I give him my full attention. “I think you deserve to be cherished. There’s a difference.”
His tail goes still. Someone pushes a cart past us and gives me a strange look. I smile and wave. They hurry away. Sparkle snorts.
“I’m pretty charming.”
“You scared them.” He uncrosses his arms, but when his eyes meet mine again, the sadness is still there. “I can’t go on a date with you.”
I don’t like the answer, but I nod and reach for the bag of flour beside him.
“Okay.”
His eyebrows shoot up. “Okay?”
I place the flour in the cart. “No means no, darlin’. I’m trying to woo you. Making you uncomfortable would rather defeat the purpose.”
His ears slowly rise. “So you’re giving up?”
I grin.
His eyes narrow. “Why are you smiling like that?”
“You didn’t ask me to give up.”
“Lucien.”
“You said you don’t have time for a date. I respect that.”
“But?”
“No buts.”
I compare two jars that look almost identical before holding one up. Sparkle points to the other, so I switch them.
“Lucien.”
“Sparkle.”
His tail flicks.
I laugh. “If you tell me you don’t want me around, I’ll leave you alone. Completely. I promise.”
Sparkle’s mouth opens, but no words come out. He doesn’t say it. Interesting.
“I’m not going to pressure you into a date. When you have room for me, you know where to find me.”
His phone rings, and he sighs. “Hey, Mama.”
I continue down the aisle while he talks, grabbing the next couple of things when he points them out.
“Yes, I got the strawberries. Two containers.” He pauses and rubs between his brows. “No, I didn’t forget. I have the pasta too. I know. I’ll get it.” His shoulders tense. “I can do that before I pick up Ferris. Yeah. Love you too.”
He hangs up and shoves his phone into his pocket.
“What was added to the list?”
“Nothing.”
I raise an eyebrow.
Sparkle sighs. “I need to stop by the apothecary and pick up an order. Then I need to drop something off at the Hawthorn Coven before I get Ferris.”
“And then?”
“Home. Help get dinner started. Help the kittens with their homework. Take a nap. Then I work tonight.”
My chest aches. No wonder the cat doesn’t have time for a date. He barely has time to breathe.
“I can help.”
“No.”
“Okay.”
I turn the cart toward the next aisle instead of arguing.
Sparkle tosses another item into the cart. “You don’t have to look at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you feel sorry for me.”
“I don’t.” I stop beside the cart and meet his eyes. “I think you’re incredible.”
He freezes. I grab the last item from his list and drop it inside.
“There. Shopping finished.”
Sparkle scrolls through the list twice. “We got everything?”
“I told you we’d breeze through it.”
His lips twitch. I want to kiss him. Gods, I want to kiss him. Instead, I push the cart toward the checkout. Sparkle catches up beside me. Our tails brush, and his jerks away. A few seconds later, it brushes mine again. This time neither of us moves.
“I really am too busy,” he whispers as we join the checkout line.
“I believe you.”
“I don’t want you thinking I’m saying no because of the song.”
I start unloading groceries onto the belt. “Good. Because I worked very hard on that song.”
Sparkle laughs and hands me a carton of eggs.
“And I rhymed.”
He laughs harder, his tail curling around mine for one beautiful second before slipping away. Fuck. I’m in trouble.
Sparkle bags while I pass groceries to him, and by the time the cart is full again, we’ve fallen into an easy rhythm neither of us comments on.
When the last bag is packed, I turn to him. “I’ll leave you to your errands.”
Something flashes across his face. Disappointment? Surely not.
“You’re leaving?”
“You have a lot to do.” I want to offer to teleport him everywhere he needs to go.
I could have his entire afternoon finished in twenty minutes.
I could take him somewhere quiet afterward.
Somewhere warm. Somewhere no one could ask anything from him.
But that’s not what he asked for. I gently tap one finger against his nose. Sparkle goes cross-eyed looking at it.
“Have a good day, pretty kitty.”
His ears twitch, and he swats lightly at my hand. “You too, ridiculous demon.”
I grin, take a few steps away, then snap my fingers and let the world fold around me. The last thing I see before Hex disappears is Sparkle standing beside an overflowing grocery cart, staring at the empty space where I stood.
He said no. I can live with no. What I can’t live with is the way that beautiful cat looked almost disappointed when I listened.