Chapter 12
“What is wrong with him?” I fumed, a wicker basket secured on my forearm as I perused various flowers in Flora’s shop, Flora and Fauna.
While the flora portion of the title was pretty obvious, given my pixie best friend’s name as well as it being a floral shop, the fauna came from the numerous pets she let roam free in the store during hours—a couple of cats, a small dog, a raven, a miniature pig, and a chicken.
You’d think they would cause chaos and poop everywhere, but Flora had them well-trained.
They brought smiles to customers, and regulars looked forward to visiting with them.
Flora stood near the cash register, arranging a wintry bouquet of white roses, blue delphinium, mini daisies, and feather willow eucalyptus. “Do you want me to support you no matter what, or is this a moment you’d like my honest opinion?”
I twirled twigs of cranberries between two fingers, holding them up to the light before adding them to my haul. Sighing, I turned to face her, propping the basket on one hip. “I’m probably going to regret this, but be honest with me.”
Flora dusted her hands, nodded, and pressed her palms on the counter. “I think you’re blowing this out of proportion.” Her small wings fluttered erratically, a finger raising as soon as I opened my mouth to defend myself. “You asked for honesty, so hush up and listen to it, Syl.”
Holding back the urge to stomp my foot like a child not getting their way, I bit my lips together and kept quiet.
“In this situation, Jack was trying to impress a would-be mate. He was the peacock showing you his elaborately beautiful feather display.” Flora plucked a peacock feather from a vase on a table surrounded by various bird feather types and waved it at me. “You were impressed, were you not?”
Yes. And that look on his face as he used his magic—so confident, so powerful, so utterly and completely in control.
Tracing my fingers over a poinsettia, I gave a nonchalant shrug. “Maybe.”
“Yes,” Flora shouted, making the cats screech and scurry under the counter. “Say yes, because you were.”
I clutched the basket to my chest like Flora was about to shoot fireballs from her eyes at me. “Why are you being so mean? You’re never mean.”
“I’m not being mean. This is called tough love. Now admit it, Sylvaria.” Flora slapped her hands together.
The sound made me jump, and I flopped the flower basket onto the nearest display case. “Alright, alright. Yes. It was very impressive. Happy?”
Flora tilted her head at the peacock feather before adding it to her in-progress bouquet.
“Now, Jack, being the peacock in this scenario, sees that his efforts are working, and he’s that much closer.
His telling you what a queen you’ll be is his reaction to your reaction, and I find it completely valid. ”
The way he commanded me to sit, to watch his “display.” Recalling it had my thighs pinching together.
The skin underneath my eyes crinkled, and a peculiar tidal wave of guilt threatened to drown me. “I take it back. Tell me what I want to hear, Flor.”
Grinning, her usual peppy demeanor back, she primped the bouquet with her palms. “Too late. Why are you so combative at the prospect of having a mate, anyway? I think it’s pretty great.”
Turning back to the vast array of flower selections, I jolted when I was met with a chicken cocking its head sideways and nearly upside down at me, giving a single bawk.
“Petunia, you almost startled me out of my skin.” Smiling, I patted the chicken’s head.
“You weren’t there when Jack and I first met. He was cocky, elusive, and cold.”
Handsome. Confident. That tattoo. Those muscles.
“Cold? You really going with that one, Syl?”
I slammed the basket back down and whirled to face her. “Okay, I need you to be at least five percent on my side.”
“I am one hundred percent on your side, friend.” Flora stretched over the counter, her apple cheeks going rosy from the effort. She squeezed my forearm. “And he’s a butthead for being such a meanie, but he’s trying to turn that around now, isn’t he?”
“Sure. Now that it’s convenient.” I blew my bangs from my eyes and rubbed the tip of my ear.
Flora came around the corner now, taking the tiniest of steps that only a pixie could pull off.
When she stood next to me, her head was in line with my boobs, and she gave me a side hug, her temple pressing against the side of them.
“Who hurt you, sweetie? I don’t recall you having anyone recently to have made you this jaded. ”
A deep sigh rolled from my lungs, from my frustrated inner being, before I bent to rest my head on top of hers. “No one. And I’m not jaded. I’m reserved.”
“Semantics,” Flora breathed out, still pressed against me.
“What’s this bouquet for?” I squeezed Flora’s shoulder before moving to the wintry mix of flowers and accents.
“Mayor Tibbs asked me to make arrangements for the solstice ball.” Flora clapped her hands together excitedly. “Leonard asked me to go.”
“Leonard?” I blanched. “The faun?”
Flora scrunched her nose and threw her hands to her hips. “What’s wrong with fauns? It’s nice we’re the same height. He doesn’t have to touch his toes practically to kiss me on the cheek.”
Giving a one-shoulder shrug, I sprinkled my magic over the flowers, giving them a sparkling, icy glow. “I always thought that was cute to watch them work for it.”
Flora did her infamous giggle snort and admired my magical handiwork. “You would say that. Are you going? To the ball, I mean?”
“No, I don’t—”
“Of course, she is,” Jack’s voice interrupted.
Flora and I froze, slowly turning on our heels to Jack standing in the doorway with his hands in his pockets. He wore his V-neck shirt and jeans, which were just as attractive as his finer attire.
“Wow. I didn’t hear him coming through the door,” Flora mused, whispering it to me like he wouldn’t still hear.
“Neither did I. What did you do? Sneak through a crack as a snowy backdraft?” I found myself tossing my hair from my chest as if I wanted to display my breasts for him. When his gaze dropped to them, I quickly pulled some hair back.
“Something like that. I can’t reveal all my secrets straight away. A king has to have a few surprises up his sleeve, after all.” Jack planted his most charming smile, his eyes focused solely on me, reeling me in with those ethereal sky-blue eyes.
Flora mouthed the word “king” to me, her eyes sparkling. I widened my eyes at her as a warning.
Flora giggled and playfully punched my arm. “You’re taking Sylvie to the ball then, Jack?”
“That is—” Jack strode in front of me, his eyes searching my hair, a warm smile gracing his lips when he noticed my ears poking out. “—if she’ll have me.”
Have me.
My knees buckled. I cleared my throat, reaching for the counter behind me to steady myself.
“She says yes,” Flora answered for me.
That brought me back to reality at lightning-fast speed, and I tossed her a seething glare.
“Perfect.” Jack leaned forward, pressing his hand on the counter near my hip and making the muscle under that sleeve tattoo tense. “Will you let me give you a dress for the occasion, or are you going to be stubborn about that, too?”
I wanted to slap him as much as I wanted to laugh and suck his freaking face at such a snarky comment. Instead, my jaw dropped and I stood, bringing us a breath apart.
Flora appeared at our sides, and I could see her wide grin out of the corner of my eye.
“You know what? Alright, fine. Sure, I’ll take the dress, Jack.” Flashing him a coy smile, I lifted my chin, trying desperately to mask the way his scent was casting waves of pleasure in my core. His scent.
“Really?” Jack arched a thick blonde brow.
“Yup. I love dresses. And I also love the price of free. Win-win for me.” I puffed out my chest because I had so won that.
A hearty laugh exploded from the depths of Jack’s stomach, his eyes sparkling with mirth. “Fair enough. When’s the ball?”
“Tomorrow night,” Flora answered, still staring at us from the counter, sitting on it, and kicking her feet.
Jack and I never looked away from each other.
“And the time?” Jack asked.
I suddenly became acutely aware of the breath going in and out of our mouths—air shared between us from how close we were.
Without realizing it, I used a single finger to search for his, grazing our skin together.
I bit the inside of my bottom lip at how delicious it felt.
The slightest touch had that blanketed coldness wrapping around me.
Jack’s eyes lazily panned to my finger, stealing the chill from him, and he curled his pinky with mine.
“Seven,” Flora answered again.
Jack breathed out a subtle masculine purr. “Seven it is then. I’ll meet you there.” He pulled away from me just like all the times I had pulled away from him, denying me the euphoria I yearned to feel.
How could I blame him?
Flora blinked as she watched Jack heading for the exit. “What about the dress?”
While walking backward, Jack pressed a finger to the side of his nose. A shimmering pearlescent box appeared on the counter between me and Flora, sending our hair in plumes from the magic.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, faerie,” Jack said, bumping his ass into the door and disappearing into the snowfall.
Staring out the shop windows, hoping to see Jack within the shimmers of white still, I trailed my fingers down my throat and rubbed at the dip between my collarbones.
“Sylvie,” Flora beckoned, tugging on my elbow and pointing at the beautiful box. “The box itself is pretty. Can you imagine what the dress will look like?”
Gulping, I moved in front of it, and we studied the box for a solid three minutes as if we were disarming a ticking bomb. “Should I open it?”
Flora smacked her hands on the table. “Of course, you should open it. At least get a sneak peek?”
Flora’s raven, Dahlia, perched on the table beside us, cawing at the mysterious box.
Gripping the box’s edges, I slowly lifted the top and gasped at the shimmering crystals lining the bodice.
The dress was snow white with pale blue accents in overlapping shapes that appeared like snowflakes, wintry twigs, and a filigree-like design I had never seen.
I traced my hand over it, my magic pulsing from my fingertips and showering the dress with sparkling silver and blue dust.
“Shit, I didn’t mean to—” Rubbing my lips together, I tried to pull the magic back, but it didn’t relent, content with interweaving itself into the dress’s fabric and accentuating the already vibrant crystals and gemstones.
“I’d say, between the two of you, that dress is now fit for a winter queen,” Flora said with a girly squeal, her wings fluttering enough to make her levitate from the ground.
It was beautiful. I’d never seen my magic react that way. I’d always been in complete control of it since the incident, and this was the first time that it responded to my emotions again, disregarding my shield.
If Jack and I really were mates, if what he said was true, that he could help control my power and use it to the utmost of my ability—what could I do?