Chapter 17
Gideon thought that by confirming the evening wasn’t a date, he was doing Sabrina a favor. She’d told him very clearly she didn’t like him in that way. Now, however, she seemed shut down. Like she’d drawn into herself.
A snail hiding in its shell.
He guessed that he’d said it too forcefully. Made too big of an issue out of it.
Despite not truly understanding women or having a lot of experience with them, he was smart enough to comprehend that even if she didn’t like him, no woman wanted to feel they weren’t at least somewhat desirable.
He glared at the sprite. What a meddlesome creature. Always causing trouble. And purposefully, too. If Amelia knew what was good for her, she’d seal up that music box as soon as the sprite was back in it, bury it in the Enchanted Forest, and forget it existed.
He cleared his throat. He had to make this right. “I just didn’t want you to feel obligated to me in any way. For the ice cream. Or anything.”
She nodded, her gaze on her sundae, which she was now only picking at.
He was no good at this. He had no practice. No skills with women. Not the slightest clue how to fix this now that his attempt had done nothing.
Clearly, his curse had not taken the evening off.
He resolved to try again. “Sabrina, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. But I know you don’t like me, and that’s okay. I don’t like me much either.”
She looked up, something unreadable in her eyes. “What is wrong with you?”
He wasn’t prepared to answer that question. At least not here, surrounded by townspeople enjoying their ice cream. He just shook his head.
“You just can’t let anything alone, can you?”
He still had no words. He blinked, doing his best to come up with something. How did he respond to that?
Before he had a chance, she leaned in, voice edged in steel, eyes on fire. “I get that we’re very different people. You have money; I don’t. You have class; I don’t. You’re sophisticated; I’m—”
“Whoa. Why on earth would you think you don’t have class? You have plenty of class. And on top of that, you’re clever and beautiful and have friends and a cat.” She was so above him in life, he couldn’t imagine what had made her think that way.
She stared at him.
This time, he leaned toward her, keeping his voice down. “I’m sorry that I’ve made you feel this way, and you’re right, we are very different people, but that’s because I cannot escape my curse. And I never will.” He ground his teeth together. “It’s why I keep people away.”
There. The truth was out. At least a large part of it.
She continued to stare at him. The sprite was thankfully too busy eating his ice cream to pay attention.
Gideon sat back and flattened his hands on the table. “I should go.”
She reached out like she was going to touch him but stopped short. “No. Don’t. Please. I thought … never mind what I thought. I’m sorry, too. Let’s just pretend none of that happened, okay? It was a nice evening until …”
She turned slowly to look at the sprite, who was now watching them with glee in his eyes, shoveling ice cream into his mouth at an astonishing rate. “You.”
The word came out not quite a snarl, but it was enough to make the sprite stop smiling.
“What?” he asked.
Sabrina’s eyes narrowed. “You’re a troublemaker.”
“No, I’m not.” But there was no conviction in the sprite’s voice.
“Yes, you are. Why on earth would you be so awful to the only two people in this world who care one bit about you?”
Gideon actually didn’t care about the sprite, but now was not the time to mention that.
“I wasn’t awful,” the sprite muttered. “I was just having fun. Getting you two to talk.”
“We were already talking. And why do you think it’s fun to upset people?
People who already have enough to deal with?
” She shook her head, obviously steamed and not remotely cooling down.
“We’re not going to hear music after this.
We’re going home. You can get back in that music box or not, I don’t care. You’re not worth the trouble.”
Gideon had never been so glad not to be the center of someone’s attention. The sprite looked like he was about to cry. Gideon realized he had an interesting opportunity in front of him. He decided to test the waters. “Maybe if you give him a second chance, he’ll change his ways.”
She glanced at Gideon, the cunning in her eyes surprising him. She knew exactly what she was doing. “No, I don’t think so.” She went back to eating her sundae with purpose.
“I will change my ways,” the sprite pleaded. “Listen to him.”
She lifted a spoonful of ice cream out of the glass. “I bought you new clothes. I let you stay in my house. I even let you ride my cat around. Not to mention you got two ice creams. And look how you treated me and Gideon. Shameful.”
The sprite sniffed. He hopped off the napkin dispenser and came over to Sabrina, putting his hand on her arm. “I’m sorry.”
She finally glanced at him. “Am I supposed to believe that?”
He nodded, looking about as pitiful as a creature could look.
Gideon bit his tongue to keep from laughing.
She frowned. “You get one more chance. One.”
The sprite hugged her arm. “Thank you.”
For the sheer madness and cunning of what she’d just accomplished, Gideon wanted to kiss her. She’d become even more attractive, and he already thought she was beautiful. He’d never met a woman like her before. Not much of a surprise considering the life he led, but still.
Sabrina Moreau was a force to be reckoned with. A beautiful, shrewd force. The kind of woman that men wrote poems about and carved statues of. The kind they went to war over. And she was sitting across from him.
The sprite still clung to her. Almost like he was afraid that letting go might cause her to change her mind. In a soft voice, he asked, “Can we still go hear music?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Please?” The sprite stared up at her, eyes big.
She sighed as though the decision was costing her a tremendous amount. “Fine. But if you cause one ounce of trouble—”
“I won’t,” the sprite promised. Smiling big now, he flew up and kissed her cheek. “Thank you, Sabrina.”
“Eat your ice cream before it melts.” She looked at Gideon, her pursed lips barely hiding a smile.
He shook his head in admiration. She was so out of his league.
Their server dropped off Gideon’s credit card and receipt, and a few minutes after that, they were headed to the car. Sabrina was holding on to her mood, no doubt for the sprite’s sake, who was about as well-behaved as anyone, human or otherwise, could be.
Gideon opened her door for her. She smiled up at him. “Thank you for the ice cream. That was sweet of you.”
Add sweet to the list of things he’d never been called before. “I would have paid double for that show,” he whispered.
She smirked and got in.
Fiddler Street was crowded with evening traffic, as it was a hot spot for great restaurants and clubs, but Sabrina found a spot on a side street. They got out and headed for the club.
Sabrina glanced down at her jeans. “I hope I’m not underdressed. I thought this was okay at the house. Now I’m not so sure. And you look so nice.”
“You look fantastic. They’d be foolish not to let you in.”
She smiled. “I guess we’ll see.”
A doorman sat on a stool at the entrance. “Evening, folks. Twenty-dollar cover charge for the men, ladies free.”
Sabrina gasped. “Twenty—”
“It’s okay,” Gideon said. “I’ve got it.” He peeled off two bills and handed them over.
The doorman took them with a nod. “Enjoy your evening.”
“That’s outrageous,” she murmured to Gideon as they went inside.
He smiled at the fire in her eyes. “Everyone has to make a living.”
“I guess. But twenty bucks? I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “I’m not.” Soft music filled the space.
The club’s interior had brick side walls.
Brass sconces provided the atmospheric lighting while posters of jazz and blues musicians set the tone.
The simple dark wood tables and chairs were only about half occupied.
It was still early for a place like this.
He looked at Korrin. “Pick a table you like.”
The sprite hovered in place. He pointed. “Over there.”
“Lead the way,” Gideon said.
He took off. Gideon caught Sabrina’s hand to hold her back. Her skin was warm and soft and took his breath away. She stopped immediately. He found his voice. “Don’t worry about the money. Really. I haven’t had this much fun in a long time.” Not ever, truthfully, but he didn’t need her to know that.
She glanced at his hand wrapped around hers. She looked paler suddenly, but it was probably the dim lighting in the club.
“Are you okay?”
“What? I’m fine.” She exhaled. “I can’t pay you back. Not until I get the money for the music box.”
“I don’t want to be paid back.”
She gazed at him for a moment without saying anything. “You mean that, don’t you?”
“With all my heart.” He let go of her hand. He’d already held it too long. “Come on, let’s get a drink and enjoy ourselves.”
“Thank you.”
He smiled. If not for his curse, he could fall in love with a woman like her.