Chapter 26
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Phin could kill Jessica. Be careful! Oh my gosh, she knew exactly what her parents meant. Could they be any more obvious?
Good heavens! Did they think she was going to drive Rhaz to some seedy motel somewhere and have her way with him? It was bad enough they did it to Jessica when it came to Richard, but now they were doing it to her, and she’d hardly known Rhaz a week.
Of course, look at how fast Jessica had fallen for Richard. They’d only been dating a little over a month. One would think they were ready to get married.
Richard seemed completely smitten with Jessica, and now Rhaz had to tease her about hand-holding, boyfriends, girlfriends, and all of that. And on top of it, she’d basically kidnapped him.
“How about that milkshake?” she asked, turning toward Frosty’s.
“What is a milkshake?” he asked, his voice dripping innocence.
He was really good at that, and sometimes she didn’t know if he was teasing or not. “They don’t have milkshakes where you come from either?”
“No, they do not. What is it?”
“It’s like ice cream.”
“Ah.” His eyes lit up. “I have had that. Anon keeps it in his freezer. Quill loves the stuff.”
“Yes, well, it’s like that, only… meltier.”
He laughed. “I do not know what that means.”
“That’s okay. It’s not a word.”
“I see,” he said, still laughing. “That does not explain what it is, though.”
She huffed out a breath. “Okay. It’s ice cream you can suck through a straw.”
“A straw. I am familiar with that. Yes, I’ve seen those.”
“Thank goodness,” she said in relief. Because if she had to explain a straw to him, that would be too much. Straws were universal, like salt and pepper.
She pulled into Frosty’s. They got out and went to place their order.
Phin ordered a peanut butter chocolate milkshake, and Rhaz ordered a marionberry milkshake. When they got them, they sat at one of the outside tables across from each other.
Rhaz stared at his shake. “Now that you have me, Seraphina Ironwood,” he said in a low, sexy voice, “what will you do with me?”
Her head snapped up, and she stared at him with wide eyes. “Oh my gosh. You noticed I kidnapped you.”
He burst out laughing. “How could I not? But I like it. So am I to be held for ransom?”
“Oh no. I don’t give my victims back.”
He laughed some more. “Then what do you do with them?”
Her parents waving at them from the porch flashed through her mind, and she blushed a deep red.
Rhaz took one look at her and burst out laughing again.
“Oh, stop, will you? You’re not making me feel any better about this, and I just took you for a milkshake.” She sucked on her straw. The shake was so thick it wouldn’t come up.
“I need a spoon.” She left the table, got two spoons, and returned.
Her cheeks were still hot, and she knew she was still blushing. She did that a lot around him at this point.
Phin didn’t know what was worse: being alone with Rhaz or being with him while Jessica and Richard were in tow.
For a while there was nothing but silence between them, and Phin was grateful. She needed a little reprieve from her earlier embarrassment. Surely he had to know what her parents meant.
But then again, different cultures. Maybe he associated it with the two of them getting into her car. She wasn’t going to contradict that.
“So,” he finally said, breaking the silence, “what have you done today?”
“Got up, had breakfast, baked cookies,” she said in rapid succession.
“You bake cookies a lot?”
.”Yes. Actually, my mother bakes cookies a lot, and I just help her.” She sighed. “A lot.”
She looked away, pressing her lips together. “What must you think of me?”
She returned her attention to him with a smile and hoped she didn’t look awkward. “I like you, Seraphina Ironwood. I wanted to spend time with you, so I came over to your home. I hope that is all right.”
“Yes, except now my parents probably think we’re...” She shut up. “Never mind. It’s all good. All good.” She took another sip of her shake. She could finally suck it through the straw now that it was three-quarters gone. He kept eating his with a spoon.
“What do you want to do now?” she asked without thinking.
He smiled. “We could take a walk somewhere.”
“I’m afraid around here that’s about all there is to do unless you’d like to go into some of the shops. They’re going to be closing soon, though. It’s getting late.”
“Shops like what we did with Jessica and Richard?”
“Yes, something like that. Go stare at stuff you can’t afford, long for it, then leave,” she said sarcastically.
He cocked his head. “I noticed you did not get anything yesterday.”
“No, because I don’t have a boyfriend with money. Who knew accountants made so much?” She laughed. It wasn’t that funny.
“Would you like something?”
“I’d like a lot of things, like most people, Rhaz. I just can’t afford them. I’m going to have to get a job soon.”
“Do you not get anything from volunteering? Anon talked about it and said that some volunteers received a wage. Did you not tell me you did?”
“I may have. But it’s a very small one. I may get a job here at Frosty’s or the hardware or fabric store until I decide what I want to do.”
He gave her a heartfelt look. “If that’s what you wish to do, then you should do it. You still have plenty of time to decide what you want to do with your life and where you want to live.”
She rested one hand on the table and started drumming her fingers. “That’s the problem, Rhaz. This is my home. I don’t want to leave it. I realize I’d miss my family, my sister. Heck, I might even miss Richard.”
“Then why leave?”
“Because of what I went to school for. I don’t think I could get a job here that would use those skills. You don’t exactly need a communications degree to work at the fabric store.”
“Perhaps not. But you’ll think of something. Where I come from, those skills would come in handy.”
Phin didn’t say anything. She didn’t even have the urge to ask exactly where he came from. Instead, she picked up her milkshake and sucked up the rest.
Finished with their milkshakes, they returned to Phin’s car.
Rhaz enjoyed teasing her and wanted to do it some more but wasn’t sure if it was right.
After all, it bordered on flirting. Maybe it did count as flirting in this realm.
It would in his. If he’d paid that much attention to any of the women at court, they’d be telling their fathers to write up a marriage proposal for the king to sign.
Did kings sign marriage proposals here? Somehow he didn’t think so.
“Well, that was tasty,” Phin said as soon as they got in the car.
“It was, wasn’t it?” He put his seat belt on. “What would you like to do now?”
“Now?” she sputtered. “Oh, you mean you still want to hang out?”
“Hang out,” he said slowly. “Does that mean spend time together?”
“Um, yeah. Everybody knows that.”
“Well then, yes. I would like to hang out.”
She blushed and started the car. “Where should we go?”
“Surprise me,” he said.
Phin nodded and they were off. She drove to the downtown area, parked her car, and they got out.
“Are we shopping?” he asked.
“Well, window shopping. In case you are wondering, that means you look at stuff you can’t afford.”
“And wallow in misery, as you said.” He made a sad face.
“I didn’t say it that way,” she corrected emphatically. “I meant that?—”
“I know what you meant, Seraphina Ironwood. Come show me these shops.” He headed for the nearest one.
She took him into a boutique. At least, that’s what the sign said. He wasn’t sure what that meant. But he’d find out.
It was full of what looked like clothing for human females. “What is this place?” he asked, even though it was obvious.
“It’s a clothing store for women. An expensive one. I’ve never really shopped here.”
“Never? And you live here?”
“Yes. Well...” She drew near and whispered, “I can’t afford it.”
He gave her a nod and looked around, taking everything in.
“May I help you?” a woman asked, coming out from behind a curtain in the back of the store.
“Oh no, we’re just looking,” Phin told her.
The woman was the most well-dressed woman he’d seen in Moon Creek Falls. She looked Phin up and down, taking in her pink top, ripped pants—apparently that was a fashion statement—and tennis shoes.
“I see,” the woman said and took up her post behind the counter, as if expecting Phin to steal something.
“If you could afford it,” he said in a low voice, “what would you get?”
“Oh, well.” Phin gave a nervous laugh. “I don’t know. That’s a silly question, really. I don’t even allow myself to wonder.”
“Humor me,” he said, his voice low.
She stared at him a moment, and he could see how he was affecting her. Let alone the scent she was giving off. It was going to drive him mad if he wasn’t careful.
“Um, let’s see.” Phin went to a rack of clothes and began sorting through them. Finally, she picked out a blue top and held it against herself. “See? I like this.”
“It is lovely. How much does it cost?”
She looked at the price tag. “Eighty bucks,” she said with an eye roll.
“Is that a lot?” he asked.
“Oh, don’t start now.” She put it back on the rack.
He made eye contact with the woman behind the counter and pointed at the blouse with a nod.
She immediately moved, headed for the rack, snatched the blouse, and stashed it behind the counter.
Rhaz gave her another curt nod, acknowledging her service. He was used to giving commands and being obeyed immediately. He was surprised she knew what he meant.
Phin continued through the shop, pulling clothes from racks and showing him different things.
After a while, he had to ask, “Are you looking at things that are your size?”
“Yeah. I’m surprised they even have my size. A lot of things are far too small.”
“But you are small,” he pointed out.
She nodded toward her chest.
“Oh.” His cheeks heated. Yes, she was petite, yet voluptuous.
Each time she pulled something from a rack, Rhaz looked it over and watched the expression of longing on her face. If that longing was big enough, he would nod at the woman behind the counter. She, in turn, would quietly retrieve the item while Phin looked at something else.