Chapter 4 #3
“Ah, no, not really,” Liam said, trailing behind.
“I haven’t found anything that’s grabbed my attention, and it’s too damned cold to work outside.
Just little projects, I guess. Fixed my mom’s vacuum.
Reading a lot of legal stuff for the divorce.
I applied for a couple jobs, but you know how the offseason is. ”
“I do, and I’d be going nuts.” Chase paused again. “You know, if you’re interested, I could use a hand with some bigger projects. Nothing crazy, just grunt work and heavy lifting. It’s not sexy, but if you need something to keep you occupied…”
Not sexy? Had Chase seen himself with a tool belt on? Man could be on one of those calendars. “Uh, yeah, thanks. I might take you up on that.” Liam frowned, all too aware that Chase’s words were echoing his mother’s.
And damn it, but they weren’t wrong. What Liam really should be doing was sucking it up and trying to get his law license reinstated.
The idea made him ill, but as much as he hated being in a courtroom—the person he became in a courtroom—slapping an “esquire” at the end of his name again would look a hell of a lot more impressive on his bid for custody than “mechanic.”
Of course, having a current job to back up either title would probably help, too. He scratched his jaw, reluctantly deciding to work on that after New Years when the prohibitionary period on his license was up—and God help him if that meant he had to head back out west.
The possibility made both him and his wolf ill.
Chase pushed through the door at the top of the steps, and Liam followed him in. The apartment smelled like cheesy, garlicky heaven. He paused, sucking in a deep breath. “Wow, that smells amazing.”
“Of course it smells amazing,” Aggie snapped at him from a chair by the windows. “What do you think, this is some two-bit operation? Lasagna’s not something you fuck around with, which is why you better have the right cheese!” she yelled after Chase.
He waved a wedge at her, and she grunted in approval.
“Ignore her.” Jena rolled her eyes as she took Liam’s arm and steered him into the kitchen. “She’s just pissed because Gorman—sorry, Manny’s—late. Does this need to go in the fridge?” the curvy little brunette asked, reaching for the six pack.
“Huh? Oh. Yeah, but I’ll take one now, if that’s okay,” he said, handing it over and following her into the kitchen.
Chase definitely hadn’t had his way with the space yet.
Thick plastic covered the windows behind a rickety table, and the kitchen was an avocado and baby-shit brown tiled travesty.
A shockingly modern butcher’s block island stood between the two like it’d been beamed in from this century.
“Absolutely.” Jena smiled softly as she Jenga’d the six-pack into the fridge. “Felix will be happy he’s got someone else to drink with.”
“He will?” Liam asked around the lump in his throat.
“Yep. Better catch up. He’s already a half of a bottle in.” She tugged a beer from the six-pack. “You want a glass for this?”
“Uh, no. Bottle’s fine,” Liam said, trying to nonchalantly see where Felix was sitting.
She popped the beer’s cap. “He’s in the bathroom, making room for the rest of the Chablis,” Jena said, far too perceptively.
She started to hand Liam the porter, then pulled it back.
“He’s also had a seriously shitty day and is still fucking pissed at you.
An apology would go a long way, and in the meantime, if you hurt him again, I will turn your scrotum into a coin purse. ”
Liam’s throat bobbed, and he fought to keep from bolting back to his truck.
“Hey, Liam’s had a shitty day, too,” Chase said, coming over and kissing her temple. “And remember what I said what would happen if you threatened our guests?” She blushed and bit her lip, squirming against him, and he laughed. “Or is that why you did it?”
God, they were a cute couple. The pit of Liam’s stomach churned, trying to remember what that was like.
“Fine, and maybe—but I said what I said, and I meant it,” she huffed, unrepentant.
“And do you feel better now?”
“No, but I would if I got to hex someone. My karma has been accumulating way too fast lately, and I know just the jerk to spend some of it on.” She shook violet sparks from her fingers, and her expression softened as she turned back to Liam.
“What Pete did to you was terrible, and I’m sorry you had to go through that.
If it makes you feel any better, you’re not the only person he’s verbally attacked with his shitty world view. ”
Liam stared into his beer. It didn’t. “Thanks.”
Jena went to say something else, and there was a knock at the door, rescuing him.
“It’s open!” Aggie snapped.
Chase sighed. “I’ll get it.”
“That’s gotta be Gorman, Kelsey would just walk right in,” Jena said, shooing Liam after Chase. “Go on, find a seat and eat something.”
Liam escaped into the next room, happy to have the attention off him while everyone focused on Gorman Howe arriving.
The chronically unkept building inspector came into the room disheveled enough to look like he’d just survived a category four hurricane.
He couldn’t have been more than five-foot-five, which was tall for an imp, and all his bluster made him seem even larger.
“You know, there should be a light outside of your shop. Pretty sure that’s a building code violation,” he said, glaring through his askew glasses at Chase closing the door after him.
“Actually, there’s a streetlight within ten feet, which puts the onus onto the city,” Chase replied smoothly, “That said, I submitted plans to restore the gas lamps at either side of the front entry a couple of weeks ago, and you denied them.”
“Plans?” Gorman drew the word out and scowled, his thinning auburn hair sticking up at all angles around his stubby horns. “I didn’t see any plans, and if I did, I denied them for a reason. I suggest you double check your work and resubmit.”
Chase somehow managed not to roll his eyes. “Will do.”
Gorman didn’t seem impressed by his compliance—or anything else. “Aggie. You’re looking adequate.”
“And you’re not,” she sniffed, adjusting her tiara. “Couldn’t bother to put on a clean shirt? That one has ink stains all over the pocket.”
He ran a hand across his short-sleeved plaid button up’s overflowing pocket protector and waggled a bushy brow at her. “Why, when it’s just going to end up on the floor?”
“Oh my God, I’m gonna puke,” Jena muttered, hurrying toward the bathroom.
Aggie pursed her lips. “You should save your mother some work and figure out how to use a laundry bin.”
Gorman slapped a bagged bottle against Chase’s chest and just grinned at her.
Her eyes narrowed back, as he strutted across the room, his long, arrow-tipped tail swishing, and plopped down into the chair by her side.
He leaned over and raised her hand, kissing her knuckles.
Aggie turned away with another sniff and a sly smile on her lips.
Liam leaned over to whisper at Chase. “They’re not…?”
“Yep,” he said, blowing out his cheeks. “I try not to think about it. Grab a plate and dig in. I skipped lunch for this, so it’s not gonna last.”
“Yeah, thanks.” Liam helped himself to a plate from the meat and cheese mountain and sat as Felix came back into the room.
He stiffened when he saw Liam. “Oh look, another reason to drink. Anyone else need more wine?”
Shit. Liam’s mouthful turned to sawdust, and he killed the rest of his beer.
“No, but a couple fingers of whiskey would go a long way,” Chase said, following after Felix. “Dude, be nice,” he hissed.
The door flew open again as they cleared it.
“Sorry I’m late!” Kelsey huffed. “Greta got a wild hair across her ass and decided that since Cups was closed for the day, we needed to do inventory.” She waved a bottle of Bownes and plopped down next to Liam, her beribboned pigtails bouncing as she unscrewed the cap. “What did I miss?”
“That the glasses are in the kitchen,” Aggie said dryly. “Or are you just planning on drinking that swill straight from the tap?”
“What?” Kelsey glanced at the bottle. “This isn’t swill, it’s strawberry, but, yeah, I guess I can do that, if we’re being all fancy.” She popped back up and went into the kitchen.
Liam concentrated on chewing, wishing he’d asked her to grab him another beer. Not a chance he was going in there.
“So, Felix,” Gorman blustered. “What’s this I hear about Fayet suing the town?”
“Well, that didn’t take long,” Felix muttered, coming back in and perching on the opposite side of the couch, his back not quite to Liam. The warlock tossed a few slices of cheese onto his plate and stabbed an olive. Kelsey bounced down between the two men.
“It true?” Gorman asked, loading his plate with mortadella, Limburger, and cocktail onions. God, he probably ate kidneys, too.
Felix eyed the combo with a frown. “Unfortunately.”
Gorman huffed. “Fine time for that brother of yours to up and quit.” He glared at Chase like it was his fault. “From what I hear, he’s left us high and dry.”
“Wait, we haven’t hired another town attorney?” Kelsey asked.
Felix shook his head. “Nope. We’re pretty much screwed on that front.”
“But—” She glanced at Liam, and he threw her a panicked look with a small shake of his head. She rolled her eyes at him and sighed.
“But…” Aggie prompted, her glower all but nailing them to the couch.
“But, um, plenty of people have gotta want that position.” Kelsey squirmed, then downed a hefty swallow of her drink. “Idiot,” she muttered at Liam from behind her glass.
He didn’t care. Even if his license hadn’t been suspended, his background was in arcane law, not civil litigation, and second, he had enough problems without taking on Havers’s.
He knew Fayet’s council, and they’d never been on good terms. He could guarantee that this lawsuit wouldn’t end well, and him being at the helm would only make the entire situation worse.
Like everything else he touched.
His gaze went to Felix, the warlock’s curls just brushing the collar of his magenta satin button-up.
His tie was turquoise and had penguins on it.
He huffed, his cheeks pinking as he scooted farther away from Liam and crossed his long legs, tie-dye socks peeking from between his checkered loafers and olive khakis.
Despite his cold shoulder, a smile tipped up Liam’s lips, in awe of how easily self-expression came to Felix. It was one of the reasons Liam had always found him so attractive. Felix was the king of confidence, and he’d never cared what anybody thought.
And now he was the frickin’ mayor, for God’s sake.
Granted, he seemed miserable in the role, but it wasn’t like him being himself had hobbled him professionally or personally.
Everyone loved Felix. Well, pretty much everyone.
As for the rest of them…Liam chewed his lip, conviction settling back into his belly.
If he wanted to win Felix, he was going to have to learn how to tune out the rest of them and do the same.