Except…what did I do with them? I couldn’t very well just lay them down on a table, could I? He certainly wouldn’t want to wait for me to put them in a vase—it was arduous work, especially with stems this long. I’d have to measure them against the vase and then cut them down…
Mr. Tom saved me, as usual.
“Absolutely gorgeous, miss.” He stepped up next to me and put out his hands. “Allow me to put them in a beautiful crystal vase so that you may best show them off.”
“Oh, thank you.” Delighted, I handed them over. “They really are beautiful, Damarion. Thank you.”
He nodded and the door opened, Ivy House butting in. She really wanted me to get laid. If he was startled, he didn’t show it.
“Shall we?” He gestured me out.
“Yes, of course.” I took my clutch from the little table by the door and led the way, Damarion falling in beside me on the walkway.
Waiting by the curb was a silver Lexus, a sporty sedan model that I’d never seen before. The lights flashed, Damarion unlocking it while crossing to the driver’s side.
“Is this your car?” I noticed the sticker in the window, indicating it was brand new.
“Yes. With so many non-magical people around, I decided a car would be necessary for transportation.”
“Right.” I sat into the cream leather interior, doing a quick check to make sure everything was still safely tucked into my dress before he got in. “So you just…went and bought a car, huh?”
He closed his door. “Yes, of course. The non-magical police frown on stealing.”
I smiled, about to laugh, but then realized he wasn’t joking. Which then made me laugh harder. “Too true. Pesky non-magical police.”
He revved the engine, and then we were on our way. Closed in the car together, I caught a hint of his cologne: subtle and sweet, somewhat floral.
“Where do you live?” I asked as we headed toward the highway. “Oh. We’re not having dinner in town?”
“No. There’s a nice restaurant in Franklin I think you’ll like.”
“Oh, great. I haven’t really explored the area.”
Once on a highway, trees and signs zipped past, his speed way over the limit.
“So…where’d you come from?” I asked, having to unclench my jaw to do so. “What’s your hometown?”
“A small town in Pennsylvania, about four times the size of this one. Only magical people reside there.”
“Oh, really? That’s interesting. And…” I tightened my hand as he swerved around a car, our speed still climbing. I gritted my teeth. I didn’t want to be that woman, the one who bosses or nags or tells a man on the first date that he is doing something wrong, but I also didn’t want to be dead. It was a very fine line at that moment. I tried to ignore it, knowing he also flew at a jaw-dropping speed. His reaction time probably wouldn’t be that much different on the ground, would it? “How do you keep magical people from— Watch out, deer!”
He glanced over when he really should’ve had his eyes facing forward.
“What is wrong?” The car swerved around the frozen animal at the last moment, the right tires rolling off the shoulder and into the dirt before he maneuvered us back into the lane.
“Not a thing.” I sucked in a lungful of air, adrenaline firing. “I’m just calmly watching my life flash before my eyes. It reminds me of when we went flying earlier. Remember when you suddenly dropped me, let me fall, and then scooped me up at the last minute? This is kind of like that.”
“Yes. I’ve seldom heard a woman scream so loudly. I hope to get that volume out of you again, but in the bedroom next time.”
I widened my eyes, not sure what to say to that. I went with the eloquence of “Yeah.”
“You screamed through the whole lesson.”
“Well, yes, mostly because I thought I was going to die. For a while there, I thought you might make me have an ‘accident’ for magically knocking you around earlier. I made it, though, so that’s good news.”
“I do not have accidents in the sky.” His tone was haughty. “My purpose is to protect you, Jacinta. I would die to do so.”
Warmth flooded me. For the second time, I didn’t know what to say.
“Why do you flap your arms when you’re in the air, though?” He turned abruptly off the highway, not slowing nearly enough before he did so. The tires screamed around the corner and the back end of the car whipped out.
“Oh God.” I squeezed my eyes shut. “Please slow down a little. I’m just starting to really like my life. I don’t want to lose it.”
“I am in complete control.” He took another corner too fast, very nearly hitting a tree with the back end of the car as the whole vehicle slid off the road through the dirt. “I’d expected the car to handle a little better, however. Must be the roads.”