Kiss and Spell (Enchanted, Inc.) by Shanna Swendson Page A

her, caught her eye, grinned, and waved. Anyone who saw her friendly response would never guess that she spent most of her time trying to talk me into dating someone else. I was watching her, so I barely noticed out of the corner of my eye when he nodded ever so slightly to her, like he was sending a signal. Her smile faded and she looked much more serious—like a totally different person—when she nodded in response. If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought they were conspiring against me.

Chapter Seven
     
    Owen and I spent the rest of the day working on details for our scavenger hunt event, interrupted only by a deliveryman bringing me a bouquet of daisies from Josh. The card with the flowers wished me a good evening out and told me he’d be thinking of me.
    “That’s nice of him,” Owen said mildly. “How long have you two been together?”
    I started to answer, then realized I didn’t know. The start of our relationship was foggy. “A while, I guess,” I said vaguely. A second later, the answer popped into my head. “Nearly a year.”
    “So it’s serious, I take it.”
    “Yeah, I suppose it is,” I said reluctantly. Then I was surprised that I felt so reluctant about it. But it didn’t feel too serious, at least, not on my part. I barely remembered Josh existed unless I was with him, and I had a hard time remembering specifics of our time together. The only date I recalled with any detail was our last one. Anything happening before that might as well have happened to someone else. I had far more vivid memories of Owen, and I’d only known him a couple of days. I didn’t think that was a good sign.
     
    *
     
    As Florence and I prepared to turn the café over to the night crew, she said, “Would you mind if we made it a night in instead of a night out? I think I’ve had about all I can take of people for one day. Maybe we could pick up some takeout and watch a video. That way we could talk.”
    “Sounds good to me. Your place or mine?”
    “Yours, if you don’t mind. It’s closer and nicer.”
    We stopped by the café where I got my morning coffee and ordered burgers to go at the counter. Perry the waitress turned in the order, then leaned on the counter to chat with us. “Looks like you’ve got a big night of cholesterol ahead, huh?” she said with a grin.
    “Usually, tofu’s more my speed, but you’ve gotta indulge every so often,” Florence told her.
    “Yeah, as much kale as she eats, she can get away with a burger every now and then,” I said. “Me, on the other hand, well, I don’t know what my excuse is.”
    “You work very hard,” Florence said. “And now the new boss has you doing two jobs.”
    “Two jobs?” Perry asked.
    “It’s not that bad,” I said. “He’s just getting my help with some planning during lulls at work.”
    “And you should see this boss,” Florence added. “Spending time with him is not a chore. I think he likes Katie.”
    Perry leaned forward across the counter with great interest. “Ooh, he does?”
    “He does not,” I said, rolling my eyes. “He didn’t show even the slightest bit of jealousy when Josh showed up or sent flowers.”
    “So you were watching for jealousy?” Florence teased.
    “Just so I’d know where things stood. I wanted to see if there’d be a situation I needed to defuse. Things might get awkward at work if my boss got jealous of my boyfriend.” I remembered then that he’d asked how long we’d been dating, but that could have just been casual conversation, not an indication of interest, so I decided I wouldn’t mention it. I didn’t want to give Florence any additional ammunition.
    “Order up!” the cook called, and Perry went to get our meals.
    “Have a good evening, and I want updates about this boss,” she said as she handed us our bags.
    At my place, I let Florence peruse my DVD collection while I got dishes and drinks from the kitchen. She was putting a disc in the player when I returned. “I