Part 15 (1/2)
Anica glanced over toward the sofa, where Jasper and Orion each occupied an end. Jasper seemed to be sleeping, but she didn't trust him not to be listening with both highly tuned cat ears. ”Let me make you some coffee before I go.” She walked into the kitchen.
Lily followed her and lowered her voice. ”You didn't want him to hear you, right?”
”Right.” Anica fired up the electric coffee grinder. ”We had s.e.x.”
”s.e.x?” Lily's one-word exclamation would have carried over the sound of a jet engine, let alone a coffee grinder.
Anica sighed and poured the ground coffee into the basket. ”Yes, and now I'm sure he knows we're talking about it.”
”Sorry. But we're sisters. He should expect we'd talk about it.”
”I guess, but-”
”Come on over here.” Lily put an arm around Anica and led her to the far end of the kitchen. She leaned in close, as if they were calling plays for the big game. ”How long did he transform for?”
”An hour.”
”Wow. So the potion must have done something.” Lily glanced over her shoulder toward the living room and then huddled again with Anica. ”At what point did he change back? Were you still-”
”No. It was after. He'd gone into the bathroom and then . . .” Anica couldn't revisit that moment without choking up. She'd thought she'd been prepared for it to happen, but after the way he'd touched her, kissed her, made such sweet love to her, the change had hit her hard.
Lily gave her a fierce hug. ”Poor An. Sounds rough.”
Anica nodded.
”Was it great, though? The s.e.x?”
”Yeah, it was great.”
”Well done, sis. Now he might think twice before he goes after revenge.”
”That's what I thought before I made the decision to go to bed with him. But now . . . now I think he probably deserves to have whatever revenge he wants. What I did was awful, Lil.”
”Hey, let's not forget why you did it, okay? You found out he was a lying sc.u.mbag who manipulates women into feeling sorry for him so they'll agree to have s.e.x.”
Anica looked her sister in the eye and smiled. ”Yeah, but it's d.a.m.n good s.e.x.”
Lily laughed. ”Then I'm glad you had some.”
”Me, too.” Then Anica was laughing with Lily, and it felt good. Not as good as s.e.x with Jasper, but nice.
Lily gave her another hug and released her. ”You'd better get going. I don't want you to be late for Dorcas and Ambrose.”
”That would be bad after they drove all the way up here. Lily, I didn't even think about this, but should I offer to pay them something?”
”Nah, they'll just ask for your firstborn child.”
Anica gasped.
”Not really! Honestly, you're the most gullible person I know. No wonder Jasper could hoodwink you so easily.”
”Seriously, should I pay them something? I mean, they're taking their valuable time, and there's gas to consider and meals, too. It's not like any of that's free.”
”I think the Wizard Council takes care of their expenses.”
The very thought of the Wizard Council made Anica quiver with dread. ”That's the point. I've asked Dorcas not to mention this to the council. I think I'd better offer to pay them.”
”I'd wait to see what they have to say first.”
”Okay.” Anica took a deep breath. ”There's something else I can't handle by myself, but I hate to ask you.”
”Go ahead. I love having you in my debt.”
Anica rolled her eyes. ”Never mind.”
”Oh, come on. What is it?”
”I still don't have a protection spell on the apartment. I don't think those particular fairies will be back, but I'd feel better if-”
”Say no more. I'll handle it this morning.”
”Thank you. That relieves my mind.” Her sister could be wonderful sometimes.
”By the way, you look terrific today. That blue sweater and skirt complement your o.r.g.a.s.mic glow.”
And she could also be a pain in the a.s.s. ”Stuff a sock in it, Lily.” Smirking at her sister, Anica left the kitchen and walked over to the closet to get her hooded black coat.
”Oooh, some s.p.u.n.k!” Lily followed her. ”Glad to see it. So, is everything fine here? Did you e-mail Jasper's work again?”
”I do it every morning.” Anica b.u.t.toned her coat. ”He has some work-related things piling up, and I'm wondering if somebody needs to check his condo and collect the mail, but if Dorcas and Ambrose can solve this today, he'll be able to handle it.”
”Then again, having it take a little longer wouldn't be so bad, would it?” Lily winked at her.
”No comment. And thanks again for doing the spell.” Grabbing her purse, Anica left the apartment. She knew perfectly well that once Jasper was completely cured she'd never see him again.
That might take place today. She hoped it would, even though that meant she'd never have s.e.x with him again. If that consequence made her sad, she'd deal with it. Jasper's return to human form was the only thing she'd allow herself to think about right now.
Jasper watched Anica go out the door. He'd figured out that she was meeting her witch and wizard friends at Wicked Brew because he wasn't supposed to be privy to what they said to each other. That ticked him off. He was the primary one involved, after all.
But once again he wasn't in control of his destiny. All he could do was stay curled up on this sofa and pretend to sleep, when inside he was a seething ma.s.s of worry. Another day had gone by, another day when he'd been AWOL at the office. Pickens, the nerd in the office next to his, had his eye on several of Jasper's clients. If Jasper didn't get back there soon Pickens might start stealing those clients out from under him.
As he lay there picturing that unwelcome scenario, Lily came over carrying a steaming mug of coffee.
She sat down beside him and adjusted her short skirt. ”So, fuzz face, you made it with my sister last night, I hear.”
Jasper kept his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep. He'd been irritated that Anica had told Lily about last night, even though her comment about how great the s.e.x was had soothed him somewhat. Fortunately Anica hadn't gone all mushy when she'd mentioned the incident. Maybe in the light of day she realized it was just s.e.x and nothing else.
”I'm glad you made her happy for a little while,” Lily said. ”Because she's headed to Wicked Brew to lay her reputation on the line for you.”
Jasper thought that was only fair.