Damsel Under Stress

“Uh-huh, I know exactly what you need time for: that gorgeous guy you’ve landed. Go back to Texas for a few days and you run the risk of him getting away.”



“That’s not it at all,” I insisted, looking through the office doorway to the lab, where Owen stood in front of the whiteboard, thoughtfully chewing on the end of a dry-erase marker. I lowered my voice and added, “He’s going to his parents’ house for the holiday, anyway.” It occurred to me that if Gemma and Marcia went home for Christmas, I’d be left all alone in the city. Owen would be gone, and Connie’d said her in-laws were coming over. For a moment, I was tempted. How much work would we get done in the next couple of days? But for all I knew, that was when Idris and Ari would wreak havoc.



“Thanks for letting me know,” I said firmly, more to convince myself than to convince her, “but I really don’t think I can make it.”



“You don’t mind if we leave you alone, do you?”



“Are you kidding? It’ll be the longest I’ve had the place to myself since I moved in. I may even change the locks while you’re gone.”



She laughed. “Okay, then. I guess I’ll see you tonight.”



In spite of my assurances to Marcia, I couldn’t help but feel a little lost and lonely as I walked back out into the lab. “Is something wrong?” Owen asked.



“No. It was one of my roommates. They found an airfare sale to go back home for Christmas and were letting me know in case I wanted to go, too.”



“Are you going?”



I shook my head. “Nah. It’s a weird schedule to get that fare, so I’d have to leave here tomorrow, then come back on Christmas itself. It’s several hours to the airport from my parents’ house, so I wouldn’t even be able to stay for Christmas dinner. My roommates are from around Dallas, so it’s a lot easier for them.”



“You’re going to be stuck by yourself for Christmas?”



“Yeah, but it won’t be so bad. It’ll be nice to have some peaceful alone time.”



“You could come with me.” He said it casually as he uncapped his marker and moved toward the board to write something on it.



“With you? You and your foster parents are just starting to work things out. You don’t need an outsider there.”



“I’d love an outsider there,” he said, still facing the board, his back to me. “Think of it as a buffer zone.”



“But would they want me there?”



“You’ve already been invited.”



“What?” This was awfully fast to be meeting the folks. We’d only just kissed for the first time when magic wasn’t involved a few days ago. Now I was already invited home for the holidays?



“Not like that,” he said, finally turning around to face me. His cheeks had turned the shade of pink that meant he was very uncomfortable. He didn’t quite look me in the eye as he spoke. “I’d already told them about you—not as someone I’m dating but as a friend from work who’s relatively new to the city. When they invited me to come for Christmas, they suggested that I could invite you if you didn’t have other plans. Until now, I suspected you had other plans. But if you don’t, you’re welcome to come.”



For Owen, that was a long, heartfelt speech. It also demonstrated that although he was a genius when it came to stuff like magic, research, and translation, he could be a little clueless when it came to women. If he’d talked enough about me for his foster mother to notice and feel as though she should invite me, then she was dying of curiosity about me and wanted to make sure I was worthy of him. And that made this a potentially tricky situation.



“You’re sure it won’t be really awkward?” I asked.



“Oh, it’ll be awkward. But it will be whether or not you’re there. It may be less awkward for me with you there.”



“But what about me? I have a feeling it’ll be more awkward for me there than it would be if I stayed here.”



He took a step closer to me and gave me the shy smile that had totally floored me when I first met him. “I’d really appreciate it if you came along with me.”



He was impossible to resist when he was like that. I also couldn’t deny that I was curious about his foster parents, and I didn’t particularly want to spend Christmas alone in this city. “Okay, I’ll go,” I said. “What’s the itinerary, and what should I bring?”



He grinned, and for a second I thought he’d kiss me or at least hug me, but we were at work, and Owen was nothing if not proper. “I was planning to take the train up the morning of Christmas Eve and come back the morning after Christmas. It’s about an hour-long trip. Does that work for you?”