Once Upon Stilettos

The bookseller’s eyes grew huge. “I didn’t realize we had that. Let me check for you.”



“If you want to have it appraised, I can come back and pick it up later,” Owen offered. The bookseller took his contact info and promised to call when he had an answer.



As we left the store I asked, “How did you know that was there?”



He shrugged. “I felt the magic. You sometimes find things like that, truly rare items veiled as moderately rare things. It’s a way of hiding valuables in plain sight. And then when an estate has to be sold off, the heirs may not even know what they have. Sometimes books can go for generations hidden like that.”



“You could have reveiled it and paid only for the Dickens, you know.”



“But that would have been cheating.”



“I think I’ve finally found someone who’s more of a goody-goody than I am,” I said with a laugh. Not that I was too much of a goody-goody, considering how much I seemed to be lying lately. “And I don’t think you needed me all that much, after all.”



“I wouldn’t have found the brooch without you, and a book was your idea. Now, dinner? There’s a restaurant I know a couple of blocks from here. It’s run by magical people, although I doubt most of their customers have figured that out. We won’t have to be so careful about our conversation there.”



That left me with quite the dilemma—I wanted to spend more time with him, but there was no way I could keep my secret at a magical restaurant. In fact, the more time I spent around him, the harder it was to keep my secret.



I must have hesitated longer than I realized, for he frowned at me and asked, “Katie? Is something wrong?”



“To be honest, I’m not sure I’m up for dinner right now,” I said, and it wasn’t a lie at all. My stomach had tied itself in knots and I felt queasy. “Do you mind if I call it a night?”



If he was disappointed, he hid it well. “Not at all. I’ll make it up to you some other time.”



“I think I’m the one who would have to make it up to you,” I said as we resumed walking up Broadway.



“You were the one doing me a favor,” he argued.



“I made a couple of gift suggestions. That’s not worth a dinner.”



He didn’t say anything after that, and I feared I’d pushed back too hard. While I didn’t want him to know how big a crush I had on him, I also didn’t want him to think I didn’t like him at all. Though really, the crush had faded somewhat with time, which was what I’d hoped would happen. He was less of an ideal and more of a real person, even if his smiles did make my legs turn to jelly.



He walked me to my front door, then said, “Thanks again for the help.”



“No problem. You’ll have to tell me what they think.”



“See you tomorrow.”



“Yeah.” I looked over my shoulder after unlocking the door, and he’d already disappeared.



Owen was uncharacteristically quiet the next morning. Not that he was usually all that talkative, but there was a subdued quality to his quiet that was new. I hoped I hadn’t hurt his feelings. Maybe he was just lost in thought.



The quiet commute was a sharp contrast to the building lobby when we got to work. It seemed like almost the entire MSI workforce was gathered there, and judging from the bits of muttered conversations I overheard, I got the impression that no one else had any more of a clue about what was going on than I did. Owen edged closer to me. He looked distinctly uncomfortable in the crowd.



Hughes, the lobby doorman, approached us, ticked something off the clipboard he carried, then murmured a few words under his breath. Two baseball caps with the MSI logo on them appeared in his hand. “Here you are, sir, Miss Chandler,” he said, handing one to each of us. “You’ll find an envelope inside your cap. Please keep it sealed until you’re instructed to open it.” Before we had a chance to ask questions, he moved on to greet the latest arrivals.



Owen studied his ball cap like he thought it was going to bite him. “What’s going on?” he asked.



I spotted Rod moving through the lobby toward us. He looked more energized and excited than I’d ever seen him, and I wished I could see what that lively expression would have done to his true face. He’d probably be almost as irresistible as he was with all his spells. Speaking of spells, I felt his magnetism hit when he got within about five feet of me. While I was still moderately in control of myself, I took a step backward and sighed in relief when that eased the urge to throw myself into his arms.