Page 10 of Festive with a Grumpy Fae

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Fuckno.”

He folds his arms across his chest and glowers at me.“I am here to be your companion.How am I supposed to do that if I don’t accompany you?”

Oh my god, this is a nightmare.

“I’m going to work,” I explain, a desperate edge in my voice.“There will be people thereall day.I won’t need company, believe me.So you stay here, and you can keep me company when I get home.”

He shakes his head again.“That’s not how it works.”

I stare at him, my brain whimpering from lack of coffee and this whole ridiculous situation.What the hell am I supposed to do?I can’t take him to work with me—what’s he going to do in the bookstore all day while I’m telling tourists that we don’t have David Baldacci’s backlist?But the stubborn set of his jaw and the gleam in his eye tell me clear as day that he won’t back down easily, and I don’t have time—or the energy—to stand here arguing.

“Fine,” I capitulate.“But there are rules, and you have to follow them because I don’t want to lose my job, got it?”

He gives a curt nod.“Of course.”

“You sit in a corner and read or something.Don’t do anything to draw attention to yourself.Don’t tell anyone you’re fae, or that I summoned you.If anyone asks”—oh fuck, someone’s going to ask, it’s a small town even if it is overrun by tourists—“we’ll tell them you’re a friend from Melbourne staying with me for a few weeks.”

“That’s acceptable.”

I wasn’t asking for his approval, but I let it slide.The time I have left for breakfast is getting shorter by the second.

“Get in, then.”

We’re halfway to town, and I’m mentally rehearsing the casual tone I’ll use to explain his presence to Godfrey—maybe I can tell him it’s “Bring a Friend to Work Day”—when I realise something.

Coughing to clear my throat, I slide a sideways look at my sexy faerie and consider how best to do this.It’s damn embarrassing but can’t be avoided—not if he’ll be here for three weeks.

“So… in all the, uh, drama last night, I didn’t introduce myself.I’m Lachie.Lachlan.Uh, Lachlan Herriot.”

He doesn’t spare me a glance, seemingly enthralled by the passing farms.“I know.”

“How—” I bite off the rest of the sentence.Faerie.Summoned to be my companion.“The summoning spell probably gave you that information, huh?”

“No, I saw your name on the letter stuck to your… refrigerator.”There’s the barest hesitation before he says the word.

“You snooped?”I demand indignantly, though I can hardly blame him for glancing at something while he opened the fridge.I really need to pay that speeding ticket soon, anyway.

“I’m your companion,” he replies calmly, as though that gives him license to snoop.I force myself to make like Elsa and let one more thing go.I need to stay on track.

“Well, anyway, it’s nice to meet you…” I let my voice rise expectantly, waiting for him to fill in the blank.

He does not.

After a few seconds of silence that make me want to bludgeon him, I give up and ask, “What’s your name?”

My sexy faerie turns his head to look at me, those dark eyes inscrutable.

“Cillian,” he says.“You can call me Cillian.”

That’s good enough for me.

“Great.Are you hungry, Cillian?We’re going to stop for breakfast.Is there anything you don’t eat?”Please god, don’t let the fae have some sort of complicated diet that’s going to be hard to get hold of.

“I can eat what you eat.”