Page 25

Adam woke up still chuckling at Sydney’s hasty departure the night before.

Between her embarrassment at falling asleep at his place and her bedhead, she’d been pretty adorable.

Add to that the fact that she’d fallen asleep on his couch after taking care of Sugarbelle and folding his laundry, and he was more attracted to her than ever.

He sighed. Too bad she wasn’t for him.

He threw back the covers and walked out to the kitchen in just his underwear, ready for coffee, but Sugarbelle had other ideas.

She danced by the back door, ready to go out.

“Okay, hang on.” He opened it to let her out, giving a quick look into the yard to be sure all was safe. He had no idea why it wouldn’t be, but he wanted to be sure his baby would be all right. “Come back in when you’re done, Sugar.”

Despite saying that, he was sure he’d have to round her up himself.

He went to make coffee, stretching after he’d hit the Brew button. Felt good. Because of Sydney showing up at the fountain with the dogs, he hadn’t taken to the sky after work like he’d wanted to. He’d felt like he needed to get home, just in case.

Fortunately, everything had been fine.

The image of Sydney asleep on his couch filled his head again. Beautiful awake but sheer perfection asleep.

Needing to clear his head, he went into the living room, dropped to his hands and did a set of push-ups while he waited for the machine to finish brewing.

Sugarbelle wandered in when he was about halfway through and began licking his nose every time he lowered down. He started laughing, finally rolling to his side, and grabbed her up. “Hey, quit that, you silly thing.”

He set her on his chest, where she immediately lay down and stared at him, mouth open like she was smiling. He scratched behind her ears, which she loved.

“That was nice of Sydney to take care of you last night, wasn’t it? She has a good heart, huh?” And a smoking body to go with it, but he had to stop thinking like that.

“Here’s the thing, though, Sugarbear. Now pay attention. You can’t recognize me when I’m in my other form. Someone might get wise.” He didn’t think Sydney had. It would be quite a leap for a human to assume he was the same person as the gargoyle.

Which reminded him, he wanted to call Nick and check on how that whole bespelled water thing worked.

He picked Sugarbelle up in one arm as he got to his feet, carrying her with him into the kitchen. Coffee was done. He set her down, fed her, then poured a cup and took it into the bedroom. He sat on the bed, figuring Sugarbelle was occupied for a while and he could make his call.

She came in before he even had his phone out, looking at him and making it clear she wanted up. Her little legs just couldn’t make the jump.

“We need to get you some steps or something.” He reached down and scooped her up, dropping her onto the bed next to him. He grabbed his phone from the nightstand.

She started snuffling around in the rumpled comforter and making happy little snorts. He laughed as he called Nick.

“Morning,” Nick answered. “Looking for advice on what to wear for your date tonight?”

Adam had actually forgotten about that. “No, but how do you know I have a date tonight?”

“Because of Willa. And also, you called me to change your shift, remember?”

“Oh. Right.”

“Dress up a little. You know, not your usual jeans and a T-shirt.”

Adam rolled his eyes at the phone. “I know what to wear. And that’s not why I was calling.”

“Oh? What’s up?”

“It’s about the town water, how you were telling me it keeps the tourists from understanding the truth about people like us.”

“Right. What about it?”

“Does it still work on humans who live here? The citizens, I mean. Or does it wear off after a while or what?”

Nick’s tone changed slightly. “What happened?”

“Nothing. Just wondering about my neighbor, who is definitely human but sometimes makes me think she has an idea I might not be.”

“Well…” Nick hesitated. “I know if someone has some supernatural DNA in them, even if they aren’t aware of it, that could affect the magic’s ability to work as intended.

Could also be that they’re super resistant to magic.

Or that they just aren’t drinking enough of the water.

Does your neighbor drink a lot of bottled water? ”

“I have no idea.” Something else Nick had said struck him. “I suppose a lot of people probably have supernatural DNA they don’t know about.”

“Yeah, I’d think so.”

“Okay. That’s all I wanted to know. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” His voice took on an amused lilt. “Be sure to let me know how your date goes.”

“Yeah, yeah. Later.” Adam hung up. Sugarbelle was lying next to him, watching him. “What do you think, Sugarbear? You think Sydney might have a little something extra in her genes she doesn’t know about?”

He thought again that it might explain how extraordinarily beautiful she was. But it wasn’t something he could just ask her about. If she didn’t know, she obviously couldn’t tell him, and then he’d have to explain himself, which was exactly what he was trying to avoid.

Hmm. Would it be weird to research her online? There might be a clue there. He typed her name into the search bar of his phone’s browser.

The number of returns that appeared was staggering. He tapped on Images, and shot after shot of Sydney filled his screen. Some were of her in crazy outfits, some were of her holding bottles of perfume or designer purses. In some she was on a runway.

The more candid shots showed her out to dinner or in a club or walking on the street. A few showed her on the arms of some very famous men.

She was more than famous. She was basically a fashion celebrity. But he’d realized something more important.

Sydney Marlowe being human wasn’t the only reason she wasn’t meant for Adam. She was also way out of his league.

He tossed his phone aside and petted Sugarbelle. Despite what he’d thought, there was no way Sydney was interested in him. She was just a genuinely nice person. And he’d misinterpreted it.

She’d probably let him kiss her out of sympathy.

Wow. What an idiot he’d been. The first woman to show him some attention and he thought she was falling for him.

He blew out a breath. Talk about a reality check. He was grateful Sydney was so kind and such a good neighbor, but the whole idea that she might be more than that was never going to happen.

He was all right with that. Mostly. They couldn’t be together anyway, so he needed to just accept it and move on.

Maybe someday, the right supernatural woman would come along. Not like he was in a hurry anyway. Not with his luck.

He gave Sugarbelle’s tummy a little shake. “I have to go to the store. You behave while I’m gone, all right?”

He knew she could jump off the bed, so he left her there while he went to shower and get ready for the day. He had to get groceries, but he was thinking about checking out the thrift shop again to see if he could get some towels for Sugarbelle. He planned on looking for some steps for her, too.

He’d seen some at the pet store, so he could always get them there, but if he could find a deal, that would be even better.

After he dressed, he put Sugarbelle on the floor and went in to make breakfast. A cheese omelet with toast and he was out the door.

Groceries were in the opposite direction of the thrift store, so Shop-n-Save was first. He got what he needed, loaded his car, then headed home to put it all away.

He found Sugarbelle in her crate, sleeping in her bed. He hadn’t closed the door. “You like that, huh? You feel safe in there? Is that your den?”

He laughed. If she was happy, he was happy. Maybe he was getting soft, but he didn’t like the idea of confining her every time he left. Tonight, when he went to the date, he didn’t plan on crating her either.

Maybe when he left for work. He was undecided. He didn’t like that she’d had an accident in there. And he really didn’t want her to associate the crate with anything bad. Clearly, he was way too involved in what his dog was doing and feeling, but that was his business.

She was the only female in his life and probably would be for some time, so he might as well focus on her.