Chick with a Charm (36 page)

Daisy ran to the door and placed herself next to it.

“No, Daisy.” Griffin’s voice sounded rusty. “You’re not going.”

Daisy pawed gently at his leg, her tail swishing against the carpet.

Griffin sighed. “Daisy, move away from the door. You can’t come with me.”

Daisy’s tail slowly stopped wagging. Then she looked at Lily and the plea in her eyes was impossible to ignore.

“Yes, she can.” Although Lily’s throat was tight with grief, she managed to get the rest out. “Take her, Griffin. She’s not happy with me anymore. She wants to be with you.”

He scowled at her. “If you think giving me your dog is going to make up for—”

“No! This has nothing to do with us. It’s for her! Can’t you see how she adores you? If you leave her here, you’ll break her heart.” Since Lily’s was already broken, the least she could do was try to save Daisy’s from complete destruction.

Griffin gazed at the dog, and his expression softened. He crouched down in front of her. “Hey, Daisy. Want to come home with me?”

Daisy whined and her tail started up again. Leaning closer, she licked his face.

Lily figured she had about another five seconds before she completely lost it. “Just go,” she murmured. “Take her leash and go.” Then she turned and fled into the bedroom, closing the door behind her.

Leaning against it, she allowed the tears to slide silently down her cheeks, but she pushed her fist against her mouth to stifle the sobs. She heard the front door open and close.

Unable to stand it, she wrenched open the bedroom door to see whether Daisy was still there. Griffin was gone, and so was Daisy. She was utterly—and deservedly—alone.

 

Griffin was furious for days, but having the dog around helped. He located a dog park near his apartment and whenever he wasn’t working, he was romping in the park with Daisy. Fresh air and exercise did wonders to clear away the rage he felt whenever he thought about what Lily had done.

While under the spell he’d looked for ways to excuse her behavior, but now that he was free of that magical connection, he’d decided there was no valid excuse. She’d screwed up, and she deserved every bit of his anger.

But the more he played with Daisy, the less he could hold on to that anger. After all, Daisy had been part of some fun times with Lily. He tried to forget about that, wipe the slate clean and be with Daisy without thinking about Lily. Turned out he couldn’t.

Kevin and Miles were convinced she’d given him the dog on purpose, to manipulate the situation so he’d be forced to think about her, about going back to her. They thought it had been a last-ditch effort to save the relationship.

Griffin didn’t think so. Daisy had been the one who’d indicated her desire to go with him. True, Lily could have refused, but Daisy had been pretty damned touching, with her big sad eyes. Griffin wondered more than once whether Lily regretted the impulse of giving him the dog.

That wasn’t all he wondered about, either. As the days went by, he wondered how she was doing—if she was sad, lonely, sexually frustrated. Kevin and Miles had suggested finding a different happy hour spot, which made sense. The new place had a guy behind the bar, and the setup felt strange after Griffin had become so used to the Bubbling Cauldron. To Lily. He never stayed long.

Besides, he had Daisy to think of. He’d arranged for a dog walker to take her out around noon on weekdays so she wouldn’t be desperate for his return. Even so, every time he came home she greeted him as if he’d been on a monthlong trip to China. He loved that. Lily must have loved it, too, and now that comfort had been taken away.

But he didn’t feel guilty. She’d brought it on herself. That didn’t keep him from feeling sad, though. There was no magic spell forcing him to stick to Lily like glue, but . . . he missed her.

A week after the confrontation in Lily’s apartment, Kevin walked into Griffin’s office, waving baseball tickets. Kevin and Miles seemed determined to take Griffin’s mind off Lily one way or the other. They’d put him through a round of sporting events, either live or on Kevin’s plasma TV. Over the weekend they’d rented a sailboat and taken it out on the lake. They’d played tennis and eighteen holes of golf.

Kevin slapped the tickets onto Griffin’s desk. “Tomorrow night, right behind home plate.”

Griffin picked up the tickets. “You know, I appreciate what you and Miles are doing.”

“What are we doing? Having a good time now that the weather’s nice, that’s all we’re doing. Last spring we promised ourselves we’d get out more, so this spring we’re following through for once. Simple as that.”

“It’s not as simple as that. You’re keeping me occupied so I won’t miss Lily.”

Kevin shrugged. “That might be part of it, but—”

“I still miss her, Kev.”

“Sure you do. That’s natural. It’ll pass, especially—” He glanced out the door to make sure no one was listening. “Especially now that you’ve broken the spell she put on you. That was some weird shit, man. You need to give yourself time to get over something like that.”

“I was thinking that maybe . . . maybe if I took her out to dinner, then—”

“Nix to that noise! Are you insane? She could have a vial of something in her purse. You turn your head and whammo, she dumps it in your wine. She is a
witch
, buddy boy. We got you out of that mess, and we don’t need you tempting fate by going anywhere near that chick.”

Griffin thought about the magic show Lily had put on for the engagement party. “She’s not just a witch. She’s an extremely talented one.”

“My point exactly! She could tie you up again without you even knowing it. You listen to the Kev-man on this one. She’s—”

Griffin’s phone buzzed. “’Scuse me.” He picked up the phone and Kevin started out of the office. “Don’t leave, okay? We need to talk about the baseball game.” Griffin wanted to back out. He’d been entertained enough recently.

“Sure.” Kevin returned and plopped down on one of two chairs positioned in front of Griffin’s desk.

Griffin punched the button that connected him to his secretary, Marcie. “Hi.”

“I have Lily Revere on line one. Will you take the call?”

“Give me a second.” He disconnected the line and held the phone until his heart stopped pounding.

Kevin sat forward in his chair. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say that’s Lily calling. Nobody else puts that expression on your face.”

Griffin nodded. “It’s her.”

“Has she called before?”

“No.” Griffin drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “This is the first time since that night in her apartment.”

“Don’t take the call, Griff. That’s what secretaries are for. Have Marcie say you’re unavailable.”

Griffin gazed at his friend, who had been there for him through this whole ordeal. Kevin wasn’t going to like what he was about to do. “I’m taking the call.”

Kevin threw his hands up. “Go ahead, then, but I promise you’ll regret it. She’s going to try and rope you back in.” He settled into his seat with a bulldog look that announced he wasn’t going anywhere until the phone call had been concluded.

Saddled with Kevin’s resolute expression, Griffin connected with his secretary. “I’ll take the call, Marcie.”

“I’ll connect you.” Her prim response made him wonder if office gossip had linked him with Lily, although he knew that Kevin and Miles wouldn’t have talked about the witch angle. They might have said he’d escaped from a bad relationship thanks to them. Yeah, they might have said that.

He waited for the click saying the line was open between him and Lily. He felt her waiting on the other end and had the crazy urge to crawl right through that telephone line. That probably wasn’t good.

He swallowed. “Hello, Lily.” His voice sounded like tires on a gravel road, but he couldn’t help that. “How are you?”

“I’m okay. How are you?”

The sound of her voice nearly flattened him. He’d heard it so many times in his head, in his dreams, and now here she was at last. He sighed. “Okay.”

Then he glanced at Kevin, who was glaring at him as if he’d committed some huge crime. No doubt the sigh hadn’t thrilled Kevin.

“How’s Daisy?”

“She’s good. I take her to the dog park every morning before work, and then for a walk after work, and I’ve arranged for a dog walker to come at noon because I don’t want to make her wait all day to go out.” He was babbling. If he hadn’t recognized it, Kevin’s slashing motion across his throat would have alerted him.

“I’m glad you two are getting along,” Lily said. “Look, I’ll come straight to the point. I feel as if I didn’t say all I needed to last Tuesday night, but then again, you might not have been ready to hear it, either. Anyway, I certainly didn’t say a proper good-bye to Daisy. I’d like to meet you tonight somewhere. Maybe at the old dog park, if you’d be willing to bring Daisy over.”

His heart leaped with excitement and he was ready to say yes immediately, but Kevin was there, making him feel like an impulsive fool. “I don’t know, Lily. It might upset Daisy to see you.”

Kevin gave him a thumbs-up.

“Don’t worry. If it does, I’ll leave right away. But she’s a special dog, and I think . . . I think she deserves to know that I still . . . that I still love her.”

“I hope this isn’t some attempt to get back together, because I—”

“I promise it’s not. But our last conversation was rather abrupt, and I have some things to say that I think are important. Plus, I really want to connect with Daisy one last time. I was thinking around six o’clock.”

Griffin glanced at his calendar to confirm that it was Tuesday. “Don’t you have to work?”

“With the hope that you’d agree to this, I got Chad to take my shift.”

From the moment she’d proposed this meeting he’d known he’d be there. He’d only put up the roadblocks to show Kevin he wasn’t a complete patsy. “I’ll be there at six.”

“See you then.”

“Right. Good-bye.” He hung up the phone with what he hoped was a show of authority. “It’s about the dog. She wants to say a proper good-bye.”

“Bullshit. She wants to manipulate you into getting back with her.”

“Well, she won’t be able to, okay? I’m not going to let that happen. I’ve worked too hard—we’ve all worked too hard—for me to fall into the same trap.”

Kevin shook his head. “I hope so. But I predict she’ll try to make you feel sorry for her, and you, poor sap, will want to make everything better.”

“If she pulls anything like that, I’ll shut her down.”

“See that you do. I have half a mind to come with you.”

“Kevin, I’m a big boy. I can handle this.”

“I sincerely hope so, buddy.”

Griffin hoped so, too. But he couldn’t tamp down the excitement churning through him at the thought of seeing Lily again. After what he’d been through, he had to wonder if the spell was completely gone. Yet there was nothing manic about his mood. For the first time, his feelings might be real.

Lily arrived at the dog park fifteen minutes early. With daylight savings time in effect, there’d be enough light for her to easily see Griffin and Daisy arrive. She wondered how Daisy liked cab rides. Lily had only taken her on one, when she’d brought her home from the animal shelter.

That seemed so long ago, but it had only been weeks. Daisy had become such a big part of her life so fast that Lily had trouble remembering a time when the dog hadn’t been around. But the solitude of her apartment during the past week had been a poignant reminder of what life without Daisy had been like and would be from now on.

Lily knew she’d done the right thing, even though her heart ached as she watched people play with their dogs in the park. Daisy had chosen Griffin, and that wasn’t surprising after Lily had included Daisy in the adoration elixir she’d used to snare him. Lily had one clear purpose for this meeting tonight—to let Griffin know that she understood the extent of her crimes.

As a bonus, she’d get to see Daisy one last time. She didn’t want the dog to ever imagine that giving her up had been easy or impulsive. Daisy needed to understand that the gesture had been made out of love, not disinterest. That might be a complicated concept for most dogs, but not for Daisy. She’d get it, as long as Lily could see her once more.

Dressing for this meeting had been a challenge. She’d changed her mind a dozen times about what to wear. No one knew she’d set up the face-to-face, not even her sister. This was something she had to do on her own, without coaching. She had to prove that she was strong enough to say what had to be said and walk away.

Because of that, she’d rejected any outfit that was the least bit provocative. That left very little to choose from, because most of her clothes, including her casual wear, were designed to show off her figure. But she had a faded pair of jeans she’d owned since high school and a loose-fitting Cubs T-shirt somebody had given her several years ago. It was a typical bargain shirt—bright blue with the logo in front, boxy cut, and flappy short sleeves.

She couldn’t make herself any more unattractive without going shopping, and shopping for baggy clothes wasn’t in her blood. Bypassing all her sexy footwear, she put on her running shoes. Then she pulled her hair back into a simple ponytail and called it good.

Well, except for makeup. She did apply that, because Lily Revere didn’t step outside her door without makeup. She aimed for understated and thought she achieved that. Most men wouldn’t notice her makeup at all and assume she’d decided on the natural look.

Nerves made her heart beat faster and her palms sweat. She paced around, glancing at the street every few seconds in case Griffin showed up early.

He did.

When he climbed out of a cab at ten minutes before six, her heart rate kicked up another notch. She wondered if he was early because he was eager to see her or because he wanted to get the meeting over with. He’d changed out of his suit, and she couldn’t decide if that was good or bad, either.