“Then what good is magic?”
“It’s amazing. If you know how to ask for what you want.”
“But you said it can’t—”
“It can’t make Aaron Walsh love you, but do you really want someone who would have to be forced by magic to love you? Wouldn’t you start to resent the way you won him? Start to wonder if it was really love or just the spell tricking him into wanting you?”
“At least someone would want me.”
“Ah, see, now we’re getting somewhere. You want someone to want you. You want to be loved. You want the happily ever after, right?”
She squeezed the book tighter against her chest. “Sure.”
Prometheus reached behind the counter, unlocking the cabinet with a frisson of magic, and pulled out a tiny, stoppered vial. “Then what you want is this.”
Jane Austen Girl’s eyes narrowed. “Looks expensive.”
He shrugged. “For the right person, the right price.”
“What does it do?”
“This, my dear, is luck. And if you want to know a secret, this is what I sold to Carly. A little potion of my own invention I like to call lucky in love. Now, it won’t last forever—it wears off after a few weeks—and it won’t guarantee happiness, but it gives you a head start. It’ll draw opportunities toward you, and if you’re open to them, there’s no telling how far a little dose of luck can take you.”
“So it won’t be Aaron, but it’ll be someone?”
“It’ll be better than Aaron. It’ll be the chance, just the chance, for the right someone. But you have to choose it.” Prometheus swept up the charm she’d let drop onto the counter. “Which will it be?” He held up the love charm. “Aaron Walsh loving you, even if there’s no guarantee it will be the way you want?” Then he lifted the vial of luck. “Or the possibility of someone else?”
Jane Austen Girl clutched her book, bit her lip and smiled. “I’ll take the chance.”
He grinned. “Good girl.”
“How much?”
Prometheus eyed her worn out sneakers and ratty book bag. He’d once sold luck for over a thousand dollars a vial, but today… Right customer, right price. “Ten bucks.”
The girl pulled out her wallet, counted out ten singles and took her luck, the door chiming behind her.
“That’s why.”
Prometheus jerked, belatedly remembering Brittany’s presence. “Why what?”
“That’s why I like you. That’s why I’m on your side in the battle for Karma’s heart. You’re a good egg, Prometheus. The Willie Wonka egg-meter thing would love you. Give Karma time and she’ll see it too. You’re gold. And you’re like us. A misfit. That Carlton guy is way too normal for Karma. He could never get her. You get my vote because you’re weird and gold and part of the Karmic family already.”
His chest tightened. He didn’t want to be part of the Karmic family. Family was never really a good word for him. “I think you have me mixed up with someone else.” Someone with a soul. “I’m not part of your little club.”
“You are.” She said it simply, with absolute confidence. Not arguing with him, just utterly certain that she was right. “It’s okay if you don’t see it yet. You will. But don’t go retreating now. Karma may be out with that other guy, but I’m in your corner and I’m good luck. Those potions of yours have nothing on me. She’ll be singing your praises in no time.”
Karma wanted to kill Prometheus. Or maybe just maim him a little. The bastard was ruining the first date she’d had in years and he wasn’t even here.
Carlton held her door and held her chair. He asked her questions about her work, her family and her hobbies, and seemed genuinely interested in her answers. He was polite and attentive. And dull.
There it was. The truth of the matter. She was bored.
Crap. She missed Prometheus. Actually missed the bastard. Not only was she constantly distracted—like the ass had planned—by trying to figure out what the hell that last kiss had meant, she was boring herself with her usual spiel on Karmic Consultants without him there to argue with her about the ethics or lack thereof of what they did. He was a challenge and she felt sharper when he was there pushing all her buttons.
Not to mention the physical attraction.
What the hell was the deal with that kiss? Was it only to torment her during her date? Had it been restrained because they’d both had nightmarish morning breath or soft and gentle because the man really did have a soft side?
“And you’re not listening to a word I’m saying.”
Karma snapped to attention, kicking herself as she realized she’d drifted into her own thoughts again. Carlton was going to think she had brain damage. She blushed. “I’m so sorry. I’m a little distracted tonight. What were you saying?”
“What’s his name?”
“Whose name?”
Carlton flashed his pearly whites, his perfect smile failing to move her. “I’ve brilliantly deduced that you’re either just getting over someone or just getting into him. But whichever it is, you aren’t here with me.”
Karma flushed, embarrassed by the truth in his words. “It’s nothing like that. I’m preoccupied with some work stuff.”
“No one gets that dewy look in their eye for work stuff.”
Irritation flashed. “I am not dewy.” Then she immediately felt guilty for the sharpness. It wasn’t Carlton Norris’s fault she was twisted into knots by an amoral warlock. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m not offended. It serves me right, since I asked you out in an attempt to forget someone myself.”
Learning that her date was hung up on another woman should not have flooded her with a cloying sense of relief. “You did?”
Carlton grimaced, blue eyes twinkling ruefully. “Quinn. My brother’s fiancé, unfortunately.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. We always want the wrong people, don’t we?”
“I don’t want him,” she blurted. It wasn’t until she said the words that she realized he was probably talking about his Quinn, not Prometheus.
“You sure about that?” Carlton smiled that matinee idol smile. He really was perfect—smart, kind, attentive—but perfect wasn’t what she wanted. Wicked temptation had become her addiction.
But that didn’t mean she had to give in to it. “I’m sorry I’ve been distracted. I promise I’ll be a better dinner companion from this point on. You have my undivided attention.”
“I appreciate that. But should you really have to try so hard to be intrigued by me? All night we’ve both been trying so hard to make this fun, to make a connection. My aunt’s psychic told her the only way I was going to get over Quinn was to go out with you, but it isn’t supposed to be this much work to fall for someone, is it?”
She hated that he was right. He was exactly the sort of person she should want. But there was no zing. No spark. No electric tingle of power and seduction. Just nice. Pleasant. Boring. Her mind kept wandering back to black eyes and wicked smiles. “So what do we do?”
Carlton smiled, perfect. And perfectly wrong. “Enjoy the rest of the evening. Have a nice dinner. You could tell me about this man who’s stolen your attention from me tonight.”
No, she couldn’t. She refused to talk about the heartless bastard confusing her heart. “Tell me about Quinn.”
After Carlton dropped her off, she stood in the Karmic parking lot, wondering why she couldn’t just want Mr. Perfect.
She couldn’t seem to stop comparing him to Prometheus. The warlock should not have been the winner in that comparison. He’d tried to manipulate her from the first. Though at least he’d been upfront about it. It was a game with him, a test of wits more than a deception. He had never pretended to be anything other than what he was, never feigned virtue. From the word go, he’d told her he was willing to go to whatever lengths necessary to achieve his ends. There was a perverse sort of honor in that.