Random Acts of Sorcery by Karen Mead Read Free Book Online Page A

her knights in shining armor?” Sam asked finally.
    “No need to tell her. Just know that we’re watching you,” said Khalil, pointing to his eyes and then to Sam.
    “Yeah, this is between men ,” said Jay with great emphasis on the last word. Dwight and Khalil exchanged bemused glances over his head while Sam tried not to laugh out loud. He didn’t want to hurt Jay’s feelings.
    “Where’s Mike anyway? He’s not part of Team Chivalry?”
    Something changed in Jay’s face. “He’s not part of this.”
    Mike was the practical sort; he probably figured that Cassie could take care of herself. Sam exhaled slowly, wondering how to get them all to drop it.
    “You know I don’t have a choice, right? It’s not like I asked her out because I wanted to. ”
    Khalil made a pshaw noise at that. It sounded contemptuous. “Yeah man, I’m sure it’s just a chore to have to ask a cute girl to go back to your place—wait, you do have a place, right? You’re not taking her to freakin’ Bob’s Motel, are you?”
    “No! I have an apartment now, Eugene set it up,” Sam said, defensive. He was kind of embarrassed by how long he had been living out of a suitcase at Bob’s. Of course, if he hadn’t been stuck at the budget motel for months, he never would have met Vladmira….
    “Oh, well thank God for that at least. Anyway, don’t lie and say you don’t want her. We’ve all seen how you look at her.”
    “I don’t look at her.”
    It was true; he made a point not to. Unless she was speaking to him directly, he tried to act like she wasn’t in the room. It was safer that way.
    “Yeah, my point exactly. You’re the only man at DG who doesn’t stare at her boobs. It’s abnormal,” said Khalil in an accusatory tone. To Sam’s surprise, Dwight nodded at that.
    “Stop objectifying her!” Jay interjected, red-faced. “D-don’t talk about her like that.”
    Khalil threw his arms up. “Look, she’s a sweetheart and she’s my friend, but the girl’s got nice breasts, okay? That’s just a fact. ”
    “I am going back to work, you people do whatever the hell you want,” Sam said, turning on his heel and leaving the break room behind.
    Francesca turned at the sound of the break room door closing. Her eyes widened in surprise at the look on his face. “Is everything all right?” She had a thick accent, but other than that, her English was perfect. He wondered if she had heard any of what they were talking about in the back. Normally, you couldn’t hear what was going on in the break room from anywhere in the café, but they had raised their voices a few times.
    Sam ran his tongue over his teeth, thinking; they were going to have to be more careful. The fact that, until now, every worker at DG had been a part of the entourage had allowed them to be far too sloppy.
    “Fine, I’ll get back to work,” said Sam, wasting no time priming the espresso machine to make the drinks that Francesca had marked during his brief absence. He was annoyed at Khalil and co. for getting under his skin, but he knew he couldn’t really blame them; they were right to be worried about Cassie. Hell, he was worried about Cassie, more than they knew.
    His feelings for her had always confused him, but everything had gotten especially muddled once he’d found out that she wasn’t entirely human. Did he feel the way he did because she was part-angel and he was part-demon, and there was that temptation of something rare and forbidden? Was it because of the familiar bond, drawing them together like magically-charged magnets?
    Or, maybe it was just that he was a man and she was a pretty girl with a woman’s body. Were his desires really that simple?
    A little while later, the subject of his musings entered the shop; Cassie had a four-hour afternoon shift, after which she would be coming with him. He noticed immediately that she was wearing one of those sweaters that he liked, and he wasn’t sure if he was pleased or not.
     

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