BEWITCHED & BOTHERED

13 ✰ (Still) Evening, October 5th

"Are you okay?" Simon nudged me in the elbow, bringing me out of my stupor.

"Yeah, why?" I glanced at him dazedly, then moved my focus back onto Magnus, who was positively squirming under Hugo's camera lens.

"Oh yesssss, darling, furrow your brows more like you're thinking of the most ridiculous person you've ever met!" Hugo said with outlandish enthusiasm.

Magnus narrowed his eyes at Hugo, not having to look too far for inspiration.

Snap!

"Yesss darling, that's it!"

Simon clicked his tongue. "You looked like you saw a ghost when you came out of the dressing room earlier."

I turned to him with my arms folded over my chest.

Snap!

"Tell me," he started again, with his signature, downturned smile. "Is he really that nasty under his clothes? Warts and extra nipples?"

A laughter bubbled up from my throat and escaped my mouth, loudly and unbidden. It was not like I found Simon funny, I was laughing because my body was so wound up on the inside that it saw one chance of release and took it.

"Nope. He's basically every man's walking nightmare," I said.

And mine too.

Simon groaned in mock annoyance. "Figures."

"Mr. Allan, darling, can you face the camera please?"

Magnus turned away the split second I looked back at him, the muscles in his jaw tight.

Snap!

"What are you doing tonight?" Simon's husky voice grazed the side of my cheeks.

I looked at him, eyes wide. "What?"

"Come have dinner with me." He cocked his head, his blue eyes narrowing like he was trying to decode my expression. "We can talk about whether I look better in burgundy or oatmeal." His confidence was borderline arrogant, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't attractive.

"I..." I mentally scrambled for an excuse.

"Sorry, darling, can you face the camera for me? Perfect." Hugo's words rang in my head.

Snap!

Simon's grin grew wider at my expense.

"I need to deep clean my apartment." My voice fell flat.

"So hire someone to do it."

I really should.

"It's a new hobby of mine," I said honestly.

"I can come over and help, I'm quite handy with the mop." Simon's grin was unwavering.

I laughed for real this time. "Maybe next time. We might see each other for another GQ feature."

Simon's eyes turned serious. "I hope not. I'm working on a ticket to get out soon."

"Back to writing long-winded pieces on cyber terrorism?" I asked.

He threw back his head to laugh. "Precisely."

"Then I guess we're both too busy to go on dates," I said. Even though I needed to get a crack on breaking the curse, I wasn't that desperate to sleep with a human. Not yet, anyway.

Simon blew out a breath. "I'll hold your word for it. Next time."

My lips turned upwards into a small smile. "Next time."