Page 13 of Love Spells: And Other Non-Refundable Magic

I stare at her. There are many sentences I expect to hear during an average workday in Corporate America, but that exact combination of words is definitely not one of them.

“What’s happening to your face?” Veronica asks. “Stop doing that face!”

Dani pulls the empty chair away from the neighboring desk and sits. “We saw you with him this morning.”

“I mean, a lot of people probably saw,” I say, trying to dismiss them. “It’s the lobby of the company where we all work, right when the workday starts.”

“Well,” Veronica adds. “He was holding two coffees.”

“The man has two hands, Vero.”

“One was for you.”

I choke on my own spit. “Technically, he said it could have been for me.”

Dani slowly removes the straw from her mouth and makes a loud, obnoxious noise of satisfaction. “What does that mean?”

“It means he bought two coffees, and one of them was potentially available, depending on how I answered a question about oat milk, I think.”

Veronica looks at Dani, and Dani looks back. I hate when they communicate silently. It usually means they’ve reached a conclusion about me without allowing me to interfere. I imagine my face is doing some weird, horrific expression, which I’m working very hard to soften.

“He knew your order?” Veronica asks.

“Why would the CEO of the company know my coffee order, guys? Please.” I turn back to the screen and click around a few more times, double-checking formulas I very well know how to use, and selecting the whole thing to make the font smaller, then larger.

“But he wanted to,” Dani says before taking another large sip of her drink. She reaches into the bag and places a packet of this season’s message chocolates on my desk.

“Is this part of the interrogation?”

“You get defensive when your blood sugar drops.”

“I’m not defensive.”

Veronica drags the other empty chair closer and sits beside Dani. They look like a panel of poorly qualified experts convened to evaluate my—non-existent—romantic prospects.

“I’ve seen Phillip talk to employees, Merry,” Veronica says. “He does the CEO thing. Asks about your weekend, smiles politely when you answer, then moves on to someone else with a higher salary.”

“See? He’s friendly. A nice guy, some might even say.”

“That didn’t look friendly to me.” She tips her head sideways, as if studying me further. I’m sure she knows all my expressions by heart now, since we’ve been friends for such a long time. “He looked smitten.”

“Yes!” Dani says with a dramatic gasp.

I laugh, and it comes out louder than intended and carries across the mostly empty row of desks.

Hell’s voice stops behind the closed door, and all three of us freeze.

After a few seconds, the conversation inside resumes.

“He did not look smitten,” I whisper. “Ugh, Earth, swallow me whole, please.”

I unwrap one of Dani’s chocolates. Maybe she’s right about my blood sugar. I refuse to acknowledge that possibility out loud.

“He was just being polite.”

“He knows your name, Merry,” Dani says.

“I’m Helena’s assistant.”