Amazed, page 5
Surely the wolf hadn’t been serious about that. Then again, who knew what kind of weird mating rituals shifters followed?
Which meant Harry really needed advice from another fairy. Unfortunately, Lily was the only one he knew.
Maybe he should ask the bears instead. Surely they’d have better advice than that stupid wolf.
So when Travis wandered through later that afternoon, headed for the bar, Harry stopped him and asked, “What did you do to win Phoenix?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know. How did you court her?”
“Court her? I was running a bar! I didn’t have time for courting.”
“Well, then how’d you guys end up together?”
Travis shrugged. “She was my mate. It was destined to be.”
Harry just stared at him. “You didn’t do anything to win her?”
“Well. I did move her in above the bar. But beyond that, not much. I mean, we worked together, so that meant we spent a lot of time getting to know each other. But honestly, when you know, you just know.”
“Yeah, but how’d she know? I mean, what did you do to make sure she knew it?”
“Woman trouble, eh?”
“Even worse. Fairy trouble.”
“Huh. I guess Max wasn’t messing with me when he said a fairy was giving you grief. What’d you do?”
“Nothing!”
“Really? Because fairies aren’t exactly known for their tempers. Well. Okay, they are known for sometimes torturing their enemies, but they stay real calm while doing it.”
“Seriously? Like I’m not worried enough, you had to bring up torture?”
“Sorry. You’re the idiot trying to court a fairy.”
“Yes, I am. And I’d love some advice.”
“Well, I’ve never dated one before, but honestly, I’d say proceed with caution.”
“That’s what Max said,” Harry muttered.
“Max? You’re taking advice from the mangy wolf? Oh no, my friend. You listen to Max and the next thing you know, you’ll be chasing your own tail. You don’t even have a tail and you’d still be chasing it.”
“I suppose you have some better advice for me?”
“Absolutely. First and most importantly, do not interrupt her sleep time. Just hold her quietly until she wakes. Oh, and never let her wake alone.”
Harry stared at Travis.
How was that supposed to help? They weren’t even sleeping together yet!
“And how am I supposed to get her to sleep with me again?”
Travis sighed a great big sigh. “Seriously? That’s just pathetic, man.” And he walked away!
“Come on! You can’t just leave me hanging like this. How do I get her to sleep with me?”
Travis chuckled and called out a ridiculous suggestion as he walked out the door.
“What the hell,” Harry muttered. “That can’t possibly be right. Can it?”
With no other ideas, Harry decided to ask the witches’ mates next.
It hadn’t taken Harry long to figure out that Megan, her sisters, and their other “skyclad” friends were all witches, something that hadn’t surprised him at all. After all, the sisters’ shop was called The House of Light and was full of all kinds of witchy things. Plus, Megan had given him the crystal that heated up whenever Lily was near. Knowing all that, the fact that they were witches made a lot of sense.
However, the cougar shifters she and her sister Jessica had mated were a big surprise. Not to mention the wolf shifter, their other sister, Lara, had mated.
Shifters in general.
Yep. They were a definite surprise.
Still, if Harry thought about it, a witch was probably closer to a fairy than a shifter anyway, so maybe the cougars, Cole and Dan, could help.
Or even Karl the wolf.
It couldn’t be that easy to win a witch. Right?
So when the three men wandered through the lobby several hours later, Harry beckoned them over and asked, “How did you guys manage to win over your witches?”
Cole raised an eyebrow. “Woman trouble, eh?”
“Fairy trouble,” Harry said glumly.
“Right. Well, first of all, and this is probably the most important piece of advice I can give you.”
Harry leaned forward. Finally! Something useful.
“When she tells you she’s a fairy, believe her.”
Harry waited, but it seemed Cole had nothing else to add. “That’s it? Just believe her?”
“Yep.”
“But I already believe her. I know she’s a fairy. I never doubted it.”
“That’s not what I heard,” Dan said.
“Yeah,” Karl agreed. “I heard you called her a figment of your imagination.”
Harry huffed. “Yeah, but she was still a fairy figment. I mean, I never doubted Lily was a fairy. I just wasn’t sure she really existed.”
The three men stared at him.
“I know she exists now, though, and I’ve always known she’s a fairy. So I’ve got that one covered.”
“Then, you’re golden,” Cole said.
“No, really, I’m not. I need something more.”
“Not sure what to tell you, man,” Karl said.
“Yeah, that’s pretty much the most important thing right there,” Dan agreed. “Believe in your woman.”
“Or witch,” Cole said.
“Or in your case, fairy.” Karl grinned.
“But what else? I mean, you had to have done something else to win your witches, right?”
Cole looked at Dan and Karl, then back at Harry. “Nope.”
“Not really,” Karl said.
“Honestly, if we’d just believed them from the start,” Dan began.
“We probably would have won them a lot sooner,” Carl finished.
“Yep,” Karl agreed.
Great.
These shifters were useless!
Harry had no idea how they’d managed to get even a single date with any of their women, let alone actually convinced the women to take them on as mates.
The shifters started to walk away, then Cole swung back around and said, “Oh, hey, there is one other thing you can do.”
This time, Harry had no intention of getting his hopes up. He was sure it was going to be yet another utterly absurd suggestion. “What’s that?”
“You can play with her.”
What was that supposed to mean? “You mean like we did when we were kids? Hide-and-seek and stuff?”
“No. Well, maybe. I don’t know. What games do fairies play?”
Harry shrugged. “Beats me.”
“Well, you can’t go wrong with an energetic game of chase,” Karl said.
“Oooh, good idea,” Dan exclaimed.
Cole nodded. “Absolutely. Just don’t hurt her when you pounce on her.”
“Oh, and keep your claws sheathed when you wrestle,” Karl said.
“Idiot.” Dan slapped him on the back of the head. “He’s a human. He doesn’t have claws.”
“Oh, right,” Karl said.
“And be sure to let her chase you too,” Cole said.
“Yeah, you might think being chased won’t be as fun as doing the chasing,” Dan said, “but trust us, there’s all kinds of awesomeness to be found when your woman’s chasing you.”
Cole nodded. “You just gotta make sure you don’t run too fast. You know, let her catch you.”
“For a guaranteed good time!” Karl exclaimed.
“Yeehaw!” Cole and Dan hollered in unison, laughing like loons.
Harry didn’t even know what to say to that. Their suggestions were just all kinds of wrong, which is why when Megan entered the hotel with her sisters a little while later, Harry flagged her down to ask.
Megan blushed. “I mean, yeah, we do play chase sometimes. You know, out in the woods. It’s a lot of fun. I can’t believe he told you that, though!”
Harry shrugged. “I needed advice on how to win Lily’s affections.”
Megan smiled. “Oh, Harry, you don’t have to win them. I’m sure you’ve had them all along.”
“Yeah, but not anymore. She’s really mad at me, Megan.”
“Just give it time. She’ll come around.”
“Yeah, but I’m afraid I’ll screw it up again. And what if she doesn’t ever forgive me?” It occurred to Harry suddenly that maybe he’d been going about this all wrong. After all, Lily was a woman. He probably needed a woman’s advice. “What do you think I should do? I mean, to make Lily fall in love with me?”
Megan smiled at him. “Just be yourself, Harry.” And with those uninspiring words, she walked away.
Seriously?
Of all the advice he’d heard that day, Megan’s was the most useless of all.
Just be himself?
What did that even mean?
Harrumph.
Women!
Chapter 11
THE NEXT DAY, while reviewing upcoming reservations, Harry’s mind kept wandering back to all the suggestions the shifters had given him the day before. He’d already rejected most of them for being utterly ridiculous. He still couldn’t believe Max’s parting shot. “Sniff her butt,” he muttered. On the other hand, the wolf had suggested a pretty good compliment. He tested it out. “Smells divine.”
“What?!”
“Huh?” Harry looked up in horror to see Lily staring at him from the other side of the counter. “Oh, uh, hi, Lily.”
“What were you just saying about butts?”
“Oh, nothing, just something that stupid wolf was telling me.”
“That butts smell divine?”
“No! I mean–” Harry groaned. “Just never mind, all right? Forget you even heard that.”
“If you say so.”
“So I was wondering. Would you like to go for a run with me?”
“A run? You mean like with our legs?”
“Of course with our legs. I hear it’s a lot of fun. To go running together.”
“Um, sure. I guess. Now?”
Harry grinned. “Yeah.” He set up his sign that said, “Be back soon,” and joined Lily in front of the counter. “Shall we?” He stuck out his elbow and waited.
Lily smiled shyly and settled her hand on his arm.
Harry led her out the front door and then stopped on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. “Where do you think we should run?”
Lily shrugged. “I’ve never been outside the hotel before.”
“Really?” Harry couldn’t imagine that.
“Well not on this side anyway.”
“This side?”
“Of the veil. You know. It wouldn’t do for humans to see my wings.”
“Oh. Right.” Harry hadn’t thought of that.
“Maybe we should go back—” He broke off and stared wide-eyed as Lily stretched her arms high, did a little wiggle and snapped her wings . . . somewhere. “Where’d they go?” Her wings had completely disappeared.
Lily smiled. “They’re just hiding.”
Harry reached out a hand, then hesitated. “May I?”
She nodded.
He settled his hand where he thought her wings should be and—“They’re not there at all.”
“Of course they’re there, silly. They’re just under the skin now. So come on. I’ve never seen the town before!” And Lily took off running down the sidewalk.
With a grin, Harry raced after her.
Way too many minutes later, he caught up with her at the top of the giant, steep hill that led to town. The hotel, unfortunately, sat at the bottom of that hill, which meant by the time he reached the top of it, he was huffing and puffing like a ninety-year old asthmatic.
Thankfully, Lily was too preoccupied with her own difficulties to notice his. She was bent over, hands on her knees, wheezing.
Harry wanted to ask if she was okay, but he couldn’t seem to catch his breath.
“What is this—this horrible thing called running? I thought you said it would be fun!” Lily gasped.
Harry was so out of breath, he could barely form his reply. “The shifters said,” he puffed, “that it was a great way—” he wheezed, “—to court their women.”
Lily peeked up at him from behind a wave of her dark hair. “Shifters can’t be that stupid, can they?”
Harry shook his head. “I don’t know. All I know is this is a terrible way to spend time together.”
“I agree,” Lily wheezed.
Harry stared down the hill toward the town Lily had been so excited to visit a short time before. “Still want to go to the town?”
“And have to climb back up this hill?” She waved an arm in front of them. The hill was almost as steep heading down toward the town as the side they’d just run up. “Not on your life!” She collapsed on the ground, stretched out on her back and stared up at the sky.
Harry grinned and lowered himself to the ground beside her. “This part isn’t so bad though.”
Lily giggled. “I can’t believe the shifters think running is fun. What kind of weirdos use their legs to run if they’re not being chased by ravenous trolls?”
Harry let out a bark of laughter. “I’m not sure, but this was their best suggestion.”
“Their best suggestion was running? I mean, what could be worse than that?”
“Trust me. You don’t want to know.”
“Oh, come on, tell me.”
“Max suggested sniffing your butt.”
“Sniffing—what?”
Harry sighed. “Look, you can’t take him seriously. He’s a wolf, for heaven’s sake.”
“So you didn’t want to sniff my butt?”
Harry froze. He didn’t even know how to answer that question. He could sense the trap, the way all men could when no answer they gave had any chance of being the right one. “I didn’t not want to sniff your butt,” he said cautiously.
Lily leapt to her feet and stared down at him, hands on her hips. “You said something about it smelling divine.”
Harry shook his head. “No, Max said I should tell you that you smell divine, not your butt.”
Lily’s eyes widened. “So my butt doesn’t smell divine and neither do I since you were so reluctant to follow that advice. Advice you said was worse than running! How could giving me a compliment be worse than running? Oh!” She clenched her fists and her wings suddenly became visible in a whir of motion that lifted her off the ground.
“Now, Lily—” Harry began, but it was already too late.
Once again, Lily had disappeared.
“Damn that wolf,” Harry muttered.
Chapter 12
AFTER FOLLOWING MAX’S disastrous advice, Harry decided maybe he should have listened to the bear after all. Travis had warned Harry that he’d end up chasing his own tail if he listened to Max and look what had happened.
Between the ridiculous argument about divine butts and having to run up that demonic hill, Harry felt as if he’d been put through the wringer.
As he contemplated the various pieces of advice he’d received, he came to the conclusion that the suggestions Travis had given him might be the most reasonable. He’d moved Phoenix into the apartment above the bar and they’d gotten to know each other while working together.
Maybe that would work for Harry too.
He had plenty of rooms in the hotel. All he had to do was choose one, fix it up and then he could offer it to Lily. He also needed help with the hotel now that business was picking up. Maybe she’d like to work for him in the office or at the reception desk.
These were fabulous ideas!
Harry spent the next week frantically ordering things online and preparing a suite of rooms for his fairy. After all, she deserved only the best the hotel had to offer.
And while he worked to create a room Lily would love, she continued to make her presence and displeasure known.
The pranks started up again with a vengeance.
“Damn that wolf,” Harry muttered for what had to be the thousandth time since he’d taken the stupid wolf’s advice and gotten into an argument about divine-smelling butts.
* * *
“A job? You’re offering me a job?” Lily’s voice made it clear she thought she had to have misheard him.
“Well, sure. I thought it would be a good way for us to spend time together, get to know each other again.”
Lily just stared at him in silence for a while. Long enough that he started getting antsy. Had he not been clear? Was it somehow an insult to offer a job to a fairy?
“All right,” Lily finally said. “What do you want me to do?”
“Take reservations, check people in, that sort of thing.”
Lily looked doubtful.
“I can teach you everything you need to know. And did I mention, the job includes a suite of rooms?”
“And now you want me to move in?” Her voice got a little higher at the end.
“Um, yeah. To the hotel, I mean. Just in case someone needs to check in during the middle of the night.” Harry thought that was a pretty good excuse considering he’d just made it up on the fly.
In truth, there was a bell at the counter that rang into his rooms right down the hall from the reception area, so if anyone ever did show up in the middle of the night, not that it’d ever happened before, Harry would know immediately and would just handle it himself. He’d never interrupt Lily’s sleep or drag her out of bed to help him with the front desk. She didn’t need to know that though.
“You do know I have a job already, right?”
Harry was a little shocked to hear this. After all, she seemed to pop in whenever she wanted to and never seemed to be on any kind of specific schedule. “You do? What’s your job?”
Lily grinned. “Never you mind that. I can probably help you out. I need to make some arrangements though.” She lifted up a bit, the movement one Harry recognized as a signal that she was about to disappear.
“Wait! Don’t you want to see the rooms first?”
“You can show me when I get back.” And with that, she disappeared.
Again.
Harry was annoyed until he realized it had actually worked. Travis’ advice had done the trick! Lily was going to move into the hotel and she’d agreed to work with him.
This was going to be amazing!
Which meant Harry really needed advice from another fairy. Unfortunately, Lily was the only one he knew.
Maybe he should ask the bears instead. Surely they’d have better advice than that stupid wolf.
So when Travis wandered through later that afternoon, headed for the bar, Harry stopped him and asked, “What did you do to win Phoenix?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know. How did you court her?”
“Court her? I was running a bar! I didn’t have time for courting.”
“Well, then how’d you guys end up together?”
Travis shrugged. “She was my mate. It was destined to be.”
Harry just stared at him. “You didn’t do anything to win her?”
“Well. I did move her in above the bar. But beyond that, not much. I mean, we worked together, so that meant we spent a lot of time getting to know each other. But honestly, when you know, you just know.”
“Yeah, but how’d she know? I mean, what did you do to make sure she knew it?”
“Woman trouble, eh?”
“Even worse. Fairy trouble.”
“Huh. I guess Max wasn’t messing with me when he said a fairy was giving you grief. What’d you do?”
“Nothing!”
“Really? Because fairies aren’t exactly known for their tempers. Well. Okay, they are known for sometimes torturing their enemies, but they stay real calm while doing it.”
“Seriously? Like I’m not worried enough, you had to bring up torture?”
“Sorry. You’re the idiot trying to court a fairy.”
“Yes, I am. And I’d love some advice.”
“Well, I’ve never dated one before, but honestly, I’d say proceed with caution.”
“That’s what Max said,” Harry muttered.
“Max? You’re taking advice from the mangy wolf? Oh no, my friend. You listen to Max and the next thing you know, you’ll be chasing your own tail. You don’t even have a tail and you’d still be chasing it.”
“I suppose you have some better advice for me?”
“Absolutely. First and most importantly, do not interrupt her sleep time. Just hold her quietly until she wakes. Oh, and never let her wake alone.”
Harry stared at Travis.
How was that supposed to help? They weren’t even sleeping together yet!
“And how am I supposed to get her to sleep with me again?”
Travis sighed a great big sigh. “Seriously? That’s just pathetic, man.” And he walked away!
“Come on! You can’t just leave me hanging like this. How do I get her to sleep with me?”
Travis chuckled and called out a ridiculous suggestion as he walked out the door.
“What the hell,” Harry muttered. “That can’t possibly be right. Can it?”
With no other ideas, Harry decided to ask the witches’ mates next.
It hadn’t taken Harry long to figure out that Megan, her sisters, and their other “skyclad” friends were all witches, something that hadn’t surprised him at all. After all, the sisters’ shop was called The House of Light and was full of all kinds of witchy things. Plus, Megan had given him the crystal that heated up whenever Lily was near. Knowing all that, the fact that they were witches made a lot of sense.
However, the cougar shifters she and her sister Jessica had mated were a big surprise. Not to mention the wolf shifter, their other sister, Lara, had mated.
Shifters in general.
Yep. They were a definite surprise.
Still, if Harry thought about it, a witch was probably closer to a fairy than a shifter anyway, so maybe the cougars, Cole and Dan, could help.
Or even Karl the wolf.
It couldn’t be that easy to win a witch. Right?
So when the three men wandered through the lobby several hours later, Harry beckoned them over and asked, “How did you guys manage to win over your witches?”
Cole raised an eyebrow. “Woman trouble, eh?”
“Fairy trouble,” Harry said glumly.
“Right. Well, first of all, and this is probably the most important piece of advice I can give you.”
Harry leaned forward. Finally! Something useful.
“When she tells you she’s a fairy, believe her.”
Harry waited, but it seemed Cole had nothing else to add. “That’s it? Just believe her?”
“Yep.”
“But I already believe her. I know she’s a fairy. I never doubted it.”
“That’s not what I heard,” Dan said.
“Yeah,” Karl agreed. “I heard you called her a figment of your imagination.”
Harry huffed. “Yeah, but she was still a fairy figment. I mean, I never doubted Lily was a fairy. I just wasn’t sure she really existed.”
The three men stared at him.
“I know she exists now, though, and I’ve always known she’s a fairy. So I’ve got that one covered.”
“Then, you’re golden,” Cole said.
“No, really, I’m not. I need something more.”
“Not sure what to tell you, man,” Karl said.
“Yeah, that’s pretty much the most important thing right there,” Dan agreed. “Believe in your woman.”
“Or witch,” Cole said.
“Or in your case, fairy.” Karl grinned.
“But what else? I mean, you had to have done something else to win your witches, right?”
Cole looked at Dan and Karl, then back at Harry. “Nope.”
“Not really,” Karl said.
“Honestly, if we’d just believed them from the start,” Dan began.
“We probably would have won them a lot sooner,” Carl finished.
“Yep,” Karl agreed.
Great.
These shifters were useless!
Harry had no idea how they’d managed to get even a single date with any of their women, let alone actually convinced the women to take them on as mates.
The shifters started to walk away, then Cole swung back around and said, “Oh, hey, there is one other thing you can do.”
This time, Harry had no intention of getting his hopes up. He was sure it was going to be yet another utterly absurd suggestion. “What’s that?”
“You can play with her.”
What was that supposed to mean? “You mean like we did when we were kids? Hide-and-seek and stuff?”
“No. Well, maybe. I don’t know. What games do fairies play?”
Harry shrugged. “Beats me.”
“Well, you can’t go wrong with an energetic game of chase,” Karl said.
“Oooh, good idea,” Dan exclaimed.
Cole nodded. “Absolutely. Just don’t hurt her when you pounce on her.”
“Oh, and keep your claws sheathed when you wrestle,” Karl said.
“Idiot.” Dan slapped him on the back of the head. “He’s a human. He doesn’t have claws.”
“Oh, right,” Karl said.
“And be sure to let her chase you too,” Cole said.
“Yeah, you might think being chased won’t be as fun as doing the chasing,” Dan said, “but trust us, there’s all kinds of awesomeness to be found when your woman’s chasing you.”
Cole nodded. “You just gotta make sure you don’t run too fast. You know, let her catch you.”
“For a guaranteed good time!” Karl exclaimed.
“Yeehaw!” Cole and Dan hollered in unison, laughing like loons.
Harry didn’t even know what to say to that. Their suggestions were just all kinds of wrong, which is why when Megan entered the hotel with her sisters a little while later, Harry flagged her down to ask.
Megan blushed. “I mean, yeah, we do play chase sometimes. You know, out in the woods. It’s a lot of fun. I can’t believe he told you that, though!”
Harry shrugged. “I needed advice on how to win Lily’s affections.”
Megan smiled. “Oh, Harry, you don’t have to win them. I’m sure you’ve had them all along.”
“Yeah, but not anymore. She’s really mad at me, Megan.”
“Just give it time. She’ll come around.”
“Yeah, but I’m afraid I’ll screw it up again. And what if she doesn’t ever forgive me?” It occurred to Harry suddenly that maybe he’d been going about this all wrong. After all, Lily was a woman. He probably needed a woman’s advice. “What do you think I should do? I mean, to make Lily fall in love with me?”
Megan smiled at him. “Just be yourself, Harry.” And with those uninspiring words, she walked away.
Seriously?
Of all the advice he’d heard that day, Megan’s was the most useless of all.
Just be himself?
What did that even mean?
Harrumph.
Women!
Chapter 11
THE NEXT DAY, while reviewing upcoming reservations, Harry’s mind kept wandering back to all the suggestions the shifters had given him the day before. He’d already rejected most of them for being utterly ridiculous. He still couldn’t believe Max’s parting shot. “Sniff her butt,” he muttered. On the other hand, the wolf had suggested a pretty good compliment. He tested it out. “Smells divine.”
“What?!”
“Huh?” Harry looked up in horror to see Lily staring at him from the other side of the counter. “Oh, uh, hi, Lily.”
“What were you just saying about butts?”
“Oh, nothing, just something that stupid wolf was telling me.”
“That butts smell divine?”
“No! I mean–” Harry groaned. “Just never mind, all right? Forget you even heard that.”
“If you say so.”
“So I was wondering. Would you like to go for a run with me?”
“A run? You mean like with our legs?”
“Of course with our legs. I hear it’s a lot of fun. To go running together.”
“Um, sure. I guess. Now?”
Harry grinned. “Yeah.” He set up his sign that said, “Be back soon,” and joined Lily in front of the counter. “Shall we?” He stuck out his elbow and waited.
Lily smiled shyly and settled her hand on his arm.
Harry led her out the front door and then stopped on the sidewalk in front of the hotel. “Where do you think we should run?”
Lily shrugged. “I’ve never been outside the hotel before.”
“Really?” Harry couldn’t imagine that.
“Well not on this side anyway.”
“This side?”
“Of the veil. You know. It wouldn’t do for humans to see my wings.”
“Oh. Right.” Harry hadn’t thought of that.
“Maybe we should go back—” He broke off and stared wide-eyed as Lily stretched her arms high, did a little wiggle and snapped her wings . . . somewhere. “Where’d they go?” Her wings had completely disappeared.
Lily smiled. “They’re just hiding.”
Harry reached out a hand, then hesitated. “May I?”
She nodded.
He settled his hand where he thought her wings should be and—“They’re not there at all.”
“Of course they’re there, silly. They’re just under the skin now. So come on. I’ve never seen the town before!” And Lily took off running down the sidewalk.
With a grin, Harry raced after her.
Way too many minutes later, he caught up with her at the top of the giant, steep hill that led to town. The hotel, unfortunately, sat at the bottom of that hill, which meant by the time he reached the top of it, he was huffing and puffing like a ninety-year old asthmatic.
Thankfully, Lily was too preoccupied with her own difficulties to notice his. She was bent over, hands on her knees, wheezing.
Harry wanted to ask if she was okay, but he couldn’t seem to catch his breath.
“What is this—this horrible thing called running? I thought you said it would be fun!” Lily gasped.
Harry was so out of breath, he could barely form his reply. “The shifters said,” he puffed, “that it was a great way—” he wheezed, “—to court their women.”
Lily peeked up at him from behind a wave of her dark hair. “Shifters can’t be that stupid, can they?”
Harry shook his head. “I don’t know. All I know is this is a terrible way to spend time together.”
“I agree,” Lily wheezed.
Harry stared down the hill toward the town Lily had been so excited to visit a short time before. “Still want to go to the town?”
“And have to climb back up this hill?” She waved an arm in front of them. The hill was almost as steep heading down toward the town as the side they’d just run up. “Not on your life!” She collapsed on the ground, stretched out on her back and stared up at the sky.
Harry grinned and lowered himself to the ground beside her. “This part isn’t so bad though.”
Lily giggled. “I can’t believe the shifters think running is fun. What kind of weirdos use their legs to run if they’re not being chased by ravenous trolls?”
Harry let out a bark of laughter. “I’m not sure, but this was their best suggestion.”
“Their best suggestion was running? I mean, what could be worse than that?”
“Trust me. You don’t want to know.”
“Oh, come on, tell me.”
“Max suggested sniffing your butt.”
“Sniffing—what?”
Harry sighed. “Look, you can’t take him seriously. He’s a wolf, for heaven’s sake.”
“So you didn’t want to sniff my butt?”
Harry froze. He didn’t even know how to answer that question. He could sense the trap, the way all men could when no answer they gave had any chance of being the right one. “I didn’t not want to sniff your butt,” he said cautiously.
Lily leapt to her feet and stared down at him, hands on her hips. “You said something about it smelling divine.”
Harry shook his head. “No, Max said I should tell you that you smell divine, not your butt.”
Lily’s eyes widened. “So my butt doesn’t smell divine and neither do I since you were so reluctant to follow that advice. Advice you said was worse than running! How could giving me a compliment be worse than running? Oh!” She clenched her fists and her wings suddenly became visible in a whir of motion that lifted her off the ground.
“Now, Lily—” Harry began, but it was already too late.
Once again, Lily had disappeared.
“Damn that wolf,” Harry muttered.
Chapter 12
AFTER FOLLOWING MAX’S disastrous advice, Harry decided maybe he should have listened to the bear after all. Travis had warned Harry that he’d end up chasing his own tail if he listened to Max and look what had happened.
Between the ridiculous argument about divine butts and having to run up that demonic hill, Harry felt as if he’d been put through the wringer.
As he contemplated the various pieces of advice he’d received, he came to the conclusion that the suggestions Travis had given him might be the most reasonable. He’d moved Phoenix into the apartment above the bar and they’d gotten to know each other while working together.
Maybe that would work for Harry too.
He had plenty of rooms in the hotel. All he had to do was choose one, fix it up and then he could offer it to Lily. He also needed help with the hotel now that business was picking up. Maybe she’d like to work for him in the office or at the reception desk.
These were fabulous ideas!
Harry spent the next week frantically ordering things online and preparing a suite of rooms for his fairy. After all, she deserved only the best the hotel had to offer.
And while he worked to create a room Lily would love, she continued to make her presence and displeasure known.
The pranks started up again with a vengeance.
“Damn that wolf,” Harry muttered for what had to be the thousandth time since he’d taken the stupid wolf’s advice and gotten into an argument about divine-smelling butts.
* * *
“A job? You’re offering me a job?” Lily’s voice made it clear she thought she had to have misheard him.
“Well, sure. I thought it would be a good way for us to spend time together, get to know each other again.”
Lily just stared at him in silence for a while. Long enough that he started getting antsy. Had he not been clear? Was it somehow an insult to offer a job to a fairy?
“All right,” Lily finally said. “What do you want me to do?”
“Take reservations, check people in, that sort of thing.”
Lily looked doubtful.
“I can teach you everything you need to know. And did I mention, the job includes a suite of rooms?”
“And now you want me to move in?” Her voice got a little higher at the end.
“Um, yeah. To the hotel, I mean. Just in case someone needs to check in during the middle of the night.” Harry thought that was a pretty good excuse considering he’d just made it up on the fly.
In truth, there was a bell at the counter that rang into his rooms right down the hall from the reception area, so if anyone ever did show up in the middle of the night, not that it’d ever happened before, Harry would know immediately and would just handle it himself. He’d never interrupt Lily’s sleep or drag her out of bed to help him with the front desk. She didn’t need to know that though.
“You do know I have a job already, right?”
Harry was a little shocked to hear this. After all, she seemed to pop in whenever she wanted to and never seemed to be on any kind of specific schedule. “You do? What’s your job?”
Lily grinned. “Never you mind that. I can probably help you out. I need to make some arrangements though.” She lifted up a bit, the movement one Harry recognized as a signal that she was about to disappear.
“Wait! Don’t you want to see the rooms first?”
“You can show me when I get back.” And with that, she disappeared.
Again.
Harry was annoyed until he realized it had actually worked. Travis’ advice had done the trick! Lily was going to move into the hotel and she’d agreed to work with him.
This was going to be amazing!
