Chapter 20

Shea

"Alright, see you later," I called after Arya as she and Ashlyn headed to the subway.

The cloudy November sky was turning orange above the cityscape in the late afternoon sun, casting a sherbet glow on the store fronts of the Magnificent Mile. Though, even after the marathon shopping session we'd just had, I wasn't ready to take the bus back home just yet.

I turned around and looked at the shops and cafes, trying to decide what I wanted to do with my afternoon. I had gifts for all the important people: a bottle of Gram's favorite old lady perfume, the Lancome Ageless Skin Care set for Aunt June, a beautiful rhinestone studded mermaid hair clip for Arya, and even a kitty sweater for Julian. That man was far too serious, and I felt he needed more kitty in his life.

The dirty thought made me snicker as I strolled down the sidewalk. Geez, what was my obsession with unobtainable supernatural men? Both he and Caesar were totally off-limits, totally against every rule in every book, and yet, I couldn't seem to stop thinking about both of them. Even better, both of them at the same time.

Dammit, Shea, stop it!

I needed a distraction to get my mind out of the gutter. Seriously, it wasn't like I'd ever have a chance with either guy. Caesar was the director of an elite shifter school I wasn't allowed in, and Julian was a freaking vampire that had basically contracted me to resurrect his century-dead lover. I was hopeless.

I passed a quaint little Irish pub whose rickety hanging wooden sign read The Shanty.

Hmm, that's what I need right now—a few beers to make me forget about those sexy douches.

Straightening my posture and exuding old-enough-to-drink vibes, I pushed open the door and walked inside like I owned the place. The air was filled with stale cigar smoke and smelled like beer and old men, but I didn't really care about that. I actually enjoyed the smell of cigars sometimes.

There were few patrons seated at the small round tables in the place and only one lonely-looking guy at the bar. Poor sap. It looked like I was going to be another lonely lark on that perch.

I climbed onto a stool three spots away from that guy and set my bags on the floor beside it. I folded my arms over the weathered bar top, smiling at the middle-aged bartender who was looking at me with a dubious eyebrow raised as he polished a beer mug with an even more dubious rag.

I inspected the selection of beers on the tap behind him, pleasantly spotting the iconic logo of my favorite beer.

"I'll take a tall Blue Moon, please," I said confidently.

The arch of the bartender's eyebrow hiked even higher into his hairline, deepening the wrinkles in his forehead. "You got I.D.?"

"Yep." I dug into my purse and pulled my I.D. out of its slot in my wallet.

" Imen toot, " I whispered behind my falling hair that was shielding my face from his view. Before my eyes, the magic turned the birth year on the card back four years.

Thank you, grimoire.

Smirking triumphantly, I handed the magically altered card to the bartender. He accepted it, looking back and forth between me and the card several times before relenting. With an irritated frown, he slapped the I.D. onto the bar top, then turned around to fill my beer.

I wasn't thrilled that he was using the very mug he'd been wiping with the questionably stained rag, but beggars can't be choosers. He set the frothy mug in front of me with a grunt and then walked away down the bar to an apparently far more interesting task.

With a giant grin on my face, I picked up the mug and put it to my lips.

"I saw that," said a thrillingly familiar voice down the bar, making me jolt so suddenly that beer spilled down my arms and onto the bar top. "And you thought you needed entrance to my school to hone your skills."

"Fucking shit!" I gasped, gently setting down my beer to keep from spilling any more. "Why are you always sneaking up on me?"

The hot-as-hell gryphon came toward me with a handful of cheap napkins and started sopping up the beer puddle as he sat beside me.

"Um, you're the one who came into my bar," he said with a handsome smirk framed by that sexy stubble. "I was just sitting here minding my own business when you came in—illegally, I might add."

"Shh!" I hissed, waving my hands at him in the universal gesture of "shut the hell up." But a glance around the bar told me no one was paying us any attention.

Caesar chuckled. "What? Don't want me to blow your cover?" he whispered.

I glared at him, ignoring how gorgeous he looked with that damned smirk. "You won't let me into your school, so the least you could do is let me enjoy my ill-gotten beer in peace."

He shrugged. "Only if you let me join you."

I shrugged back. "I thought witches weren't to be trusted."

"Pretty much, but you seem harmless enough."

"Ass," I gritted out before taking a big swig of my beer.

It was a little flat after being shaken around a second ago, and not as cold as I'd like, but it still tasted like liquid gold, with a hint of orange.

I savored the mature taste as it slid down my throat, then gave Caesar a sideways glance. "So, what's an esteemed professor like yourself doing at a pub at"—I checked the time on my phone—"four o'clock in the afternoon? Or were you just stopping by after a long day of stalking me again?"

He frowned. "Like I already told you, I wasn't stalking you that night. I just happened to be in the area and saw that you were in trouble. Next time, I'll let you get mugged to death."

I snickered at the defensiveness in his tone, enjoying riling him up. "Thank you, that would be much appreciated. Although, I sure didn't mind your outfit."

I winked at him, and holy crap, was that actual blush coloring his cheeks?

He cleared his throat and recovered quickly with the same smirk. "Not unlike your outfit when we met at the school. Although, I think you wore it much better than me."

He winked at me then, making my cheeks burn instantly and my thighs clench tight together. But I wasn't going down that easily.

"Professor, are you flirting with me?" I asked coyly.

His eyes didn't break from mine when he said darkly, "Of course not. That would be entirely inappropriate."

"Entirely," I replied, meeting the challenge in his heated gaze.

I glanced at his empty mug, wondering just how much he'd already had to drink if he was being this bold and playful. And how much farther could I push him? Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to butter him up and get into that school.

"You look a little empty," I said, then waved at the bartender. "Another beer for my friend here."

The bartender rolled his eyes but filled a new mug anyway and set it in front of Caesar.

"Miss Le Fey, are you trying to get me drunk?" he asked, arching a sexy, thick eyebrow.

"No, I just thought we could play a little game," I said.

"Oh? I don't think this is the best place for strip poker," he teased, making me choke on the beer I was sipping. I was starting to like drunk Caesar.

I slapped his chest playfully, secretly savoring the firm feel of the muscles under his black polo. "I was thinking Two Truths and a Lie. We'll take turns saying two things that are true about us and one thing that's a lie. If you can pick out the lie, I'll drink; if not, you drink."

He pursed his lips in thought for a moment. "So the person who still has beer left by the end wins the game?"

"Exactly."

"And what do I get if I win?" he asked, challenge smoldering in his chestnut eyes.

"Well, I have a gift in my bag that I actually got for another guy, but I think it would look much better on you," I said, picturing him in the kitty sweater and trying not to giggle. "If you win, it's yours."

He nodded thoughtfully, a flash of envy sparking in his eyes so briefly I almost missed it. "Another guy, huh? I'll take that challenge. What do you get if you win?"

I leaned forward, playing it cool as a cucumber. "If I win, you let me into the school for one day and give me a chance to prove I belong there."

I watched his face carefully as he considered my terms. It was a gamble, and I pretty much expected him to knock it down. But the longer he thought about it, the more I saw his walls lower.

"I suppose one day is doable," he said, holding up his index finger for emphasis. "But you have to win. And I'll warn you, I don't lose."

"We'll see about that." On the outside, I was aloof and nonchalant, but inside, little Shea was bouncing around and screaming like a sugared-up kid in a jumping castle.

"Ladies first," he said, waving a hand to me.

"Okay." I took a moment to decide what I was going to say. "I broke the same leg twice in the same year. I'm devastatingly allergic to rabbits. And my favorite shifter is the gryphon."

He barked a laugh and slapped his knee. "Okay, clearly the last one is true. As clumsy as you are, I could see you breaking the same leg twice. But I've never heard of anyone being allergic to rabbits, so I'm going with that one."

I snickered. That was way too easy. "Drink."

"What? You really are allergic to rabbits?"

I nodded and grimaced. "Horribly. The last time I went to a pet store and petted a rabbit, my eyes swelled up, and I sneezed compulsively for three hours. It was a freakin' nightmare."

"Okay, so you didn't break your leg twice?"

"Yeah, that's true, too," I said, nodding a little sadly. "The day I got the cast off, I crashed on my bike and went back to the hospital."

He laughed, shaking his head and putting his hand over his eyes. "Yep, clumsy."

I scowled at him, which only made him laugh harder.

"So then, gryphons aren't your favorite shifters?" he concluded, pressing his hand over his chest in feigned heartbreak. "Well, your best friend is a mermaid, so I should've known."

"Um, actually, it's werewolves," I said. "Nothing beats the classics. Team Jacob, all the way."

He chuckled and rolled his eyes as he took his losing drink from his mug. "I would've seen you as a Team Edward kinda girl."

His comment made me think of Julian, and again, I wondered who Julian's connection at the school was. Hell, I wondered what Caesar would think if he knew of my involvement with Julian or that I was just as pathetically crushing on Julian as I was on him.

I shoved that thought aside. Totally not going there right now.

"Alright, my turn," he announced, setting down his drink and then rubbing his stubbly chin as he debated his three things. "I've got it. I can bench press two hundred and twenty pounds."

Yeah, I could see that. Definitely something he should brag about.

"I'm a Leo."

Sounds about right. Actually what's most unlikely about that is that he knows anything about astrology at all.

"And I have almost crippling arachnophobia."

Hmm. Big, brawny Caesar afraid of spiders? No way.

"The last one," I said. "I can't imagine anything scaring you, least of all a tiny little spider."

A wicked grin spread across his lips. "Drink."

"What? You're seriously afraid of spiders?"

He nodded. "When I was little, my mom would tell me bedtime stories of rare shifters. One night, she told me about the Jorogumo, which is a beautiful woman who can shift into a giant spider. She told me that if I ever told a lie, the Jorogumo would hear it and entangle me in its web and eat me. I've been terrified of spiders ever since—and pretty damned honest ever since."

I pictured Caesar as a young boy shivering in fear at a story like that, and the image was endearing. I bet he was a really cute little boy.

"Wow. Okay, so what was the lie? Can you only bench two-ten?"

He shook his head, then leaned closer and winked at me. "I'm a Libra, not a Leo."

I flared my eyebrows in consideration as I took my losing drink. "Interestingly enough, I happen to be a Gemini." Which matches well with Libra.

He nodded, giving me that heated look again. "That is interesting."

After several rounds, neither of us had been able to sniff out the other's lie even once, and we were both down to our last drink.

"This one is for all the marbles," I said, feeling the effects of the alcohol starting to go to my head. "If you can't find my lie, I win. Ready?"

He waved a hand at me in invitation.

This time, I started with my lie. "I can speak Spanish fluently. I've never been outside of Illinois. And…" The alcohol made me bold, and I wanted to hear his reaction to this last one. "I'm an excellent kisser."

His lips twitched at that, and I noticed he was suddenly paying a lot more attention to mine. "Sadly, I believe that you've never been outside of this state. There's so much more out there to see, and I hope you get to someday."

I sighed, nodding. "Me, too."

"I'm going with the Spanish thing," he said decidedly.

"Dammit!" I slammed my fist on the bar top, receiving a disgruntled glare from the bartender as a result.

I grimaced in apology and turned my attention back to Caesar. "So you believe I'm a good kisser?"

He bit his bottom lip, the look in his eyes making my pulse flutter. "Well, unless I experience it for myself, I can only take your word for it."

We looked at each other for a long moment, inching slowly closer until our noses were almost touching.

"You forgot to drink," he murmured just when I thought he was going to kiss me.

Embarrassment and disappointment slammed into me, making me sit back away from him. I reluctantly took my last drink, emptying my mug. If I was being honest, I was more upset that he didn't kiss me than about missing out on my chance to get into the school for a day.

"Okay, where's my prize?" he asked, rubbing his hands together, and the mischievous glint in his eyes told me he knew exactly what he'd done just now.

"A deal is a deal," I sighed and reached into my bag. I pulled out the kitty sweater and held it up by the shoulders for him to see.

"Holy shit," he said and began to laugh as he looked it over. "When you said you got it for a guy, I never would've imagined that this was what it was. You have seriously bad taste in men's clothing."

I stuck my tongue out at him. "It was meant as a gag gift. For someone equally as grumpy and brooding as you."

"You think I'm grumpy and brooding?" he asked in mock offense.

"Um, have you met you?"

He snorted.

I pushed the sweater against his chest, forcing him to take it. "Well, aren't you going to try it on?"

He looked around the pub and shook his head obstinately. "Not out here."

I rolled my eyes. "Ugh, you're such a guy. Let's go to the bathroom then. I have got to see this."

Frowning, he reluctantly slid off the stool and trudged to the back of the pub. With impish glee, I skipped along behind him. No way was I missing the chance to see him in that sweater. And take pictures for blackmail later.