Chapter Six: Cassie

“This is really good,” Cassie said for the fourth time, pointing at her rapidly disappearing pasta dish with her fork. Well, she had to say something to fill the silence between them.

She sighed. This might be the fastest date in history. As soon as Romera had brought the food, neither Cassie nor Byron seemed to know what to say. So they just ate.

“It looks good.” Byron looked up at her and smiled.

“Are you sure you don’t want to try some?” Cassie asked, wasn’t that what people did on dates? Share their food, their likes, their dislikes…anything.

“No, I’m good with my sandwich.” He looked up at her and smiled, then his expression changed. “Sorry.”

“For what?” she asked warily. Was he thinking of pulling out of the competition? Was that why he’d gone so quiet?

“I’m so used to coming here on my own, and just eating…” His voice trailed off. “But we’re supposed to talk, aren’t we?”

She covered her mouth as she giggled. “We can eat in silence if you want.”

He looked down at his plate and then up at her.

“No,” Byron shook his head, briefly touching his fingertips against his glass, fiddling with the condensation. “I’d rather get to know you better.”

Cassie paused and steadied herself with a calming breath. “Well,” she began, using her napkin to neatly dab the corners of her mouth. “I’m not sure where to start.” Then she smothered a smile. “So, tell me, Byron. What do you do for fun around here?”

Byron nearly choked on his mouthful of sandwich. Then he chuckled, which grew into a deep laugh that resonated through his chest. “We have to do better than that.”

“You would think.” Her smile faded for a moment. This really was a fake date. If it were real, they should have no trouble talking to each other. Every romance novel she’d read, every Romeo she’d watched, the characters just hit it off. They just knew what to do and say.

Byron leaned back in his chair, looking more relaxed. His gaze was on her, and while she thought she’d have felt uncomfortable, there was a heat that began to spread over her skin. “Tell me something you love.”

“I love...” Cassie looked down at her pasta and twirled her fork around in the rich seafood sauce. “I love...dancing,” she confessed and looked up at him. “Not professionally or anything. In fact, I don’t really like dancing when there are other people around, I only really do it alone. It’s more freeing.”

“As someone who has two left feet, I like the idea of dancing when there’s no one watching.” He looked down at his food, then asked, “And what music do you like to dance to?”

She smiled and leaned toward him. “There’s a music box in my store and every time you open it, it plays a random tune.”

“And that’s what you dance to?” Byron asked.

“I do.” She nodded. “It’s quite an eclectic range, really. One moment it’s Vivaldi, the next it’s some obscure pop song from the 90s. But the 80s music is my favorite when it decides to play it.”

“Sounds unpredictable,” Byron mused, not sounding too sure if that was a good thing.

“And you?” Cassie asked as she scraped up the last of her food from her plate. “What do you do for fun?”

“It’s cliché, but…fly.”

She paused, her fork midway to her mouth. “That must be the coolest thing ever. I think if I could fly, I would never walk on two feet again.”

“Sometimes that’s exactly what I would like to do,” he said. “But there are two sides to me. The dragon side and the human side, and the human side has family, friends, and responsibilities. And it’s not that I don’t love my family or mind the responsibilities. But to just fly and fly and see whatever and wherever you want…” Byron trailed off, his gaze unfocused, as if he was seeing something beyond the restaurant walls.

“Two sides...must be difficult,” Cassie murmured, trying to imagine what it must be like for him. She had always been just plain old Cassie.

“It can be,” Byron admitted. “I have an idea.”

“Is it one I am going to like?” Cassie asked.

“On our next date, we should do what we both like best.” He arched an eyebrow at her.

“Wait, I enjoy dancing alone,” Cassie said. “That’s the whole point of it.”

“It’s like a trust exercise. I enjoy flying alone. You like dancing alone. How about we try to do those things together?” Byron explained. “It’ll help us in the competition,” he quickly added.

“And if we do what I enjoy doing, we can go flying? I can ride on your dragon’s back?” she asked.

“Yes.” Byron nodded.

“Deal.” She nodded and ate the last mouthful of her Seafood Pasta.

“Date,” Byron said as he glanced toward Romera. “Dessert?”

“Do you usually have dessert?” Cassie asked.

“No, but I am suddenly feeling adventurous. Are you?” he asked with a slight incline of his head.

“I am.” She clasped her hands together under her chin as Romera approached the table.

“I hope you enjoyed your food,” he said, though he didn’t seem to have any doubts whether they did as he noted their clean plates.

“It was magnifique,” Byron said with enthusiasm.

“You are always too kind, Byron.” Romera produced two menus from seemingly thin air. “Did I hear you say dessert?”

“You did.” Byron accepted his menu and opened it. “Do you have a recommendation?”

“Byron, I would be most delighted to share a recommendation with you,” Romera answered. “The Tarta de Santiago is divine today. A traditional almond cake topped with powdered sugar and a hint of citrus.” He pointed at the item on the menu, “It’s a house favorite. Or if you are wanting something chocolaty, I would recommend the Churros con Chocolate,” he continued. “Freshly fried dough dusted with cinnamon sugar and served with a side of warm, rich, Spanish-style chocolate for dipping.”

“The Tarta de Santiago sounds amazing,” Byron declared almost instantly.

“I’d love to try the Churros con Chocolate, but,” she said, “could you please serve it with a side of ice cream?”

“Ahh, a woman after my own heart,” Romera said. “We will get those orders right out for you.”

Byron looked at Cassie. “It appears we both have a sweet tooth.”

“We do.” Cassie was beginning to enjoy herself. “Okay, next question. What do you not like to do for fun?”

“Good question,” Byron replied. “I dislike anything that involves heights, like rock climbing or skydiving.”

“Wait, but you’re a dragon shifter. You can fly! You just said you love flying!”

“No, my dragon can fly. And I am fine with that. I trust him and he trusts me. It’s something within our control.”

“Okay, I can understand that,” Cassie said. “Hmmm. I don’t like scary movies, especially the ones with those freaky little dolls. They give me nightmares for weeks.”

Byron chuckled at this confession. “You’ve never had a freaky little doll in your store?”

Before Cassie could respond, Romera returned with their desserts. She was once again shocked at how quickly they prepared their dishes. The Tarta de Santiago looked like a cake from the heavens, topped with a stenciled lemon dusted in powdered sugar. On the other side, the Churros con Chocolate was perfectly golden, arranged around a small pot brimming with velvety chocolate sauce and a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream on the side.

“Enjoy,” Romera said. He looked at them each in turn and smiled.

Could he see they were enjoying themselves? He didn’t seem to mean the food this time.

“So, the dolls?” Byron asked, and she shuddered.

“No dolls in the store,” she replied as she dipped part of her churro into the warm chocolate sauce and then took a bite, savoring the sweet taste as it melted in her mouth. “Absolutely not. I would never sleep knowing it was down there.”

Byron laughed. “Did you have dolls when you were a girl?”

“I did.” She pressed her lips together. “And that is where the fear comes from. My dad brought home this doll from a case he was working on.”

“For The Authority?” Byron asked.

“Yes. It was late, and he always tried to be home to say goodnight to us, so he didn’t have time to go back to his office,” Cassie began.

“And the doll was haunted?” Byron asked as he ate.

“No, not haunted,” Cassie corrected, her eyes focused on the traces of chocolate on her plate. “A warlock had put a spell on it. We thought that it might have been a nuisance as it kept moving around and hiding things whenever it wasn’t being watched. Dad let me tinker with it to see if I could figure out how to calm it down…”

Byron stared at her, momentarily forgetting the decadent dessert in front of him. “What happened?”

She shook her head, looking up to meet his gaze. “It cut off all my hair.”

“Your hair?” Byron asked and reached across the table to entwine his fingers through the curls that hung down behind her headscarf.

“Yes,” she whispered as his fingers brushed against her cheek. “I woke the next morning to find my pillow covered in my hair.”

Byron remained silent for a moment. “Criminal. You have beautiful hair,” he murmured before he pulled his hand away.

“It grew back, obviously.” She picked up her churros and took a bite. “And my father removed the spell from the doll. But ever since that night…”

“You have a fear of dolls,” Byron murmured.

“Yes.” Cassie nodded, rubbing her hand on the back of her neck to try to rid herself of goosebumps. “Just the sight of them makes me shudder.”

“I solemnly promise to protect you from dolls everywhere,” Byron said as he reached out and covered her hand.

Cassie giggled and covered her mouth with her hand, but she didn’t slide her hand from under his. Instead, she welcomed the feeling of warmth that spread across her skin. “Thank you, Byron.”

“I mean it,” Byron replied as he went back to eating his dessert. “I’m not much of a fighter, but I could certainly take on a doll or two for you.”

“Let’s hope there are no heights to scale and no freaky dolls to deal with in the competition.” Cassie ate the rest of her dessert.

“But with our luck...” Byron started.

Cassie held up her hand to stop him from saying any more. “Don’t jinx it.”

Byron raised his glass. “Here’s to us and a competition free of haunted dolls and heights.”

“To us.” Cassie picked up her glass and touched it to his, even though there was barely anything left in it.

“Do you want another?” Byron asked.

“No.” She drained her glass. “I’m fine. Thank you.”

“No, thank you, Cassie,” Byron said. “I would never have entered the competition if you hadn’t walked into the tavern last night.”

“You were an unexpected surprise,” she said as she placed her glass down on the table.

“I think we have a good chance of winning,” Byron said.

“Really?” Cassie replied. “I wish I had your confidence.”

“It’s a good thing that I am part of the team, then. My confidence can carry us both.” Byron gave her a charming smile.

Cassie chuckled and shook her head. “You really are confident, aren’t you?”

“I believe in us, Cassie.” Byron’s smile softened. He made her believe they could conquer anything. Together.

“In us,” she echoed, her gaze dropping to the table as a shy smile tugged at her lips.

“Yes. Us.”

“I can see why you come here three times a week,” Cassie said as heat crept across her cheeks. She liked the way he said us. She liked it a lot.

Not that she wanted to be an us.

“Ah, now we have something in common,” Byron said with an infectious grin.

“We had something in common from the moment we met,” Cassie reminded him.

“Sophie?” Byron asked with a frown.

“No, the competition.” She held his gaze. “That is the reason for this lunch date.”

“Of course. How could I forget?” Byron responded, his grin fading.

Had he forgotten that’s why they were here? Cassie had to admit there were plenty of times during lunch that she could have let herself believe this was real, even just for a moment.

But it was not. And they both had to keep that in mind.

But her mind would rather dwell on the fullness of his lips, the way his eyes crinkled at the corners…

He was a shifter, she reminded herself. There was no future in a relationship with him. And anyway, hadn’t she sworn off men and decided to focus on attaining magical excellence?