11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Maeve - Three weeks later

M y phone chimed as I was heading to a lecture on branding. I’d started going to uni more to squeeze every last bit of knowledge from my courses that I could. Directly applying it to the cafe’s branding helped keep me interested and I kind of loved it.

Taran: Hey boss, are you free this afternoon? Taran: Can you meet me at the cafe at two? Maeve: I can make quarter past two, I’m headed into a lecture. Maeve: I can skip it though Taran: NO! Taran: Quarter past is perfect. I’ll see you later!

It was hard to focus on my lecture knowing that I’d be seeing Taran again after almost two weeks. I’d never admit it, not even under torture, but I was fucking pining at this point. The number of times I had touched myself thinking of him over the past fortnight was concerning, even to me. I also had a horrible mosquito bite halfway up my back that itched like crazy, and not matter how hard I tried to ignore it, I couldn’t.

Ugh, it was running into Vaughn that put my mind off things for a moment.

“Hey bubba,” I called, waving over at him and jumping into his arms. I loved that fluffy guy like a brother.

“Hey baby girl.” He gave me a tight hug. “It’s so good to see a friendly face.”

“Were the students mean to you, Mr Lee?”

“Don’t tease me,” Vaughn snorted. “I swear it—this guy in my lecture just now? He has it in for me.”

“Maybe he just thinks you’re gorgeous and so fluffy he’s gonna die.” I flung my arm around his shoulders to walk the few steps with him to his bike before making my way to the bus.

“Lee,” a dark voice snapped, and we both turned .

Ransom Banks, newly appointed professor for Kirkmuir’s AI institute, stood there, a hard look on his face.

“You dropped this.” He held out a piece of paper, which Vaughn took reluctantly. Holy shit. Tiff had mentioned how hot Banks was—he was her doctorate supervisor—bloody fucking hot, but the man looked so stern and forbidding you’d have to have suicidal tendencies to cross him.

“Thank you, Ransom.”

I tried to keep my cool until the professor had left, then turned with an eyebrow raised at Vaughn. “Ransom? You’re on a first name basis with Banks?”

“I studied under him in Broomshire. He offered it one day. Well, I’ll see you at home.”

Staring in bewilderment, I watched Vaughn suit up and drive off. What the fuck is going on with these two?

The closer the bus got to the city centre, the more thoughts of Taran replaced my roommate and his apparent daddy kink.

I ran the whole way from the bus stop to Finnegan Square, sure Taran would already be waiting for me.

All the windows and the door had been taped over with brown paper to make the surprise complete. Breathlessly, I entered, almost skipping when I spotted him.

He wore a purple corset over an all-black outfit and looked like a creature out of my wildest sex dreams with the ever-present gold rings at the base of his horns.

“Hey, Scales.” I bit my lip to somehow dim my giddiness, then caught sight of my surroundings .

“Holy shit,” I gasped, gaping at the room.

“I wanted you to be the first to see the finished cafe.”

“How did you know they were done?” Without looking at him, I turned on the spot.

“Struan emailed me shortly before noon and said they were finished and that he would be sending the final invoice in a couple of days. Do you like it?”

“I love it.” Nodding, I turned on the spot again.

“Does it look like you imagined it would?”

“Is it weird if I say yes? I have no idea how they did it, but it looks exactly like I wanted it to. Oh God, I bet that cost a shit ton of money. I’m so—”

“Maeve, don’t you dare apologise.” Taran stopped me with a hand on my shoulder, squeezing me gently. “You’ve done an amazing job.”

“Right?” I sniffed. “It’s so pretty.”

“It is,” he quietly agreed with me, giving my shoulder another squeeze before letting go.

“That’s not the only reason why I wanted you to meet me here. There’s something I need to ask you.”

Yes, you can have me anywhere but on my shiny new counter, Scales.

“Yeah?” I stopped my spinning to meet his eyes, eyebrows raised expectantly.

“They’ve invited me to a pre-opening party to welcome me as a customer and to thank me for investing in the property. It said on the invitation that the mayor will be there,” he blurted out without preamble.

“They? Who? ”

“Frostfire, Carson, the bloody mayor of Kirkmuir.” Taran’s voice had taken on a faintly panicked note. “I can’t do this, Maeve.” Smoke started to curl from his nostrils, and he looked close to hyperventilating.

“Hey,” I murmured, taking a tentative step closer and reaching out to put a hand on his forearm. He trembled and, throwing all my stupid rules to the wind, I slung my arms around his waist.

Taran tensed for a moment, then heaved a deep sigh and let himself be hugged.

God, he smells amazing.

Spicy and ancient, but not in a mouldy cave sort of way. More like how I imagined the temple of a pagan god to smell.

“You’ll be okay, Taran. If I had anything to wear to such a party, I’d totally go with you and be your shield. Shield Maiden Maeve, guarding you from being eaten alive by Kirkmuir’s upper class.”

A chuckle vibrated the broad chest under my cheek, the movement momentarily rubbing his corset’s bones over my nipples. My breath hitched in my throat as a flash of arousal shot through my body.

Yeah, thank fuck I’m not attracted to him.

I was about to laugh it off as a joke, when Taran freed himself from my embrace and took me by the shoulders. His sharp-fanged mouth opened, but he paused in the act of speaking and cocked his head briefly at me as if he had just spotted something odd. Then he shook his head.

“I would be beyond thankful if you were there with me, Maeve. Getting you something suitable to wear is the easiest task—although I think the clothes you own would suffice perfectly.” He swallowed and briefly glanced down at my body. I wore a Conall White merch shirt knotted at the side, paired with high-waisted jeans and the black Beacons I’d treated myself to after a gruelling year-long savings challenge.

Yeah, not happening, Scales.

“We can go shopping now, or I’ll have Stuart pick you up whenever it’s suitable for you.”

“Are you serious?”

“By my horns, I swear I’m serious.” He swallowed again when my eyes darted involuntarily up to the golden rings the way his had inspected my tits, but gave me a small smile. “You are saving me. This invitation’s been hanging over my head for the past few days, but now I’m glad I didn’t deny it. Who knows, perhaps you’ll even enjoy it. The food should be amazing. Apparently they hired one of Kirkmuir’s most popular restaurants for the catering. Hosier’s? Have you ever heard of it?”

“Wow, you’ve got to be kidding. Hosier’s? That’s supposed to be the best restaurant in the city.”

“You’ve never been to it?” He cocked his head.

“Me? Nah,” I chuckled. “I never eat out.”

“Why not?”

“Because I spend too much time at work and still can’t afford it.” With a wink, I freed myself and turned away to further survey the new interior of the cafe.

The craftspeople had executed my DreamBoard to a T.

The bar with the new high-end coffee machine was sleek and sexy in black and white without being too chic for the rest of the place. They’d done an amazing job preserving the charm of it while still giving it a brand-new feel. The rickety tables and sagging armchairs were gone, replaced by mismatched wooden furniture and cosy wingback chairs. Even though they looked old, everything was brand new and great quality.

Taran had told me not to hold back and given me free rein over his non-existent budget. I’d still tried not to go overboard, but shit, it had cost a buttload of money to redo it.

Running my hand along the impeccably painted matte black surface, I imagined how it would feel to serve the first customer.

“Good afternoon, Miss.” Looking up, I met Taran’s gaze, boyish mischief dancing in his bottomless pupils.

“Hey, welcome and congratulations, you are our first customer!” He perked up, raising himself to his full height, and rested his claws on the counter.

“What are the chances? I happened to be in the area and felt drawn in here.”

“That’s lovely to hear.” I pretended to blush a little and fiddled with the coffee machine. It wasn’t hooked up yet, but it was fun to play pretend with him. “What can I get you?”

“I don’t know,” he said with a wink, repeating the first words he had ever said to me. “I’ve never been here before. Surprise me?”

“You look like someone who would enjoy the Brewce Lee. It’s my own creation, actually.” I batted my eyelashes at him, pretending to flirt. “Maybe a slice of the red velvet? The frosting is amazing.”

“That sounds perfect,” he rumbled, leaning over the counter and bringing his face a foot nearer, his eyes intently set on mine.

Okay, Scales, are you flirting with me for real ?

“Perfect,” I repeated, captivated by how those stunning golden rings caught the light over our heads.

“Let me take you shopping, Maeve,” he murmured, the words low like thunder in the distance.

“Okay,” I breathed, swallowing hard when he leaned in further and kissed my cheek.

“Perfect.”

What the actual fuck just happened? Did he…put a spell on me or something?

Stuart waited for us in the Helix. I always forgot about him until we were back in the car, and then I felt guilty as fuck for taking this man for granted.

“Good afternoon, Miss Cooper. It’s lovely to see you again,” he greeted me kindly as I slid into the back seat, sliding over to make room for Taran. He could have taken the seat opposite of me, but he never did.

Perhaps he hates riding with his back to the engine as much as I do.

“And you, Stuart.”

Shit, you don’t even know the man’s last name!