Chapter 4

Gertrude

L uckily Vlad is right and we can close doors. The string is still there and staring at me, a testament to my screw-up. What kind of idiot just drinks a made-up potion without any tests first? A drunk idiot, that's who. Still, I can't believe that I did and not only did it affect me, but it pulled Vlad freakin' Everdark into my messy life. At least he's been nice about it.

While I get dressed, I also call Gretchen.

"Hello?" she answers, her voice sounding a little worse for wear. Just like I'm feeling. I'm still a bit hung-over and it sounds like my sister is too. Stupid peppermint schnapps .

"Gretchen?" I respond, pulling on my favorite striped tights. "It's Gertrude."

"Gertrude! Where are you? There's already a huge line down the street waiting to get into the shop and you're not here. The shop's supposed to open in five minutes!"

"Right, well, I'm going to need you to mind the Eye today. Something's . . . come up." I pull a festive sweater over my head.

"You're not coming in?" she squeaks. "I have to mind the shop by myself all day? Gertrude, I can't do half of what you do. I won't be able to help walk-ins . . ."

"Gretchen, calm down. I've finished most of the complicated orders for the week already, so you just need to hand them over when they come in for pick up. As for walk-ins . . . help the ones you can and if anything's too complicated, tell them they have to go on the waiting list."

"Your waiting list? Isn't that thing already like five feet long?" Gretchen asks.

Oof, she's right . My waiting list is full . That's going to add to my already heavy workload, especially if the customer is going to need it before Halloween, which most of them probably will. It's not a perfect solution, but it's all I can think of.

Pulling up a purple pleated wool skirt, I say, "Look, I know it's going to be hard, but I can't come in today. You'll be fine and I'll work tonight to catch up."

"But why can't you come in? Is this about Harry?"

I wince at the reminder of my ex. "No, it's not about Harry. Look, last night . . ." and I tell her everything that's happened. Well, I leave out the part where Vlad's only half-dressed, but everything else.

"Vlad Everdark is in your house?" she shrieks.

"Not so loud. He's only on the other side of the door. He'll hear you."

"You're permanently tied to your crush who also happens to be Harry's biggest rival? Oh, that's going to drive him crazy when he finds out," my twin cackles.

"He's not going to find out," I say firmly. "I'm not trying to start drama. I'll go with Vlad to City Hall today and then tonight I'll reverse engineer the potion so that I can break the hex that's tying us together. It'll be fine."

"So you say," Gretchen replies skeptically. "I think you're being a little too optimistic about how easy it'll be to break this thing."

"Well, I have to try. I can't just stay tied to Vlad forever."

"Hey, there are worse guys to be tied to. The mayor's very easy on the eyes."

My face heats as I slide into my favorite boots. "I'm not dignifying that with a response."

"Doesn't matter. I can tell what you're thinking. Anyway, I'll watch the store, so don't worry about that. You just get ready to spend a day with Vlad ."

"Shut up," I mutter.

Gretchen just laughs. "Bye, Gertrude." Then she hangs up and I'm alone in my room. I look back at the door, where the red string reaches through, telling me that Vlad is just on the other side. I feel a little nervous to confront him again, especially knowing that he's not dressed. In my mind's eye I can see his chest again, all smooth planes and corded muscles. It's a nice chest. A very nice chest. But I need to stop thinking about it because we're not in a relationship and Vlad doesn't even want to be here. He was pulled here against his will by a spell gone wrong. I need to remember that.

Taking a deep breath, I open the door and find the vampire leaning casually against the door frame. He gives me a slow up-down inspection before lazily smiling.

"Well, don't you look delectable."

I blush again, something that I can't stop doing around him, and my heart rate speeds up. I wish he wouldn't flirt with me so much. It's making it hard to keep things easy and professional, which I think is vital to us getting through this crazy day in one piece.

"Thanks," I reply, trying to keep my voice even. "We should get you dressed now."

"How will we do that? All my clothes are at my house."

"If I could have a strand of your hair, I should be able to summon some of your belongings here."

He flashes me another smile, showing me his fangs, and says, "Sounds easy enough."

Reaching up, Vlad pulls out a hair and hands it to me. Taking it carefully, so that I don't drop it, I hold it in the palm of my hand and start to chant an incantation. Vlad looks curiously at me while I do so and the air around us grows thick. The hair starts to glow and then with a pop it's replaced by a stack of folded clothes, complete with his wide-brim fedora and sunglasses on top.

"Brilliant," Vlad says, taking the stack. "My favorite suit. How did you know?"

I shrug. "I was just picturing the suit I've seen you wearing most often to my shop."

"Glad to know that you've noticed," he says, giving me another smile. Smiles like that could melt the strongest knees, but I've got to stay strong and remember that he's not here because he wants to be.

"Well, you are my most loyal customer," I remark, keeping my voice diplomatic. Definitely can't tell him that I've checked him out a time or two. Then that reminds me. "Oh, no!"

"What's wrong?" he asks.

"I can't believe that I didn't think of it. We're not going to have time to stop and get your order and I don't have any blood at home. I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry, sweetheart. Vampires only need to feed every few days. I'll be fine without it."

I cock my head. "If you only need to feed every few days, why are you in my shop everyday then?"

He sends me another devastating smile. "Just because I can skip a few days doesn't mean that I want to skip them. Besides, my morning isn't complete without a good morning from my favorite witch."

See, it's stuff like that that makes it hard to not feel special when he talks to me, but I know that he's just a charmer and I shouldn't read into it. So, I just play along, like his words don't affect me like they do. "Well, this favorite witch says to hurry and get dressed. You're supposed to be at City Hall soon."

"Right you are," he replies, still holding the folded stack of his clothes. "I'll be done in a jiff." Then he goes into my room and closes the door. The red string pulls taut and I lean against the door to give him as much room to maneuver as possible. As I do so, I can't help but imagine him pulling on his clothes, his rippling arms bunching and bulging as he gets into his shirt. Suddenly I picture myself in there with him, helping button up his shirt, tying his tie, sneaking some touches to his chest while I do so. The picture is sexy and domestic all at once. I sigh, the sound filled with both longing and aggravation.

Oh bats, am I in trouble .