No, but she wanted to.
“Anica, you don’t think I’ll try to steal him, do you?”
“Uh, no. Of course not.” Anica took a big swig of her coffee and scalded her tongue. “Ouch. Hot, hot.” She waved her hand in front of her mouth.
“You do! You think I’m going to try and steal him! That’s so unfair. When have I ever stolen one of your boyfriends?”
“Back in eleventh grade.”
“Yeah, okay. Guilty as charged. I was a kid and full of myself.”
Anica smiled. Lily wasn’t a kid anymore, but she could still be full of herself when it came to men.
“The point is, I haven’t stolen a boyfriend from you since then.”
“Because you didn’t want any of them.”
“No.”
She looked offended. “Because I realized that was a disloyal and mean thing to do.”
“And you didn’t want any of them.”
“That’s not the issue. Anyway, I’m not coming over to steal your precious Jasper. I just think somebody from the family should get a look at him, and the ’rents are out of the country.”
Anica regarded her sister with amusement. “Gonna bring your shotgun?”
Lily grinned. “I dunno. Should I?”
Maybe.
Anica would love to have a way to guarantee that Jasper would stick around once he was free to go. But that was yet another thing over which she had no control.
Chapter 23
By the time Anica came home at four thirty, Jasper was pissed. Ten thousand big ones, plus those e-mails to his exes, plus being nice to Orion, plus giving Anica some really outstanding orgasms—and the most he could possibly get out of it, even if he changed immediately, was ten additional hours. When he did not change immediately, he cut his estimation to eight hours. Not a very good return for his outlay.
Anica gave him a sympathetic glance as she took off her coat and hung it up. “I’m sorry, Jasper,” she said as she walked over to where he was curled up in a corner of the sofa, hating life. “I’m sure you’re disappointed.”
Disappointed? DISAPPOINTED???
Try effing furious. He was ready to chew a bag of nails and spit bullets. All that happy horseshit he’d been thinking yesterday about how evolved he was, how patient, how good at meditating, was out the window, baby. This was war.
“I called Dorcas today. She’s the witch who came up with her husband to consult with me about the spell.”
Jasper gave her a baleful glance.
Tell somebody who gives a damn.
That witch had been no help whatsoever. What good was being magic if you couldn’t fix anything with it?
“She’s convinced you’ll get some return for your donation. She’s just not sure how much. I sure wish you hadn’t—” Anica stopped, pressed her lips together, and looked away.
Lucky for her she hadn’t just delivered the equivalent of
I told you so.
He was ready and able to shred her lovely flowered upholstery. She must be feeling righteous about now, because she’d warned him not to risk ten grand on this deal. But it should have worked! Why the hell hadn’t it?
“I need to mention something else.”
He waited for her to announce that Shoumatoff was about to show up and cart him off to the spay-neuter clinic. That was the way his day had gone so far, so he wouldn’t be surprised if Shoumatoff had gotten up a petition signed by all the apartment residents protesting his continued possession of balls.
“I promised Lily that when you changed form tonight, I’d call her and let her come over. I, um, told her about the donation, and she’s convinced you’ll change any minute.”
That made one of them. He was quickly giving up hope.
“She wants to meet you. When you’re a man, I mean. Obviously the two of you have met as woman and cat.”
They had, and as he recalled Lily had threatened him if he didn’t do right by Anica. She’d probably be happy to come over and gloat because his ten grand had earned him ten minutes.
“So that’s it. Are you hungry?”
He wasn’t, but Orion perked up at the other end of the sofa. Orion could always eat.
“Guess I’ll start thawing the meat in the microwave.” Anica stood and headed for the kitchen.
Jasper settled down and tried to nap. He’d been good at that yesterday, before he’d sunk himself into debt for a transformation that showed no sign of happening. Today the urge to snooze wasn’t the same. Today he was picturing the lien on his condo and his clients leaving in droves because he never seemed to make it into the office anymore.
Oh yeah. This sucked.
In spite of that he must have needed to cop a few Zs, because the next thing he knew, good smells drifted from the kitchen, and the clock in the living room pointed to five fifty-five. So he’d missed the five thirty changeover, too. Ducky.
Now the best he could hope for was six thirty, which meant only an additional six hours added to . . . hello. He had that pre-change feeling again. He’d been so used to the half-hour change that he’d assumed it would be then. Maybe now he was on an hour schedule, because he could definitely feel the stirrings that preceded his transformation.
Six in the evening to six in the morning. He could live with that. Twelve hours of human shape. Yeah, he’d been a little grouchy because it hadn’t happened sooner, but twelve hours was halfway there. That was significant.
Hopping down from the sofa, he made his way to the bedroom. Anica didn’t seem to notice, but Orion caught sight of him and followed him down the hall. Orion trotted faster, as if he wanted to play chase.
Jasper turned and hissed at the orange tabby, but Orion kept coming. He’d found a play buddy and he wasn’t discouraged by a little hiss. Putting on speed, he tried to catch up with Jasper.
This was not working. Jasper wanted privacy for what was about to happen to him. To say he was self-conscious about this process would be a gross understatement. But how could he get rid of Orion?
If he went in the closet, he’d change in there, which would send clothes tumbling off the hangers and generally leave chaos behind. He could get away from Orion by leaping to the dresser, but once he changed, he might crack the top of that antique with his weight, not to mention scattering the family pictures Anica had carefully placed there. She hadn’t moved her array of candles, either. He’d break something for sure if he went up there.
The dresser was out, then. Ducking under the bed wasn’t a solution, either. He’d end up wedged there like a rubber doorstop. Maybe he could wear Orion out by leaping around on the bed, and then when he ducked into the bathroom, Orion would be too tired to follow.
Gathering his haunches beneath him, he launched himself up on Anica’s bed. He loved jumping like that, as if he had springs for legs. He waited until Orion made it up, and then he jumped down and ran around the room.
Once Orion landed on the floor with a loud
thump
, Jasper hurled himself back on the bed. He waited a beat for Orion to catch up before hopping down again. Over and over he repeated the pattern, and Orion started to pant. Good.
“What are you two cats up to in here?” Anica appeared in the doorway as Jasper hit the floor for the umpteenth time.
Shit. He hadn’t counted on that and the change was almost here. Feeling dizzy and disoriented, he dashed into the bathroom.
“Jasper?”
Getting behind the door, he managed to swing it shut. Then he lay against it, panting as much as Orion, but more from stress than exertion. Okay . . . let go . . . let it happen . . . The temporary loss of consciousness was the worst part. Anica wasn’t the only person who liked to maintain control. But at least this time, he’d have twelve hours. Twelve blessed hours . . .
When he came to, he was sprawled naked on the cold bathroom tile, the weight of his body keeping the door closed. Maybe it was the mirror on the back of the door reminding him of the best oral sex of his life. Maybe it was the testosterone that had flowed through his system prior to the change, because he’d been so damned angry about the money. Maybe it was Anica’s soft voice calling to him as she tapped gently on the door.
Whatever the reason, he was aroused.
“Jasper, are you okay? Can I do anything?”
He almost laughed. Yeah, she could do something. The way he felt, it would only take about three minutes of her time. Or he could suggest that she strip off her clothes and put Orion in the coat closet. Then they could do something together.
But once they were in bed he wouldn’t want to leave. Despite having twelve hours to work with, he realized how quickly that time could disappear if he allowed himself to take Anica to bed now. His first priority had to be finding ways to earn the other twelve hours.
He was making progress, but he wasn’t there yet. He also owed a bunch of money and he’d have to make plans to cover that expense. Besides, Anica had promised Lily she could come over. They should get that obligation out of the way. Sex would have to wait.
“I’ve, uh, changed again,” he said.
She gasped softly. Then there was silence. “That’s good, isn’t it?” she said at last. “You should have twelve hours this time. Are you encouraged? I think you should be encouraged.”
Mostly I’m horny.
“Sure, I’m encouraged. Listen, why don’t you call your sister? I’m going to take a shower.” A very cold shower.
“Okay. She probably won’t stay long. She’ll be taking off work to come over here. Oh, I just thought of something.”
“What’s that?”
“You haven’t been out of this apartment in days, except for that one time when Edna tried to . . . well, anyway. Would you like to go see Lily instead of having her come here? Would you like to go out?”
Jasper’s first reaction was eagerness. His second was fear. Could he trust this change to hold? Because he wasn’t willing to admit that fear to Anica, he put more heartiness into his answer than he felt. “You bet! That would be great.”
“Good. I’ll call Lily and tell her to expect us. We’ll just take the bus down to the Bubbling Cauldron.”
“Call a taxi.” If he changed form in a taxi, he and Anica could do damage control. On a city bus, no way. He’d be an urban legend before tomorrow morning.
“All right. A taxi it is, then.” Her footsteps moved away from the bathroom door.
She probably knew he was scared once he’d asked for a taxi. Oh, well. She’d sense it sooner or later. He understood how a newly hatched chick might feel leaving the protection of its shell. But he had to do this sometime. It would be good for him to get out. Rejuvenating.
The discussion about leaving the apartment had eliminated the need for a cold shower, so he took a hot one instead. He would have thought he’d really need a shower after all this time, but no, he was actually clean. He didn’t need a shave, either. Apparently when he changed back into a man he regained the body he’d had at that particular hour on Monday.
At six p.m. on Monday he’d been leaving his condo to meet Anica at the restaurant. He’d showered and shaved after work because he’d hoped they’d end the night in her apartment and in her bed. He didn’t feel at all like the same man who had walked into that restaurant.
Yet his body was exactly the same as it had been then. His fingernails and toenails hadn’t grown and he still had the little nick on his chin where he’d slipped with the razor. On the outside he hadn’t changed at all. No one looking at him would be able to tell that he viewed the world completely differently from the way he had on Monday.
Turning off the shower, he reached for one of the towels hanging from a hook on the wall. The towel smelled like Anica, so he took a second to bury his face in it. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and yet he wondered if he was being honest with himself by thinking he could handle the concept of her magical abilities.
He had no way of judging, because she wasn’t using magic now. When she’d regained her power he might be forgiven for getting nervous every time she picked up a wand. That wand, once it was operational again, would be a potent symbol of what he’d been through.
He finished drying himself and wrapped the towel around his hips before walking out into the bedroom. He hoped Anica wouldn’t be there. She was too much of a temptation. Now that they’d decided to leave the apartment, he didn’t want to be sidetracked. Time to face the challenge of stepping out into the world for the first time since his transformation.
She wasn’t in the bedroom. She might have figured that if she happened to be there when he walked naked out of the bathroom, they’d never make it to the Bubbling Cauldron. He dressed quickly, borrowed a brush he found on her dresser to tame his hair, and walked out into the living room.
Anica was in the kitchen putting away the food she’d been cooking. Her face was flushed as she bustled around filling containers and shoving them into the refrigerator.
“You were in the middle of making dinner. I didn’t think of that.”
She glanced up and smiled. “No problem. I finished making it, so I can heat it up later.”
“Or wait until tomorrow night. I could take you out to dinner.”
She paused to gaze at him. “That’s a nice offer, but the truth is, I’d rather eat here.”
So would he, he realized. Being alone with her was more important than flirting in a restaurant and playing footsie under the table. “I guess we’ve moved past the dating stage.”
“Yes, although I don’t know what stage we’re in.”
“We’re in transition,” he said.
“I suppose we are.” She looked at him thoughtfully. “Ready?”
He had the feeling the question had more than one meaning. “Yes.”
“Then let’s go.”
He helped her on with her coat, something he hadn’t done since leaving the restaurant Monday night. “I’ve loved this coat ever since I first saw it, but now I realize it could be sort of a—”
“Witch’s cape?” She buttoned it and picked up her purse from a table beside the front door. “My mother gave it to me for that very reason. She has one exactly like it.”