Penny & Her Heru Ch 9

Rent-A-Witch: Whynot Coven

9 - Who Does He Think He Is?

As I sat at my table – alone – I tried to figure out what to do after I paid the check. I'd spent the last hour picking at my pancakes and drinking so much coffee the waitress left the pot on my table. The whole time I was annoyed at Heru sitting across the small dining room. He talked to people as they passed by his table, chatted with the waitress about some garden tip his mother gave her, and then there was the fact he easily ate more food for breakfast than I ate in an entire day. Of course, all of it was done while he watched me. I know he watched me because I watched him. It was hard not to when the hostess sat us at tables facing each other and he refused to sit with his back to me.

My options were few. I couldn't talk to Bea for obvious reasons. I didn't want to talk to my mother. She would point out all my dreams were coming true, and that I should run into his open arms. Never mind the fact that living in a small town was not in my dreams. Nora texted while I pushed my pancakes around to take the rest of the week off and she would just move my test date back a week. That left one thing ... spending the day with Heru in his tiny town.

The waitress pulled me out of my thoughts when she asked if I needed anything else.

"Just the check please." I stacked my knife and fork on the remains of my pancakes and pushed them to the side of the table.

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. Heru paid for yours already. He said y’all were having alone time or something." She leaned closer to me and on a stage, whisper proved my point about small towns. "If I was lucky enough to have a gargoyle like him served up to me on a silver platter I wouldn't need any alone time. First, I’d climb him like a tree, then I would lock him down as soon as possible.”

Her conspiratorial smile made me itch to smack her. I knew from her light blue skin, pointed ears, and Playboy curves she was a nymph, and probably thought of every sexy person who came through the cafe in the same way but he was mine and the need to put her in her place was strong.

I placed my hand on my chest, and in my best Scarlett O'Hara voice leaned in like I wanted to share a little secret too. "Honey, you get within five feet of him, and I will not be held responsible for my actions. You know how a witch's magic can just go haywire when she gets upset."

A familiar clawed hand landed on my shoulder pulling me away from the nymph who was suddenly more green than blue. "Come on, Dove. We’ve got an appointment to get to."

"You’re right, Hunny Bunny. I know it might seem silly to some people who don't know me, but I am just an absolute ogre in the morning before coffee, especially after last night." I gave Heru the biggest smile and brushed a kiss on his left pec when I stood up. "Actually, can we skip the appointment so you can show me your house now? I need to see if my espresso machine will fit on the counter or if I need to get a little cart thing for it. I mean we were so busy at Pink House last night we never made it back to your place."

A little burst of spite-fueled happiness sparked through me when the waitress scurried into the kitchen without another word.

I had to give him credit, Heru held it together until we were halfway down the block before he called me on my stunt.

"Honey Bunny? So busy last night?"

"She felt the need to tell me if you were handed to her, and I quote 'on a silver platter’ she would lock you down." I shrugged. "I was just letting her know where she stood in the grand scheme of things – and to be clear that was nowhere near you."

I didn't fight him when he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his side as we walked. I didn't even ask where we were going as he wound his way through the streets of Whynot. I simply enjoyed the quiet walk until he stopped in front of the Gatehouse.

"Umm, what are we here for?" I looked up at him in confusion. I assumed he was taking me to meet his parents, pick out China patterns, or show me the kindergarten where our kids would learn how to read. I did not expect him to metaphorically show me the door.

"You said you have two more weeks of interning in Salem. I understand how important it is to you to get your license. So, while you were plotting the murder of the waitress during breakfast, I was plotting how to give you everything you want." He tugged me forward so my chest was pressed to his stomach and wrapped his arms around me. "You know I have a duty to my clan. I know you have a duty to yourself."

"Okay?" I had to tilt my head back to keep eye contact.

"I propose you go to Salem every morning and do what it is you do there. Then when you are free come back and spend the evening with me. I'll arrange with Darla for you to keep your room at Pink House, so you don't feel pressured to stay anywhere else." His grip tightened around my shoulders letting me know he wouldn’t pressure me even if he wanted me to stay with him. "The Gatekeeper owes me a favor so that’ll cover the charge for you going back and forth every day. Think of it as a daily commute."

I dropped my eyes to his throat. While I was being a brat in the cafe, he was figuring out how to make this work for both of us. He wasn't drawing a line in the sand that I had to give up everything I worked for to be his woman. He wanted me to keep doing what I wanted and just work in time for him too.

How the heck was I supposed to argue with any of that?

"Just come back here every night?"

His chin rubbed against the top of my head when he nodded.

"You are going to do your thing, and I'll do mine?"

Another nod against the top of my head. I'd need to brush it again when this little life-changing conversation was over.

"To be clear," I pushed on his abs until he relaxed his hold enough for me to look into his eyes again. "Will you be fine while I'm gone?"

His eyebrows dipped low in confusion. "Fine?"

"Yeah, fine." I waved my hand up and down in front of him. "You won't go through withdrawals, or go mad, or get sick or something if I physically get too far from you? I realized last night that I know very little about gargoyles other than the fact you’re a big sexy monster with wings, horns, and a tail that won't stop petting me whenever I get close to you. But I do know there are Others out there who go batshit crazy when their mate gets too far away. Like Harpies wail from physical pain. Shifters get testy and start fights over nothing. Mermaids will straight up go into a coma until they are reunited with their mates. Is any of that going to happen to you if I go to Salem during the day?"

Heat shot through me when a fang peeked through his full lips when he smiled. "Are you worried about me, Little Dove?"

I wanted to deny it just to be contrary but there was no point. It was clear by the way his nostrils flared he knew exactly what I thought of him at that moment. I ran my hands around his chest and rested my forehead on his pecs. The only thing keeping me from pulling him down for a kiss was the fact we were standing in the middle of the sidewalk with people walking past us trying not to notice the moment we were having.

"You should know that I was serious when I said I'm a monster in the morning before coffee, and that I have a huge espresso machine that will be coming with me." I kept my face pressed into his chest. "And yes, I am worried something will happen to you if I go back to Salem every day. I don't know if you can feel the bond in your chest like I can or not, but this thing drove me crazy last night and it turns out you were just one floor below me the whole time. What is gonna happen if we are that far apart?"

As Heru stroked my back for a moment without saying anything I knew I was right. There was no way this would work.

"Nothing harmful will happen while you're in Salem. I'll worry and probably be a bit of an ogre, but we will be fine." His tail wrapped itself around my ankle like that would stop me from leaving for the day.

"Fine." I pressed a kiss against his neck and stepped out of his arms. "Give me your phone so I can put my number in it."

Without a word, he handed me his phone. I thought about putting Penny as the contact name for all of a second before I typed in Little Dove.

"The time I get off varies by what Nora has me do that day so I can't promise when I’ll be back, but I’ll be back in time to meet you here at six. That work?"

He took his phone and tucked it into the back pocket of his jeans with a nod. "Text me if you get back sooner."

"Deal." I bounced once on my toes, not sure how to say goodbye. I wouldn't say no to another kiss like the one we shared last night, but it didn't look like that was in the cards this morning.

Heru's wings flared around us as he pulled me back into his arms. "Thank you, Little Dove."

Far more breathless than I wanted to be, I asked, "For what?"

"For meeting me halfway. I know I wasn't in your plans, but I will thank the Goddess for the rest of my days for bringing us together."

I closed my eyes when his lips brushed against mine once, then twice before he pressed a kiss against my forehead and dropped the protection of his wings. It took me a moment to get myself together enough to mutter a soft goodbye and walk through the door of the Gatehouse.

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