Page 118 of Love Spells: And Other Non-Refundable Magic

I drop my face into my hands. This is humiliating at extreme levels. Not even Merryweather levels.

Not because I thought Phillip was flirting with me. I never wanted anything from him beyond the little thrill of being noticed by someone who could walk through our entire floor without ever needing to lift a finger and do anything.

But I had made him part of the spell. I had made everything part of the spell.

All these little things I’d been collecting and arranging until they resembled an answer I was desperately looking for.

“Merry.”

I lower my hands to see Veronica watching me.

“We weren’t fucking with you the whole time.”

“Gee guys, that’s super comforting. Thanks.”

“At first, it was really weird. That whole coffee thing? You have to agree,” Dani says. “Then it became pretty obvious he was interested in your work, and you were so deep in the spell thing that every time something happened, you made it fit.”

I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. Because that is annoyingly difficult to argue with.

“Okay,” I say finally. “But there is objectively some weird shit happening.”

“Oh, yeah, there is,” Dani agrees. “You’re dating someone you really like and by the sounds of it, she really likes you back.”

“And also maybe developing some emotional codependence to your online witch?”

Veronica stares at me. I don’t know what to do, what to say, how to react.

Before I can answer, a shadow falls across the table.

“Merryweather.”

Every muscle in my body recognizes Helena’s voice before I look up.

She’s standing beside us with her phone in one hand, gaze moving briefly over Veronica and Dani before returning to me.

“Phillip moved the seasonal review up. He wants you upstairs for it. We start in ten minutes.”

Me? Me? Not us? I look at my boss, but her expression gives absolutely nothing away.

“I—” I clear my throat. “Okay. I’ll be there.”

She nods once and walks away. For a moment, the three of us watch her disappear into the cafeteria crowd.

Dani clears her throat. “Magnet.”

“Oh, fuck off.”

“I’m just saying, babe. The evidence continues to mount.”

“The evidence is that I have to go back to work.”

Veronica is still looking in the direction Helena disappeared, but when she turns back to me, the amusement has faded from her face.

“Actually, the evidence is pretty obvious.” Veronica leans forward in her seat. “We fucked with you about the flirting because it was funny and you made it so easy. But not this part, Merry. You’re really fucking good at your job.”

“I mean, you have your own boss coming to fetch you, Merry.” Dani nods animatedly, and the smile on her face grows. “You’ve been doing half the work in those meetings for years.”

I know that. Or I think I do. I look down at the bracelet on my wrist, turning it once with my thumb.