Pink Princess Fairytini (Fairy Files #2) Read Free

dropped, but his expression didn’t shutter. If he played poker, he’d lose every time, because he was incapable of hiding his thoughts. “I’ve never taken a cent from her, Chloe. I’m in love.”
    I bit down hard on my lower lip to keep from rolling my eyes. “You met her at Ephemeral, Dale. You know the rule about dating patrons.”
    He gave me a wide-eyed look I would have believed was insincere from anyone else. “I know it’s the rule but…It’s never really made sense to me. It was love at first sight between us, how could I deny that?”
    It was a lost cause, but I couldn’t resist trying to set him straight. “She’s a married woman, Dale. You’re a young, good-looking man. Are you sure it’s love on her end?”
    The hurt in his eyes made me regret the harshness of my reality check. “She’s divorcing her husband for me. She filed the papers today.”
    Huh, I hadn’t seen that coming. “That’s great, Dale, I’m really happy for both of you, but I’m going to have to fire you. You broke one of the cardinal rules here, and now the mayor is accusing me of being a pimp.”
    The horrified look on his face made me want to strangle some sense into him. I’d explained more than once to my staff why they couldn’t date the patrons, but he seemed shocked by the fall out. “Shit, boss, I’m sorry. Is there anyone you need me to talk to? Anything I can do?”
    “No, nothing beyond telling the police the truth if they come to talk to you. I’m sorry to let you go, you’ve been a good worker, but this could close down the club.”
    He nodded. “I understand, boss. I’ll miss working here, but I can’t be sorry for the love I have.”
    I bit my tongue so hard I tasted blood. Was I as bad as Dale, lust-struck and agreeing to an ill-advised date with Harvey because I had fallen prey to a delusion? “I wish you all the best, Dale.”
    My phone rang as I showed him out. When Frost’s name showed up on the caller ID, I considered not answering. I hadn’t spoken to him in three weeks, and it had been a good three weeks. Still, he’d never called me without a good reason. “Autonomy,” I whispered and clicked the answer button.
    “Go dancing with me tonight,” Frost said, without any preamble or explanation.
    “What?” I asked, while I tried to arrange my thoughts. Frost was my favorite person to dance with, but he had a mystery mate, and I had a date with Harvey that I didn’t want to blow by getting caught up in some dance-fueled lust with Frost.
    “I haven’t seen you in three weeks. I miss you.”
    “You miss me? You don’t even like me.”
    He huffed out a sigh. “Just go dancing with me.”
    “I’m seeing someone,” I said. Moments before I’d been considering cancelling my date with Harvey, but just the sound of Frost’s voice shored up my resolve to give Harvey a chance. “Call your mate.”
    “I…Who are you seeing? I thought you and Mercury were matched.”
    Oops. Mercury and I had told Sapphire and Knuffington that we weren’t really matched, but I hadn’t spoken to Frost and hadn’t thought to tell him. “Um…Mercury and I were never matched.”
    Frost was silent for several long moments. “Why did you lie?”
    “At first, we lied to keep Sapphire and Knuffington from questioning us living together.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”
    Because I liked you believing I was capable of committing to someone. I couldn’t tell Frost that, though, because it would be admitting that I cared what he thought of me and I wouldn’t give him that power over me. Because of the club I owned and the way we’d met, on a dance floor, Frost believed I was promiscuous, undiscriminating, and morally corrupt. I’d liked having a pretend match with Mercury to prove otherwise. “It just never came up.”
    He grunted and it sounded like disbelief. “And who are you seeing now?”
    “Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m dating Harvey.”
    “The cop?” He sighed