Three Shifters for Christmas by Lisa Cullen

Author:Lisa Cullen [Cullen, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-11-20T00:00:00+00:00

17

MAXINE

I was restocking books and tarot cards in my shop when the door opened.

“Hello, let me know if you need help with anything,” I said. I had gotten into the habit of that. I found the customers were more likely to buy something from me if I greeted them when they first walked through the store.

“Okay, sure,” Phineas said with a laugh.

I stopped what I was doing and snapped my attention toward the kid. After several days of not hearing from him, Phineas finally stepped into my shop.

“There you are! I was almost convinced you weren’t coming back,” I said, abandoning my task to walk toward him.

I truly did believe I wasn’t going to see the kid again. Not only had I not heard from him, but I hadn’t heard from Ghalen either. Not since our date. I would never have pegged him for the kind who would sleep with a girl and then runaway, but I had been wrong about that before.

Granted, it wasn’t very often that I was wrong. But it has happened once or twice.

And the one thing that backed up that suspicion was the fact that Phineas had also ghosted me.

Of course, I also considered that they were both just busy. I wasn’t a paranoid individual. I wasn’t banking on anything coming from the sex I had with Ghalen either. I held zero attachments to any outcome.

“Nah,” he said, waving a hand in front of him. “I had to catch up on a ton of homework. I’m sorry.”

I stopped just in front of him. I smiled, unsure if I had heard correctly. “Homework?”

He nodded, standing a little taller. “Yeah.”

I pulled him into me as my heart swelled with pride. He was doing something responsible. “I’m impressed. Homework is important, but you should take my number and call me next time, so I don’t worry.”

He pulled away from me, smiling wider. “Ghalen’s requirement for me keeping this job is that I stay on top of my school. Blame him.”

“That’s a good arrangement,” I said. “Still, I thought you had quit on me.”

“Me,” he gestured to himself, “quit on you? Never!”

I cocked my head to the side and quirked an eyebrow. “Really?”

He stared at me with a confused expression. “Yeah, why?”

I chuckled. “You know, I didn’t think this was an arrangement you would want to hold forever.”

“Yeah, but I made a promise, so…” He clapped his hands together and moved deeper into the shop. “Where do you want me to start?”

“Well, I’m glad you are taking our agreement seriously. Still, next time, call me,” I said pointing at him.

“Okay, okay.” He nodded. “You worry too much.”

“Oh?” I asked with a chuckle. “Is that so?”

“Yes, but I don’t mind,” he said with a shrug.

“Okay then.” I nodded, grinning.

After giving him a few tasks to do for the day, I continued with my restocking tasks. About an hour of hard work later, we had worked up an appetite, so I went upstairs and made me and Phineas a snack. Once

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