This is so up my alley, Avalynn Fay thought as she sipped on her bourbon, sans the umbrella that Lilly, her fellow Fairy Godmother, insisted upon in her own glass.
It was girls’ night in the Fairy Realm, a get-together to help Christy decide on her last charge before retirement.
And, of course, Christy had come up with a special twist, just for the three of them.
While Christy seemed intrigued with this twist, and Lilly had that extra glittery twitch going on, neither of them were ready for this trio of male charges.
Yes, they were going to take on men.
Christy’s little challenge wasn’t really that big a deal. At least not to Ava. She did things different than the others. She actually talked to her charges—without necessarily revealing who or what she was, granted, she’d interact with them, instead of doing the over-the-shoulder hover, like so many other Fairy Godmothers did. Sometimes, it amazed her what people would tell her if she listened.
Most of the time, the things people wanted were easy to get, even without magic. So the “no magic” part didn’t intimidate Ava. Oh sure, she’d played along, because Lilly looked absolutely gobsmacked at the concept, but still.
Ava wasn’t worried.
Christy had said the least amount of magic rather than no magic. Even Ava used magic on occasion, and none would certainly limit her options.
But this was going to be fun. After all, Ava did her best stuff face-to-face with her charges. Though she’d always had girls.
She tapped her own bourbon as she watched the charges through the magical screen that Christy had created. All the boys were enjoying themselves at a bachelor party. The one she’d been assigned, Jason Gregorian, was more her type than the others. After all, while everyone drank their beer, he opted for bourbon. He smiled, chatted but wasn’t overly dramatic. He didn’t seek out women, hardly noticed them, truth be told. Even when the waitress made googly eyes at him, he didn’t seem to care.
Perfect. Because Ava had one particular flaw to her plan. She was hot. She didn’t need her charge to fall for her when he was supposed to be falling for his Happily Ever After. Though from the way he ignored most of the women around him, she figured he wouldn’t notice Ava, either.
Maybe he was still in the closet? That would make an interesting twist in her assignment.
She sipped on her drink. A buxom blonde sashayed by the table of men. All of them—even the groom-to-be—noticed her.
All except Jason.
“Either he’s blind or he’s not even a little interested,” she whispered.
That would be interesting to figure out. Bruce, Lilly’s charge, smacked Jason on the arm.
Jason shrugged and said the blonde wasn’t his type.
“So what is?” Bruce asked, his voice a little slurred.
Jason tossed back his bourbon. “Someone not so…so obvious.”
Ava smiled. Now that she liked.
Yep, they would get along just fine.
While Ava was the youngest of the three, having only been a Fairy Godmother for two hundred sixty-five years, she had her own way of doing things. She’d worked briefly with a mentor who believed the hover-over-the-shoulder thing was best, but Ava had tried it her way.
And it worked.
Interacting with her charges, asking direct questions, was much easier than trying to read their minds all the time. Not that she or any of the fairies could, but guessing generally covered what most fairies did.
That was what it was—guessing. And then jumping when things didn’t work out the way they wanted it to.
Ava preferred a more personal touch.
And so far, her personal touch had never failed her.
Ava twisted in her bed and groaned as she sat up. Or, rather, as she tried to sit up. An arm held her plastered in place.
“Get off me.” She pushed the arm away.
Cupid rolled over, his eyes opening just a bit, and he smiled at her. “And what do you have on your agenda today?” he asked.
“I have a new charge. Gotta go make that love flow, you know?”
“Need any help?” Cupid rose to his elbows.
Ava shook her head, her red hair falling over her shoulders. “I got this. He’s going to be easy, I think.”
“How so?”
“He doesn’t want the obvious choice,” Ava replied, climbing out of bed. Her wings spread wide and stretched, filling the small bedroom.
Cupid let out a huff.
She rolled her eyes. “If you didn’t want to see wings, you shouldn’t have stayed the night.”
Cupid came to her side. “You’re so much prettier without them. Come on, Ava. Think about my offer.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Any offer from you is dual edged. You know that as well as I do.”
He shrugged. “But how many times do I offer to take a fairy companion?” He ran his fingers down her collarbone.
“This week?” Ava asked. She knew their intimate relationship meant nothing—not to her and not to him. He was, after all, the God of Love. He could find intimacy with anyone.
“Today.”
“Well, today is just getting started.”
She crossed to the bathroom and stepped inside, leaving the door open.
Cupid followed her. “So tell me, what do you fairies have going on?”
“Christy found a new trio to take on.”
“Trio, eh? Sounds like someone’s trying to get full marks for her final job before retirement.”
“They’re men,” Ava said as she stepped into the shower.
“Men? Really?” Cupid stepped into the shower with her.
Ava nodded. “Christy wanted to really push it this time. And she made a caveat. To see who can do it with the least amount of magic.” She stepped out of the water stream, lathering her hair.
“Well, that would be you,” Cupid said as he soaked himself under the shower.
“Probably,” Ava replied.
He grabbed the soap. “Do you want to win?”
“I want to do my duty,” she replied, smiling a little as she thought more about her charge. “He seems intriguing. Doesn’t have a lot of interest in obvious women.” She rinsed her hair out.
“Is he gay?”
“Don’t think so. I need to check the file first.”
Cupid nodded. “So are they all tied together?”
“Friends,” she said as she got her little purple sponge and started scrubbing down.
“Nice effect, if you all can do the job.”
“We can,” Ava replied, turning to let the water spray down her back. And hopefully, it would rinse away her irritation at his comment.
Sometimes, she wondered why she put up with him at all.
Cupid wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t want to see you fail. You know if you need…” he kissed her neck, sending shivers down her spine, “…anything, just ask.”
“Of course.” She remained still while he kissed her skin.
Like that would ever happen.