Sympathetic Magic(15)

She hesitated for a long time. The question had been phrased in the gentlest of ways, but Lucas was still basically asking her out on a date. She couldn’t go on a date with him. Totally out of the question.

“I have a lot I need to do here, actually,” she said, and took a fortifying sip of her Jack and Coke so she wouldn’t have to see his reaction.

“Connor’s going to have some new pieces at Red Rock Illuminations. He can’t really do a big opening right now, what with Angela needing to stay in Flagstaff after Samhain, but these are paintings no one’s seen before. I think it would mean a lot to him if there were some family members there to support him.”

Oh, very clever. Couch it as doing something for Connor, rather than going out on a real date. “I — ”

“It’ll be fun.” Lucas was holding his martini glass but not lifting it to his lips. Instead, he kept his gaze fixed on her, even as his mouth quirked. “You know, fun? Remember what that is?”

“I’m well aware of the concept,” she snapped.

He didn’t reply, but his gaze clearly said, Are you?

“Fine. I’ll go.”

Was ever an offer of a date accepted so grudgingly? Lucas didn’t seem to mind, though, but only smiled and said, “Great. It starts at five, so I should pick you up around four-thirty — ”

“No,” she said, and his eyebrows went up again. “I mean,” she went on hurriedly, “it’s silly for you to drive all the way out to here to get me. I’ll meet you in Sedona. Just let me know where.”

He hesitated, then said smoothly, “Well, if we’re starting in uptown, then you could park in the structure at Sinagua Plaza and meet me out front there.”

Thank the Goddess he wasn’t going to press the issue. At least if she had her own car there, she could make a quick getaway if necessary. And if any other McAllisters showed up, well, she could think of some way to spin it — after all, there wasn’t anything so strange about one of her clan’s elders going to support their prima’s consort at his art exhibit, even in the company of Lucas Wilcox. He did seem to act as a sort of informal clan elder himself, and so the whole outing could be seen as two peers working together for the good of both their clans. Perfectly logical.

Unfortunately, she had a feeling neither of her fellow McAllister elders would view the situation in quite the same way, were they to discover her plans.





4





Margot agreeing to go out with him on the gallery walk was miracle enough. The even bigger miracle was that she hadn’t called sometime during the intervening week to cancel the whole thing. He’d been expecting the call the whole time, actually — oh, sorry, Lucas, something came up. I hope you understand — and had mentally rehearsed his replies so his disappointment wouldn’t be too blatantly obvious. Even worse would have been a text, since that would have made it clear that she didn’t want to talk to him at all, not even long enough to shoot him down one last time.

But she hadn’t called, or texted, and now he stood here in their designated meeting place, on the steps of the plaza as people streamed around him, talking and laughing, all intent on their various destinations. The sun had already disappeared behind the buildings on the west side of the street, and the air was cool. Well, probably downright cold to the people who lived here in Sedona or came from farther south, in Phoenix and Tucson, but to him it just felt pleasant, refreshing. Maybe as the evening wore on, he’d button up his black wool overcoat, but in the meantime he’d left it hanging open.

And there she was, moving through the crowds, a shawl in warm autumn hues thrown over her long dark dress. She’d pulled her hair back, and he felt a little twinge of disappointment. Her hair was so lovely when she let it flow loose over her shoulders.

Even so, she looked so strikingly beautiful to him that he wondered why everyone around her didn’t pause to stare, to drink in this woman who looked like something not quite mortal, like a goddess come down to earth to survey her domain.

Her first words weren’t exactly goddess-like, however. “Sorry I’m late,” she said, sounding annoyed. “The parking structure was full, so I had to find a place farther up the street.”

“It’s fine,” he replied at once, using his friendliest, most soothing tones. “I just got here myself.”

“And you found parking?”

“Not exactly,” he admitted. “I paid the valet at the resort down the hill from the structure to park my car for me.”

“Resourceful.” Now she sounded almost rueful, as if she wished she’d thought of that herself.