“All right, hold up. If that does happen, you are not to blame. Magic causing someone to fall in love with you does not make you a homewrecker. Have you ever heard of a human kissing a mermaid to cause the human to fall in love as well?
“I’ve never heard of an issue with it, no. But then I’m a little removed from the merfolk community.” And again, she also hadn’t told Roxy the whole truth, about her genuine self and what that meant for Ethan. Mattie knew, but Mattie was working on a spell that might fix the whole thing.
Undrea just didn’t see any benefit to outing herself to more people than necessary. Especially with the repercussions it might have.
“I know you don’t want to ask your parents, but don’t you think—”
“No. Absolutely not. Can’t happen. My mother will flip. And my father will react in a way that only overprotective fathers can. They’ll probably try to make me move home, too.”
“Okay, parents are out. I get it.”
“Aaron doesn’t know about how we actually met or the kiss, but he thinks Ethan is flirting with me just because he’s used to having any woman he wants and that’s what guys like that do.”
Roxy seemed to think on that a moment. “I don’t know. Ethan Edmonds doesn’t really have a rep as a player. At least not that I’ve read about. If he has a fiancée and he’s flirting, I think it’s the magic at work.”
Undrea raised her brows. “If you had written this as a story, what would you have had the magic do?”
Roxy grinned. “Oh, he would definitely be under the spell of the beautiful mermaid, unable to think of another woman, besieged by thoughts of the mermaid’s grace and charm, all of his waking and dreaming moments spent wondering where she was and if she was thinking of him. He would be completely besotted. I mean gone.”
Undrea let out a long low groan. “I am so screwed.”
Roxy’s smirk didn’t help. “You’re actively avoiding this guy, right? At least until Mattie has some time to figure things out on your end?”
“Right. I still ran into him at lunch, but that wasn’t intentional.”
“Okay, but what if that’s the wrong approach? Are you sure about the whole forty-eight hours thing? I mean, maybe this is one of those absence makes the heart grow fonder kind of magics? What if being together and quickly figuring out you’re not compatible would make it all go poof?”
“I don’t know.” Especially because Undrea was suddenly questioning everything. “Maybe it would. But I think we are compatible. So…” She held her hands up.
Roxy rolled her eyes. “Based on what? A ten-minute visit to his house in which you were actively trying to win his business and a thirty-second conversation at Howler’s where you suggested he try the cobbler? Really?”
“Hmm. When you put it that way, I guess we haven’t spent that much time together. Not quality time, anyway.”
Roxy shrugged. “Just a thought. I realize I’m just the romance novelist turned panther shifter in this equation, but it’s something to think about.”
“No, those are valid ideas. And you are certainly proof that magic doesn’t always follow the rules.”
“There is that.”
“So you think I should spend some time with him?”
Roxy took a drink of Pepsi, then set the can on her desk and put her feet back on the floor. “What can it hurt? Mattie’s either going to come up with something to help you or she’s not. Whatever magic is in play is still going to be in play regardless of whether or not you see Ethan, so why not see him? You might figure out there’s nothing about him to like and make Mattie’s help irrelevant. And if that dislike is strong enough, why couldn’t it overcome the magic?”
Undrea hadn’t thought about it that way. “I guess so. Or this could be a terrible idea. I mean, what if I find out I really do like him?”
Roxy smiled. “And he finds out he really likes you?”
“He’s got a fiancée!”
“And yet, he’s flirting with you. So either that fiancée isn’t what his heart wants or he’s a scummy guy out to get some. You either end up with a great new boyfriend or a reason to never speak to him again. Seems like a win-win to me.”
“When you put it like that…” Undrea couldn’t argue with Roxy’s logic. Except… “You know I’m trying to book a job with this guy.”
“Well, if he ends up your boyfriend, you’re definitely getting the job. And if he’s scummy, just don’t ice him out until he’s signed the contract.”
“You’re so mercenary.”
Roxy laughed. “Just a realist.”
“I guess I need to come up with an excuse to see him.”
“That shouldn’t be too hard,” Roxy said. “You just said yourself you’re trying to do business with him.” Then she tapped her chin in thought. “Did he seem excited about the tank?”
“He did. He asked a lot of questions.”
“Good. Then you should have no trouble getting some more time with him. In fact…” She leaned forward. “You should try to see him outside of his house. At your shop. Can you come up with a reason for him to come visit you?”
“Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem. Why do you think I shouldn’t see him at his house?”
Roxy’s eyes twinkled with all kinds of intentions. “Because I think you need to see him away from the fiancée. That’ll really tell you what he’s up to.”
Ethan stared at Undrea’s card as he dialed. The company logo was a smiling cartoon fish standing on its tail, giving a thumbs-up with one fin.
The phone rang once before being answered. “Thanks a lot for calling Tanks A Lot. Whitney speaking. How can I help you today?”
He grinned. The woman answering sounded young and eager and on the ball. He loved that kind of employee. He’d bet good money answering phones wasn’t all she did. “Hi there. Is Undrea available?”
“She’s in the warehouse, but I can page her. May I ask who’s calling?”
“Absolutely. Please tell her it’s Ethan.”
“Just a moment, Ethan, and I’ll see if she’s available or needs to call you back.”
“Thank you.”
She put him on hold to the sound of bubbling water. It made him think of music. That thought intrigued him. Was there a musical parallel to the sound of water? His mind started working as he tucked Undrea’s card back in his pocket and returned to scratching Bowie, who was still planted on his lap.
“Hello, this is Undrea.”
What was it about the sound of Undrea’s voice that made him so happy? All thoughts of water as music got pushed to the back burner. “Hey, it’s Ethan. I’d like to come by your shop and have a look at how you do things.”
“S-sure.” She seemed surprised by that but not upset. That was a good sign. “I’d be happy to give you a tour of our facilities.”
“Great.” Checking out the inner workings of the businesses he dealt with was something he liked to do. Especially when he was going to spend a large sum of money with them. It was mostly for curiosity’s sake, but in Undrea’s case, he really didn’t have any doubts about how she ran her operation. He could already tell she was completely hands-on and fully involved. “I just like to know how things get done. If that makes sense. I just can’t turn off the part of me that’s an engineer.”