rayon skirt. Purple bustier. Stiletto sandals. Yeah, it was sexy but so what? It wasn’t like I was wearing a negligee.
“What are you talking about? I look perfectly respectable.”
“Really? Really ? Girl, I know you like to flaunt it but I never thought you were a closet nudist.” Iris stared at me like I’d just tried to tell her that Santa didn’t exist, when we both knew he did. For that matter, he was a freakshow scary-assed dude.
“Nudist?” Taken aback, I glanced down. “What the fuck are you talking about? Last time I looked in the dictionary, nudist didn’t include an alternative definition for someone wearing clothes!”
Iris scrunched up her lips and cocked her head. “Um, Camille. In case you haven’t noticed, you’re naked. N-E-K-K-I-D.”
What the hell? I glanced down at my clothes again. “No I’m not!” I went into a lengthy description of what I was wearing, but she stood there shaking her head.
“I don’t see a thing. Except your massively round boobs and your Brazilian.” She let out a laugh. “You are trying to tell me you have on a skirt, panties, and bustier?”
I grabbed her hand and brought it toward me. Her eyes narrowed like she was a rabbit heading directly toward a hawk, but then she let out a little ‘oh’ as her fingers came in contact with my skirt. She tugged on it.
“Oh, great gods. Camille, I can’t see your skirt. I can’t see any of your clothing! All I see is a lot of beautiful, pale skin.” She followed the hem of the skirt and then touched my waist, feeling the lacings on the bustier. “What on earth have you been doing?”
I thought for a moment, and then it hit me. “Oh no! No…no…no! No wonder…that poor man out there! No wonder he couldn’t stop…” I grabbed for a jacket off the coat rack but the minute I slipped it on, Iris let out a little cry.
“The jacket—it vanished! I can’t see it now!”
Cripes! My spell must have backfired instead of fizzled out. I quickly told Iris what I’d done, and she started to laugh. I wanted to smack her one, but truth was, it sounded too funny, even to me.
“So now, all your clothes become invisible the minute you put them on! Oh Camille, you can’t possibly stay here.”
“I’m going to have to go home, but how do I get there? If I head out to my car, everybody will see me. I’m trapped!” Panicking now, and not sure at all how long the damned spell would last, I dropped into my office chair, blushing brighter than I had for years.
“It’s a good thing that detective—Chase? It’s a good thing he isn’t here. He’s been after your body for months.” She frowned, tapping her toe as she contemplated the problem. “Here’s what we’ll do. You stay back here till after dark. Then, Menolly or Delilah will come get you and you can make a beeline into their car. You stay at home until this wears off. I’ll take care of the bookstore.”
“You’d do that? I know you’re looking for work, but I didn’t think you’d be interested in a bookstore. I thought you were looking for a family to bond with.” Grateful for her help, I let out a sigh.
“I need something to do with my time while I look for a new family, so don’t sweat it.” She grinned at me. “Girl, your breasts are gorgeous.”
I winked back and pointed at her chest. “Well, yours must give them a run for their money.” The house sprite was pretty stacked, herself. “Anyway, yeah, that’s the only option I have right now. If you could run upstairs, I think Delilah’s in her office. But what about lover boy out there? I feel so bad now for yelling at him. What must he think?”
“I’ll take care of him. Don’t you worry about that. You just stay out of sight.” As she headed back out to the front, I rubbed my head. Yeah, some days being a half-human, half-Fae witch just didn’t live up to expectations.
It took me a week for the spell to wear off. After that, I decided to leave the
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