Page 74 of Accidentally Wedded To A Werewolf

It took Oliver asecond too long to realize he should be smiling. He pulled one up, hoping it looked real. Judging from the brief look of surprise that flickered through Vi’s expression, it looked about as real as it felt.

“Great,” Luna said, voice too high. “Well, thanks for the bookmarks! Do we owe you anything?”

A throat cleared behind them.

Oliver turned, almost whacking a passing child with his numerous bags.

The chimera had glasses, a sweater vest, and giant horns sticking out of his golden mane. His feathery wings were folded tightly behind him so that he didn’t touch the bookshelves.

Vi nodded at him. “Mayor. Good to see you back from your honeymoon.”

“Good to be back, Vi.” Christopher gave her a prim nod, then turned to Luna. “Hello. I heard you wanted to speak with me.”

Twenty-Two

“I’m so glad I ran into you,” Luna gushed to the mayor over the small cafe table. “I thought I’d be long gone by the time you got back from your honeymoon. I was supposed to leave last week, but something went wrong with the breakup ritual?—”

She paused to stare at the cup of hot chocolate the minotaur waitress had placed down in front of her. There was a tiny chocolate dragon nestled next to the cup, slowly melting against the ceramic.

“Oh, yay!” She gave a delighted clap. “They’re using Beth’s chocolate! I told them to do that. And they put out pamphlets for the inn, too!”

She turned toward the window, waving until she caught Oliver’s eye through the glass. He paused his phone conversation to look at her in exasperation. Luna pointed at the inn’s pamphlet lined up on the cafe counter.

Oliver squinted. His mouth twitched, and he gave Luna a brief thumbs-up.

“I helped design it,” Luna told Christopher, giving it another proud look. “Yay!”

“Yay,” Christopher agreed, his voice deep and pleasant and ever-so-slightly British. He sipped his hot chocolate, a drop clinging to the golden fur above his lip before he wiped it off with a napkin. “Yes, I heard about your situation. That must’ve been very inconvenient for you.”

“It’s not so bad,” Luna allowed, taking a sip of steaming hot chocolate. “The Musgroves are great. Being bonded to a stranger right before my wedding is less great, but we’ve made it work.”

Christopher nodded. His nostrils flared. His polite expression didn’t change, but Luna knew he wasn’t smelling the hot chocolate. He was smelling Oliver all over her.

Luna set her cup down with a broad smile. “My fiancé is very understanding.”

“So I’ve heard,” Christopher said neatly. “When is—oop!” He pulled his wings in to allow the minotaur waitress to get past him. “Apologies, Daisy. When is the wedding?”

“A month,” Luna replied. Then she stopped and counted. “Three weeks? Wow, it’s really coming up. We’re having a beach wedding.”

“Balmy.” He touched the wedding band around his furry finger, his smile going soft and private as he stared out the window. Luna didn’t have toask who he was thinking of—she’d seen Instagram photos of them together, gazing at each other like nothing else existed.

She touched her engagement ring self-consciously. She’d dug it out of the bottom of her bag after her last conversation with Hector. Wearing it made her feel less like she was doing something wrong.

Christopher cleared his throat, blinking out of his haze. “I’m glad I ran into you too, Luna. Everyone has been getting in touch to tell me how you’ve been helping the town. Setting up websites, designing merchandise, getting them interviews, helping them grow mailing lists. I have to admit, I’ve been so focused on the residents of the town that I neglected the fact that we need people visiting to keep us afloat. Then I go away for a month and when I get back, the streets are busier than ever. You’ve done incredible work.”

Luna beamed, playing at bashfulness. “Aw, you’re sweet. I’m just getting the word out about what a cool little town this is. Claw Haven did the rest.”

She plucked her melting chocolate off the plate and popped it into her mouth, chewing happily. It was nice to get praised for something that lasted for more than one night and didn’t require cleanup in the morning. Not that Luna ever stuck around for the cleanup.

Christopher smiled at her again. He radiated kindness and calm that reminded Luna of Grandmother Musgrove, or maybe of a cartoon king from a movie she fell in love with as a child. Regal and simple, not afraid to get amongst the common folk. She understood why the town picked him for mayor. She’d vote for him too.

“Luna,” he said, leaning forward on his elbows. “I think we really have an opportunity here. I was told that you first started reaching out to local businesses because you didn’t have anything to do.”

He waved a hand at the street outside, crowded with tourists. “Ifthisis what you do when you’re bored, I’d love to see what you can do when you’re invested.”

Luna’s grip tightened around her cup. Shewasinvested, she wanted to argue. She was maybetooinvested in this charming little town with terrible cell phone connection that was covered in snow for half the year. She was even invested in the people who lived in Claw Haven—all these too-friendly busybody monsters who went looking for a refuge and ended up here.

She pulled her focus back to Christopher, who obviously had an angle. “Am I hearing a proposition?”

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