Page 4 of Magic and Mayhem

It seemed to make the little alien happy, though. He giggled and tugged me through a door in the back of the garage that led to…a toy store?

A second glance said it was a workshop, but it had an old general store vibe to me. With shelves of toys and workbenches that were laid out around the room and filled with half-finished projects, it looked a bit like my grandpa’s workspace from when I was a kid. But above the tables were shelves full of toys, old and in varying condition.

Yep, toy store.

“This is incredible.” I was smart enough to connect a few dots, so I turned back to the wiggly cutie after taking it all in. “You’ve done amazing work.”

That I’d realized right off the bat that he’d been working on fixing the old toys seemed to make his year. I got an ear-to-ear grin and his sparkly eyes twinkled like they had diamonds in them before easing back down to almost human. “Oh, thank you.”

For telling him he’d done a good job?

For recognizing that he was good at what seemed to be his job?

For understanding that aliens were functional members of society?

“You’re welcome.” Resisting the urge to kiss the cute alien’s head, I looked over at the ambulance that was in pieces on one of the long tables. “Yeah, I can see why that one needs paint. It looks like someone’s terrier got a hold of it.”

Scratches that looked like a dog had used it as a fun new chew toy marred nearly every surface, but I couldn’t see too many things that were actually damaged beyond repair.

Kenzie sighed, frowning at the toy. “A beagle, actually. It’s not in terrible condition, but I need the right paint to fix it properly.”

“Yeah, that’s not something you can run down to Walmart and get a can of spray paint to fix.” It was clearly an antique, not something that he’d bought at a dollar store.

His giggle said he thought that idea was hilarious. “No, the owner would not be pleased with that.”

Getting the answer to one question just gave me a dozen more. “So you fix toys for other people too? I wasn’t sure what kind of business you had.”

That got more wiggles for some reason, but he nodded and smiled, so I couldn’t have pissed him off. “I do a little bit of everything. I fix broken antique toys for other people, like the ambulance, but I’ll also find them myself and restore them to either keep or sell online.”

“It sounds like you have the best job ever.” Especially for a little. “How long have you been doing it?”

Nearly bouncing as he rocked back and forth, he smiled at his toys. “Since I was a kid. My grandfather did woodworking and fixed all kinds of things. My father makes furniture and I found toys fascinating.”

Understatement of the year right there.

“It looks like you found a wonderful passion and a great job.” No matter who owned the gingerbread house, he seemed like he’d found his place.

“Thank you.” Aiming those twinkly eyes and that beaming smile at me, he sighed. “What do you think about grown-ups that aren’t very grown-up all the time?”

Well, wasn’t that a fascinating question.

Chapter 2

Kenzie

He was so cute in his uniform.

He smelled so nice.

He liked my toys and he understood how important they were.

He’d even automatically assumed I had a real business and wasn’t an idiot.

If I claimed I could use him like a toy, would that mean I could keep him in my hoard without anyone complaining? He might be human but he was very sweet and clearly smart and open-minded.

Yes, I’d figure it out.

I was very smart no matter what idiot Doms with no manners said.

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