Once Upon a Valentine (26 page)

“A magic cookie?” he repeated dryly.

“I know, it sounds bizarre, but it sort of granted me my wish.”

“You made a wish?”

She sighed. “I wished my life was a fairy tale when it came to men. For them to want me without me having to lift a single finger. So I could have the pick of whomever I wanted, easy as pie. Or…easy as
cookies.
”

“Sounds delicious.”

“Kind of like the Gingerbread Man, I guess. You know how everyone chased him because they all wanted to eat him?”

“So instead of the Gingerbread Man, it’s
Ginger Redman
who’s in danger of being chased and potentially devoured?”

She couldn’t ignore the edge of humor in his voice. He wasn’t taking this seriously. At all. “Pretty much.”

There was a short silence. “So, you’re saying that this wish of yours came true and now men are magically hitting on you. Welcome to reality as a gorgeous woman.”

She ignored his sarcasm. “Problem is, both men were already with other women.”

“Sounds like you should head directly home, order a pizza and stay far away from bad men with big appetites.”

“I’m thinking you might be right.”

“Off to bed with you, Ms. Redman. I insist. And I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Okay.”

“And, Ginger…”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry about Mr. Perfect. But if he wasn’t everything you hoped he’d be, then he didn’t deserve you in the first place.”

He sounded so sincere that it made a lump form in her throat. “Thanks.”

Ginger ended the call and started walking. It was only a few blocks to her apartment, no more than a ten-minute trip.

It didn’t take long, though, for her to realize that she had a bit of a problem. The two guys in the café? They were only the beginning.

She was being checked out by every man she passed. A few of them even whistled at her appreciatively.

Strange, very strange.

Another man fell into step with her after a block and a half.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he said with a big smile.

“Uh…thank you.”

“Can I buy you a coffee? A drink?”

She swept her eyes over him. Tall, dark and definitely handsome. Plus, no wedding ring. “Thanks, but…I’m headed home. It’s been a long day.”

He nodded. “Okay, no problem. But here’s my card…” He thrust a business card at her and she took it tentatively. He was a lawyer. “Call me anytime. I mean that.”

She cleared her throat and tucked the card into her purse. “Yeah, uh, maybe. Thanks.”

She continued walking. What the hell was going on?

Another wolf whistle caught her attention.

Unbelievable. She’d suddenly turned into the most irresistible woman in Toronto. For a moment she thought this might be a practical joke, but set up by whom? Nobody but Stephen and the woman in the café knew what she’d wished for.

She’d asked for her pick of any man she wanted.

A slow smile spread across her face. It couldn’t possibly be real. But what if it was?

That would be kind of awesome.

“Ginger!” someone called to her. She turned to see a man tentatively approaching her. He was gorgeous—over six feet tall, built, with dark hair and light brown eyes.

It was Brad, her AWOL blind date. She’d seen a picture so she knew what he looked like.

“Brad,” she said with surprise and more than a twinge of annoyance at being stood up at the café. “What happened to you earlier?”

“Wait a minute, you’re not a dog,” he said with confusion. “He told me you were a dog, but you—you’re beautiful. Ginger, forgive me. I’m sorry I didn’t show up.”

Somebody had told him she was a dog? “Where were you?”

“At a bar, drinking. Sorry, I…I shouldn’t have done what I did. I had no idea how beautiful you are.’

“Well, thanks, but…you did see my picture already. I sent it to you.”

He shrugged. “Pictures can be manipulated. Who knows what’s real anymore?”

Good question, actually.

“And now you want me to forgive you,” she said slowly, cringing as a man walked past them and whistled at her again. She wasn’t used to be noticed quite this much. It made her feel incredibly self-conscious.

“Yes, forgive me. Let me make it up to you. I’m…” He shook his head as if to try to clear it. “I’m feeling much different than I was before. You’re something special, Ginger. I don’t want to lose this chance with you.”

Despite his very convincing words, there was something off in his eyes. A slightly glazed look and she didn’t think it was only from a few drinks. It was as if he was under some sort of…spell.

Magic-cookie alert!

Her wish…this was more proof that it had come true. Brad had just done a one-eighty—one moment fleeing the scene and standing her up, the next apologizing and calling her beautiful. Not that it wasn’t nice to hear, but…

This wasn’t real.

The thought was like a blow. It had seemed so wonderful and full of possibility only a minute ago, but now she saw the reality. As much as she would like to believe that all these men had suddenly become attracted to her en masse, it simply wasn’t the truth.

She’d be more disappointed if she actually cared about this guy standing in front of her. But she didn’t. It was a bit of a relief to realize it, really.

Brad was very handsome, sure, but she wasn’t interested—not anymore.

“Let’s go somewhere and talk,” he suggested.

“I don’t think so. Happy Valentine’s Day, Brad. I hope you find the right woman for you. But it’s not going to be me.”

Ginger turned and started walking away from him.

Tonight she had more men interested in her than she’d ever had in her entire life. And she didn’t want any of them in return. She wanted the man she fell for to be madly in love with her in return—and not only because of a spell that would wear off at the stroke of midnight.

Another man whistled at her as she passed him at a bus stop.

This might turn out to be a long night.

It was official. Magic or not, Valentine’s Day sucked.

2

MR. PERFECT WAS LONG GONE by now. What a jerk.

Maybe now he could stop obsessing about Ginger finding herself in the arms of the wrong man tonight—or any man, really. But especially if that man looked like a fitness model.

Ginger.

He hated that he was stuck in this bar all by himself, on a stupid holiday, thinking about her. Feeling jealous even though he had no right. And, the worst part was, just the thought of Ginger—her thick red hair, her beautiful curves, her long legs…and everything in between—made his cock painfully hard.

So much for trying to think of her as just a friend.

Stephen glared at his reflection in the mirrored wall behind the bar. “You could have any woman you want. She’s not on the list. Remember that.”

Stephen was tall and wasn’t fat. He ran three miles a day and saw a personal trainer twice a week. He ate healthy most of the time. He rarely drank—except on certain Valentine’s Days. The women he’d been with in the past hadn’t had any complaints about dating one of Toronto’s most eligible bachelors. Only that one ex-girlfriend had, to his knowledge, ever cheated on him. Publicly, shamelessly and often. So what if Stephen hadn’t been “exciting” enough for her? When one’s idea of exciting was group sex and jumping out of airplanes naked, he’d have to take a pass.

He owned his own business, now in its seventh year, and it was moderately successful, thank you very much. It would be better soon, at least once Jorgensen committed to the new contract. That was bankable talent right there.

Speaking of bankable talent, Stephen eyed his vibrating cell phone to see that Jorgensen himself was calling. He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and then answered the call.

“Fox, here,” he said, plugging his other ear so he could hear properly in the noisy bar.

“Fox, I’m not happy.”

This wasn’t particularly a surprise.

“I’m sorry to hear that. How was your flight?”

“Bumpy.”

“Your hotel?”

“Adequate, at best. My view is blocked by that stupid tower.”

“The CN Tower? It’s a city landmark, not to mention a world wonder.”

The famous author made an annoyed sound. “I can’t stay here. I want to leave.”

Stephen’s grip on the phone increased. “No, no, no. Don’t go. We want you here. We have a meeting tomorrow morning. You know, the one I flew you in for?”

“I want to meet tonight,” the man said bluntly. “In my hotel suite. We’ll settle everything so that I don’t have to stay here any longer than necessary. I can’t stand this town. Why aren’t you in Manhattan?”

“I love Toronto,” Stephen said, refusing to rise to any snobby author’s bait.

“It’s freezing cold here.”

“It’s freezing cold in Manhattan in February, too. It’s not that far away.” Stephen swallowed his annoyance along with another gulp of beer. He couldn’t argue with Jorgensen, not now. The difficult author’s backlist represented three-quarters of Red Fox’s revenue. His new books could mean a true future for his business and a long-overdue opportunity for growth.

He had to keep reminding himself of that as he bit his tongue nearly to the point of drawing blood so he wouldn’t say something he’d regret later.

“Are you coming or not?” Jorgensen said with annoyance.

“Yes, fine. I’m coming.”

“Make sure to bring the redhead with you.”

“You mean Ginger? Your editor?”

“That’s the one. Half an hour, Fox. Don’t be late.”

The phone went dead and Stephen glared at it. “Yeah, Happy Valentine’s Day to you, too, asshole.”

It took him a little longer than he’d have liked to compose himself. Then he pulled out his phone to call Ginger and tell her they needed to be at the beck and call of the author of the Blue Monster Mysteries. Immediately.

He thumbed through his address book and hit the call button, then held his phone to his ear.

“Uh-huh?” she answered.

A smile tugged at his lips. “When are you ever going to answer with ‘hello’?”

“Probably never.”

“Are you home yet?” he asked.

“No, I’m randomly wandering the streets on my way there.”

He heard something on her end of the line then. “Was that a whistle?”

She cleared her throat. “Yeah.”

“Some guy just whistled at you?”

“I’m getting some…attention.”

“You must look totally hot tonight.” He grinned. “What are you wearing?”

“Don’t be a smart-ass. I mean, I think I look good, but…this is…different. Remember that cookie I told you about?”

“The magic cookie.”

“Right. Well, you can mock me if you want to, but I think it’s real. It’s making every guy I come across extremely interested in me. I’m trying to ignore it.”

Good, he thought. The idea that men were hitting on Ginger didn’t sit well with him at all. “I need you.”

“Pardon me?”

He crossed his legs, ignoring his erection that had only become harder to ignore since he’d started talking to her. “I need to get together. Jorgensen’s requested our meeting be moved up to tonight. And he wants to see you, too.”

She sighed with frustration. It was a sound he was used to hearing from her when it came to the author. But tonight, the breathy sound shot right through him and made him even more painfully aroused.

Damn it. He didn’t need this complication. He’d wanted to ignore his attraction to her, hoping it would lessen with time. But if anything, it had only increased with each day that passed.