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Mikhael was also as good as his word She didn’t get a second glance from anyone they passed, his chameleon spellwork flawless She almost didn’t feel it, except for an occasional sense of warlanced into a decorativewoman, attractive but not exceptionally so She suspected he had a si cast over himself, since the man blended like John Cena at a reunion of the Oz Munchkins, yet no woman who passed the h, he looked as he always looked to her She wondered if he’d excluded her froant and aht He didn’t underestimate the impact of his looks; that was for certain She liked that, because she was no different about her own It hat it was, an asset to be enjoyed, but never to be mistaken as a substitute for true substance

At the next antique store they visited, they were greeted by a clacking noise, followed by a piercing train whistle The proprietor had an oldthe track cordoning several displays While Mikhael slowed down to take a look, she went to the second level to check on a nineteenth-century Louis XV walnut arh that upper level, she caught glih the array of h she ca on it to watch him

The set had ten cars He’d taken hold of the controls and was putting the train through its paces, switching tracks, stopping and reversing, hooking up another car An olderit with him, apparently a train enthusiast Fascinated, she watched him and Mikhael enter a deep conversation, where teres and steam versus diesel reached her ears

Mikhael Ro fact, she bought a bag of caramel creams dipped out of an oak barrel of bulk candy, and then drifted down the stairs Taking up a discreet position, she leaned against an oldused as a store display

The older randfather Mikhael was courteous, attentive He was listening, not just patronizing the et away, and even offered soine sets Then he paused, glanced over his shoulder and found her there

"Time to move on to the next store?" he asked The otherin a s, son," he advised "The longer she’s in a store, the more she takes a mind to buy"

Raina arched a brow but let that pass as Mikhael motioned to the store proprietor "I’d like this set," he said, producing a wallet and handing over cash that covered the price "No change Please box it up and I’ll have someone return for it by the end of the day"

The store owner nodded, returning with a receipt Mikhael pocketed; then Mikhael slipped a hand under Raina’s elbow "Going to get the ar any attention to her whereabouts, but she should have known better "Thinking about it She wants four thousand I gave her an offer of thirty-two hundred and my number if she decides to take it With those three mirrors, it would be perfect in one of our period playrooms"

"Or your bedroom" Mikhael held the door for her, his hand at the suide her out

"It’s not nice to read a woman’s mind, Mikhael We like to be a mystery I had no idea you liked toy trains You could have knocked her down on that price"

"It was fair And it’s model trains or model railways They’re not toy trains"

"True I’ve never seen a ht the children on Christentle pinch on her ass She pushed hiathered her under his ar their stroll down the sidewalk "Do you wantwith it, if you aren’t as covetous of your toys as Lucifer"

"Li doesn’t need to fetch it Once it’s boxed up, the package will disappear and the er will remember someone came for it Normally, I’d send it to my cache in the Underworld, but I can reroute it to your house There are trains scaled for outdoor garden size, you know" He glanced down at her "You could add it to your landscape design It’d be a good ht need a consultant to help me with that I don’t know a lot about toy trains Model railways," she amended "As far as your new friend back there, why is ithis money to shop?"

"Because a man will pay for a woman’s company, in a variety of ways Not always the direct one"

She snorted "Well, that’s honest"

"It’s pried "A woman has to know a man can take care of her to be worthy of her coed, whether she intends to have children, or how capable she is of doing for herself; she will still instinctively, cheravitate toward the man she knows she can rely upon for protection if needed Unless there’s an overriding social or genetic factor in her makeup that prefers him to be the weaker one in their relationship"

"Why is it I so often have the urge to Taser you?"

"Fron of affection" He eyed her bag of caramels

"Would you like one?" she asked sweetly

"You just want the sadistic pleasure of saying no when I ask"

"You don’t know everything" Unwrapping one, she lifted it to his ers over his lips in a way that heated his gaze "I would have bought you a train set Just to prove I’d take care of you, if I was so inclined"