Marie couldn’t hold back her smile as Luc agreed to come home with her. She actually said yes. Being with Luc wasn’t always easy, trying not to push her too much or scare her away, but they were making progress. Luc had even let her stay the other night, and now she was going to meet her dad.

  Anxiety caught up with her like a monster slamming into her chest, hitting her as she realized what Luc had just agreed to. Luc was going to meet her dad.

  Her dad, who didn’t even know that they were dating.

  Marie wasn’t sure why she hadn’t said anything. It wasn’t that she thought her father would care, except maybe to suggest that Marie wasn’t focusing enough. After all they’d done the past few months, Marie could prove that she could still do good work as a magical girl while dating someone. There was no reason to worry about introducing her to him.

  That didn’t stop the waves of anxiety from continuing to rise.

  “Let me just go call my dad real quick,” Marie said, activating her power for a moment to keep the fear from showing on her face. With careful control of every muscle in her face, no one would be able to tell how freaked out she was. “Let him know to have our chef make another portion for dinner.”

  “Our chef,” Luc mouthed as Marie ducked out of the room, pulling her phone from her pocket.

  She dialed his number, trying to remember just where he said he’d be working from today. If he was here today, she could always run up to his office, but that would also take a lot longer than just calling him.

  He answered at the second ring, urgency filling his voice at his “Marie, is everything okay? Did the test go okay?”

  Marie winced, realizing she probably should have just texted him. They almost never called, no wonder her thought something was wrong.

  “Yeah, we both passed,” she said. “I just wanted to ask if you could tell Claudette to make an extra portion tonight? I invited Luc over for dinner.”

  “Oh, sure,” he said, every bit of concern leaving his voice. Despite not being face to face, she could see his attention drifting back to his work. At least with Luc coming over, he’d probably be home on time for dinner. “Are any of your other friends coming? Maisey, or—”

  “No, no, just Luc,” Marie said quickly. While she could control her expressions, there wasn’t much she could do to fight the blood rushing to her face.

  “Okay, I’ll let her know,” he said. “The usual time?”

  “Yes.”

  “Excellent. See you then, baby.”

  The call ended, and Marie forced herself to take a deep breath. In just a few hours, he’d know about her relationship with Luc.

  I forgot to tell him not to mention anything about the apartment, she realized, freeing with her phone halfway to her side. She could call her father again, tell him not to mention anything about it, but he probably didn’t even remember, and she’d already left Luc alone for too long. It would be fine.

  Tucking her phone away, Marie stepped back into the room wearing a wide smile. “Okay, I let him know. Ready to go?”

  “Are we eating now?” Luc asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “No, but I figured I’d show you my house,” Marie said. “And Nice misses you.”

  “Nice has met me once.”

  “Doesn’t mean he doesn’t love you as much as I do,” Marie said with a wink, then laughed as Luc rolled her eyes. “You know they’re going to get stuck like that one day, right?”

  “When that happens, I’ll let you know to say I told you so,” Luc said. She walked out of the room and Marie followed, waving at Mrs. Oscar behind the front counter as they traipsed through the lobby and out to the parking lot.

  “You could let me drive you,” Marie said, leaning across the top of Luc’s ragged car as her girlfriend opened the driver’s side door.

  “No, thanks,” Luc said. “I’ll just follow you there.”

  Marie pouted, the expression doing nothing to affect Luc as she used her magic to turn the car on. Reluctantly, she made her way to her own car and pulled out of the parking lot, leading the way back to her house.

  The porch light shone as she drove up, parking out front. In the rear view mirror, she could make out Luc’s dim yellow headlights pulling in behind her. It probably wasn’t the safest way to drive home, but her attention had been on those headlights the entire drive, just to make sure Luc didn’t decide to make a run for it.

  Luc had grown out of that now, she thought.

  Marie climbed out of the car, shooting a curious glance at Luc, hunched behind her steering wheel as if stuck there. She approached the car slowly, leaning down and tapping on the window.

  It rolled down with a whine, the glass rattling inside the door as it slotted into place.

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  “Having a little trouble there?”

  Luc’s fingers curled tighter around the wheel, knuckles going white. “You didn’t tell me you lived in a mansion.”

  “It’s not a mansion,” Marie said with a glance back at the house. It was a little large, especially considering she only lived there with her father, but it wasn’t that unreasonable.

  Luc muttered something as she rolled the window back up and turned the car off. Marie held out a hand to her as she stepped out. Luc stared at it for a beat before reluctantly taking it, and Marie beamed at her.

  Marie held herself back as she guided Luc up the front steps and onto the porch. The front door was unlocked, as it usually was when Claudette was in the house, but it caught against something right inside.

  Nice popped up from where he’d sprawled himself in front of the door, long tail wagging so hard it resounded as it thumped against the wall.

  “Hi, baby,” Marie cooed, reaching down for the black poodle and ruffling his carefully groomed hair. Nice pushed against her hands, leaning into the affection and at the same time pushing past her to get to Luc.

  “Hi,” Luc said awkwardly, giving the dog a quick pat.

  “Do you wanna go up to my room?” Marie asked, looking away from her dog to give her girlfriend her full attention.

  Luc’s eyes widened. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because… what if we’re up there when your dad gets home?”

  “Then we come downstairs and eat dinner? Why? Did you think I was inviting you up to my room for nefarious purposes?”

  The faint speckling of red that had been creeping up Luc’s cheeks stopped as Marie continued to waggle her eyebrows. “Nefarious purposes?”

  “Would it be better if I said I wanted to show you a magic trick?”

  “A magic trick?”

  “Yeah. With my tongue.”

  A groan slipped from Luc’s mouth. “No, that’s not better.”

  “Now I’m thinking about it though.”

  “Still no,” Luc said with a shake of her head. “I don’t want to get caught by your dad. That happened to me once and it was incredibly awkward.”

  Marie froze, hands stilling against Nice’s back. Luc hadn’t mentioned dating anyone before her. Of course, Marie hadn’t asked, but she’d just assumed that Luc was just as inexperienced as she was. “You, uh, you were with someone before me?”

  “Wouldn’t really call it dating,” Luc said with a shrug. “I’m not the type of girl people want to date.”

  “That’s not true,” Marie said, the words firm. Luc had no reason to believe something like that, and Marie wanted to have a word with whoever made her believe it. “It’s not.”

  Luc shrugged, as if it didn’t really matter, brushing Marie off. “Maybe we should just play with Nice until your dad gets home. What about your mom?”

  Marie stared at her and opened her mouth, then realized she’d never told Luc about her mom. It wasn’t something she talked about, and her and Luc didn’t really talk about things like that.

  It was innocent enough, but it twisted her heart and gut in equal measure. Luc actually wanted to know more about her, even if it was something she really didn’t want to talk about.

  “Dead,” Marie said as casually as she could.

  Luc paused her inspection of the house and looked back at Marie, the pinch between her eyebrows softening. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s all right,” Marie said. “Happened a long time ago. I was a baby. I don’t even remember.”

  Luc opened her mouth, then shut it again, expression pained. Marie stared back, not sure how to slice the stretching silence.

  The faint squeal of a doorknob and Nice’s bark interrupted it for them, the black poodle racing over to the door to greet the man walking in.

  He was actually on time.

  Marie’s heart skipped a beat as her father stepped inside, patting Nice on the head with a pleasant smile as the dog circled around his legs. The smile remained on his face as he looked up, nodding pleasantly at Luc before stretching out an arm for Marie.

  She crossed the room in a heartbeat, leaning into his hug as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. They were almost the same height. He wasn’t an especially tall man, but she was quite tall, even without her heels on. It was one of the number of things that made people wonder if they were actually related, some even so bold as to question it to their faces.

  “I’m so proud of you,” he murmured, giving her one final squeeze before letting her go. His gaze darted across the room to Luc, standing awkwardly in the middle of the living room as if she didn’t know what to do with her body. Thank god I didn’t actually bring her to my bedroom, she thought as her father spoke again. “Thank you, for pushing my daughter as far as you have.”

  “You’re, uh, you’re welcome,” Luc said, expression pinched.

  Marie rolled her eyes as she walked back to Luc, reaching out for her hand. Luc didn’t move, but Marie didn’t let that stop her, snagging her hand and pulling it in close. “We push each other, Dad,” she said. She swallowed hard, preparing herself for what came next. “Because that’s what girlfriends do.”

  He stared at them, taking in a long breath through his nose. “Girlfriends,” he said. She nodded, and he nodded back. “That’s lovely. I’m happy for you. Why don’t we go eat?”

  Luc all but jumped at the offer. “Great idea. I’m curious about what private chef food tastes like.”

  “It’s delicious,” Marie said, leading Luc over to the dining room. “Claudette is amazing.”

  They sat down at the table while her father walked back to the kitchen to let Claudette know they were ready for dinner. Luc exchanged a quick look with Marie, the whites of her eyes shining like a deer caught in the headlights.

  Marie laughed and gave her hand a squeeze under the table. “He doesn’t bite.”

  “Sure.”

  Her father came back to the table, sitting down in the same seat he always did, facing her. Facing them both, silence stretched between them as Luc fiddled with the hem of the table cloth.

  Claudette brought out three plates, placing one in front of each of them, then retreated back to the kitchen. Luc dove in immediately, stuffing her face to avoid conversation. Marie couldn’t help but smile at it. She was so nervous, and really, Marie didn’t blame her, but her father was nothing to be scared of.

  “So,” he set his fork down, making eye contact with Luc as he spoke. “You’re also planning on applying to Mage Academy, aren’t you?”

  “Yes, sir,” Luc said with a single nod. “I’ve been—Marie and I have been working for that the past few months. We have a lot of community recommendations.”

  “I’ve seen them come through,” he said. “You’re doing quite well. Good to know that your bonus and that apartment are paying off. I was worried for a bit they wouldn’t. Glad to say I’ve been proven wrong.”

  Blood rushed to Marie’s head as her father spoke, wishing she could stuff all the words back into his mouth.

  Luc went stiff at her side, pulling away from her. “Apartment?”

  The rest of her father’s words clicked into place as Marie turned to look at them both, unable to hide her confusion. “What bonus?”