The haze of apparition soon dissipated – was she getting used to it or was he just far better at it than she was? – and Gretchen looked around the room with curiousity. She had never seen a bachelor’s home before and far from being the slovenly, unloved space that she imagined Kris would choose to live it was instead rather more charming than she had expected. Surprisingly floral really, which she definitely hadn’t expected.

“So… am I the only young lady you’ve ever brought here?” Gretchen asked, a small smile on her lips despite the question being a legitimate worry that plagued her in the long hours of the night. Did he do this all the time? Was she just the latest in a long line of girls who had fallen hook, line and sinker for his charm?

She didn't want to believe it. Or rather, her heart didn't want to believe the treacherous possibilities her brain was suggesting.

"I hope I am," she admitted gently, an unfamiliar sense of vulnerability washing over her.

---

Bee is tremendous, isn't she?