She sees it in her peripheral vision, how he stretches his arms above his head like a cat that has been sleeping the entire day, and turns her head to get a full view. He's deep in a conversation with the new guy, Will something, and hardly notices when she swings her barstool just a little bit (ignoring Granny's pointed look). Henry sips his chocolate in silence next to her, so she guess that means he's busy texting Grace, and she lets him do it even though they were supposed to have some mother-son bonding time. It has nothing to do with a certain pirate, it really doesn't. She just want her son to be happy and texting his friends, that's all.

She and Killian are not exactly together – not yet anyway, her mind wants to add – but she's been giving him as much as she can, and he seems to accept it. But that doesn't mean she's not allowed to look when he walks a few steps in front of her, deep in conversation with her father, or bends over to fetch something on the ground. She is still human, after all.

And it's not like he can hear my thoughts, she thinks to herself as she takes in every inch of the small gap of skin she can see of his stomach as he continues to stretch. Something shakes – maybe it's inside of her, maybe just an imagination – but when she looks around and sees no one else has reacted, she leans back in her chair again to enjoy the last few blissful seconds before he's finished and brings his arms down again.

He leans further (impossibly longer) back, and she wets her lips involuntarily as she takes in the trail of hair starting below his navel and vanishing beneath the belt in his (new) pants.

Dear lord, I want to lick that, she thinks, and is horrified to see him take down his arms and meet her gaze just seconds later. She blushes slightly – can feel the warmth on her cheeks as his gaze drill into hers – but shakes her head at her own silliness; of course he can't hear her thoughts, that would be ridiculous.

He frowns at nothing in particular, and she wonders if something is bothering him. His eyes widen a bit, and she freezes where she is. How in the world could he possibly be hearing her thoughts? She figures she needs to test it to make sure, because things like this just can't happen. Sure, white magic and black magic and whatever the hell else magic there is, but mind reading? That's probably stretching it a bit too far.

If you can hear this, cough twice, she thinks quickly, a reminiscent feeling going through her as she does; she used to do the same thing as a child, just to be on the safe side that others wouldn't know what was going on inside her mind. Nobody ever coughed, though, of course they didn't, so it can't be happening –

He coughs twice.

She wants to sink into a hole and stay there.

She leaves the diner quickly, just stays long enough to tell Henry that she needs to head out and that he should ask Killian to walk him home.

(Henry laughs, and tells her he can walk himself home).

She hasn't even left Main Street when Killian catches up to her. Crap, she thinks and turns around to face him.

"How – " he starts.

"I don't know," she interrupts. "This is just all kinds of horrible at the same time."

He smirks. "Are you afraid I might hear something inappropriate, love?"

She laughs (can't help it). "You're stupid." I like you.

"I rather like how this is turning out," he smirks at her thought and steps closer to her for a quick kiss.

He's such a good kisser.

"And it seems to be excellent for my self-esteem," he adds.

She shakes her head as she grins. "Like you need any help with that."

(The spell wears off after twenty-four hours, but by then he already knows all the things she's never dared to tell him. He shares his own secrets after that – aches from his past he'd rather not speak of – and when she tells him she loves him a few months later, and he replies 'I know, I love you too' she knows it's the truth, and not some spell).