"Mate, you've been weird all week. What's going on with you, eh?"
Nick took a long drink of beer before deciding how to answer. Oh he could have brushed it off, just said he was tired, that the case had gotten to him, that his mother was sick with the flu and he was worried about her. But none of that was the truth. Not even close. And Dunny was his best friend. He deserved a bit more than that, didn't he? So Nick swallowed his beer and confessed, "I think I met someone."
"You think?"
"Well I met her. But I don't really know what it's all about yet."
Duncan regarded him curiously. "What's she like? Where did you meet her?"
"Her name is Jennifer. She's…I think about our age. Maybe a bit younger. Blonde. Beautiful. Really beautiful. And I met her in the woods."
"The woods?" Duncan laughed.
"Yeah, my day off last week, I was in the woods."
He scoffed, "What were you doing in the woods, Nick?"
Nick did not like answering that question, but Duncan was going to take the piss anyway, he might as well just take it. "I was birdwatching."
That set Dunny right off. He nearly spit out his beer laughing.
"Yeah, I know, it's stupid," Nick said, hoping to cut this off as soon as he could. "But when I was in the woods, I met Jennifer. And…well, she got hurt and I took her home."
"Oh look at you. Well done, mate," Dunny congratulated.
"No, it wasn't like that. I just cleaned the cut and put a bandage on it and then I left the room for a second and when I came back, she was gone."
"That's weird. Did you get her number or anything?"
Nick shook his head. "The whole thing was weird. I sort of thought it was some dream or something until I went back to the woods today and I saw her again."
"She was in the woods again? What's she do, wait there for men to find her?"
For a moment, Nick considered telling Duncan more of the story, but he just couldn't do it. He couldn't say that he'd found Jen in a hunter's net. He couldn't say he'd followed a bird called Jerry. He couldn't say that Jen had blood that sparkled or wore beautiful dresses in the woods. He'd sound like more of a nutter than he already did, birdwatching and bringing home a woman when he didn't even know her last night. In the end, all he said was, "I don't know. But there's something about her. I hope I see her again."
"Well she knows where you live. Maybe she'll show up. Or maybe she and her mates will break in and rob you," Duncan teased.
"Something like that." Nick took another swig of beer and hoped that would be all of it.
Thankfully, Dunny got distracted by a beautiful brunette over by the bar and decided to go try his luck. Nick let him have his fun. He finished his drink alone and left a few dollars on the table to pay his share. And while Duncan was busy chatting up that girl, Nick decided to head home.
It had been nice to see his mate, Nick thought to himself as he drove home. But he did still wish he might have been able to stay in the woods with Jennifer. Jen? He'd called her that once and she'd not said anything about it. He sort of liked that for her.
Nick shook himself. He couldn't keep thinking about some weird woman from the woods. Duncan was right, she knew where he lived. If she wanted to find him, she could. She'd been able to leave his place easily enough, she should be able to find it again. But he couldn't keep torturing himself, going out into the woods on the off chance that Jerry the golden bird would lead him to Jennifer again. That was…well that was just mad.
He parked his car in the driveway next to the ute. Thankfully tomorrow was Sunday and he could sleep in and go do a bit of shopping and work on one of his renovation projects. Maybe he could finally sand down and stain the dining table he'd made almost a year ago now.
While Nick was getting out of the car and trudging up his front steps, he caught the distant scent of honeysuckle, which made him pause. But then it was gone. Probably just the wind bringing the smell from a neighbor's garden or something. He went inside and locked the door behind him.
Unbeknownst to Nick, Jen was invisibly perched in the tree right by his front door. She'd frozen in panic when he'd looked around, like he knew she was there watching. But of course, she was invisible. Her magic protected her. She was confident in that. But it was almost as if he knew…
This was precisely why Sir Terry had wanted her to keep watch over him. She'd not told him that she sensed some kind of magic in Nick. She wasn't sure about it, and she did not want to espouse theories she couldn't back up beyond a hunch. She needed proof. This might be a bit of it.
Lights went on inside the house, letting her see through the windows to the interior. Silently, Jennifer fluttered down from her perch in the tree to get a better view. Nick was inside in the kitchen, drinking from a bottle of water. She smiled watching. His house really was quite nice. She'd liked what she'd seen upon her first visit there. Now, though, she had time to really look at it and take in the little details. And one thing she'd not noticed while panicking over her bleeding leg and looking for an escape route was that his house was unfinished. There were tools and cans of paint and sawhorses off in the corners. She wanted to ask him what he was working on. The unpainted walls off to the side, to be sure, but were there other things? Had he built this house of red rock—brick, he'd called it—or was he just slowly renovating things? And was there a plan in mind, or did he just like doing things like that?
It wasn't good for Jen to be so curious about him, she knew. She was here to learn, of course, but she wasn't supposed to have questions of her own about him. But it was natural, wasn't it? Jerry had led this man to her twice. Jerry thought he was important. And Jen had now been very specifically tasked with learning what was so important about him. Her personal interest was not to take precedence though.
A shout sounded inside, retaking her attention. Nick was at the sink and his back was to her from where she looked through the front window. He looked as though he might have been washing dishes. And he must have gotten water or something on his shirt, because he was drying his hands on a towel and then suddenly removed his shirt altogether. She could only see his back, but the sight of his muscular form and his strong arms and his tanned skin made her mouth go dry.
Oh dear this was definitely going to be a problem.
Jen watched him with wide eyes, barely blinking as she stared at his body. And as though his bare back wasn't enough, she could see the way his trousers fit over his bum and oh god this was a very big problem.
He balled his shirt up in his hands and turned. Jen whimpered to see the front of him bare. The toned muscles of his body were more than she could really contemplate. Her hands were gripping the windowsill with white knuckles, for she wished she could reach out and trace every ridge of his abdominals and pectorals and feel the soft scratch of the dusting of hair on his chest.
How had she not noticed this before? Surely she was too preoccupied before with getting out of that net and then getting away from him and out of his house and then keeping the children away. Yes, she's been busy with other concerns before. But now, she was specifically supposed to be noticing things about him. And she noticed now that he was absolutely gorgeous.
Thankfully she was invisible. He walked right in front of where she was watching him and he'd have seen her clear as day otherwise. But he was going up the stairs by the front door, turning out the light on his way. Jen remembered how to breathe and tried to clear her head before flying up to the window on the second floor, waiting to see what lights turned on. She found him walking down the hall. She would need to go to another window on the other side of the house in order to follow him.
On the other side of the house, however, the windows were covered by blinds. She couldn't see in. He was in there. She could see the shadow moving around. But unless she could find a way to get inside the house and hide invisibly to observe him, there wasn't much she could do now.
Briefly, Jen considered going back home. She could pass through the portal and sleep in her own bed in her own home. But what if Nick got up early in the morning and left to go somewhere? What if she arrived back here and found him gone? What would she do then? No, unfortunately she knew she'd need to stay right here.
She flew back to that large tree in the front. If he started up one of those cars in the morning, she'd be woken by the sound. She could follow him. And if she woke up before then, she could fly around and see how much she could see through windows.
At least she had some sort of plan. It wasn't a great one, but it was better than nothing. She'd regroup later, once she had something to report to Sir Terry. He'd be telling the queen not to expect her anyway. No reason she needed to be back in the fairy realm tonight or tomorrow. And so, resigned to her situation, Jen found a nice perch in the tree and curled up to try and get some sleep.