This was a mistake. Jen knew it was from the moment she entered his house, but there wasn't much she could do about it now. She could try to get answers. If he would give them to her. He did not seem the sort to be deceitful to her. He'd been kind and open with her thus far, and the things she'd seen in her observations had not dissuaded her from that belief. But there was also every chance that Nick himself did not have the answers she sought. She couldn't very well reveal the truth to him. Not without knowing more, certainly. The existence of fairies was a closely guarded secret and Jennifer would not be held responsible for betraying it. Jermuth the death watcher had singled Nick out as being important, but she still had no idea if it was because he was supposed to know about the fairies for some reason or if the fairies were supposed to be put on guard against him. And while Jen hoped it was not the latter, she had no idea why it could possibly be the former.

Nick led her into the house and to the kitchen table where he'd patched up her injury before. This time he offered her a chair.

"Can I get you tea or water or something?" he offered.

"Tea?" she asked in confusion.

He nodded. "I'll start the kettle."

Jennifer had absolutely no idea what that meant, but rather than draw attention to her ignorance, she decided to quietly watch him. He filled a big pitcher with water and flipped a switch to turn a red light on. Odd. Then, Nick went about getting various containers out of the cupboards above his sink and a pair of cups. After another minute or so, the light on the pitcher went out, and Nick poured the water into each cup with a small bag inside each one. Steam wafted up from each cup. He put one in front of her and one by his own seat, then brought over the other things.

"Milk and sugar for you. I haven't got any lemon in," he said.

Such things made no sense whatsoever. But she watched as Nick bounced the little bag on the string in his cup and then poured in a splash of milk. He pulled the bag up, squished it against the side of the cup before discarding it on a small dish and took a sip. Jen didn't know what else to do, so she did exactly the same. The water was a wooden brown color and the cup was hot. When she put the milk in, it turned cloudy and a paler tan hue. She took the little bag out just as Nick had done and took a sip, gasping as soon as the scalding liquid touched her lips.

"I hate when that happens," Nick said kindly.

Jen did not know what he meant. She left the cup there for the time being, not knowing what else to do with it but not ready to burn her mouth on it again anytime soon.

After a moment of quiet, Nick spoke again. "What are you doing here, Jen?"

She hated that she noticed right away that she liked the way he said her name in that quiet, calm tone of his. "I wanted to see you again," she replied. That much was the truth. Or at least part of it.

"How long have you been here?"

That was not a question she wanted to answer truthfully. Instead, she asked a question of her own. "How did you know I was here?" She hoped beyond hope he'd give her an answer. That was what caused this, after all. Nick knew she was there. He sensed her, whether because of magic or because of something else. But Jennifer was entirely invisible and Nick still knew she was there.

"You smell like a garden," he said softly. It felt a silly thing to say, but it was true. She smelled like a garden, and he'd noticed it the first time he met her. It was a scent he had immediately been drawn to, just as he'd been drawn to the rest of her, and every time he smelled it again, he was reminded quite powerfully of her.

"I beg your pardon?" That was not what she'd thought he'd say. At all.

"I dunno, it's…honeysuckle. And…dirt." Nick could almost feel himself bushing, saying such a thing to her. It probably wasn't the nicest thing, telling a woman she smelled a bit like dirt. But she did, and it was a lovely smell to his mind.

Jen sat there, thinking. Not speaking. She hadn't considered that. He could smell her? She wasn't aware she had a particular scent, but apparently she did. Though smelling of honeysuckle and dirt made sense. Her home in the fairy realm was built of woven honeysuckle vines. And, given the makeup of the fairy realm overall, she supposed everything that came from there would smell a bit of dirt.

"Jennifer, what is all of this? Why are you here?" he asked her softly. She had not given him any response to his statement that he could smell her presence. He did not know if that meant she had been hiding and following him or what. Christ, maybe Dunny was right and she was going to rob him as soon as he left the house again. But somehow he felt certain that wasn't the case. He was glad to see her, truly, but none of it made any bloody sense. Being with her was lovely. Looking at her and talking to her and feeling the inexplicably joyful feeling in the pit of his stomach whenever she was around, it was all lovely. But Nick knew now that she'd be gone again without any explanation and he'd be left feeling lost and confused and distracted until she turned up again. And he couldn't let her go without figuring at least some of it out.

She tried to find an answer that might satisfy him. She chewed on her lips, trying to come up with something. "I just…I was curious. About you," she confessed finally.

"Why?"

"I don't know." A lie, but a plausible one, under the circumstances. "Why are you curious about me?" she asked in return.

He actually did not have an answer to that. All he knew was that he was curious about her. He wanted to learn more about her. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to spend time with her. And right now, looking at her face and the wide, elegant bow of her lips, Nick felt like he wanted to kiss her.

"Maybe I should go," Jen suggested. She left the cold tea on the table and stood up, ready to run out the door and disappear again.

But Nick couldn't let that happen. "Wait!" he called.

She paused, turning back to him. "Why?"

"I want to…I dunno…"

A small smile curled over her lips. "I don't know either."

"I want to see you. Can I…could I take you to dinner sometime?" he asked boldly.

Now there was a thought. She might be able to do quite well learning more about him this way. It would take quite a bit of doing on her part, she knew, to pass for human enough to go out in public with him. But that might put him more at ease. That might help her come to understand more about him. And it would keep her safe. "I'd like that," she replied.

"Tomorrow?"

Her smile grew, and his heart leapt in his chest. "Yes," she said. "I'll meet you here."

Nick nodded. "Good."

They were standing only two paces apart. There was a tension that had not dissipated after he'd asked her to dinner and she'd accepted. In fact, it felt as though it had grown.

Tentatively, she took half a step back toward him. Nick was frozen. He didn't know what she was doing, he only knew he did not want to frighten her away. Not now, not when she was here in his house and they were so close to…something.

This was another mistake, Jennifer knew. She was letting herself get too close. In every way. But she wanted to be. She wanted to see him and be with him and learn about him. There was something about him that was just so gentle. He was tall and strong and brave, she knew. But he was soft-spoken and patient. And, of course, he was just so beautiful. She was drawn to him in a way she did not understand, in a way that possibly had nothing to do with her magic or the possibility of his. All she knew was that she needed to leave but she did not want to. Not yet. She wanted to…

Nick bowed his head as she got on her toes to reach up him. His hands found their way to her hips, lightly holding her as he leaned in. She brushed her lips against his gently, slowly. He felt an electric jolt through his whole body at her touch. And when he thought she was pulling back, he was ready to let her. But her hands reached up to caress his face and hold him against her, and her mouth pressed against his more insistently. Their lips moved together fervently, and Nick's hands tightened their grip on her, desperately keeping himself in check.

Eventually Jen lowered herself back down to her flat feet. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, breathing heavily.

"What was that for?" he whispered, gazing at her sparkling eyes, feeling more in awe than anything else.

"I wanted to see what it would be like."

"And?" he asked teasingly.

She smiled. "It was very nice. We'll have to try again soon." And with that, she let her hands fall from his face and stepped away from his grasp. "I'll see you tomorrow, Nick."

Nick blinked back to reality and she was gone.