“I don’t recall asking you out on a date much less any kind of commitment.” His tone was amused. I couldn’t meet his gaze now. This just went from embarrassing to humiliating. “But I’d like to be friends,” he continued. “I think we could be really damn good friends. I don’t have any of those here. Not real friends. And I’d like one.”

Friends. He wanted to be my friend. My face could not be any more bright red than I knew it was. It was on fire. I had to be the color of a candy apple. How had I gotten this all so wrong? Was I vain? Was this why the spell didn’t work on him? Yes. That was exactly it. He wasn’t interested in me as more than a friend so he wasn’t repelled from me. I’d thought he was hitting on me with all his talk of my beauty and his interest. This was clearly where I suffered socially. I didn’t understand men, and I’d just made that blatantly obvious. I covered my face with both my hands then laughed because what else could I do? Duely was right when he said I was naïve. This was proof of it right here. I was good at friendship and if I could ever look at Rathe again, without wanting to crawl under a rock and hide from this complete misunderstanding, then we could be friends.

“You’re right. I’m a good friend,” I agreed, still covering my face. I wasn’t brave enough to make eye contact. “I’m also not the best at reading men or understanding males at all. I guess that’s been made clear,” I added, hoping that made this less awkward for him. I had no idea what he was thinking because I wasn’t about to look at his expression. He could be horrified for all I know. He could be amused. He could be wanting to get away from me and not sure how to leave.

“It’s part of what makes you so interesting,” he said, and there was definite amusement in his tone. I felt him move and the crackling of the dead leaves under his feet told me he was standing up. He was about to leave. “I might be the best friend you’ve ever had. Heath and Margo need to watch out.” I knew he was teasing me and trying to lighten the mood. “I’ve got a coffee date in fifteen minutes, and I need to head that way, but I can’t go until you look at me.”