"Shanna Swendson - Once Upon Stillettos" - читать интересную книгу автора (Swendson Shanna)

blind date, where a strange man appeared in the restaurant and serenaded me during dinner while
claiming that I'd saved him from a lifetime as a frog. Really, all I'd done was rescue him from an illusion
that made him think he was a frog. When he wasn't stalking me, he was an okay guy, and now he was
dating Marcia. Gemma's boyfriend, Philip, was the one who really used to be a frog, but I had nothing to
do with disenchanting him. I was only there when it happened.

Most of that crazy stuff wasn't my fault at all, since I can't actually do magic, but my job means I'm
around a lot of weird things that I can't explain to normal people without them thinking I need to be
medicated. It was tough living a double life where I couldn't talk to my closest friends about the things I
saw or what happened at the office. It was kind of like being a spy, I guess, only a lot less glamorous.
Then there was Ethan. On our last date I'd discovered his magical immunity, then a couple of guys from
work had shown up to test him by making increasingly outlandish stuff happen in the middle of the
restaurant until he was forced to admit that he was seeing things, and that had dragged him into my crazy
world when MSI recruited him. He'd asked me out again, anyway, even after he'd been involved in an
all-out magical battle. It was the first step toward having a real boyfriend. But that would be more likely if
he didn't have to run the roommate gauntlet when he came to pick me up.

"I don't suppose you two could find somewhere you have to be, oh, right about now," I said.

"You're trying to get rid of us?" Gemma asked.

"That, or you hide in the bedroom when he gets here."

"You're no fun."

"I don't want to make him feel awkward, and since he and Marcia were set up that time and didn't hit it
offтАж" I let my voice trail off with the hint.

Marcia slammed her book shut. "Let's go get some coffee," she said. Gemma was still protesting as
Marcia dragged her out the door.

That left me alone to wait nervously. I paced our tiny living room as I counted down the minutes until
Ethan was due. All I wanted was a relatively normal date. Boring would be perfectly fine with me. Was
that too much to ask? In my life, it usually was.

A knock on my front door startled me. I'd been expecting to hear the buzzer from the front door
downstairs. I opened the door to see Ethan standing there, looking very GQ in a sweater, jacket, and
slacks. "Hi, how did you get in?" I asked.

"I hit the wrong button by mistake, and your neighbor buzzed me in. You look great, by the way."

"Thanks." I felt oddly flustered, more nervous than I had been before my very first date back in high
school when my entire family hid in the kitchen while I greeted the guy. "Let me get my purse."

I locked my apartment, then we went down the stairs. I had to hang onto the railing, my legs felt so
watery with pre-date jitters. On the landing below my floor, a door opened and a grizzled head stuck
out. "You could be more courteous to your neighbors, you know," the person said. "All that pacing in
those heels--click, click, click. And then he has to go and push the wrong button."

"Sorry about that, Mrs. Jacobs," I said, feeling my face turn beet red. Great, now I sounded like a lousy