It was a tempting thought.

Lily stood. "Enough of this. Let's raid your closet and find us some hot dancing duds." She continued down the hall.

Jasper glared after her. Lily was so wrong about him. He didn't like Cheez-Its. Onion rings went way better with beer.

He sulked for a while as the women discussed clothes. Lily apparently found something of Anica's she wanted to wear, judging from her exclamations of happiness. Beyond boring. Naptime beckoned, and he was on his way to the sofa to stake out his corner spot when Lily let out a hoot.

"When did you buy this? Talk about wicked! I didn't know you had it in you, girl."

"I may not keep it," Anica said.

So much for Jasper's plan to take a nap. He retraced his path to the bedroom.

"Of course you're keeping it," Lily said. "In fact, you're going to wear it right this minute. Take off your pants and sweater while I cut off the tags."

Anica sighed. "All right."

Jasper arrived in the bedroom doorway to find Lily wearing a black dress she must have borrowed from Anica, which made it indecently short. Jasper spared her one glance before all his attention was claimed by Anica taking off the sweater she'd worn to Wicked Brew that morning. She and Lily hadn't noticed him, so he crouched on the carpet and waited for the sweater to come all the way off. He might as well know what he was walking away from when he left this apartment tonight.

Quite a bit, it turned out. Even giving credit to a black underwire bra, Anica was built like a G.o.ddess. Knowing he was going to ditch her the minute he was himself again, he probably shouldn't check her out like this. He should go back down the hall and get on with that nap.

Yet he drew comfort from the fact he wasn't sleepy anymore. Maybe the potion was working, because he shouldn't be fixated on Anica while she undressed. But he was mesmerized as she kicked off her shoes, unzipped her slacks and stepped out of them.

"I don't think you're supposed to wear a bra with this." Lily held up a red dress on a padded hanger.

Jasper wasn't much of an expert on dresses, especially when they were still on a hanger, but this one looked promising. The top part was a halter style that tied at the back of the neck, and the skirt sort of floated in the breeze from the heating duct, which meant as it moved it would show off a nice pair of legs.

"You can wear a bra," Anica said, "but it has to be a halter style. I haven't bought one to wear with it yet."

"Then go without."

"Okay."

Jasper held his breath as Anica reached behind her back and unhooked her bra.

Just as the bra came undone, Lily stepped in front of his line of sight. He hadn't meant to growl. It sort of slipped out. Both women turned immediately in his direction.

Anica gasped and held the bra against her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "I didn't realize he was there."

"Me, either," Lily said. "If I didn't know better, I'd say we have a Peeping Tomcat on the premises."

"I'll finish changing in the bathroom." Anica s.n.a.t.c.hed the hanger from Lily and stalked away.

"I don't get it," Lily called after her. "You came really close to sleeping with the guy, so why worry about a little b.o.o.b show now?"

"Because I never will sleep with him," Anica said from the bathroom. "I don't want some man I never intend to sleep with walking around Chicago with a visual of my bare t.i.ts."

"You always were too modest. And speaking of visuals, chances are you'll see him naked soon, anyway. You two are going to be on fairly intimate terms with each other, whether you want to be or not."

"I know. I wish there was some way to avoid that, but I can't leave him alone when the change is taking place. I want to be there in case there's some . . ." She let the sentence dangle there, unfinished.

Some what? Complete the sentence, d.a.m.n it! Jasper fought down panic. The whole transformation process scared the s.h.i.t out of him, and she was only making it worse.

Going from man to cat had been like nothing he'd ever experienced, as if he'd driven his Beemer into a wall at eighty miles an hour. There'd been the shock of impact and then a brief period of total blackness before he realized with growing horror that he was suddenly very hairy and quite vertically challenged.

If he'd thought it was real in those first few minutes after the transformation, he might have gone insane on the spot. But he'd convinced himself immediately that he was in some awful nightmare, and that belief had helped get him through the initial hours. Now he was starting to adjust to his new body.

That was a sobering thought. He was getting used to being a cat. That didn't mean he wanted to stay that way. It only meant that he was adaptable.

Yet when he thought of changing back again, a sick feeling formed in the pit of his stomach. Would his skin split like the Incredible Hulk's? Would it be slow and painful, or quick and painful?

Either way he figured it would have to hurt. You couldn't do something that monumental to an organism without causing trauma. It didn't take a medical expert to understand that.

For that reason, he wanted somebody else to be there, so he was grateful that Anica had committed to that plan, even though she didn't want to see him naked. He didn't want her to see him transform, either, but his fear was greater than his ego. He might need help.

"What do you think?" Anica walked out of the bathroom, her feet bare, her blond hair brushing her white shoulders, and the dress doing amazing things for her body.

Jasper swallowed. He'd been s.e.xually attracted to her before, but he'd had no idea she could look this hot. The dress's neckline made the most of her eye-popping cleavage. The multilayered skirt had an uneven hem, and when she moved, the layers parted on one side to reveal a creamy thigh.

Lily clapped wildly. "Bravo! It's the perfect salsa dress. It's as if you'd planned on learning how to dance."

"I only wanted to look as if I could dance." Anica gave her a sheepish glance. "I wanted to fool people into thinking I could step out on the floor any minute, but instead I'd chosen not to."

"Well, that's just silly, to go to all the trouble of dressing the part and then not doing it. I'm going to teach you the moves that will make you worthy of that dress. Got shoes?"

"Oh, sure. I bought those, too." Anica leaned over to rummage in the closet.

Meanwhile Jasper was wishing he could be in the closet, enjoying the view of her leaning over. None of this l.u.s.ting on his part was good, because he was supposed to hate her. He had a rule-never go to bed with a woman you despise, no matter how hot she is. Naturally he despised Anica for turning him into a cat. Any reasonable person would feel that way.

But how could you despise a woman who was so luscious and so . . . human? Her witchy abilities were intimidating, but not so much now, when she'd lost her magic. He was touched by her worry about her dancing ability, or lack of it. Apparently a witch couldn't fix everything with a magic wand. At the moment, Anica couldn't fix a pot of tea with her magic wand, and Jasper could see how much that bothered her.

He wasn't minimizing the damage to him, not by a long shot. She had plenty to answer for, and he was still a cat, although rediscovering his human libido was encouraging to him. He needed to direct it somewhere else, though, on general principles.

Then Anica brought out the spike-heeled shoes that matched the dress, and proceeded to fasten the ankle straps. G.o.d help him, he couldn't look at those shoes without l.u.s.ting after the perfection of her legs. He didn't want to want her, but he couldn't seem to help it.

"Hooker shoes!" Lily crowed. "Too bad we don't wear the same size shoe, or I'd be stealing those from you when your back is turned. Come on, sis. Let's shake it up!" She shimmied through the bedroom doorway. "I saw you ogling her, p.u.s.s.ycat," she said without sparing Jasper a glance. "Don't think I didn't."

Anica walked over and gazed at him for several long moments. He kept eye contact. Staring was what cats did best, he discovered.

"Are you the kind of person Lily thinks you are?" she murmured. "Are you just a tomcat on the prowl?"

"Anica!" Lily cranked up the music. "Get your b.u.t.t in here!"

With a sigh Anica walked down the hall, her heels sinking into the carpet and the sway of her hips making the hem of the dress dance around her legs.

Jasper watched her go and felt a tug of regret. He wished he could talk so he could convince her that Lily was wrong about him. Sure, he had a line he used on women. Didn't every guy? An innocent line wasn't exactly a criminal act.

Looking back on it, he wished he hadn't done that with Anica, for obvious reasons, but that was water over the dam. Her seductive walk reminded him of what could have been, would have been, if Sheila hadn't picked that night to come to his favorite restaurant. Sometimes life wasn't fair.

He noticed that they'd left the closet door open. He'd be wise to go settle into the closet and seek forgetfulness in a nice long nap. Hanging around Anica was not a productive move on his part. But as he listened to the beat of the music he wanted to go in and see how she was making out with the dance lessons.

The blender whirred again and this time they might plan to drink the margaritas they made. Soon the sisters were laughing, and one of them turned the music up another notch.

Jasper edged down the hall and peered around the corner.

Anica stood with a margarita gla.s.s in one hand, and as he watched she drained it. Then she sashayed over to Lily. "Okay, I'm ready."

"Good! Now move your hips like this." Lily undulated like a woman having vertical s.e.x.

"Lily, that's so trashy!"

Lily smiled. "That's the idea. You could do it in bed with a guy, couldn't you?"

Anica blushed. "Yes, but this is-"

"Fun. Try it."

Still blushing, Anica made a halfhearted attempt.

"More." Lily demonstrated again. "Exaggerate."

Anica took a deep breath. "Here goes nothing." She executed the move exactly the way Lily had.

Jasper's eyes narrowed to slits of pleasure as a purr rumbled spontaneously in his chest. She was getting to him. Not good.

He wanted to watch Anica dance all afternoon, but he couldn't seem to shake the desperate need for a nap. That would be the cat influence taking over. With a yawn he trotted back to the bedroom and hopped up on the bed. He fell asleep to the music of Gloria Estefan and Anica's laughter.

He woke up to the scent of warm chicken. A quick check told him that his cat status hadn't changed. It should have by now. A sick feeling of dread curled in his stomach.

Or was that hunger he was feeling? He followed the chicken smell, which took him through the living room and to the doorway of the kitchen. The scent of tequila and lime still hung in the air, but Lily was gone. Anica, wearing a pair of flannel pajamas, stood in the kitchen. Jasper missed the red dress, but he had more urgent concerns than ogling Anica.

Orion wove a figure eight through Anica's ankles. The hiss he sent in Jasper's direction seemed more obligatory than threatening, but Jasper paid little attention. All his focus was on the kitchen clock. Six thirty. More than twelve hours had pa.s.sed since he'd lapped up that evil brew, and nothing had changed.

Anica turned to him. The look of concern in her blue eyes told him all he needed to know. She was worried.

"I see you're awake," she said. "I fixed you some chicken."

Theoretically, Jasper should be too upset to eat, but that didn't seem to be the case. He was starving. Even so, he didn't want to push his luck with Orion, so he waited until Anica had placed Orion's bowl of food on the floor and the big cat had shoved his face into it. Then Jasper leaped to the counter and began to eat the chicken Anica had warmed for him.

"I don't know what to think, Jasper," Anica said. "We'll see what happens tonight, and if you're the same in the morning, I'll have to swallow my pride and call in that couple, the one on the Wizard Council." She shuddered.

Although he was intent on eating, Jasper listened with one ear. The thought of a governing body called the Wizard Council blew his mind. But if such a thing existed he wanted them in on this. The crisis was at hand.

"In the meantime, I can't do much except wait." Anica kept talking as she started washing the margarita gla.s.ses. "Too bad I couldn't ask Lily to renew the protection spell on this apartment, but I didn't dare put her through any more magic spells today. Between repairing my crystal ball and the coffee shop cleanup and protection spell, she was on overload."

Magical people should be able to handle that sort of problem, Jasper thought. Maybe Anica could have cured Lily if she had her own magic working.

"Anyway," Anica continued as if trying to convince herself, "the coffee shop was the interesting place to break in to. They won't be so excited about a boring little apartment."

She dried the gla.s.ses and put them in the cupboard. "But speaking of that, I can't even remember if I locked the dead bolt." Putting down the towel, she left the kitchen.

Once she was gone Orion meowed softly. It seemed to be directed at Jasper. He peered over the edge of the counter and sure enough the orange tabby was gazing up at him, a pitiful look on his fuzzy face.

Orion had suffered a lot in the past twenty-four hours, and Jasper thought he needed some sort of reward for that. Anica hadn't offered him one, but she might be too distracted to think of it.

Orion wasn't supposed to have the chicken, but Jasper couldn't stand looking at that sad face. He picked up a bite of meat and dropped it to the floor in front of Orion. Orion scarfed it up at once and licked his chops. Then he glanced up at Jasper in obvious longing.

Jasper dropped the last two pieces of chicken on the floor. He didn't need to worry about food, anyway. If nothing happened tonight, then tomorrow Anica would call in the wizard top bra.s.s, which should do the trick.

Once he became a man again he would head for the nearest restaurant and order a steak dinner. Orion would be stuck with those dry little pellets, maybe forever.

"Dead bolt's on," Anica said as she walked back into the kitchen. "Not that a dead bolt will stop fairies, but I doubt they'll bother with this place," she murmured, almost too softly for Jasper to hear.

He hoped she was right about that. He'd seen the kind of destruction a band of teenage fairies could create. He hoped they didn't show up here, especially when he was in this vulnerable cat form.

Anica spent the rest of the evening reading, and Jasper spent it watching her read. d.a.m.n boring. He wished she'd try a few of those dance steps instead.

Finally, around ten, she yawned. "Time to go to bed." She gazed at Jasper and Orion. "Can you two guys manage to share my bed without fighting?"

It could have been a line out of a p.o.r.n movie if the two guys in question hadn't been cats. Jasper wondered if Anica was starting to forget he was a man in a cat suit. He wasn't about to let that happen.

Chapter 9.

Anica wasn't sure what woke her, but as she lay in the dark, she heard someone, or something, moving around the apartment. Could be the cats. Rising cautiously on one elbow, she checked in the dim light to see if they were on the bed. Both were gone.

Okay, so it was the cats. At least they weren't fighting, which was a relief. Maybe they were even getting along, becoming friends. Comforted by that thought, she settled back onto her pillow.

She'd barely closed her eyes when the sound of teenage laughter drifted in from the living room. Her eyes snapped open and a chill ran through her. Not cats. Fairies.

Throwing back the covers, she jumped out of bed and instinctively reached in her bedside table drawer for her wand. Not until it was in her hand did she remember that it was useless. But the fairies might not know that.

Now that she was fully awake, she noticed a red glow coming from the living room. Where were the cats? Kneeling by the bed, she lifted the skirt and peered underneath. "Orion?" she called softly. "Jasper?"

She couldn't see much at all, but when she groped under the bed as best she could, she didn't come in contact with any furry bodies. They could be anywhere in the apartment. Wand in hand, she crept out of the bedroom. She'd never realized how much she depended on her magic until this moment.

On her way down the hall she told herself that the fairies were only teenagers who had slipped away from their parents and were looking for thrills. They weren't dangerous, only mischievous. If they'd been dangerous, they would have invaded her bedroom.

They'd probably figured out that if she was careless enough to leave her shop unprotected, she might have done the same with her apartment. They might be after her wine and tequila, forbidden to them at their age, and any food she happened to have on hand because, like most teenagers, they were always hungry. They were often destructive, too, but being magical, they considered it only temporary destruction, easily fixed.

Fairies and witches moved in different circles, so a prank played on a witch wasn't as likely to be discovered by fairy parents. As she neared the end of the hall, she caught a glimpse of what was going on in her living room and was not amused. The little snots had decorated it like a s.e.x club.

Nude paintings hung on the walls. Her sofa and chairs were upholstered with images of couples in various s.e.xual poses, and the entire room glowed red. That was bad enough, but many of her magic books had been pulled from the shelf and strewn carelessly around the room. One of her favorites lay open on the coffee table, a page torn.