He’d gone casual as well, a plain knit sweater over jeans. Both items were extremely expensive and well coordinated, because his personal shopper had picked them out. Magnus liked to spend money to make sure that others knew he had money. It was a vanity of his, but he didn’t care. He also guessed at the way Edie’s expression hadn’t changed when she saw his clothing that she had no idea how much it cost. Which was also amusing in its own way. He suspected his socks probably cost more than her entire outfit.

“I picked the zoo,” he said. “Sue me.”

She wagged a finger at him, but she was still smiling. One hand held a small bag of popcorn that they’d gotten from a cart, and she nibbled on a piece, then offered him some.

He took a large handful, chewed, and then shrugged. “It was either the zoo or a video gaming convention, and I picked this. Clearly I did not choose wisely.”

Edie shrugged and threw a bit of popcorn at one of the nearby birds that hopped around on the trails between animal enclosures. “I would have gone to a gaming convention if you’d have asked nicely.”

“So asking nicely is the key?”

“The key to everything,” she said, a gleam in her eyes.

“Then may I have a kiss if I ask nicely?”

“You may . . .” When he leaned in, she shook her head, giving him a teasing smile. “Not.” And she walked away, tossing him a sassy look over her shoulder. “Not on the first date.”

Magnus chuckled and followed after her. “I already kissed you once.”

“That one you stole. That doesn’t count.”

He just grinned.

The zoo had been a good choice, he decided. At a gaming convention, there was always awkwardness between men and women. Half the women came dressed normally, and the other half came in costume, some skimpier than others. There were always the fanboys that ogled every woman, and then he had to deal with his own contingent of fans from Warrior Shop. But at the zoo? All they had to do was be themselves.

And he found that Edie was pretty fun to be around, which surprised him . . . and yet, not. She had a wickedly sharp sense of humor, she gave no quarter, and she knew a lot about every species of cat that they saw. He watched her melting expression as they passed by the leopard cage and she saw a baby leopard being tongue-bathed by its mother. She had a soft heart when it came to animals.

“I’m surprised you’re not climbing the fences trying to get in there and free the animals,” he told her, teasing.

She laughed. “No, contrary to what you might think, a lot of zoos take good care of their animals. There’s always a few bad exceptions, but for the most part, the zoo employees care about what happens to them.”

“So what made you decide to become a cat whisperer?” he asked her as they strolled toward the reptile house.

“Cat behaviorist,” she corrected, scattering the last few bits of her popcorn for the birds that waited nearby and then ditching the bag. “And it seemed like a good second choice.”

“Second choice?”

A shadow passed over her face and her smile faded. Then she looked at him, shook her head, and kept walking.

He held the door for the reptile house open for her, pondering whether or not he should push and ask what she meant by that. But they were still too new to each other, and this date was about getting her to fall for him. If it ended early, Levi’s date with Bianca would also end early, and they’d have to go through this shit again.

No, this date was a one and done as far as he was concerned. He’d date Edie, have a pleasant enough time, and then Levi would settle down to work once more and they could get back to The World. Already they were overdue on the schedule Magnus had made for his brother. Neither one of them could afford to be distracted by woman troubles.

Not even when the woman had a full, smiling red mouth and a sly tongue that loved to cut.

Still, he found himself following her into the reptile house, watching the sway of her hips. It was an awkward movement, unique to her because of her limp, but he still found it sexual, because when she balanced her weight on one side, it made her hip cock out. The reptile house was dark inside and completely empty except for the two of them and the scaly inhabitants. And with the privacy, his thoughts turned to lustful ones as he watched her hip push out again in that exaggerated motion.

“So what about you?” she said to him as he moved to her side.

Distracted, he glanced down at her. “What about me what?”

She nudged him with her elbow. “What made you decide to become a game programmer or maker or whatever it is you do?”

“I wear a couple of different hats, actually. Designer, programmer, developer.” He shrugged. “I like to have my hand in everything so I know it’s done just the way I want it to be. As for how I decided to do it . . . I just did. Levi and I used to play computer games when we were kids, and we were constantly trying to hack the games to improve them. From there, I got a degree in programming and started to make a few of my own games on the sly. I’m good at making things happen, but Levi’s the creative one.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. I’m sure you’re creative, too.”

“Not quite like Levi. He’s able to take ideas and spin them out of nothing.”

“I see. Was he the one who came up with the idea for Warrior Shop?”

“Actually,” Magnus frowned, thinking. “That was me. Levi helped me figure out a lot of the parts, though. He’s integral to everything I work on, especially with The World.”

“That’s the new game you’re developing, right? Did you come up with that concept or did he?”

“I did.”

“Mmmhmm. I think you might be less dependent on Levi than you think,” Edie said.

She wasn’t getting it. Or maybe she was choosing not to understand. “Well, let’s take Bianca for example. Are you dependent on her?”

“Yes,” she said flatly, and she didn’t sound pleased.

He was surprised to hear that answer coming from her. She valued her independence so fiercely. “You are? Really?”

“I can’t drive for long periods of time or my leg cramps up. Bianca drives me everywhere. She’s also my assistant.”

“But she’s vital to your business as it is, right? Kind of how Levi is to mine.”

Edie shrugged. She looked unhappy with the subject. Bad move, Magnus, he told himself. He didn’t want her to feel cornered or like she couldn’t talk, so it was time to distract her.

“So,” Magnus said, pressing closer to her. Edie was sandwiched between a wall and a row of glass enclosures for the reptiles. “What if I ask you nicely again? Do I get a kiss?”

Her brows drew together. “Let me get this straight. Seeing all these snakes and lizards made you horny?”

“No,” he said, but grinned at her words. “Being alone in the dark with you made me horny. Plus, I’m a guy. It doesn’t take much to turn us on.” He leaned in closer, his nose practically in her hair. He could smell her shampoo—sweet and clean. “Is that a no, then?”

Edie looked up at him thoughtfully.

“What?”

“Just thinking.”

He arched an eyebrow and put his thumb to her chin, angling her face up to his. “Don’t strain anything.”

She batted his hand away, but his tease brought a smile to her face again. “I was just wondering . . . why me?”

“What do you mean?”

She shrugged and looked away. “Why are you interested in me? There’s lots of girls out there for a guy like you, and I’d bet they’d be a lot nicer than I was. But you . . . you got a cat to ask me out, didn’t you?”

Edie was astute, he’d give her that. “Of course not,” he said, keeping his words light. “I love Lady Cujo. She’s absolutely what I was missing in my life.”

“Uh huh,” she said, smiling. “So I guess my question is . . . why me? We didn’t exactly click when we first met.”

Because my brother’s an idiot and he’s in love with your sister? Because he won’t buckle down and go back to work until he bangs her, and that’s why I suddenly have a cat and a date with you? Except he couldn’t say any of that, because the fair Bianca seemed to be holding out on Levi, and if Edie found out what was happening, she’d blurt it all out to her sister, and then Levi wouldn’t get what he wanted in order to be creative, and then Magnus would be the one who suffered.