Blair leaned into the plush leather seat and let the car glide smoothly over the dark paved road, nonetheless even the soothing car ride couldn't shield the elephant in the car. "Do you need to tell me something?" She laced her hands on her thighs and glanced towards Maddox. She had to admit, he was quite handsome under the golden light which beamed through the windows.

Maddox glimpsed at her with his amber eyes sparkling like ancient stones. "Blair, what's your story?" He asked.

She pulled her eyes from his deep tantalizing gaze that spoke more vibrantly than the magic of her spells, she quickly diverted their attention from his question that no one was ready to hear the answer of.

"Er- my shop is right over there," she pointed up front.

Blair hastily leaped out of the car the moment it stopped, and ran towards her shop thinking she escaped him, but he stubbornly parked his expensive car on the side of the road and followed her closely.

She noticed the eyes around central square watching them as she fumbled with the old enchanted lock her grandma gave her for safety. Maddox loomed behind her with his hands tucked in his pockets and his back stiffly straight. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" She asked subtly trying to get him to leave before the whole town begins to say that there was a shady person at her shop.

He simply cocked a brow. "No." Maddox raked his hair and entered her dark shop with her.

She switched on the lights, and the sweet musky scent of magic and time shuddered through her with warmth; something only another witch would understand. Although she was slightly uneasy of Maddox's presence, she wasn't going to let Maddox Steele disturb her from her work.

Blair left him and strode to the private office in the back, she opened the top drawer of her table and pulled out a dusty old book, it had wild coloured sticky-notes hanging out and the spine was barely holding the book together. But she loved it anyways and always found time to mend it for a new day at the shop. Her eyes spotted Maddox viewing her shop with great interest, even though he tried to hide it, the shop fascinated him, otherwise why else would he be here? She pondered silently.

-Maddox's POV-

So, this is why she smelt of sweet jasmine and a variety of spices. Her shop was covered with incense sticks, teas, chocolates, books, dreamcatchers, anything to decorate a house with something special, or help a person to overcome a difficulty they didn't have the strength to overcome.

Suddenly, soft music began to play in the distance, she appeared calmly from the back door with her lips held in a satisfied smile that pulsed with serenity. And then Maddox knew, her shop isn't what calmed the people, it was her. People were confident in her enough to confide their deeper darker secrets, and not to judged but to receive help and trusted advice.

Blair's head was stuck in a book that looked like it had been through war. She quietly went to a table and arranged herself neatly on the chair, her head stayed averted and her eyes stayed distracted, which bothered him like an itch.

"What's this?" He asked just to get her attention, but when she looked at him, he realized he wasn't pointing to anything. Maddox quickly turned and found himself in front of the chocolate's display. He inwardly cringed and bit his bottom lip.

Her brow arched. "It's chocolate," she said teasingly. Blair got out of her seat and walked around in front of him. "Want one?" She asked like he was three-year old child, without even looking she grabbed the first tray on the right that had rich brown truffles stacked on top of one another with white swirls mixed into each. She held the small tray in front of him with her crystal-blue eyes glimmering like northern lights he had seen last year with his sister.

He gently picked one up and popped it in his mouth. The rich cocoa burst onto his tongue as he bit into the hard shell, the milky white chocolate went beautifully with the soft cream filling. "That's delicious," he moaned at the sweet delicacy. "I'm surprised you sell chocolate at a shop like this?" The question slipped out before he could even stop it.

She put the silver tray away, "The people of this town come to my shop looking for many different things," she said as she leaned over the glass display. "One of those things being comfort-" her eyes locked with his- "and what's better than chocolate."

"I suppose you're right," he agreed.

She strode from behind the only barrier between them. "That's what my shop's for," she said chirpily. "To help others." She stood next to him with her hand propped on her hip.

Maddox laced his arms. "Why? Why do you want to help others so badly?"

She opened and closed her mouth when suddenly chimes interrupted them; it sounded more like thunder to him. The tension that wove across her brows didn't go unnoticed, she seemed like an ordinary shop owner but there was a lot more to her then she lets on. And he was going to find out what.

His eyes followed hers and they both spotted a boy stroll in hesitantly with his fingers knitting with themselves. He had a black hoodie on matching his ripped jeans, and his bag was strapped onto his shoulders. Maddox looked back to his side and Blair was gone, she was right in front of the boy which startled both of them with her speed.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

The teenage boy stepped back. "Er- no," he said.

"Oh," She didn't step back and watched the kid with an attentive gaze.

"Actually," his small voice cracked. "I heard you do magic." Blair grinned but Maddox stared stunned with his brow arched cynically.

Her eyes winked with mischief and he felt his stomach plummet, something he noticed happened quite often when he was around her.

"Something like that," she said. "What do you need?" But the boy's brown eyes looked over to the tall figure in the corner, that looked grim and dangerous. It was Maddox. "Don't mind him," she remarked. "Just think of him as a log." The boy nodded at her instructions leaving Maddox astonished by himself, he grumbled but he still settled himself on a wooden stool and behaved the way she said, a log.

"There's this student," whispered the boy. "She bothers me a lot."

Blair stayed calm, but as soon as Maddox heard, his jaw clenched and his temple began to twitch. He glanced towards Blair with fury but her smile was still bright and her glow didn't waver.

"And you want me to stop her for you," she stated on a whim.

The boy nodded gently.

Maddox wanted to get the girl's name and straighten this matter out himself because the one thing he resented was bullying. However, the boy didn't come to him, he came to Blair and even Maddox was growing curious of what she would conjure up in her shop for this particular problem.

They both watched her go to a long table that was placed on the side of the shop. Her long figure moved along the table, she searched with her deep eyes that skimmed over the neatly placed necklaces, which sparkled under the golden sunlight.

Maddox craned his head and almost fell over the stool whilst he tried to see what she was holding. She came around and presented a chain that was hanging in her enclosed palm. Both the boys followed the silver chain and spotted a small jagged crystal shining a light blue with darker parts of turquoise and aquamarine.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" The boy asked.

"Listen carefully..." she stared at for a few moments until the boy answered.

"Jack" said the boy. "My name is Jack."

"Look here, Jack," she said bringing the crystal focused in front of their eyes. "This necklace has magical properties that compels the person wearing it to tell the truth." His eyes widened and his small mouth dropped open like Maddox's had.

"What do I do with it?" The boy asked.

"I need you to give this necklace to her," she said. The boy turned pale as paper. "And you have to give it to her, otherwise the spell won't work." His brown eyes panicked and searched for another way, but his hand reached out and grasped the crystal necklace.

His knuckles whitened as his grasp around the gem tightened. "How am I supposed to do that exactly?" Jack asked Blair.

She smirked. "Everyone loves receiving gifts, Jack." She bent around her counter and pulled out a small lavender box with a black bow, she neatly placed the delicate crystal in the center and enclosed it, she handed it to Jack and she noticed the boy's white complexion and jittery hands. "Jack," his brown eyes looked up again. "Everyone is afraid of bullies, I was too," she revealed. "But they are kids exactly like you. They're scared of the same things you are." Her knitted brows relaxed and her stunning smile returned.

Maddox had a very different way of handling bullies, especially in his time when he was the shortest in class, many kids picked on him. But once his built came in and his height, no ridiculous boy picked on him ever again. And he always made sure his little sister was safe too.

"Alright," he said hesitantly. "Er- how much is this?" He stuffed his hands into his pocket and quickly yanked out some fuzz, a blue button, a paperclip and twenty-five cents.

She put her hand on his slumped shoulder. "How about we do this-" but before she could say anything further Maddox interrupted her.

"How much is the necklace?" He asked finally resigning his post as the log in the corner.

She tilted her head and stared at him with a puzzled face. "It's fine," she said.

However, Maddox strode to the crystal counter and saw the small white price tags, he pulled out his leather wallet and quickly handed her ten bucks. Maddox faced the boy eye-to-eye.

"I bet large money on you kid," he said. "So, you better do as the lady says and give that necklace to the girl bothering you."

Jack nodded aggressively and dashed out the door with his shoulders squared and his feet leaping with a new fire burning brightly, unlike how he had entered.

Maddox turned away from the door and found Blair giving him a smart smile. "You didn't have to do that," she remarked, he heard the soft clink of the register, Blair came up and held out a five-dollar bill in his direction. "The necklace was only three dollars."

He didn't grab the change. "It's alright, I did have a taste of your chocolate," he said.

"Well then," she strode behind the glass counter after grabbing a small red box from under the table. "I owe you six more." She silently picked out various different chocolates, some bigger than others and one was even pink. "I hope you like my choices," she laid a fresh sheet on the chocolates before shutting the box and tying a silky black bow on top, he couldn't help but watch her slender fingers work so skilfully.

His eyes wandered to the small locket hanging around her neck. "Why did you give that boy a crystal necklace?" He asked.

"The crystal I gave him was blue calcite," she said while placing the box in between them. "Whoever bares that crystal finds alignment with feelings and communication."

"What does Jack giving the necklace to the girl have anything to do with that?"

Blair smiled and leaned on the display. "When Jack came in here and told us about his problem, I knew right away it wasn't another boy bullying him."

"How?" Maddox's arms laced.

"First, he wasn't dishevelled or scared," she stated. "More nervous and anxious, like he was reluctant to tell on her."

"So, shouldn't you have given the necklace to Jack."

"The kid bullying him isn't evil or bitter, but sad and alone," she said. "She wants to tell someone her truth but cannot find anyone."

"Why not, there are so many other kids at the school," he retorted a bit harshly.

Blair shrugged. "There could be many reasons, but it probably has something to do with her parents."

Maddox tilted his head. "How did you come up with that conclusion."

She fell quiet for a moment. "Call it a hunch."

Maddox rubbed his tight jaw. "But why does Jack giving her the necklace personally help their problem?"

"I already told you, everybody loves gifts," she said.

Maddox straightened his shoulders. "If Jack gives the gift to her it will force her to feel a different way about him, probably with more affection."

She grinned and it strangely pierced his heart. "Exactly."

"Clever," he mumbled for only the shop's walls to capture. Maddox had just then realized the sun was beginning to set low behind the town's buildings. "I should be heading out."

"I was just about to head home too," she said while grabbing her bag and closing the back lights. "Tell me, why did you stay with me in the shop?" She finally asked the question.

His hands went into his pockets. "I was curious about who my new interior designer," he said with an odd possessive streak.

"Hmm," she mumbled like she didn't approve of the answer.

"And I was surprised how fast you were able to get read people," he added. "It fascinates me." Her mouth made the shape of an 'O' before she locked the glass doors of her shop and tucked the old antique key into her purse.

"Do you need me to drop you anywhere?" He asked.

"No that's alright, my car's over there," she pointed towards the café.

Maddox opened the door of his black convertible. "Goodnight, Blair." Her smoky sapphire eyes glowed under the starlight.

"Goodnight, Maddox," she replied with a smile.

He swiftly got into his car and drove off with a small grin that just didn't want to leave.

Maddox was completely unaware of how he reached his penthouse so quickly. Usually, the drive would wear him out, but this time his thoughts were on Blair Lightwood. She was a peculiar woman with an even more peculiar talent. Maddox could still recall her passionate gaze and kissable lips, she was all he could think about and he silently wondered how he was going to pass these next couple of weeks with her in his house all the time.

Maddox stripped his clothes and stepped under the cold shower, he desperately needed the help of icy cold water in order to cool his blazing hot body.

He just wrapped a towel around his waist when his phone rang. "Hello," he answered.

"Sir," spoke Tony. "Blair Lightwood will be starting the renovations tomorrow."

Maddox shut his eyes and clenched his teeth a bit too hard.

"Sir," repeated Tony when he didn't get a response right away. "Would you like me to postpone?"

"No," answered Maddox hastily. "Tomorrow is fine. Pick up Blair and help her out with anything she needs."

"Of course," said Tony. "Well then, have a goodnight."

"You too, Tony," said Maddox before cutting the line. And suddenly, he had a great urge to get a drink, which he eventually did after putting on a pair of sweats and eating most of the chocolates that were eerily all his favourites. Although at this point, he wasn't even surprised. Blair Lightwood was something else entirely. And Maddox was quite amused.