“See? It’s impressive I’m here at all.”
“Only because I didn’t tell you until it was too late.”
“Your point?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Ok. I have a brilliant idea.” She leaned on her elbows.
“Uh oh.” I slumped down into the booth.
“What? I have lots of good ideas.”
“Oh, you do. I don’t doubt that. It’s just that abrupt conversation changes are dangerous coming from you.”
“You’ll like this subject change. It has nothing to do with your relationship status.”
“Ok.” I nodded. “What is it?”
“Let’s sign up for a class or something. Learn a new skill. Keep ourselves busy. That way I don’t spend every second worrying about my parents and the wedding, and you don’t keep obsessing over avoiding Cad.”
“What kind of class? You know I don’t step foot in the gym.” Luckily I had a fantastic metabolism, and I seemed to keep muscle tone with very little effort.
She brushed some of her long brown hair off her shoulder. “I’ve always wanted to learn paddle boarding.”
“Paddle boarding?” That took place in the ocean. Mattie had no idea the conflict running through me in regards to my call to the ocean, so she couldn’t realize how absolutely horrible her suggestion was right now. Yet that also made it perfect. Absolutely, positively perfect. “Sounds wonderful.”
“What sounds wonderful?” Cad appeared in front of the booth with four paper plates perfectly balanced in his hands. He had a white apron on over a t-shirt, yet neither did anything to hide the muscles underneath. Muscles I shouldn’t have been noticing.
“We’re going to learn a new skill together.” Mattie looked up at him.
“Oh. That’s great.” Cad sounded strange. Like his words were forced.
“We need something to do together that isn’t working or eating,” I added.
“I totally get it. Great idea.” He set the plates down in front of us.
He adjusted the pocket of his apron. “Delpha, can we talk for a second?”
“Of course she can. We need to wait for this pizza to cool anyway.” Mattie gave me a look. The look.
“Sure.” I shot her the meanest look I could in response before sliding out of the booth.
Cad led the way back past the kitchen into a never used hallway. He stopped underneath the one naked bulb hanging from the ceiling. “Hey.”
“Hey.” I hated how awkward this felt. Nothing ever felt this awkward with Cad.
“I wanted to tell you in person I’m taking a little trip.”
“A trip?” I tried to keep the curiosity from my voice, but I knew I failed. “What do you mean?”
He shifted his weight from foot to foot. “I’m going away, and it may be a while.”
“What’s awhile?” I struggled to keep my expression neutral. Casual. We were casually hooking up. I shouldn’t care what he did.
“A few days. Maybe a week.”
“Oh.” I tried to dial down my disappointment. I shouldn’t have cared. “Well that’s fine. I’ll be busy with Mattie anyway.”
“Yeah your new activity.” He took one step toward me. “Any idea what that’s going to be?”
“Not for sure.” Technically not a lie. I didn’t want to start talking about the ocean with him because he’d figure it out. He always knew what was going on inside my head no matter how hard I tried to keep him out.
“Ok. You’ll have to let me know when you figure it out.” He fumbled with his apron again.
“Where are you going?” I didn’t want to ask, but I had to.
“Oh, I need to visit some new vendors, think about some new ingredients. I need to mix things up.”
“With your pizza?” I asked in a rather small voice.
“What else would I mean?” His eyes locked on mine.
“Nothing. I just meant you aren’t adding pasta to the menu or something?” Geez, could I seem more desperate? I was the one who kept pushing him away. I had no right to care whether he took a road trip somewhere.
“Nope. No plans to add pasta. I like to keep things simple.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “And you still have a key so if you need anything at our place please feel free to go over. You always can obviously, but I wanted to remind you.”
“Your place,” I whispered.
“It’s not just my place. You know that.” There was an edge to his voice. This was one of those conversations that annoyed him.
I looked down rather than facing his annoyance.
“Delpha?” he spoke my name softly.
“Yeah.” I forced my eyes up.
“Is everything ok?” His face was so close to mine.
“Absolutely.” I struggled to keep an even expression.
“I don’t mean with us. I know how it is between us, but with you?”
It was impossible to separate the ‘us’ from the ‘me.’ He had to have known that. “Yeah.” I nodded.
“This time of year you sometimes—”
“I’m fine.” I cut him off before he could bring up my mother. Any chance of keeping my composure would disappear if that happened.
“Okay.”
“So when are you leaving?” I wrapped my arms around my chest.
“Tonight.”
“Oh.” That soon? Had he been planning this for awhile? Why hadn’t he told me earlier? No. I pushed the questions away. It was his right to not tell me until the last minute. Technically he hadn’t needed to tell me at all.
He stepped toward me.
I didn’t think, I stepped up on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling his face closer to mine. I crushed my lips into his. I needed another taste of his sweetness and the salt. He was the perfect mix of everything I wanted and needed. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me against him. For a few minutes, I forgot about my rules—no kissing during the day—about keeping things physical. Why couldn’t he be mine? He was mine. He’d always been mine.
The sound of throat clearing had me breaking the kiss. The look of longing in Cad’s eyes afterward had me remembering why I needed to keep my distance. I stepped away.
“Sorry to interrupt.” Pax smiled sheepishly.
“I’m sure you are.” Cad went rigid.
Pax nodded in greeting to me before turning to Cad. “I have what you asked me for.”
“And you had to interrupt me now?”
“I figured it needed to be fresh.” He raised one shoulder, which was probably some hidden code, but from my side of things it looked strange.
“Uh, what are you talking about?” Something was going on. That was for sure.
“Nothing. Pizza ingredients. And it could have waited.”
“Not these ingredients.” Pax gritted his teeth. “These ingredients have a very short shelf life, especially if you are going to leave on time.”
“Oh.” A look crossed Cad’s face. One I’d only seen on him once before, and I realized I hadn’t been acting so crazy before. But it was okay. It was for the best.
“Ok. I can see you two are busy. Have a good trip, Cad.” I forced a smile and walked back to the table.
Mattie set down her half-eaten pizza guiltily. “Sorry, it looked so good…” she trailed off. “Oh, god. What did he say?”
“Nothing. But we need to go.” I grabbed my plates of pizza and tossed them in the trash.
I walked outside assuming Mattie would follow. I refused to glance back on my way out.
“Hey, what did he do? Want me to go back there and punch him?”
“No. But I appreciate your willingness to defend me by punching a guy who could crush you with one hand.”
“Yeah, well I kind of assumed he wouldn’t punch back.”
“He wouldn’t. He’s a good guy.” Such a good guy. Too good for me. This was good. He was moving on. This is what I wanted.
“So what’s wrong?” She caught up.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Ok. I’ll respect that, but should we stop for something else for you to eat? You never skip lunch.”
“Nope. I’ll be fine. That bagel this morning filled me up.” We both knew that wasn’t true, but it sounded like the kind of thing I should say. “Let’s talk paddle boarding. How soon do you want to start?”
“Anytime you want. I didn’t bring it up randomly. I grabbed a flyer on my way home yesterday. I’ll take a look at it tonight.”
“Perfect.” I closed down my feelings as we made the rest of the walk back to the library. This was what I wanted. I had no right to be upset.
“You sure you’re okay?” She linked her arm with mine.
“I’m absolutely fine.” And I was in theory until we reached the library, and I saw who was waiting for us at the front desk.
“Welcome back, ladies, have a nice lunch?” Vicky rested a hand on the desk. She was dressed in a formal black suit, but her hair was down and all over the place. Her eyes were wide, and her expression manic.
“Yes, it was a nice lunch. Thanks.” Mattie forced a smile. “How are you doing? We missed you this morning.”
“Great. Just great.” Vicky smiled in an exaggerated way.
“Did you have a nice morning?” I dug for information. “Was it a meeting?”
“I had some personal things to attend to.”
“Oh.” Mattie nodded. “Well, we’ll get back to work.”
“No need. I’m closing early today.”
“Oh.” I caught Mattie’s eye. “Okay.”
“Why don’t you two enjoy this beautiful weather?” Vicky gestured to the doors we’d just walked through.
Great. More free time. Exactly what I needed.
“Ok. Thanks.” Mattie responded, and Vicky hurried away and back toward her office.
Mattie leaned in. “That was weird.”
“It was. But why don’t you hunt down Pierce? You two don’t get enough time together.”
“We live together.”
“And find that flyer. I’m ready to get paddling.” I grinned, hoping my smile looked less fake than Vicky’s.
“In other words you want me out of your hair.”
“Why would you say that?” I kept the smile on.
“You’re really okay?” Mattie watched me, as if there was some physical evidence of what I was feeling.
“Yeah. I’m fine. All Cad did was tell me he was taking a trip. For work.”
“Oh. Yeah, you guys take trips seriously around here.”
“We do. See you later.” I hurried upstairs and back to my apartment. I closed the door and ran over to the window. I started out at the ocean and let the tears fall.
Four
Cad
“You sure have great timing.” I gritted my teeth to stop myself from saying anything else.
Pax shrugged. “You spent the night with her last night. It’s not like one extra kiss was that big of a deal.”
“This was different. She kissed me because she was emotional about me leaving. That’s progress.” I was still a bit stunned about the whole thing.
“How is that progress?” Pax leaned against the wall.
“It was emotional, not just physical.” It completely undermined all of her arguments about where our relationship stood.
“Ok, I’m not going to waste time on an argument I’m going to lose. I told you this is time sensitive.” He tapped the face of his watch.
“And it had to be during the lunch rush?”
“The rush is over.” Pax gestured in the direction of the dining area. “You were distracted.”
“Ok. Where is it? Where did you leave the blood?”
“It needed to be fresh.” Pax avoided my eyes.
“Yes, and…”
“She’s waiting for you in the storeroom.”
“She?” I froze.
“Yes. She.”
“Please tell me you didn’t get who I think you did…” Panic seized me.
He held up his hands as if in defense. “It’s not like I had a lot of choices.”
“Fine. Go get the blood from her and then I’ll meet you.”
“No way. She only agreed if you were going to be there.”
“Fuck.” I buried my face in my hand. I wasn’t in the mood for this.
“It’s not that big of a deal.”
“It’s not that big of a deal that the only girl I’ve ever cheated on Delpha with is here?”
“You didn’t cheat on Delpha. She’d dumped you. You were devastated and angry. It happens.”
I shook my head, trying to push away the alcohol hazed memories. “Not to me.”
“It did. And it was years ago.”
“Five years ago.”
“See, ages ago.”
“Delpha has never forgiven me.”
“She had no reason to be mad! She dumped your ass.”
“Please just handle this for me.” I wasn’t above begging.
“I already told you she only agreed on the condition you were directly involved.”
“You will not leave me alone with her.” If I had to face her, I wasn’t doing it alone.
“Why? You afraid you’ll do something?”
“No. of course not.” I’d never make that mistake again. “I just don’t want to be left alone with her.” Manipulation should have been her middle name. I had no energy for her games.
“Sure, dude. But you’re going to owe me after all this.”
“I’ll up your salary.” A raise was in the cards for him anyway.
“Wow. That’s desperation.”
“You’re covering for me while I’m gone. You deserve a promotion even without this.”
“Hey, you don’t have to beg me to take more money.” He grinned.
“Ok, let’s get this over with so I can do the spell before dinner.” I started down the hall toward the dining room. I’d need to cut through that way to reach the stock room.
“You must be really confident.”
I stopped. “What do you mean?”
“You told her you were leaving even before doing the spell.”
“I needed to tell her in public.” I looked back at the dark hallway. “Well, mostly public. Otherwise it wasn’t going to happen.”
“Very good point.”
Pax had been correct about the end of the lunch rush. The line was gone, and at least half the tables were empty. Normally I’d have stopped by some of the tables to talk to customers, but getting Bridget out of the shop as quickly as possible was imperative.
I gave myself a moment to prepare before I pushed open the door to the storeroom.
Pax slipped in behind me, and I let the heavy door close.
“Hello, Cad.” Bridget scooted to the edge of a stool. “You made it.”
“Hi, Bridget.” I avoided her eyes, but then I was looking at her bare legs, which was even worse. I looked to the side toward the huge stacks of napkins.
“Aw come on, you don’t have to act so serious with me. I know the real you.” There was almost a purr about the way she spoke. If I didn’t know any better I’d have thought she had panther in her. Maybe she did from somewhere down the line.
“I appreciate you coming in here.” I would keep this all business. “I will of course pay you for your contribution.”
“Pay me?” She laughed. “Don’t be silly. Friends don’t pay friends for favors.”
Favors? I wanted nothing to do with accepting a favor from Bridget. Guaranteed she’d expect repayment and then some. “I will pay you.” I made eye contact to emphasize my point.
“Are you going to tell me what kind of spell this is for?” She twisted her brown hair around her finger.
“It’s just a little spell.” I tried to play it off.
She laughed. “Oh yeah? That needs sorceress blood? Right. I know exactly what this is about.”
“You do?” I eyed Pax. How much had he told her?
“Yes. You want Delpha to stop playing you like
a yoyo. I want you to know that relationships based on spells don’t work.” She crossed her legs.
“That’s not what this is.”
Pax stepped into my line of sight. “What Cad means it this is going to be different. He already has a relationship with Delpha, this is only to make it stronger.”
I was about to argue when he made a cutting motion at his throat, and I understood. The lie was better than letting her know the real reason. She might cause us more trouble if she knew the truth.
“Do you think Delpha would like knowing you were using my blood?”
“No. She’d hate it.” There was no reason to pretend otherwise. Although she’d played it down, finding out about Bridget and me had crushed her. I got it. I’d slept with her nemesis.
“Yet you’re so desperate you’d do it anyway. Interesting. I wonder what you’d do to keep this a secret from her.” She licked her lips.
“Ok. Forget this. Get out.” I pointed to the door.
“Hey, sorry. I was kidding.” She recrossed her legs.
“You weren’t kidding. Just like you weren’t accidentally there that night. That was a huge mistake, and I won’t make another one.”
“Gee, thanks. Glad to know I was a mistake.”
“You were using me to get back at your ex and to hurt Delpha. I get that. Since I can’t erase what happened, all I can do is make sure I don’t fuck up again.”
“Take the blood.”
“No. There’s another way. Thanks anyway.”
“Don’t be stupid, Cad.”
“This isn’t me being stupid. It’s me being smart. Thanks for your time, but please leave.”
“If you’re sure.” She got up and walked over to me. She stopped inches away. “But if you change your mind about anything let me know.”
“I won’t, but I get the message loud and clear.” I watched her saunter through the door to make sure she really left.
As soon as the door swung shut Pax growled, “Ok, so what was that?”
“You heard her.”
“Do you know any other sorcerers I don’t know about?”
“Actually, yes. But it means I’ll have to do the spell outside Willow Harbor.”
“That’s dangerous.” He was right, completely right, but that didn’t change anything.
[Willow Harbor 06.0] Warlock's Embrace Page 3
