by Cate Lawley
I chuckled, because Don had been one hundred percent himself this evening. In other words, as far from evil and menacing as a guy could get. “I’m still pretty confused how you carried that off for so long.”
“And yet another reason I adore you.”
My heart stuttered. Every time he told me he loved me, no matter the words he chose, I always felt like my heart was fluttering. I rested my cheek on his chest and sighed. “I love you, Abaddon, prince of my heart.”
“I love you, Kayla.”
Suddenly the energy shifted and a different kind of song began to play. The unmistakable beginning of “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” by The Proclaimers had me bouncing in Don’s arms. A strange choice for this bar, but I was going with it.
When he looked at me with a huge smile, I couldn’t help hollering, “I love this song!”
“I can tell.”
And then Don did the best thing ever. He managed to dance to one of my favorite songs. It was bouncy and fun and had lots of twirls, and I loved it. By the time the song was over, I was breathless and grinning like an absolute fool.
Until I wasn’t.
My grin faded as my boyfriend kneeled down on knee and said, “Marry me.”
I thought he might have tried to persuade me (something about finding the other half of his soul), maybe mentioned a long engagement (if that was what I wanted), and said a whole lot of other things that I was sure were wonderful and persuasive, but I couldn’t hear much of it over the resounding chant in my head. Yesyesyesyes.
Finally, I opened my mouth, and my answer came tumbling out. “Yes!”
He grinned amidst the applause of the small crowd of dancers. “You haven’t even looked at the ring.”
He was holding a ring box open, but I didn’t actually care about the ring. Every girl dreamt about the ring, right? But in that moment, I truly didn’t care. I yanked him to his feet—no easy task—and kissed him. Then I realized that ignoring the ring he’d probably spent a lot of time choosing might send the wrong message. Hey, you went to all this trouble and expense and I don’t really care. Not cool.
So once I’d well and truly kissed my fiancé—my fiancé!—I looked at the ring.
And it was gorgeous.
Okay, I cared about the ring just a teensy bit, but I didn’t realize I did until I saw how absolutely perfect it was. It was so completely me.
“Are you crying?” Don asked as he put the ring on my finger.
It was a perfect fit.
“No, of course not.” My vision blurred, but the ring continued to sparkle despite my tears.
“That’s right. You’re not a crier.”
My guy knew me so well. “No, not a crier.” And then I bawled, because I was so incredibly, joyfully happy.
The End
To check out all the side-splitting books in the Magic and Mayhem Universe, go to https://magicandmayhemuniverse.com/
EXCERPT: Lucky Magic
If you haven’t yet read the first in the Lucky Magic series, keep reading for a preview of Livy and Jackson’s story!
About Lucky Magic...
Sometimes love needs a little luck.
Jackson offends one powerful witch, and suddenly he finds himself stripped of his magic. No warlock power, no magical metabolism, and no cash.
Talk about rotten luck.
But his luck looks like it might be changing when he meets cute, curvy Livy. She’s the girl next door, but will she be his girl?
Livy’s no mortal; she just pretends to be one most days.
Hiding out as a human is so much easier than meeting the expectations of her mischief-making leprechaun family...until she’s outed to her hottie neighbor.
Now she’s stuck granting Jackson three wishes, and her quiet, magic-free life has been turned upside down.
Excerpted from Lucky Magic, PROLOGUE: In Which Our Warlock is (un)Justly Punished
“For your crimes, I sentence you to ten years.” Baba Yaga’s pronouncement filtered through the purple smoke, the flashing disco lights, and the snuffling coughs of her gaggle of warlock minions to finally penetrate Jackson’s brain.
Wait, what? Suddenly the towel around his waist felt inadequate. If he’d known he was going to be ambushed in his own apartment, he’d have thrown on a robe when he’d hopped out of the shower.
“Ten years? For—” Jackson inhaled. For being a warlock. He’d almost said it. Because, really, what had he done that every other warlock didn’t do routinely? He’d had some sex. A lot of sex. With a lot of women. What was the harm?
“For breaking the heart of an innocent girl.” Baba Yaga gave him a hard look, daring him to contradict her.
If he didn’t know exactly how powerful she was, her off-the-shoulder neon-green sweatshirt and bouncy ponytail would have made him laugh. Only the most powerful of witches—and an incredibly hot woman—could pull off leg warmers and jelly bracelets. He didn’t know whether to be appalled by her clothes or turned on by her bare shoulders and barely-there skirt. Common sense mixed with terror cut that thought short.
He cleared his throat. “I’ve apologized. I didn’t mean...” To screw her brains out? Because he definitely had. To leave her after one romp-filled, multi-orgasmic night? Because he’d meant to do that, too.
“Yes?” Baba Yaga was practically shooting icicles from her eyeballs.
Light reflected off the giant disco ball hanging from his living room ceiling and blinded him. It was like an interrogation, but with a bizarre disco flavor. He blinked and held his hand up to shield his eyes.
“I am sorry.” He infused the words with as much genuine feeling as he could muster.
She crossed her arms. “That you’re being made to pay for your choices.”
Well...yes.
He hated to piss her off further, but he also didn’t want to go to prison for ten years. “Can you send me to prison for sleeping with your great-niece five times removed? I don’t think that’s technically a crime.”
“My favorite great-niece five times removed. And who said anything about prison?” She smiled with feline glee.
One of the minions giggled.
“I don’t understand.” He clutched the slipping towel around his waist tighter. Normally he’d be comfortable naked in front of a beautiful woman. But not when that same woman was a powerful witch who not only looked like the eighties had thrown up on her but also happened to hold his magical life in her hands.
“It’s simple. Ten years—with no magic. You’ll live as a mortal, among mortals, with a mortal job. I’ve arranged a position for you...in tech support.”
A startled laugh escaped him. “Wait. What? Are you kidding? All I did was—” He clenched his jaw. He’d have to be an idiot not to see that minimizing his supposed infraction wouldn’t help his case. And what was “tech support”?
“All you did was tear a young girl’s heart from her chest and pulverize it.”
Tanya might have cried a few weepy tears, but he’d swear it was more about length, girth, and stamina than about him as a person. She barely knew him. And young? Tanya was two hundred if she was a day. “Have you actually talked to Tanya?”
Baba Yaga’s eyes turned glacial again.
“Sorry—you’re right. I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.” Except he totally would. Good sex was one of the few pleasures in his very long life.
“Ten years,” she said, “and then I’ll reevaluate.”
She lifted her hand, ready to transport herself and her entourage away.
“Wait!” Jackson grabbed at the towel around his waist a split second before it fell to the ground. “What does that mean? Reevaluate? Are you saying there could be more?”
“Make an effort, Jackson, or you’ll end up no better than an impotent shadow of your current self. We’re done here.” She snapped her fingers.
And then they were gone. Baba Yaga, her warlock minions, even the flashing lights.
A faint purple haze and a forlorn, slowly spinning
disco ball remained.
“Make an effort? What kind of effort? What does that even mean?” He didn’t give voice to his other fear—that impotence wasn’t only a reference to his magical prowess. He couldn’t go there.
He turned to the mirrored ball, taunting him from the center of the room, and yelled, “And what is tech support?”
Find out what happens when Jackson and Livy’s magical secrets collide in Lucky Magic. Will luck help or hinder their happily ever after?
ALSO BY CATE LAWLEY
LUCKY MAGIC
Lucky Magic
Luck of the Devil
Luck of the Draw
VEGAN VAMP
Adventures of a Vegan Vamp
The Client’s Conundrum
The Elvis Enigma
The Nefarious Necklace
The Halloween Haunting
NIGHT SHIFT WITCH
Night Shift Witch
Star of the Party
Tickle the Dragon’s Tail
Night Shift Witch Cozy Mysteries 1-3
DEATH RETIRED
Death Retires
A Date with Death
THE GOODE WITCH MATCHMAKER
Timely Love
Ghostly Love
Deathly Love
Forgotten Love
The Goode Witch Matchmaker Collection
Alchemic Love
Visit Cate’s website for buy links!
ABOUT CATE LAWLEY
When Cate’s not tapping away at her keyboard or in deep contemplation of her next fanciful writing project, she’s sweeping up hairy dust bunnies and watching British mysteries.
She lives with her pack of pointers and hounds, some of whom make appearances in her books. She’s worked as an attorney, a dog trainer, and in various other positions, but writer is the hands-down winner. She hopes you enjoy reading her stories as much as she loves writing them!
