Oz gave her a puzzled frown and then looked up to find his son climbing on a hibiscus planter to reach the camera. Gloria was already rising from her chair to persuade him down. “He’s just being a boy.”
“You keep on believing that, honey pie,” Pippa answered mockingly. “But Heidi went to the Malcolm website, and our Librarian nabbed her, right?”
“The police don’t care about the hows or whys of the kidnapping, but Conan accessed Heidi’s computer. He says someone calling herself the Librarian communicated with Heidi via email. She sent a copy of the seal song and told Heidi that scientific studies showed that children who learned the song were geniuses. As soon as you promised to come to town, the Librarian told Heidi that she ought to encourage Donal’s interest in the musician. Someone played Heidi like a fiddle.”
“She also played us,” Pippa reminded him. “But strange as it seems, the Librarian might be our friend. So who in heck is she?”
Oz traced his finger down her nose and planted a quick kiss on her lips. “Conan is looking. Before I go any further, tell me first, do you think you can love me enough to marry me?”
Startled, Pippa swatted his finger and glared at him. “If this is a trick, Oswin, I’ll remind you that I can fling you into the pool.”
He grinned. “No trick. I’m just directing this production, and I need to know if I have my star before I sign any contracts.”
“Impossible man.” She leaned back against the lounge chair, refusing to fall for his manipulation. Marriage. She was barely getting used to having people in her life again.
“If I didn’t love you, I wouldn’t be sitting here,” she answered the first part of his question firmly. This much, she’d had time to consider. “I’m trusting you with my heart, my home, my family. I’m granting you magic powers, Dylan Ives Oswin. How will you use them?”
“By moving up here,” he answered instantly. “I’ve been talking to Bertha. She has big plans for her day care, and that old building out front isn’t suited for them.”
Pippa swiveled her head and stared at him through narrowed eyes. “Go on.”
At her glare, he shifted uneasily. The man knew how to read moods. She didn’t know if he was ready to accept that he was empathic, but it was obvious his ability to read people had made him the success he was. She could just about feel his mind shifting gears at her reaction.
“If you curl up and go all ommmm on me,” he warned, “I’ll heave you in the pool.”
She stroked his thigh, causing him to hum in appreciation. “This works better than yoga,” she decided.
When his brain reconnected, he still responded with care. “I don’t want Donal living in the city where he’s an easy target. I want to be available when he gets home from school, which means I have to work close to where we live. In this day and age of Internet communication, it’s easy enough to operate my office from anywhere. So I thought I could buy Bertha’s property and build a house up on the road, one that would be easier for your mother to access.”
“Uh-huh, are you telling me or asking?” Pippa demanded.
She bit back a smile while Oz-the-bully thought about what he’d said, processed it through his blender of a mind, and came up with the right answer.
“I’m asking?” he said in a tone that implied he was humoring her but his mind was already made up. “You could keep your studio and use this place as your office. It would be even more private with a big mansion sitting up front with a wall around it. And Donal and your mother would be safer out of the city, surrounded by people who know them—people they’ll learn to trust. We’d have a whole town watching out for them. If that’s okay with you.”
“And if it’s not?” she asked, challenging him, although the idea appealed far more than she would admit. She hadn’t wanted to give up her sanctuary, but she knew the garden path prevented her mother from going into town as much as she would like.
“Then I guess I’ll take no for your answer and come up with another plan,” he agreed with a grin.
She punched his bicep and kissed him at the same time. “I love you,” she murmured against his mouth. “I just wanted to be sure I got a say in your next production.”
He caught her chin and heated the kiss to inflammatory. “Is that a yes, Ms. James?”
“That’s an I’m-thinking-about-it-but-probably-yes, Mr. Oswin. Does all this planning mean that Conan has found the Librarian?”
He grimaced and removed his arm. “You’re an impossible case, but I’ll wear you down.” He turned the laptop screen so she could see it.
He’d left the text message open. Circle the wagons, it read. Pippa glanced at the sender’s name. The Librarian.
“Maybe she’s psychic,” Oz said to her questioning look. “Maybe she’s predicting an onslaught of paparazzi. We’ll have walls, security guards. We’ll be fine. I’ll build you a labyrinth so you can walk the paths if my crews get on your nerves.”
“Malcolms,” Pippa countered, glancing pointedly to Donal and her mother at the pool’s edge. “People with turquoise eyes and weird abilities. Let’s find our own kind and circle the wagons. We’ll love the labyrinth. Let’s do it.”
Acknowledgments
Thank you to all the Magic series readers who encouraged me to write about the offspring but probably didn’t expect me to go this far. And thanks to Deb Werksman for seeing the potential in a little contemporary magic!
About the Author
With several million books in print and New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists under her belt, former CPA Patricia Rice is one of romance’s hottest authors. Her emotionally charged contemporary and historical romances have won numerous awards, including the RT Book Reviews Reviewers Choice and Career Achievement Awards. Her books have been honored as Romance Writers of America RITA® finalists in the historical, regency, and contemporary categories.
A firm believer in happily-ever-after, Patricia Rice is married to her high school sweetheart and has two children. A native of Kentucky and New York, a past resident of North Carolina, she currently resides in St. Louis, Missouri, and now does accounting only for herself. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Authors Guild, and Novelists, Inc.
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New York Times bestselling author
Merely Magic
by Patricia Rice
***
She has the magic as her birthright…
Ninian is a healer, but she’s a Malcolm first and foremost, and Malcolms have always had a bit of magic—unpredictable though it is—to aid them in their pursuits. She knows she must accept what she is or perish, but then Lord Drogo Ives arrives, bringing the deepest, most powerful magic she’s ever experienced and turning Ninian’s world upside down…
But Drogo Ives has no time for foolish musings or legends, even if he can’t seem to resist the local witch. Thrown together by a series of disastrous events, Ninian won’t give herself fully to Drogo until she can make him trust and believe in her, and that’s the last thing he’ll ever do…
***
Praise for Patricia Rice:
“You can always count on Patricia Rice for an entertaining story with just the right mix of romance, humor, and emotion.” —The Romantic Reader
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Lure of Song and Magic Page 29
